The Africana Media Blog

The sale of houses and the fees paid out have now become the bone of contention for Ambassador Rotimi’s defenders.  But one thing is clear: officials at the Embassy are horrified and angry that the Ambassador is trying to bastardize their reputation by making available to journalists internal discussions at the Embassy, which could potentially jeopardize their chances of advancing in the service, depending on the prism on which they are viewed and by whom.  They are angry because they have no recourse to either refute or confirm the information that Ambassador Rotimi is dishing out to his defenders.  They know it is against civil service rules for them to talk to the press as the Ambassador, a political appointee, is doing.  They are even more apprehensive of a total cleansing of house: the recall of most of the senior officials there.

“I mean I have heard so much of this and that African event, that I don’t know which one to believe, and I have looked at the costs of so many other constituency events and have come to believe that the African events are some of the most expensive.  I thought this was a celebration of our son, but an avenue for making money.”

I mean I have heard so much of this and that African event - inaugural ball - that I don’t know which one to believe, and I have looked at the costs of so many other constituency events and have come to believe that the African events are some of the most expensive. I mean this is a celebration of our son, not an avenue for making money. 

The Times today profiled Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Gideon Gono, who has become one of the biggest abusers of office in Zimbabwe and has looted and continues to loot the Zimbabwe treasury on his own behalf, and on behalf of his boss, Robert Mugage.

Gono is building a 47 en suite bedroom palace, with a glass swimming pool with underlights, a gym bigger than many good houses in the Zimbabwe capital, a mini-theater and landscaped gardens.  Read how this man lives the life of opulence while the 12 million Zimbabweans suffer.

Having said all this, I am compelled to say that there were and there still are definitely “Media Warriors for Obama,” who helped to make the Obama quest for the presidency a very successful one.  Sitting on top of that list is none other than Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown, followed by Daily Kos founder, Markos Moulitsas, Huffingtonost.com founder Arianna Huffington, Joshia Micah Marshall of “Talkingpointsmemo” Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’, Rachel Maddow of the MSNBC and of course the jedreport’s Jed. 

“Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable development with good governance, on a continent where too often mineral wealth has become a curse,” Mr Annan, a 2001 UN Nobel Peace Prize winner, said.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the American media is colluding to derail Senator Barack Obama’s march to the presidency of the United States.  In many studies, and as a few of the media itself, has come to acknowledge, they are doing everything to get very negative on Obama’s positions, while handling with kids’ gloves what his Republican opponent has been saying and doing, especially with the inconsistency of his position on several issues. 

Yesterday morning, I tuned in to CBS radio, and the first item on the news was “Did Obama’s overseas trip help or hurt him,” and proceeded to quote the new inconsistent USAGallop poll which had McCain with a lead of 4% over Obama of likely voters.  But on Monday at the same time, the CBS, which had been accused of doctoring an interview between its network anchor Kathie Couric and McCain, cutting out certain portions of the interview in which McCain made certain statements detrimental to his campaign, didn’t lead with a poll by the same Gallop organization which showed a bounce for Obama after his trip, with an 9-8% lead over McCain. 

Despite perception to the contrary, in which Americans felt the press was harder on McCain than on Obama, a new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, has “found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.

“What is most annoying is that the Obama campaign, for reasons best known to them, as if they haven’t learned how the campaign almost came to be derailed by vicious attacks by Hillary Clinton, are adopting the same silly “taking the high road,” approach to the attacks by John McCain and the media.  People tell you they detest negative advertisements, yet they are more than influenced by those ads. 

As we say back in Africa, “Do me, I do you, God no go vex.” You hit me, and I hit you back, God will not be angry.  That needs to be imparted to the people who run the Obama campaign.  Docility in the face of voracious negative attacks, don’t win elections.  Both Al Gore and Kerry tried it, look where it landed them.  A word for the wise. 

“When a caller asks for help with being a compulsive liar, Anderson says he totally understands, because he did the same thing as an adolescent, lied about things as trivial as what he had for lunch. “Ultimately it all comes out and you end up looking like a complete jerk,” he says - from the Popnography of March 22, 2007, talking about when Anderson Cooper was host of the ABC program, The Mole.  In fact, I didn’t know about this when I blared the title of this article, “Anderson Cooper, You’re a Liar.” We can’t begrudge Mr. Cooper his pedigreed background, being born to the sion family of the Vanderbilts of the railraod tycoon, nor his meteoric rise in the world of broadcast journalism.  Nor should we begrudge him his recently $4 million a year contract with the CNN.  With all the encomiums written about him, you would think that Anderson Cooper is the poster child of journalistic integrity.  But I and millions of Africans disagree.

Given his singular visionary leadership, culturally, politically, Pan-Africanistically, and more so economically, I believe a reassessment of Nyerere’s economic policy is in order.  Rather than being described as an “Heroic Failure,” it should be described as an “Monumental Success.” It goes to the core of my belief, that we should stop attempting to run before we could even crawl.  The deliberate steps at economic engineering are the seeds of economic success.  I salute you, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere!!