Transcript of All Commentaries for March-April 2006**

COMMENTARY #1        LISTEN NOW!*

The new President of Liberia – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – offers the brightest promise the world has yet seen for the democratic future and opportunity of the African Continent. She is in tune with the best political traditions on both sides of the Atlantic, having studied and worked in America as well as Kenya and Liberia in the past 30 years. This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community. Mrs. Sirleaf also provides the Bush Administration with a forceful and viable ally in carrying out U.S. efforts to help combat Africa’s health and disease problems.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #2        LISTEN NOW!*

Volunteering over 20 years ago to serve on the board of the District of Columbia’s  Lighthouse for the Blind resulted in meeting up with a fellow board member, John Thompson, whose son-in-law became an outstanding friend. This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community. The friend, who, it is sad to report, died recently at age 67, was Gerard Francis Schiappa, whereas his father-in-law John Thompson is still a vigorous 97 impaired unfortunately, and somewhat ironically after his Lighthouse service, by failed vision problems.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #3        LISTEN NOW!*

Coretta Scott King’s recent passing reminded me that too many obituary writers seem unaware that she was not a woman brought out of the shadows of obscurity and inconsequence by Martin Luther King, Jr. Coretta was to her husband, in fact, more like Hillary Rodham was to her spouse.  This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community. Both of these prominent women were accomplished self-starters before they ever laid eyes on the man they would marry. Both came from affluent family backgrounds and both were educated so they could help influence and guide to success the man they wedded.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #4        LISTEN NOW!*

     Historian-researcher Claude Allen has done all basketball fans a big favor by concentrating on the origins of the sport and the role black players had in making it so popular with all races, creeds and colors. This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community. Allen reminds us that the game was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, for whom today’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, is named. And beginning just slightly more than 20 years later, black teams began forming a League called the “Black Fives” in cities throughout the Northeast U.S.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #5        LISTEN NOW!*

Thanks to an enterprising and imaginative American named Robert Davis who studied Chinese in College and then went to China to perfect his knowledge of the language while teaching English now the official second language of the People’s Republic – thirty-five hundred Chicago school children are studying Chinese these days. This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community.  Seven years ago Davis returned from Beijing and persuaded Chicago Public School officials they ought to get the jump on the world’s number two language in use. Now other educators are paying attention to the idea.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #6        LISTEN NOW!*

In case your pockets were just emptied by paying $2.50 or more per gallon for a tank of gasoline, don’t blame the Arabs, oil companies or the White House. Just blame those really responsible; the Congress. This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community. Back when the environmental activist lobby discovered  that their earlier insistence on using the chemical additive MTBE to lower contamination of the atmosphere was now contaminating our ground water, Congress failed to provide refineries with MTBE liability protection from tort lawyers. And that now triggers higher gas costs.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #7        LISTEN NOW!*

Columnist Nat Henthoff and the President of the Lincoln Institute were broadcasters over 30 years ago when the FCC’s so-called “Fairness Doctrine” dominated the airwaves and discouraged broadcasting free speech or any political opinions.  This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of freedom in the black community.  Thanks to their efforts and the fighting spirit of others, the FCC withdrew the Doctrine in 1987 though quite a few broadcast stations sustained real harm and a few lost their licenses for resisting the unconstitutional rule. But now some people want to bring the Doctrine back.  Complete Commentary

COMMENTARY #8        LISTEN NOW!*

Some thoughtful citizens are rallying support for a Constitutional Amendment designed to save the Constitution from judicial interference that sometimes amounts to judges appropriating legislative authority not granted by the American people or their Congressional reps.  This is Jay Parker with the Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C. –  the independent voice of  freedom in the black community. What is proposed is what long ago was suggested by Chief Supreme Court Justice John Marshall – a Fair Construction Amendment – which would spell out the fundamental disciplines intended by America’s “founding fathers” and make their violation by a judge subject to impeachment.  Complete Commentary
 

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