Bond, as in bondage

July 8, more than any day in recent memory, demonstrated the need for the black community to discard the leadership of people like Julian Bond. That day marked the 93rd annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The convention was crudely titled "Freedom Under Fire." The venomous chairman of the NAACP, Julian Bond, was typical of the conference, lambasting the Bush administration, corporations, black conservatives and white males across America. Bond began by comparing Texas' homegrown presidents: "from the mighty oak of civil rights, Lyndon Baines Johnson, to Bushes." A tacky pun but not a shock from the organization that blamed then-Gov. George W. Bush for the dragging murder of James Byrd. A bit later, Bond did his bit for black-Muslim relations: " ... in America's streets, there is gender, there is race, there is religion. Since the (Sept. 11) attacks, people who look like Arabs or Muslims have been harassed, assaulted, even killed." It's incredible how the radical left has shifted attention from 3,000 Americans slaughtered by terrorists to a handful of Muslim or Arab-looking people harassed or assaulted by Americans. Bond hadn't even hit his stride. After mentioning that "dissent" would be continued even as the War on Terrorism progresses, Bond remarked: "The world doesn't need more weapons and walls; it needs less intolerance, ignorance and disease." Great idea. We'll put down our arms and sing "Feelings" while they fly planes into our buildings. Bond continued: "We don't need more tax cuts." Bond is obviously not intelligent enough to understand what he is advocating; if he were, he would know that he is calling for higher unemployment, a drop in real wages and a lower standard of living. Bond stands for policies that damage the black community. After finishing his piddling attempts at reason, Bond resorted to name-calling. President Bush was in the "snake-oil" business and owes his election "more to a dynasty than to democracy." Later in the speech, Bond accused Bush of getting "a good job because Dad was president of the company -- or president of the United States." John Ashcroft became "J. Edgar Ashcroft," a "cross between J. Edgar Hoover and Jerry Falwell." In Bond's view, conservatives are a merging of Satan with Captain America. Bond gave his audience a remedial spelling lesson: "When you take the JUST -- J-U-S-T -- out of JUSTICE, that leaves I-C-E -- ICE." Too bad you can't take the BOND out of BONDAGE. After all of this, Bond must have worn himself out, because he started parroting Hillary Clinton. "There is a right-wing conspiracy," he grandly stated, "operating out of the United States Department of Justice ... the Office of the White House Counsel ... the United States Commission on Civil Rights ... " Sadly, Bond forgot to mention the Office of Magical Pink Elephants. Suddenly, Bond got a second wind, calling all conservative black leaders "black hustlers and hucksters ... ventriloquist's dummies" and accusing influential white conservatives of "buying blacks at a few bucks a head." Nice. Vouchers, that devil's tool, are opposed by "freedom-loving people and the NAACP." It's interesting that Bond distinguishes between freedom-loving people and the NAACP. As Bond's hodgepodge of nonsensical blabber reached its conclusion, Bond summed up the NAACP wonderfully: "Anyone who shares our values and mission is more than welcome." And if you don't share NAACP values, you're either a white oppressor or a mint-julep-fetchin' Uncle Tom. Bond isn't alone in his misguided rhetoric. Jesse Jackson declared at the convention that President Bush and John Ashcroft were "the most threatening combination in our lifetime." Al Sharpton, meanwhile, was out campaigning for Michael Jackson, confirming the Thing of Pop's assessment of the record industry as "racist." Julian Bond is shooting his own constituency in the back. Instead of focusing on real problems within the black community, Bond puts his priority on insulting Bush and Ashcroft, maintaining high taxes and killing school vouchers. There are many wonderful black spokesmen out there: Condoleeza Rice, Thomas Sowell, Alan Keyes, Larry Elder. If the black community wants leadership that will address its needs, it can do better than Julian Bond.