Anderson@Large

National Urban League Centennial Conference

The National Urban League kicks off its annual conference today in DC.

I will not be there for the opening session. In fact, I do not plan to attend any of the plenary sessions, workshops, etc.

This image tells me all I need to know about the “State of Black America.”

Click Image to Enlarge

I thought it was wrong for Tavis Smiley and the NAACP to accept Wells Fargo’s tainted money.

It’s a sign of the times that a social service organization is sponsored by, among others, a bailed-out predatory lender and an oil company that’s responsible for the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

BP can afford to be generous since American taxpayers will partly foot the bill for the fund established to compensate victims of the oil spill.

And let’s not forget the NAACP blasted BP for its response to the oil spill and has accused it of discriminating against “workers of color” and “contractors of color.”

They say consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. So shoot me. I have a small mind.

UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has accused Wells Fargo of engaging in predatory lending practices in black neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Obama’s Hit-and-Miss Oval Office Address

I was stuck in Chicago Midway International Airport so I missed President Barack Obama’s first Oval Office address.

I received an embargoed copy of Obama’s remarks because I am on the White House media list. As I read it, I was struck by its tone: professorial, vague, by-the-numbers and unfocused.

Americans want Obama to focus like a laser on the environmental and economic disaster that is unfolding before their eyes.

They also want Obama to go for BP’s wallet and throat.

Instead, Obama will “inform” the chairman of BP that he should set aside an escrow fund to compensate the victims of BP’s “recklessness”:

Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.

Inform? Hell, tell him to show us the money.

What is the metric for “fair and timely”? BP or CP Time.

And who will administer the escrow fund?

The New York Times editorialized:

We know that the country is eager for reassurance. We’re not sure the American people got it from a speech that was short on specifics and devoid of self-criticism. Certainly, we hope that Mr. Obama was right when he predicted that in “coming weeks and days,” up to 90 percent of the oil leaking from the well will be captured and the well finally capped by this summer. But he was less than frank about his administration’s faltering efforts to manage this vast environmental and human disaster.

If the hole is not plugged in the coming weeks and days, BP may stand for “Barack Petroleum.”

BP Crisis Management

President Barack Obama is on his fourth trip to the Gulf Coast “to assess the ongoing efforts to counter the BP oil spill.”

The BP oil spill environmental and economic disaster is morphing into a political crisis that is tainting the Obama administration like oil-soaked pelicans.

 

A USA Today/Gallup poll found Americans want Obama to kick BP’s ass:

Americans have a message for President Obama on handling the oil spill: Get tougher.

[…]

Americans see the spill as an environmental and economic catastrophe. Half predict that some beaches will never recover from the oil spill. Six in 10 say some species of wildlife, including fish and birds, will never return to normal levels even after the clean-up is completed.

Americans also want Obama to take BP to the cleaners. A Gallup poll found:

The majority of Americans (59%) say British Petroleum should pay for all financial losses resulting from the Gulf Coast oil spill, including wages of workers put out of work, even if those payments ultimately drive the company out of business. Seven out of 10 Americans (71%) say Obama has not been tough enough in his dealings with BP.

Obama will try to contain the political damage with a prime time address to the nation from the Oval Office tonight. The New York Times reports:

It is Mr. Obama’s goal, advisers say, to acknowledge the uncertainties and what one called “the new reality,” allay people’s fears and give reason to hope.

The address will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT. You can view it at White House Live.

It’s BP Time

It’s Day 45 of the BP oil spill and there’s no end in sight. Under one worst case scenario, the environmental disaster could last under Christmas.

As these cute animals become the faces of the disaster, Americans will scream: Plug the damn hole, already.

In the meantime, it’s BP Time: Bigger Protests, Better Protests, Bolder Protests (h/t Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.).

Public Citizen is organizing a boycott of BP and its family of companies, including Arco and am/pm convenience stores:

Send a clear message to BP by boycotting its gas and retail store products. Don’t spend a cent of your hard-earned money to feed the bottom line of the corporation responsible for the worst oil spill in our nation’s history.

A coalition of organizations, including Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Center for Biological Diversity, Hip Hop Caucus and Public Citizen, is organizing a protest and mock citizen’s arrest at BP’s Washington, DC headquarters.

WHEN: Noon, Friday, June 4

WHERE: BP, 1101 New York Avenue, N.W.

View Larger Map

For more info, go here.