Earlier this week U.S. Senator John Kyl (R) AZ advocated repealing the 14^th amendment to the constitution. As insane as that sounds he’s serious. The 14^th amendment when enacted 140 years ago gave newly freed slaves citizenship.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R) SC who I had respected, is in support of this insane idea!  The GOP is destroying any political capital with Latino voters. It’s surprising how myopic they are on this issue. If they continue on this track they will not recover. It’s political suicide for a short term political gain.

It’s appalling to see the level xenophobia and desperation on the part of conservatives on this issue. In all honesty I don’t think this would ever occur. All legal experts contend that the 14^th amendment is on strong legal ground and would withstand any attempts to repeal or challenge it. Thank God!

To even consider repealing it is a quantum leap backwards. The GOP is shooting itself in the foot on this issue. As much as they have pandered to the Latino community for their votes you would think they would approach immigration reform in a more constructive manner.

The GOP will cause decades of irreparable harm to themselves with Latinos. They are imploding on the issue of immigration. Whatever short term gains they may get out of the mid-term elections will not justify the long term harm they are doing to themselves.

This is obviously about the changing demographic in our country. Within the next twenty to thirty years the United States will be predominately Brown and Black. That is unsettling for a lot of folks. It’s obvious that this change is not welcome.

Conservatives don’t surprise me anymore with their antics. Everyone who’s running for any office on the Republican side is trying to show that he or she is more conservative than their Republican colleague. It’s shameful the depths they are willing to take this dangerous game.

What’s next? Repeal the emancipation proclamation along with the 13^th and 15^th amendments as well? It wouldn’t surprise me one bit! Seriously! Don’t even mention the politics of fear that is always used to sway voters. The fear mongering and demagoguery is appalling and shameful.

Pandering to white voters fear and racial insecurities serves no purpose what so ever. The media often talks about the post racial era we’re in with the election of President Obama. I beg to differ. Racism has reared its ugly head once again. Playing to the electorate’s racial fears is only helping us take a quantum leap backwards.

I am hopeful that the majority of Americans find this behavior abhorrent and unacceptable. In the end cooler and rational heads will prevail and stop this madness. The constitution has served our nation well and has righted some grievous wrongs in our country’s history. Repealing the 14^th amendment would make us the laughing stock of the free world as well as the biggest hypocrites in the world.

In the days following the Shirley Sherrod race scandal much has been debated about racism, reverse racism and playing the race card. The conservative blogger who placed a snippet of the video from her NAACP speech intentionally omitted her speech in its entirety. This has stirred much debate and consternation on the issue that most Americans prefer to avoid-race!

The Obama administration’s reaction to this was quick and decisive. So quick; as a matter of fact, that they didn’t do any fact checking to validate the video post by the conservative blogger. Irreparable harm has been done to Ms. Sherrod due to the administration’s action or should I say reaction to the video that was played over and over in the media news cycle. It’s understandable that president Obama wanted to quell any potential controversies over being soft on reverse racism. However, in the administrations rush to judgment a good woman’s reputation has been damaged.

All of this of course was generated by the feud between the tea party and the NAACP. The NAACP rightly accusing the tea party fringe elements of overt racist rhetoric started a feud. The conservative blogger honestly was looking for revenge to put the NAACP on notice by posting the video of Ms. Sherrod’s speech. The firestorm of controversy has yet to abate an unlikely will anytime soon. The one positive that has come out of this controversy is that it has forced Americans to address the issue of race-the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

The media has proclaimed that the United States is in a racial stalemate. I couldn’t agree more! Everyone seems to get queasy at the mere mention of race unless you’re with your own particular group and then openly discuss it. Before America can heal we must confront it openly, even if it hurts. Our nation after 300 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow and legal segregation has yet to reconcile this ugly stain on our country’s history.

