Am I Right? tackles the auto bailout

Am I Right host Nolan Finley and Detroit Free Press deputy editorial page editor Stephen Henderson discuss the auto bailout hearings in Congress, the Blue Cross bill in Lansing and Christine Beatty's plea agreement.

December 4, 2008 Am I Right Webcast

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Rate The Speeches

The Democrats are convening in Denver and we want to know what you think. Post your thoughts and take a moment to rate the speeches. We will be updating the list as the convention goes on.

This Is A Sport?

If I have my way I will be reporting from the Beach Volley Ball venue at the next Olympiad. I will make that appeal to my boss right away. I think I'm kidding. But really, have you seen this almost naked display of long-legged athletic women jumping and diving in the sand? Am I dreaming?

Honestly though, these women are phenomenal athletes if you can get past all the skin and enjoy the games. The appeal and allure of beach volley ball comes from the uniforms or lack there of. Truth be told, most guys will tell you that those super-fit women in this barely-there uniforms, is great TV and don't think the NBC doesn't realize it.

I could go on and on but I won't. I just hope my boss realizes how deeply I care about the sport of beach volley ball and sees fit to assign me to the next event.

Tony Mottley is the producer of the Am I Right? Show.

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We're getting closer to the goal, but we still aren't there. Now I have an idea. The more people who participate in The Campaign for Detroit Public TV, the higher the chances are that we'll reach our goal. Think about how hundreds or thousands of gifts online can really add up!
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The Greening of Detroit

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Detroit Stories -- Tiger Stadium Is Coming Down

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The End Is Here For Old Ball Park

On Monday I ventured to the corner of Michigan and Trumbull to see the demolition of Tiger Stadium with my own eyes. I guess it's sad, I didn't feel sad watching it. It was more surreal. It was a clinical demolition. Slowly but surely segments of the outfield walls fell away revealing the field where Tiger legends once roamed. Take some time to look at my photos below and also watch our new web-only video produced on Monday. It's the first in a series we call Detroit Stories.

Tony Mottley is the producer of the Am I Right? Show


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Pelosi dishonest on oil supplies

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on the Bush administration to release part of the strategic oil reserve to spare Americans from rising gasoline and heating oil bills.

Clearly, the California Democrat understands the relationship between supply and price. And yet Pelosi remains staunchly opposed to tapping into America's vast offshore and Alaskan oil pools.
What, then, does she suggest the nation do once it burns through its strategic reserves, which have been aside to protect the country against supply interuptions, and not price spikes. Where will the new supplies come from to moderate prices?

Pelosi also seems to be working against her own environmental agenda. The higher gasoline prices are forcing American motorists into more fuel efficient vehicles, precisely the objective she sought when she helped impose oppressive fuel performance standards on automakers last fall. In driving less, they're also producing less greenhouse gases, another Pelosi objective.

PThe speaker's contradictory positions reflect the nation's dishonest approach to energy.

We say we want to use less oil, and then howl when prices go up. Higher prices are the most effective means of encouraging conservation.

Politicians like Pelosi want to pretend that they can spare individual consumers the pain of their restrictive environmental policies.

That's impossible. Congress has limited oil supply by placing vast stretches of the nation off-limits to exploration, and thus helped drive up the cost of fuel. Congress increased demand for corn by adopting ethanoal mandates, and thus helped drive up food cots.

But don't hold your breath waiting for Pelosi and her peers to accept responsibility for the consequences of their policies.

~From Nolan's weblog at the Detroit News

Obama Takes America to Church

You can explain Barack Obama’s Reverend Wright dilemma easily if you understand his history. Obama was drawn to Jeremiah Wright and his influential Chicago church in his mid-twenties as he searched for his African American identity. Barry, as he was known as a young man, didn’t really have a strong black male influence in his life as he grew up. His Kenyan father deserted the family while he was a young boy and he was raised mostly by his white grandfather. His struggle to define him self as a black man was normal.

Obama learned plenty at Trinity United Church of Christ and he’s using much of it to win the presidency. His rhetorical style and wry humor are straight out of the black church experience. More importantly he has used a hybrid of black church basket passing and slick internet fund raising to raise campaign funds like we’ve never seen. The Obama campaign fund raising machine is an electronic styled black church $25.00 offering line done on the web that produces tens of millions of dollars.

Even his mega rallies have hints of a mega-church service, fainting included. There is a subtly to it, but make no mistake Obama has taken pieces of the black church to mainstream America and many have become members.

