Mandela...

[exedir]

Having waited a few days to post the subject, to say much if anything as to the life of Nelson Mandela seems to be redundant if not specious, as it is being covered by so many with so much.

The result of all that is being said and shown is a picture, an image of a man, a good man, a leader and icon to his people. And this is to be expected, and a honor deserved and needs to be respected.

However, this is not all of the legacy of Mandela, of what he represented,  of what he accomplished and he did for the country of South Africa, the nation and its people. And the legacy is larger, much larger as to the contrast and parallels to what has happened in this country as to the struggle and accomplishment of civil rights of the African-Americans and other minorities in this country as represent by what Mandela did and did not do in his.

Obviously there is the parallel of the first black presidents, in South Africa and here in America. Mandela was the Washington of his country, setting the precedent and the tone of cooperation and reconciliation as the races, divided and hostile, had to find accommodation and respect for each other, and the law that had previously oppressed the black majority for so long and with such brutality. Having served his people, and after two terms of the presidency, Mandela retired, leaving his country to move along a path that he hopefully had set the example.

And no, he was not perfect, not perfect in a number of ways, but then again, he lived a life disrupted, disjointed and separate from those that were his family, and had a committed political life that demanded sacrifice and personal loss. It is however, a wonder that he was not bitter and full of revenge for those that did such violence to him, and his associates, in order to sustain and advance the horror of apartheid, the policy of the minority against the majority of control and intimidation by color.

Mandela was recognized in his life for his accomplishments, and it is now appropriate that he be remembered and honored for that life and achievements.

It is also necessary to note that history will seek a balance of both the legend and realty of what he did, how he did it and the results obtained and carried on by those and events that followed. But in the meantime, at this moment, the story will be told, honors will be given, with there will be the retelling of memories of the past.

[LoveLife&Laughter]

Thank you for your eloquent words Ex.

I remember President Reagan's Republican-Controlled Congress and Senate bipartisanly voting for sanctions against South Africa to support Mandela's struggle against Apartheid -- only to have Reagan veto it.  Maintaining corporate business interests were more important to Conservatives than a bunch of blacks.

President Reagan's Republican-Controlled Congress and Senate then bipartisanly voted for sanctions again, over-riding Reagan's veto, and sanctions against the Apartheid State became law.

For the last couple of days I have heard Conservatives on Fox and Conservative Talk Radio lambaste Mandela as a Communist, "What a shame for South Africa."

The good news is O'Reilly finally got Sarah Palin on his show.  What a show  :0(

[ProblemAgain]

Dick Cheney Didn't Regret His Vote Against Freeing Nelson Mandela, Maintained He Was A 'Terrorist'

The Huffington Post  |  By Nick Wing Posted: 12/05/2013 6:14 pm EST  |  Updated: 12/06/2013 12:49 pm EST

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In 1986, Nelson Mandela -- the former president of South Africa who died Thursday at the age of 95 -- was serving the 23rd year of what would ultimately be a 27-year prison sentence. The Western world was finally acknowledging the true horrors of Apartheid, a system of racial segregation that denied basic rights to blacks -- including citizenship and the right to vote -- and brutally oppressed a generation of South Africans fighting for equality.

In the U.S. Congress, lawmakers were ready to show their opposition to the South African regime with the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a bill that called for tough sanctions and travel restrictions on the nation and its leaders, and for the repeal of apartheid laws and release of political prisoners like Mandela, then leader of the African National Congress (ANC).

The measure passed with bipartisan support, despite strong and largely Republican opposition. President Ronald Reagan was among those most opposed to the bill, and when he finally vetoed the measure over its support of the ANC, which he maintained was a "terrorist organization," it took another vote by Congress to override it. Among the Republicans who repeatedly voted against the measure was future Vice President Dick Cheney, then a Republican congressman from Wyoming.

Cheney's staunch resistance to the Anti-Apartheid Act arose as an issue during his future campaigns on the presidential ticket, but the Wyoming Republican has never said he regretted voting the way he did. In fact, in 2000, he maintained that he'd made the right decision.

“The ANC was then viewed as a terrorist organization," Cheney said on ABC's "This Week." "I don't have any problems at all with the vote I cast 20 years ago.''

Cheney went on to call Mandela a "great man" who had "mellowed" in the decade after his release from prison.

In 2004, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards tore into his counterpart's congressional voting record, calling out Cheney for his vote against freeing Mandela. Shortly after, Cheney historian John Nichols said that he'd spoken to Mandela about Cheney's record and worldview. Like many, Mandela was concerned:

He’s very blunt about it he says one of the many reasons why he fears Dick Cheney’s power in the United States, and Mandela does say, he understands that Cheney is effectively the President of the United States, he says, one of the many reasons that he fears Dick Cheney’s power is that in the late 1980’s when even prominent Republicans like Jack Kemp and Newt Gingrich were acknowledging the crime of Apartheid, Dick Cheney maintained the lie that the ANC was a terrorist organization and a fantasy that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist leader who deserved to be in jail. Frankly it begs very powerful question. If Dick Cheney’s judgment was that bad in the late 1980’s, why would we believe that it’s gotten any better in the early 21st century?

A handful of sitting lawmakers also voted against freeing Mandela. GOP Reps. Joe Barton (Texas), Howard Coble (N.C.) and Hal Rogers (Ky.) opposed the Anti-Apartheid Act throughout the legislative process. Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, then a Democrat, voted against the bill, but did not vote on the veto override.

[LoveLife&Laughter]

I never said Cheney’s judgment had  gotten any better in the early 21st century.  He still believes Hitler was right today.

[Ioruach]

It is nearly impossible to find an instance where one can look back and conclude that conservatives were after all correct on a particular issue.  History tends to prove them wrong every time. 

[exedir]

Not to detract from the event, but, it has to be said, the memorial was unique in so many respects.  

Of course, cultural differences exist, and as such, hard to put into another's context; the choice of speakers, the noise and attention of the crowd, national situation of politics, the weather, the taking of "selfies", and most bazaar, bogus signing.

This is a new nation, the Republic of South Africa, and it is  still seeking its way among nations and building and renewing institutions for its people and economy, in the context of significantly different cultural identities, endemic poverty and staggering  wealth disparities, of which the legacy of Mandela is only a start.