What’s compounding this racial quagmire is the fact that we are in a down economy essentially rescued from a depression at the end of 2008. As our history has shown us during recessions and poor economies people of color and immigrants are often the scapegoat as the root cause of our economic woes. We are exactly in that type of economic cycle right now. We see this on the nightly news in all its forms; the controversy surrounding illegal immigration which for all intent and purposes is targeting Latino immigrants in general and Mexicans in particular.

Ms. Sherrod as of this point has declined the offer to return to the USDA, she has accepted the administration’s apology for their rush to judgment. I can’t say I blame her. This woman in her speech was basically sharing her story about redemption and how people can change. Her father was brutally murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia and the murderer was never prosecuted. She was forced to live in brutal segregated conditions of the deep South. It’s no wonder she even talks to white people after an experience like that. Not excusing racism but one can see how our lives are shaped by our life experiences. We are the sum total of our life experiences.

The white farmer that she allegedly did not offer the” full weight of what she could do” to help him has come out in support of her. In an interview on NBC news he had stated that she saved his farm and that she’s a good person and that she has his full support.

With all the hyperbole surrounding this race scandal it has become evident to this writer that reverse racism is not the issue, karma is the issue! There are elements in the right wing fringe of this country that fear a black nation. What I mean by that is that as more blacks climb to power i.e. the Presidency, Attorney General etc. there seems to be a fear that with blacks taking control they will exact revenge on whites for centuries of slavery, racism and oppression.

Nothing could be further from the truth in spite of all of the terrible experiences that generations of blacks have suffered we have always been forgiving. Willing to reconcile, willing to forgive and turn the other cheek. Sure there are fringe elements in the black community as well; however most blacks by and large are God-fearing Christians who abhor violence, racism or any other abhorrent behavior that is not deemed to be Christian.

In conclusion, this has been a teachable moment for all of us; given the viral nature of the Internet instant access and 24-hour loop style news cycles. We should revisit good old-fashioned journalism via fact checking. Had this been done at the onset of this scandal it would not have blown up in epic proportions stirring controversy and smoke screening the real issues we need to worry about as Americans.

The ax has fallen on the fate of Gen. Stanley McChrystal; His insubordination has cost him his job. This is not the first time a general has been called on the carpet by the president. History is full of examples where presidents and generals have clashed.

The most notable examples of history are the famous clashes between Pres. Abraham Lincoln and General George B. McClellan. General McClellan frustrated Pres. Lincoln more and longer than any other general during the Civil War. He was eventually replaced by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. We all know how the story ends.

During world war II President Harry Truman and Gen. MacArthur clashed to the point that he was removed from the Pacific for insubordination. However something appears to be different with this current clash. In the previous examples neither General questioned the legitimacy of the president.

The case involving general McChrystal not only involves him, but also numerous staff under his charge. This situation is particularly egregious which shows total disrespect for the office of the president. In previous clashes between presidents and generals there was a rift because of difference of opinion on military tactics, not politics or personal attacks.

The journalist from Rolling Stone magazine who had traveled with general McChrystal and his staff was appalled at the lack of decorum. In an interview with NPR radio the journalist was asked if general McChrystal was aware that he was on the record and was being taped, the journalists said unequivocally; yes!

As the interview continued with the journalist from Rolling Stone he make constant reference to the lack of respect for the office of president and the candor at which he discussed the Obama administration and key staff members.

General McChrystal’s rogue attitude is nothing new. He has been called on the carpet on at least on two occasions by this president. Going back to his days at West Point he was always pushing the envelope as far as he could. He’s an expert at pushing the envelope up to the point where he could compromise himself. It won’t work this time.

Chris Matthews on hardball is saying pretty much what a lot of people are thinking. This situation is almost surreal in that the total lack of respect and decorum for this president is appalling. It’s unprecedented. Unfortunately, there is a large section of the American population who does not recognize the fact that president Obama is the president. These are the people that will not accept his presidency as legitimate. It appears that Gen. McChrystal maybe one of these people.

Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower did not tolerate insubordination, insolence or disrespect from their generals; history is on their side as having made the right call. President Obama is no different in the final analysis history will be on his side for making the right call.