Frank Foster 1928 - 2011

Saxophonist, composer, and arranger Frank Foster, who died earlier this week, was a mainstay of the Count Basie Orchestra and writer of the jazz standard Shiny Stockings.

Wu Walks

Representative David Wu (D-Oregon), under pressure from an alleged sexual encounter with a female teenager, has decided to resign from office, thus sparing the populace a long, protracted affair like the scandal involving aptly named Anthony Weiner and an opportunity to keep its attention fixed on the dysfunction that is governance in Washington, D. C., the most powerful city in the world.

Amy Winehouse 1983-2011

Amy Winehouse, who was found dead in her apartment last Sunday, was a brillantly talented singer whose life was mired in addiction and related health problems.

The Debt Ceiling Crisis

This is a manufactured crisis precipitated by a Republican Party and its leadership held hostage by eighty some House freshmen beholden to the lunatic Tea Party and held bent on sticking to principles even at the expense of national interests. The truth of the matter is that Speaker John Boehner cannot control his caucus and therefore whatever concessions and compromises he has been successfully wrung from the White House and Senate Democrats are never enough to placate or satisfy his membership. Just where all this ends up is anybody's guess but one thing is certain: serious harm has already been done to the reputation and standing of the United States in the international community.

John Mackey 1941-2011

John Mackey, who died Wednesday after years of battling dementia, distinguished himself both on and off the football field: first, as one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the National Football League and then as president of the players union.

Frederick Douglass on July 4th

This being July 4th, the celebration of the nation's independence, I habitually turn to the words of the great Frederick Douglass, from a speech he delivered in 1852, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." I see this personal ritual as a way of paying homage to and remembering the sacrifices of ancestors who made it possible for me and those of my generation to be where we are today and a reminder of how far we have come as a people and how much further we need to go. In part, Douglass noted with characteristic rhetorical flourish:

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

The Lady Speaks

After pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit federal witness and evidence tampering, Prince George's County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson read the following statement that establishes a new low on the part of a corrupt politician for selfishness, arrogance and self-delusion:

I made a mistake and today I accept responsibility for my conduct. I only ask not to be defined by this mistake, but by the countless days and months and years I have devoted to serving our community and people. I look forward to continuing to serve.