Tony Mottley is the producer of the Am I Right? Show.

Obama Does Detroit

A peaceful gathering of more than 20,000 metro Detroit area residents pack the Joe Louis arena in downtown Detroit to hear presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama speak. Former Vice President Al Gore made a surprise appearance to endorse Obama.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm got the main event started with brief remarks. The lady governor drew a chorus off boos from many in the crowd when she brought up the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Granholm was trying to make a point about Clinton’s achievements but the crowd wasn’t having it. She went on to admit her prior support for the New York senator before saying how it was time to unite behind Obama.

The appearance of Al Gore was a last minute surprise and Gore was in good form. If he had presented himself as well in 2000 when he ran for the Oval office he would have gotten elected.

Gore made points with the audience when he spoke of the need for green energy sources, compared the Obama candidacy to JFK, and the need to turn the page on eight years of the Bush presidency.

Barack Obama came forward with an air of confidence that borders on cockiness. He gave the crowd what they came to hear. His message touched on fair trade, jobs in the 21st century, renewable energy and access to education. The larger point Obama made was that the campaign is not about him, it’s about the people --a smart play on his part.

For all the talk about change and energizing young folks, if Obama can’t get people to the polls in November republican nominee John McCain will be the next president.

Tony Mottley is the producer of the Am I Right? Show.

DNC pays price for messing up Michigan

The Democratic National Committee will have only itself to blame if its presidential nominee wins with an asterisk.

Sen. Barack Obama, after winning big in North Carolina and battling to a virtual tie in Indiana Tuesday night, has all but secured the Democratic nomination.

But it might have been a different story if Michigan and Florida had been allowed to hold primaries that counted. Clinton was the favorite in both states, but never got a chance to put them in her column because the DNC insisted on punishing them for moving up their primaries.

With wins in Michigan and Florida, Clinton would likely be ahead in the popular vote, and perhaps in delegates. With the two states on the sidelines, Obama likely wins a contest that Clinton backers are already calling illegitmate.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean made a mess of Michigan and Florida by putting rules ahead of results.

If he couldn't come up with a solution for getting fair and meanignful primaries in those two states, it's hard to see how Dean can keep the increasing bitterness between the Clinton and Obama camps from hurting Democratic chances this fall.

Posted by Nolan Finley on Tue, May 6, 2008 at 10:38 PM

Wright Sets The Record

In his much anticipated speech at Sunday evening's 53rd Annual Detroit Branch NAACP Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, Reverend Jeremiah Wright gave the Cobo crowd of more than 11,000 and a CNN TV audience a few lessons. What did we learn? From Chapter President, Reverend Wendell Anthony's introduction we learned that Dr. Wright dropped out of seminary after three and a half years to join the Marine Corps. We learned that Wright served our country for six years and then completed his education.

Wright speaks six languages and is well versed in the traditions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. He taught us that Arabic is a language not a religion. (So we shouldn't be afraid of Barack Obama's middle name Hussein.) The controversial Reverend also gave lesson's about black speech and music idioms and that different does not mean deficient.

In sticking with the evening's theme of A Change is Gonna Come, Wright emphasized that the overcoming will come when we set aside the view that those of who are different from us are inferior and embrace our diversity.

In the immediate aftermath, some commentators saw Wright's speech as divisive and injurious to the Obama campaign. However, it's clear that Wright speaks for Wright alone. Barack Obama has been unfairly cast as a villain in the "controversy" brought on by Wright's trial by YouTube. If not for the media frenzy to attach Obama to Wright, most who are put off by Wright's remarks would most likely have ignored him altogether.

Tony Mottley is the producer of the Am I Right? Show.

At Least Obama's an Honest Elitist

The Democratic presidential contest in Pennsylvania is coming down to this question: Who's the elitist -- Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?

Obama, having weathered the racist rantings of his preacher, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, now is taking fire for posing the theory that small town Americans cling to their guns and churches out of frustration with their miserable lives.

Clinton pounced, as you would expect her to, saying the remarks confirm that Obama is out of touch with the common man.

She's right. There's something effete about Obama -- did you see him try to bowl? -- and despite his experience as a neighborhood organizer in Chicago, you get the feeling that the Harvard-trained lawyer never got his hands dirty in that job or any other.

But Clinton is as much an elitist as Obama. She just workers harder to hide it.

The New York senator has seldom looked more ridiculous than she did throwing back a whiskey shot in a lunch bucket bar to emphasize the differences between her and Obama.

