Anderson@Large

Dog Days and Dog Whistles

The dog days of summer are well upon us – and President Obama.

African American leaders, who had been biting their tongue, are now nipping at Obama’s heels. Under the headline “Black leaders turn up the heat on President Obama,” Politico reports:

With that in mind, prominent black leaders — fearing Obama is not only taking them for granted but avoiding them in public — have turned up the heat on the nation’s first African-American president, transforming all-in-the-family concerns into open criticism of the president at a time when they had hoped the completion of a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. near the National Mall would bring a moment of unity.

The leaders are tired, they say, of Obama dog-whistling his support for a broad black agenda rather than explicitly embracing the kind of war on racism, poverty and economic segregation embodied by King.

CNN contributor Roland Martin provided a primer on voter mobilization:

You can spend a lot of time trying to win over white independents, but if you don’t pay attention to your base, African-Americans, if you have not locked up your base yet, you’ve got a serious problem.

African-Americans will vote for him again, 88, 92, 95 percent. The question is what’s the turnout? I’ll vote for you. But will I bring ten other people along, like I did in 2008? That’s the danger here for him. He doesn’t have the historical factor to lean on as much in 2012 as he did in 2008. … And the first step is that he has to be willing to speak to this audience, black people.

Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report asks: “Is Obama toast?” Hmmm.

Facebook Do’s and Don’ts

Philadelphia’s enhanced teen curfew ends next week. Between heavy rain and Hurricane Irene, the targeted enforcement areas have been quiet deserted the last two weekends.

I am doing research for a media project focusing on the criminalization of black youth and online community policing. Like me, you may not be familiar with the International Association of Chiefs of Police Center for Social Media. The Center “serves as a clearinghouse of information and no-cost resources to help law enforcement personnel develop or enhance their agency’s use of social media and integrate Web 2.0 tools into agency operations.”

At a recent community forum on youth violence and flash mobs, it was made clear that Philadelphia police officers are “part of the conversation” and monitoring young people on Facebook and Twitter.

The Center provides resources that civilians will find useful, including what not to do on Facebook.

You know that update from a “friend” enticing you to add a “Dislike” app, don’t:

We’ve all seen the Facebook Like button, that little disembodied blue hand giving the thumbs up. And how many times have you wished you could just dislike a piece of content, that unfortunate video or sad status update. You are not alone. But don’t be fooled, Facebook has not developed a Dislike button, no matter what the apps, e-mails, or mass posts may tell you. Online scammers are using this as a way to your information or to send a virus your way.

Read more: Facebook Fact and Fiction

Obama Standing on Shaky Ground

The earthquake that struck the White House is a distant memory. But the latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows President Obama is standing on shaky ground. The president’s approval rating hit an all time low – just 38 percent of Americans approve of his job performance.

According to a new Associated Press-GfK poll, Obama’s job approval among white voters is 36 percent; 59 percent say he does not deserve reelection. The AP reports:

Whites and women are a reelection problem for President Barack Obama. Younger voters and liberals, too, but to a lesser extent.

All are important Democratic constituencies that helped him win the White House in 2008 and whose support he'll need to keep it next year.

An analysis of Associated Press-GfK polls, including the latest survey released last week, shows that Obama has lost ground among all those groups since he took office. The review points to his vulnerabilities and probable leading targets of his campaign as he seeks to assemble a coalition diverse enough to help him win re-election in tough economic times.

While Obama remains on firm ground with 88 percent of African Americans, Colin Powell’s support seems shaky. During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Powell said:

I haven’t decided who I’m going to vote for. Just as was the case in 2008, I am going to watch the campaign unfold. In the course of my life, I have voted for Democrats and I have voted for Republicans, I have changed from one four-year cycle to another.

Powell added:

I’ve always felt it my responsibility as a citizen to take a look at the issues, to examine the candidates, and pick the person that I think is best qualified for the office of the President in that year. And not just solely on the basis of party affiliation.

Goodnight, Irene

Hurricane Irene has put the kibosh on my trip to DC. So I’ll monitor events on Twitter and Facebook.

The official Dedication Ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial has been postponed to September or October.

As of this writing, Al Sharpton’s march and rally, “From the Emancipator to the Liberator,” is scheduled to go on “rain or shine” on Saturday.

Perhaps it’s time to batten down the hatches.

Rep. Waters: Say It Loud

Hell hath no fury like a member of Congress whose constituents are facing an unemployment “epidemic.” Rep. Maxine Waters continues to give voice to African Americans who know a rising tide does not lift all boats.

Days after urging the President to “fight harder,” Waters took the fight to Don Graves, the executive director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. During the Congressional Black Caucus’ town hall meeting in Miami, Graves said “certain communities have been hit harder than other communities.”

Waters wanted a more targeted response:

Let me hear you say black.

According to the Miami Herald, Graves responded “meekly”:

Black, African-American, Latino –- we’re going to focus on getting people back to work.

It may be time for President Obama to get back to work. The latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows his approval rating has slipped to 38 percent; 54 percent disapprove of his job performance.

Obama’s support among whites and Hispanics is 32 percent and 44 percent respectively. The president is standing on shaky ground with swing voters. Just 35 percent of independent voters give him a thumbs up.

The bottom line: The 88 percent approval of black Americans is keeping Obama in the game.

Rep. Waters: ‘Tea Party Can Go to Hell’

Last week, Rep. Maxine Waters asked for permission to “unleash” on President Obama. But she needed no one’s permission to unload on tea partiers.

During a “Kitchen Table Summit” in Inglewood, Calif., Waters said, “As far as I’m concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell.”

Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin, co-founders of Tea Party Patriots, fired back. They said in a statement:

We’ve had Democrats calling American citizens “terrorists” and “hostage takers,” and now an elected Democratic representative says that we can “go straight to hell.” The president and all leaders of the Democratic Party, who have called for civility in the past, are neglecting to censure their own. Is civility only required from their opponents? Perhaps it’s time for a new-NEW era of civility. ... The president’s silence on these latest violations of civility has been deafening, but not surprising.

By now, folks should know tea partiers don’t take no mess.

Summer of Discontent: Fight the Power

A new Gallup poll found only 11 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the country. Their top concerns are the state of the economy and “unemployment/jobs.”

There is no demographic breakdown but with black unemployment at depression levels, it’s safe to assume that black folks are not content with the situation.

Still, African Americans are reluctant to voice their discontent. But the code of silence is cracking. Social activist Marcia Dyson recently wrote:

The suggestion that such criticism is “hating” is ridiculous; surely we can make distinctions between bitter attacks and enlightened analysis. And the argument that publicly criticizing our first black president is an act of racial disloyalty is immature. We must be grown enough to know that politics at its best is about engaged citizenship, not tribal worship. You can love black people and do what’s best for the race without agreeing with everything the president does or says. If we don’t use our public platforms to encourage, solicit and push the president to do what we think is right, we’ve surrendered both our civic duty and our racial responsibility.

Former CBC Chair Elijah Cummings told CNN’s Candy Crowley the president needs to “fight harder” for African Americans:

Almost every African American I have talked to said they want him to fight and fight harder… Their attitude is that if the Republicans are not going to work with us, we’re just going to have to go it alone and stand up to them. Don’t back down, period.