Wading In

My column this week is on Sen. Barack Obama's blackness or lack of it according to some critics. It's no secret that I support Barack Obama's campaign for the Presidency. Not because he's black, just as I don't assume whites who don't support him are not supporting him because he's black. When i read about him in a New Yorker article, read his anti-Iraq war speech in 2002 (which is easily the best antiwar speech I've ever heard) and of course, saw his electrifying starmaking keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, I thought, here is someone special. I felt as though i were looking at the first black President. I spoke with my younger brother that night who felt the same way. Now there's all this talk from pundits about whether he's "black enough". The stakes are so high right now that I hesitated to even write a column addressing this but it's out there. I wanted to add my two cents on the topic. I just want his ...

Column originally published February 15, 2007 Why are we asking if Obama is black enough? By Kelvin Wade From Time Magazine to the New York Times to pundits all over the Web, the question is being asked: Is Barack Obama black enough for black voters? Does his Kenyan father and white mother distance him from the black community? Is he culturally black and does that even matter? Critics like Stanley Crouch argue that since Barack Obama is not descended from slaves, that he isn't "black like me." Such pundits point out that since he was raised in a white family and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, Obama has not lived the life of a typical black American. But it could easily be argued that George W. Bush hasn't lived the life of a typical white American. A typical white American of Bush's vintage would've gone to Vietnam. They would've had to work for a living and not be bailed out by their father and their father's wealthy frien...

Am I piling on? Am I kicking the Councilman while he's down? (Hey, the best time to kick a man is when he's down. He's right down there by your foot anyway. ) But seriously, I don't think that I am. There are a couple of things at play in this latest Fairfield scandal. I don't know if I would be so aggressive writing about this if we hadn't gone through the John English experience. Also, the fact that Frank Kardos has twin positions of authority and trust: vice-principal of a high school and City Councilman. I think he should hold himself to a high standard. Plus, we know that Kardos holds other officials fo a very high standard. I think what's good for the goose... Perhaps he's the world's unluckiest man. Maybe he's been arrested three times for the same offense and he was innocent all three times. That's possible. In his divorce papers, he denies hitting his ex-wife but claims to be a victim of abuse himself. It's up to the legal system...

Column originally published 2-8-07 The mayor was right about Kardos By Kelvin Wade Kudos to Mayor Harry Price for having the guts to say to Councilman Frank Kardos what I believe the majority of Fairfield residents are thinking: please step aside and deal with these charges against you. Without that statement, it would've been even more surreal watching the Fairfield City Council meeting Tuesday evening as the participants carried on as though one of their members weren't charged with strangling his ex-girlfriend. Frank Kardos is a special case because he's a public servant. It is because he's accountable to the public and is supposed to be a role model as an assistant principal that he's going to get more scrutiny than a private citizen. And it's also for that reason that while offering a brief statement and then silence may be a sound legal strategy, it's a failing way to deal with the public. Even if the latest arrest had never happened, there wo...

Column originally published 2-1-07 The next Vista in my life By Kelvin Wade For technophiles like me, the release of Microsoft's new Vista operating system this week is like Christmas. Since I've just got to have this new software, it stands to reason that I should just get a brand new laptop computer running it. The only hurdle is the usual hurdle: my girlfriend, Cathi. What's not to love? The premium version of the new OS features a new interface which, according to Microsoft, "enables you to dynamically flip through your open programs in a three-dimensional, stacked view . . ." It also brings real time news, weather and other information to the desktop, offers better music and photo handling, an enhanced search engine, and stronger security measures. It's been said that what separates men from boys is the price of their toys. I know a guy, Doug, whose passion is cars. He can turn a conversation on any subject back around to cars. My buddy Chumly is...