Or as she recalled fondly for her drinking buddies how her father took her behind the family's summer cottage -- the one her grandfather built by hand; the one that didn't have heat or hot water -- to teach her how to shoot a gun.

That sounded like another Clinton fairy tale. Does the Wellesley feminist really make a habit of belting back cheap hooch with the boys before firing off a few rounds?

Was she channeling John Kerry trying to buy himself a hunting license?

Neither Clinton nor Obama have any idea what it's like to be an average American. The breed is a curiosity to both of them.

But at least Obama isn't trying to reinvent himself into the common man.

And that may give him an edge on Clinton. Voters are looking for candidates who are genuine, not necessarily ones who pull on flannel shirts and work boots and belly up to the bar.

Obama is an elitist who doesn't pretend otherwise. Clinton is an elitist who has pretended to be so many different things that even she can't tell which one's the real deal.

Posted by Nolan Finley on Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 4:06 PM

Johnson’s Comments About Obama are Telling But Untrue

You’d think after the misguided comments he made in January about Barack Obama’s drug use, BET founder Bob Johnson would have learned his lesson. Apparently he hasn’t.

Johnson made the following comments Tuesday in a published report in the Charlotte Observer.

"What I believe Geraldine Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called `Jerry Smith' and he says I'm going to run for president, would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote?" Johnson said. "And the answer is, probably not... ."

"Geraldine Ferraro said it right. The problem is, Geraldine Ferraro is white. This campaign has such a hair-trigger on anything racial ... it is almost impossible for anybody to say anything."

Can Johnson really be picking up Ferraro’s argument and attempting to advance it?

The comments are both despicable and ridiculous. There are no facts to back the argument that Obama is leading Clinton among registered black voters simply because he’s black. In fact there is much evidence to the contrary. In an October 2007 CNN poll, Senator Hillary Clinton had a commanding 57 percent to 33 percent lead over Obama.

Just a few months later the tables turned. In a January 2008 survey by CNN/Opinion Research Corp., 59 percent of black Democrats backed Obama, for their party's presidential nomination, with 31 percent supporting Clinton, the senator from New York.

What happened? Well it was during a January appearance for the New York senator in Columbia that Bob Johnson first stepped into controversy, referring to Obama and "what he was doing in the neighborhood." The comment was a veiled reference to Obama’s drug use as a youth. Johnson later apologized for the remark, but the damage was done.

The Clinton campaign is still getting it wrong. They want us to believe that in the arena of political ideas and personality, Senator Obama is winning simply because he’s black. That’s an insult to the blacks, middle class whites and independents that support Obama in large numbers.

If simply being black was the issue than any black guy could be President. Not likely. Obama is not Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or Alan Keyes or any other “brother”. He’s a smooth resilient politician with a message and style that resonates with voters.

If Hillary’s attack dogs focused more on Obama’s message and why voters are reacting to it positively, they might have a chance. Instead they keep covering their eyes and shouting, “He’s winning because he’s black.”

Maybe they need to look in the mirror. After a series of gaffes and misstatements, that some would call outright lies; Senator Clinton’s ability to tell the truth is being questioned.

A Charlotte Observer/WCNC poll finds North Carolina voters believe Hillary Clinton is far less trustworthy than either Barack Obama or John McCain. More than half of those surveyed, 54 percent, described McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, as trustworthy, while 48 percent said they trust Obama. Only 25 percent say Clinton is trustworthy.

Maybe Obama has his largest lead of the campaign in the Gallup national tracking polls, not because he’s black but because voters find him credible.

By Tony Mottley Am I Right? Show producer.

Richardson Endorsement A Major Blow to Clintons?

The highly courted endorsement of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has gone to Barack Obama. Is Richardson’s decision to back Obama, despite his strong ties to the Clinton’s, a signal of disapproval to the Clinton camp?

Gov. Richardson, who gave up his bid become the nation’s first Hispanic president made the announcement at a campaign event in Oregon. Mr. Richardson, a former congressman and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, dropped out of the Democratic race in January after finishing behind Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In the face of the recent racial drama that has plagued Obama, Richardson is still backing the Senator from Illinois. “I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America’s moral leadership in the world,” Mr. Richardson said in the statement, provided by the Obama campaign.

“As a presidential candidate, I know full well Senator Obama’s unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation.”

In his statement, Mr. Richardson, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Clinton, said “there is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the judgment and courage we need in a commander in chief when our nation’s security is on the line. He showed this judgment by opposing the Iraq war from the start, and he has shown it during this campaign by standing up for a new era in American leadership internationally.”

