Senator Rob Portman recently announced that he would not be seeking re-election in 2022. He cited the gridlock in Washington as a reason after serving two terms in the Senate. Since Portman’s announcement, some news outlets celebrate him as a respectable policy wonk who focuses on legislation rather than media appearances.
Portman’s tenure in the Senate was anything but respectable. He was an integral component of the gridlock he cites as his reason for his proposed retirement. Portman was a part of the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. He didn’t acknowledge President Biden’s win until…
Netflix’s “Kings of Jo’Burg,” is a South African series released in December 2020. It is an action-drama and mystical fantasy film about a crime family, the Masires, who share an uncommon bond, and law enforcement’s quest to stop them. I was delighted to watch a well-produced African movie that showcased wealthy black South Africans driving a Rolls Royce, living in mansions, and riding Ducatis. But, I was disappointed to see the film as a dramatic iteration of misogyny and intra-black xenophobia.
I am not writing to burst your bubble or run down a well-directed African movie if you love the…
Trump leaves sorrow, tears, and blood in his trail
The whirlwind of Trump’s chaotic presidency comes to an end, leaving behind destructive remnants that would take years to clean, clear, or rebuild. A Capitol still reeling from the violent assault by Trump supporters, a political crater that could prove difficult to level, a permanent dent on America’s democracy…
The twice impeached, one-term president is handing over a nation debilitated by the pandemic, with deaths now over 400,000 and estimated to reach half a million by February. The beleaguered president is leaving a country with bottled-up grief because he did not allow America to grieve its dead. He downplayed the…
He doesn’t deserve an honorable discharge for inciting an insurrection
We watched in horror on January 6, 2021, as angry Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. They armed themselves with guns, sledgehammers, cuffs, zip ties, pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, and other weapons of destruction. They were egged on by a recalcitrant President Trump who has continually lied to them since November that Democrats stole the election from him.
They attacked the Capitol thirsty for blood, bent on harming, arresting, or possibly killing their perceived enemies, Vice President Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Chuck Schumer, and others.
It was an insurrection without…
This is not a drill. This is not a test. We are in the middle of a coup! Every day, the president denies losing the election while buoyed on by associates and some congressional Republicans is a day of an active coup. I grew up in a series of coups and dictatorships in Nigeria. I am a survivor of authoritarian regimes and their cabals that bend the truth to fit the dictator’s agenda. They create alternate realities and force-feed lies to the public while discrediting the free press and persecuting journalists with integrity.
It has been over three weeks since…
7 Ways To Approach Your 2021 Goals
As the pandemic year of 2020 became a historical reference to its gains and losses, appointments and disappointments. We start to expect the beginning of a new chapter in the new year. Some of us are jaded by the chaos and unpredictability of 2020 stemming from the pandemic and the unexpected changes it imposed. Some of those changes are now normal and will remain so in 2021.
The new year is like a new page in a yet an unwritten book, a blank page with mysteries that we only hope would be kind…
In the midst of a pandemic that has killed over 330,000 Americans, over 3,000 Americans per day since Thanksgiving and a country that is in the middle of an attempted coup being orchestrated by a president who has refused the result of a free and fair election, a reclusive terrorist, Anthony Warner blasted downtown Nashville on Christmas Day.
While investigation is still ongoing, authorities believe that Warner was a solo actor without ties to any organized terrorist group, however his motives are still unclear.
There are speculations that he might be upset about the results of the November 3, 2020…
The 2020 election is a battle to save a flailing democracy from a plagued regime.
Joe Biden has defined the upcoming election as “the battle for the soul of America.” It is questionable if America has only one soul. The reality is that America has many souls and diverse manifestations of its prevailing norms. The country was born with a soul that professed that “all men are created equal.” Yet, Blacks were considered 3/5th human and not worthy of personhood or American citizenship, a soul that disenfranchised all women and thrived on white supremacy.
Over time, the American souls have evolved as involuntary servitude was constitutionally outlawed in the 13thAmendment to the Constitution, white women…
During the vice presidential debate, a live fly took residence on Pence’s white hair as if attracted to a foul turd.
Vice President Pence was grim and dour through the debate, finding it difficult to defend the Trump administration’s failures. On the other hand, Senator Kamala Harris was lively and excited to present an alternative to the American people of what a Biden-Harris presidency will bring.
In response to the administration’s inadequate response to the Covid19 pandemic, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans, Vice President Pence defended the administration’s effort by praising the American people for their sacrifice.
Pence’s…
The first presidential debate of 2020 was a shameful display of presidential buffoonery. I wish I can un-watch it and erase its ignoble memories from my mind. It was a night of presidential tantrums, bullying, boorishness, and calculated disruption of process.
Trump was totally out of control. He talked out of turn, talked over his opponent and the moderator. He deliberately violated the rules of the debate and whined like a petulant preschooler.
The president couldn’t even condemn white supremacists when asked to do so; instead, he told them to “stand back and stand by.” He sidestepped the question about…
Emmanuel Olawale
Attorney, Podcaster, Author of “Flavor of Favor: Quest for the American Dream.”
