Like the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln presents scholars, especially African American scholars, with quite a conundrum. On the one hand, here is the man who is given credit for freeing the slaves, the Great Emancipator. On the other, Lincoln was a man who publicly and privately professed a belief that blacks, whether slave or free were inferior to whites–clearly Lincoln must have thought of Frederick Douglass as an exception–and that colonization was a fine idea after all. Which Lincoln should we, especially those of us who are black, believe and admire?

Henry Louis Gates says that in order to answer that question, we might do well to consult a well-used notebook that Lincoln kept on his person dealing with the great issue of the day: slavery. In it were facts and figures he could call upon during a debate, while writing a letter or while wrestling with himself over the so-called Negro question.

They have historic responsibility and personal opportunity to vote on the START treaty before 2010 elections. Please consider calling on Thursday!!! Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will approve a treaty that will make all of us safer. The Committee will vote to approve the New START Treaty with Russia and send the treaty to the full Senate for a vote. But the tight Senate schedule means that unless Senators from both major political parties publicly call in the next two weeks for an up-or-down vote on this treaty, the Treaty may not be ratified this year.

Please ask your senators to vote “yes” on the New START Treaty.
Website

Here’s why this New START treaty is important both for national security.:

* The treaty makes us safer. The treaty will reduce the number of deployed nuclear weapons in U.S. and Russian arsenals

It's happening here: mindless nationalism coupled with the acceptance of cold-hearted mass murder. Former mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani's appearance on Meet the Press underscores the rise of the new American jackboot movement.

Giuliani emerged as an apologist for forces in America that seek the clash of cultures, many driven by a longing for Armageddon and a Christian fundamentalist notion of the rapture. This idea of salvation through apocalypse echoes the Nazi belief that God was on their side during World War II in the holocaust against perceived lesser people.

Giuliani shamelessly attacked Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf for wanting to build an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan. This makes no sense. Should we fight against building Christian community centers in Oklahoma City that are within a few blocks of the old federal building? After all, Tim McVeigh was a member of the racist and radical Christian Identity sect. Shouldn't we suspect all Christians of being terrorists and murderers because McVeigh was a Christian?

At a a recent filing at the PUCO, Duke Energy claimed that they cannot meet the energy efficiency standard once it hits 2% annually, and is trying to justify the building of a nuclear plant instead. There are a number of concerns here. First, many market potential studies have proven that Ohio’s standard is both technically and economically feasible, but if Duke is allowed to gut the standard, we think other utilities may try too. Also, many technologies are safer, cleaner, and cheaper than building a new nuclear plant including energy efficiency, wind power, and combined heat and power. We need to make sure the PUCO holds Duke accountable for securing the cheapest and safest resources possible, otherwise customer rates will go up and we will be stuck with a nuclear plant that we don’t need. There are two ways that individuals and organizations can get involved.

1. Sign the Action alert

"OK, so your heart's broken," as the old song goes. So's mine. But we have to get over it -- now -- and start taking action for the November election.

Granted, we're far from where we thought we'd be when Barack Obama was elected and people danced in the streets. Change was on its way, spearheaded by Obama's soaring words and by the millions of ordinary Americans who got involved as never before to help carry him to victory. We thought we'd finally created the opening for a historic transformation.