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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (315185)	7/16/2009 9:10:18 PM
From: Ruffian	1 Recommendation Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 793931

Sen. Barbara Boxer, accused of race politics today during the EPW hearing While most people were paying attention to Day 4 of Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was grabbing the attention of all those watching the Environment and Public Works hearing this morning. It got very testy. Boxer was speaking to panelist Harry C. Alford, the president & CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. They first started talking about where he lived, which led to Boxer telling him, "Let me talk to you, this is friendly." That didn't last too long. Boxer then quoted a NAACP resolution that passed and put it in the record. Alford: "What does that mean?" Boxer: "Sir, we're going to put that in the record..." Alford: "What does that mean, though? The NAACP has a resolution, what does that mean?" Boxer: "Sir, they could say the same thing about what do you mean..." Alford: "I've got documentation." Boxer: "Sir, they passed it. They passed it. Now, also, if that isn't interesting you to we'll quote John Grant, who is the CEO of 100 Black Men of Atlanta." [She goes on to read quote.] Alford: "Madam Chair, that is condescending to me. I'm the National Black Chamber of Commerce and you're trying to put up some other black group to pit against me." Boxer: "If this gentlemen were here he would be proud that he was being quoted." Alford: "He should have been invited!" Boxer: "...just as he would be proud.." Alford: "It is condescending to me." Boxer: "...he's proud, I'm sure, that I am quoting him." Alford: "All that's condescending, and I don't like it. It's racial. I don't like it. I take offense to it. As an African-American and a veteran of this country, I take offense to that!" Boxer: "... offense at the fact that I would quote ...?" Alford: "You're quoting some other black man. Why don't you quote some other Asian ... or ... you are being racial here. And I think you're getting to a path here that's going to explode." Boxer reviews what she had been doing and then mentions that "there is definitely differing opinions in the black community. Just as there are in my community." Alford: "You're speaking on behalf of the black community?" Boxer: "No. I am putting in the record a statement by the NAACP." Alford: "Why?" Boxer: "Because I think it is quite relevant." Alford: "... Why are you doing the Colored People Association study with the Black Chamber of Commerce?" Boxer: "I am trying to show the diversity of support that we have." Alford: "Diversity?" Boxer: "And I will go ahead and do one more diversity of support..." Eventually Alford declares, "We are referring to the experts regardless of their color. And for someone to tell me, an African-American, college-educated veteran of the United States Army that I must contend with some other black group and put aside everything else in here -- this has nothing to do with the NAACP and really has nothing to do with the National Black Chamber of Commerce. We're talking energy and that road the chair went down, I think, is god-awful."

To: LindyBill who wrote (315185)	7/17/2009 1:18:44 AM
From: unclewest	4 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793931

Fallen soldier honored for heroic effort By Henry Cuningham Military editor fayobserver.com Fallen sergeant honored for saving life of fellow soldier A year ago, Sgt. James M. Treber gave up his air pocket to save the life of a fellow soldier as they were trapped inside an overturned, flooded vehicle in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, his widow, Tamila Treber of Hope Mills, received the Soldier's Medal presented posthumously to her husband, who died in the incident. The medal is awarded for heroism outside combat. "We, too, wonder what will happen in the period of maximum peril," Brig. Gen. Michael Repass said. "Each one of us that have been in combat wonder how am I going to act? What am I going to do?" During a combat patrol, the road beneath the RG-31 Mine Protected Vehicle gave way, causing it to roll down an embankment and into a creek. The vehicle, heavily armored to protect soldiers against homemade bombs, became a death trap when overturned and filled with water. "In the case of Sgt. Treber, he answered that on June 28, without hesitation, without debate and without consultation," Repass said. "He was a man of action, not a man of words." Treber and two other soldiers died in the incident. The soldier he was helping survived. Repass is commander of U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg. He spoke at the ceremony at the rock garden of the 1st Battalion of the 7th Special Forces Group headquarters at the Army post. Seventeen stones are inscribed with the name, unit and date and place of death of members of the battalion who died in combat. Treber, who was 23 at the time of his death, entered the Army for Special Forces training and was assigned to the battalion as a weapons sergeant in November 2007. His father, Gordon Treber of Astoria, Ore., and Col. James E. Kraft Sr., the group commander, also participated in the ceremony. The award citation said: "With complete disregard for his own personal safety, he remained inside the vehicle to help a fellow soldier who had become incapacitated. As the waters rose, and suffering from hypothermia and the effects of asphyxiation himself, he continued to ensure that the wounded soldier could breath inside the small air pocket that remained while a rescue team prepared to pull the vehicle from the water." The soldiers of the 7th Group, who wear a bright red flash on their green berets, this summer are quietly preparing to return to Afghanistan for six to nine months. They have been swapping rotations with the 3rd Special Forces Group, also based at Fort Bragg. "We are turning the page," Repass said. "We are not closing the book. There are many pages in front of us still. Many of you will be returning to combat, and I ask that you remember the valor demonstrated by Sgt. Treber on June 28 of last year. Let that be an example of what you will be in a period of maximum peril."