This has to be a crushing defeat for the Clinton’s who probably thought that Richardson’s support was a sure thing. What would make Richardson break ranks from the Clinton’s to whom he owes much of his political career? What kind of retribution can he expect? Time will tell. Maybe it’s because he knows the Clinton’s too well.

By Tony Mottley Am I Right? Show producer.

New primary will highlight Kilpatrick's woes

I like the idea of a Michigan Democratic primary do-over vote. It would bring Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton back to the state for several weeks of intense campaigning.

And it would force them to talk about manufacturing, trade and other issues of particular interest to here.

But the candidates and the national press would also be coming here in the midst of the Kwame Kilpatrick scandal. If Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy does decide to bring criminal charges against the Detroit mayor, that situation will be boiling hot when the campaigns arrive.

No way we can hide it. Speculation on how Kilpatrick's troubles impact the vote will be rampant.

And if Kilpatrick sticks to the racially charged defense he launched during last week's State of the City address, it will dominate the news, particularly given Obama's presence in the campaign.

Bringing the election back here will shine a large spotlight on Michigan. But let's not kid ourselves that we'll like everything it exposes.

By Nolan Finley Am I Right? Host

Kilpatrick is his own victim

You had to know it was coming. Backed into a corner, his career and his administration crumbling, no credible defense to the scandals smothering him, and Kwame Kilpatrick reaches into his pocket and whips out the race card.

I've been called the N-word, he said in his State of the City speech Tuesday night. I've received death threats, and so has my family. I'm the victim of white racists and a sensationalistic press.

It's the play he always runs to get through trouble.

But if Kwame Kilpatrick and his family are victims of anyone, its of Kwame Kilpatrick and his ingrained belief that there should be no consequences for anything he does.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't force the mayor to start an affair with his top aide. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't force the mayor to fire three police officers to keep the affair hidden. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't force the mayor to lie under oath about both the affair and the firings. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't force the mayor to agree to a secret deal to cover up his indescetions. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't trick the City Council into approving the deal. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't use $8.4 million of taxpayer money to cover their own fannies. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The white racists and the vindictive media didn't drag the image of Detroit through the mud and bring progress in the city to a dead stop. Kwame Kilpatrick did that.

The backers of a new of cooperative spirit in Metro Detroit must have banged their heads against the wall when they heard Kilpatrick's appeal to the worst racial instincts of this region.

It's not enough that he's squandered his own potential and reputation, placed key city employees in the path of criminal charges and cost a cash-strapped community a bundle of money it didn't have.

Now he's also hell-bent on lighting the racial fires, hoping he can escape through the smoke.

By Nolan Finley Am I Right? Host

What’s On Kym Worthy’s Mind?

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday that it will take two more weeks for her to announce her findings in a criminal investigation of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Most media accounts call Worthy’s probe an examination of perjury. Maybe? Maybe not.

Worthy has subpoena power and she could get access to all the text messages and any other information that she deems relevant to her probe. We know from published reports that former Kilpatrick Chief of Staff Beatty produced more than 14,000 messages over the course of two six month periods. The cumulative number of messages from all the texting devices Worthy could have access to is staggering.

From what’s been published by the Detroit Free Press, it’s possible that Worthy may need to hire TV’s Vanna White to help her spin the wheel of possible charges.

Who’s to say whether the Feds are looking at this mess as well?

It’s all speculation for now, but many people close to the situation believe charges will be filed. Detroit City Council member Joann Watson expressed that opinion this week on WCHB's Inside Detroit program. In the meantime, we'll wait for Kym Worthy's investigation to come to a conclusion, and we’ll examine the impact from all sides when AM I RIGHT? returns on Detroit Public TV on March 28.
Am I Right? What do you think?

By Tony Mottley Am I Right? Show producer.

Ferraro Incident Reeks of Double Standard by Clinton Camp

During the February 26 before the Ohio/Texas Primaries MSNBC Democratic primary debate, co-moderator and NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned Sen. Barack Obama concerning his endorsement by controversial minister Louis Farrakhan without noting that the campaign was quoted criticizing Farrakhan in the very article Russert cited to note the minister's support, that Obama himself said in a speech the day before the debate that he is a "consistent denunciator of Louis Farrakhan," or that Obama denounced Farrakhan's comments in his response to Russert's initial question on the subject.

