America’s Next Great Pundit?

I may either be getting myself into a great opportunity or I may have made one of the most boneheaded moves in my blogging life. It all depends on how things play out or if I even get to the point of being selected as a contender.

I just threw my hat in the ring for a contest by the Washington Post called “The Next Great American Political Pundit”. The prize is an opportunity to be a freelance editorial columnist for the Washington Post print and online editions. The following is where it gets interesting.

The Post will pick the top ten entries. The ten people picked (based on the merits of a 400-word opinion essay and a 100-word bio) will go through a series of “challenge rounds” every week that will test their mettle as political pundits. These challenges include activities such as holding their own in a video interview, writing on deadline, and fielding questions from readers in an online chat.

The contestants will be critiqued by a panel of Post columnists as well as voted on by the general public. A single winner will be selected after all is said and done and will be crowned “America’s Next Great Political Pundit.”

Yes, I can see the rolled eyes already. It is a political columnist version of American Idol or America’s Next Top Model. The concept has been panned by bloggers across the political spectrum and the Washington Post, itself has been called out for turning to a PR stunt. Why don’t they, instead, just hire a young, hotshot editorial columnist? There are lots of talented, provocative writers out there who can easily fill an editorial column.

My thinking:

• This is potentially something fun. I enjoy watching shows like American Idol and participating in a similar contest is something that I have always wanted to try.

• If I get picked to be in the top ten who will go through challenges this will be an opportunity to provide mainstream exposure to books, authors, ideas, activists I support. I’ve rarely seen mainstream editorial pages tackle issues such as the wide dissatisfaction of people with the two-party system, reforms like Instant Runoff Voting and the National Popular Vote, third party and independent activism, etc. This has been my blogging niche since 2007 and this is how I plan on continuing if I get picked.

• This is an opportunity to get a Post editorial column in my resume. At the end of the day, the prize is still something that a lot of would-be writers would kill for.

• I crafted my entry to the contest as a political independent urging the American political system be leveled to provide equal playing time for third parties and independents. That’s what I believe and what I really want and I think this contest will be an opportunity to give mainstream exposure to that type of argument.

Great opportunity or boneheaded move? You decide. It all depends on whether I get picked for the top ten and actually go through the challenge rounds. If I do y’all will be the first to know.

Holding Their Ground in Columbia Heights

Long before Columbia Heights became one of the hottest development sites, before its Metro station opened and before D.C. officials announced a $149 million plan to build a neighborhood mall with a Target and other big-box stores, Maria Zuniga lived at 1458 Columbia Road NW.

So did Maria Salgado and Maria Rivas and Maria Guevara and Maria Gavidia and Maria Herrera and Maria Amaya.

They and about 40 other immigrant households were residing in a building that a District housing inspector labeled in January 1999 "a danger to the health and safety of persons in or about the premises." There were roaches and rodents, and cold water flowed from the hot-water tap.

The tenants also faced threats from a landlord and manager trying to empty the building to convert it to condominiums. But the residents -- urban pioneers from villages in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia and Ecuador -- had another plan. With an army of volunteers, they wrote a new ending to the gentrification story: 1458 Columbia Road did indeed go condo, but these low-income tenants managed to buy their building. In a neighborhood of $450,000 condos, they found a way to provide homes for families earning $24,000 to $40,000 a year.

Full article here from the Washington Post

Liberal Arts Dude sez:

After all the horror stories about the nationwide housing crisis I thought this story of immigrants winning affordable housing for themselves in high-priced Washington DC was a major victory for these working-class folks. Columbia Heights is just a stone's throw away from where I live and I am glad to see that there will be an oasis of affordable housing units as a result of their efforts.

Some of the comments were pretty ignorant and mean-spirited and targeted the ethnicity of the subjects of the article. For the life of me I don't understand the vitriol. What I see is a shining example of working-class people who by organizing and sticking to their guns accomplished something remarkable in advocating for themselves.

Barbaric Torture

Back in January 27, 2005, Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.”

Well it looks like the Bush administration has allowed many of our soldiers to become (and/or continue) to be, uncivilized, brutal, cruel, and barbaric towards the people of Iraq.

WaPo reports many soldiers support torture, U.S. Troops Lacking in Ethics with many soldiers supporting torture and other forms of abuse against Iraqi civilians. An Army report also indicates our troops face higher rates of mental illness due to longer deployments.

I guess the United States under the Bush administration has no problem having our soldiers torture and kill non-combatants as a strategy in war. One has to wonder if the "mass killing" and "civilian victimizations" attributed to insurgents is American driven?

Your thoughts?

African American Political Pundit is a regular contributor to Mirror On America