The arrest of President Bush's former domestic policy adviser Claude Allen (here and here) for felony theft is another blow to Bush who’s still reeling from the Dubai ports deal debacle (here and here). Until his abrupt resignation last month, Allen had been the highest-ranking African-American on the White House staff.
When I read the news stories, I was at a loss to understand why Allen would do something so crazy. And I was not alone. One White House aide told Newsweek:
When you hear about a White House official getting busted, you'd hope it would be for something so much better than this, like securities fraud or embezzlement. But robbing a Target? Are you kidding me?
I don't know Allen, but the back-story may be the dual lives black Republicans must lead. They are the face of a party and policies that 90 percent of black folks reject.
Still, white conservatives promote the more compliant ones as role models. The GOP's handpicked blacks are then touted as "rising stars" and the next wave of black leaders (and here) in the mainstream media and Fox News Channel.
It's not often that I agree with Bush but he's probably right that "something went wrong in Claude Allen's life."
Uncle Remus said that if you try to be something you ain’t, you ain’t. So, perhaps the stress of pretending to be something he ain't pushed Allen over the edge.