Even though Obama dispelled any notion that he embraced Minister Farrakhan his opponent, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton felt it necessary to chime in. Senator Clinton emphasized that it was not enough for Obama to reject support from the Nation of Islam leader, he needed to go further and denounce it as well. Obama deftly replied that he would reject and denounce if it would it put the issue to rest.

Now the shoe is on the other foot; In an interview with the Los Angeles news paper the Breeze, 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Her comments are at bizarre, racist and untrue. Like him or not Barack Obama is riding the wave of being Barack Obama – that’s his appeal. He is the worst nightmare of Senator Clinton and her supporters who sought the nomination under the I’m entitled program. Obama is a transcendent candidate who happens to be black. That’s a huge reason why his support form many mainstream black leaders came on so late. The perception was that he wasn’t black enough.

But back to Ferraro. She has been forced to step aside for making the comments. Too little to late. Senator Clinton once again offered a weak reaction. Where’s the renounce and reject? And why is it that Obama has to be sullied by comments that Minister Farrakhan made in 1984 while Senator Clinton gets a free pass while her surrogates do her dirty work?

It’s time for the Democratic Party leadership to step in and end this madness. If the Clinton/Obama feud continues much longer there may be too much bad blood to field a candidate who can win in the fall. Six more weeks of this ugliness and Clinton’s core of women supporters may not support an Obama candidacy and it’s clear after blacks voted more than 9-to-1 in support of Senator Obama that Senator Clinton is alienating black voters. No democrat can win without the full support of the black vote – see John Kerry Ohio 2004.
Am I Right? What do you think?

By Am I Right? Producer Tony Mottley

Clinton victories put Obama on the ropes

In a bout dubbed “Super Tuesday II” Senator Hillary Clinton got off the canvas and forced her opponent, Illinois Senator Barack Obama into the corner with a flurry of primary election victories. Tuesday’s early results gave Obama a victory in the Vermont primary before Mrs. Clinton stormed back with big victories in Rhode Island and Ohio and then pulling out a narrow win in bitterly contested Texas duel.

Obama got off the ropes with a late surge in the Texas caucus, but by then the damage was done. While some pundits thought Super II would be Hillary’s last stand Obama needs to tear a page from the book of rap super group Public Enemy and fight the power.

In the days leading up to Super II the Clinton machine worked overtime. Mrs. Clinton made some clever national television appearances on the Daily Show and Saturday Night Live. Both were opportunities that helped to buff her image without having to answer hard questions. Her team was also successful in getting the national media to focus more on Obama stumbles on the issues of National security and NAFTA. Obama was also caught in the crossfire of the opening phase of a criminal trial of a huge campaign donor and friend back in his home state.

The capper to Obama’s lost weekend was a story that ran on CBS juggernaut 60 Minutes in which Senator Clinton refused to reject and denounce the notion that her opponent is secretly a Muslim. Her tepid response to CBS’ Steve Croft’s inquiry was something like, “if he says so… I take him at his word.” This bit was followed by an interview with a perspiring Ohioan telling Croft that Obama was a Muslim. While Croft told the man that Obama was indeed a Christian, it’s clear the Clinton campaign of misinformation was working.

The lesson for Barack Obama is clear; the politics of fear are in full effect. And never, ever underestimate how low the Clinton’s will go to win an election.
Am I Right? What do you think?

By Am I Right? Producer Tony Mottley

McCain will have to fight for attention

Conventional wisdom seems to be that Sen. John McCain gains an advantage over his future Democratic rival by wrapping up the Republican nomination with decisive wins Tuesday night.
That's true on one front. The Arizona senator will be able to conserve resources and concentrate on raising money for the general election.
But as the Democrats battle on, all of the media attention will be on Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who apparently will emerge from yet another supposedly decisive Election Day with their race still undecided.
That means all of the ink, video tape and Internet hits will be focused on the amazing Democratic race, which promises to go on and on.
McCain will be a footnote in the campaign coverage until the Dems settle on a nominee.
If the Democratic contest continues to the party's convention in late summer, as it very well could, McCain might as well take a good, long vacation.
Am I Right? What do you think?

By Nolan Finley Am I Right? Host

Welcome to the Am I Right? Show Blog

While our station, Detroit Public Television, conducts the spring on-air fund raiser we are offering our viewers this opportunity to communicate with hosts Nolan Finley and Debbie Dingell.

There are a myriad of issues that we will continue to follow until we return to the air on Friday March 28th at 8:30 PM. Until then look for posts about the issues that matter to you.