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‘There’s just too much at risk in the next cycle not to make a change’
Some Republicans are looking for a challenger to RNC Chairman Michael Steele.
WASHINGTON — Turning their attention to the 2012 presidential election, Republican leaders are digging in for a battle over control of the Republican National Committee, judging that its role in fund-raising, get-out-the-vote operations and other tasks will be critical to the effort to topple President Obama.
Some senior party officials are maneuvering to put pressure on Michael Steele, the controversial party chairman, not to seek re-election when his term ends in January or, failing that, to encourage a challenger to step forward to take him on.
So far, the effort has been tentative, with Mr. Steele’s most ardent opponents working behind the scenes to persuade an alternative to run against him — fearful that any overt moves will create a backlash in Mr. Steele’s favor among those committee members who tend to view the establishment in Washington with suspicion.
One man leading the effort is a Mississippi Republican Party committeeman, Henry Barbour, who is a nephew of Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi — a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, himself. Governor Barbour is said by people involved in the discussions to be among those eager to see a change at the top of the party and recently criticized party fund-raising under Mr. Steele.
Officials close to the presumed new House speaker, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, and the Senate minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said that both men would prefer a new chairman as well, but that they were also resigned to Mr. Steele’s continued leadership should no clear alternative emerge to defeat him.
‘Have to make a change’ In an interview Tuesday night, Henry Barbour said, “I like Mike Steele, and I’ve worked hard to support him as chairman.” But, he added, “I do think we have to make a change, and I have actively talked to some other members in the last week or so and encouraged a few of them to consider running.”
Among those Mr. Barbour has approached is a member of Mr. Steele’s “kitchen cabinet” of advisers, Reince Priebus, who is chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and who helped manage Mr. Steele’s first election for the chairmanship two years ago.
Several officials involved in the discussions, all of whom requested anonymity to share details of the talks, said Mr. Priebus had recently warned Mr. Steele that a run for re-election could prove difficult this time around, and advised him to consider leaving the chairmanship at a time when he could point to big Republican gains nationwide.
But Mr. Priebus has made it clear that he is personally uncomfortable with the idea of challenging Mr. Steele directly for the post, given their friendship.
The effort to woo Mr. Priebus was first reported Tuesday on the Web site of The Washington Post.
Mr. Steele, who did not respond to interview requests on Tuesday, has said he has not decided whether to seek re-election when his two-year term expires in January. The 168 members of the Republican National Committee, who vote on the chairman, will convene then in Washington for their winter meeting.
But he is taking steps to build the support he would need in the face of deep opposition by Republican leaders on Capitol Hill and beyond — making personal appearances and granting party money in visits across the country and even in territories like Guam and the Virgin Islands.
‘Everybody has a learning curve’ “Whether I run or not, I’m going to be judged by what’s happened over the last two years,” Mr. Steele told reporters last week, arguing that the party’s early investments in important states and races helped Republicans reach their historic victory of picking up at least 60 House seats. “I think you can safely say the party has re-emerged. It is a very different party. I think it’s a transcendent party.”
Mr. Steele conceded that his tenure had not been perfect, saying, “Everybody has a learning curve, and clearly I had mine.”
The moves against Mr. Steele are a result of a perception that has been developing for months among the party’s seasoned political hands in Washington. His critics say Mr. Steele has performed poorly at the helm. They argue that his fund-raising was lackluster and point to comments he made that at times proved distracting and were at odds with Republican orthodoxy, as when he said the war in Afghanistan was “not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”
As Henry Barbour put it, “There’s just too much at risk in the next cycle not to make a change.”
Mr. Steele said last week that he had modeled his effort after the 50-state strategy conceived by Howard Dean when he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Dean also infuriated leaders of his party four years ago by directing money and staff members to every state, not simply places where Democrats had a stronger chance to win..
Mr. Steele, his party’s first black chairman, dismissed criticism of his financial stewardship, saying he had purposefully focused on building grass-roots Republican activism rather than courting high-level donors.
But those working to remove him say a focus on high-level donors is one of the most important roles for a party chairman — if not the most important role — in a presidential election cycle.
Saul Anuzis, who represents Michigan on the Republican committee and ran for party chairman two years ago, said he was considering running again. “There clearly have been many major donors who have dropped off and have not contributed,” Mr. Anuzis said. “That’s a problem.”
But Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, voiced tentative support for Mr. Steele. He said that while the national party gave less to states than it had in recent years, the resources it did provide proved critical in his state. “I don’t have any complaints,” Mr. Wadhams said. “I think there’s a chance he could be re-elected.”
There are usually clear indications from the beginning, if you know what to look
for. Some of these signs are so clear, that a fraudulent reader might as well
put up a sign saying “RIPOFFS HERE”. Study the information or literature that
the reader has available. Be on the look out for any psychic who seems to be
trying deliberately to cultivate a “gypsy fortune teller” image. I have worked
next to true gypsy readers and have heard tales both good and bad, just like
everyone else. However, those who try too hard to cultivate such an image are
more often interested in show business than in serious substance. This often
goes together with outrageous claims: “Madame So-n-So… Knows All…Sees All”
If Madame So-n-So knows ALL…what is she doing readings at the Psychic Fair
for $20? Worst of all – I have encountered so-called “gypsy psychics” who are
not even gypsies – so they end up giving true gypsy psychics a bad name, while
exploiting their mysterious
image in the popular imagination.
The Curse Scam
If any psychic speaks to you of “curses”, and offers to remove them for a fee, I
suggest you grab your pocketbook and head for an exit. If I said anything, I
would tell such a person that I don’t believe in curses, but I do know a scam
when I hear one. If I had not yet paid, I would not offer to. If you are at a
psychic fair, and something like this happens to you, report the incident to the
fair management. In big psychic fairs you will be refunded any money paid, and
the reader will be fined or expelled. The promoter has an interest in running a
“clean” fair, and will want to know if anyone is “scamming” this way. It is
fraud, and it’s against the law. “Curses” are nothing but a prelude to an
escalating series of demands by the reader who will charge to remove them. Of
course the curse is purely imaginary, but a clients life can become a living
hell if you choose to believe in one.
One psychic told me a story of a local client who went to a reader who convinced
her that her problems with romance were caused by a “curse on her love life”. A
national TV talk show exposed such scams, complete with magic tricks to show the
client how “evil the curse was”. There would be a hairball inside an unbroken
egg to prove a client was cursed. As silly as this image seems, two of the
clients taken for a $10,000 ride were well-educated urban professionals. In a
vulnerable, highly emotional state, it can be easy to convince even educated
professionals that they have been “cursed”.
When my client ran out of money, the psychic suggested that she be allowed to
use her Visa card to pay for her “services”. This woman was not “cursed” at all.
When helped to see that her problems with relationships reflected a
co-dependency problem, I am sure she began the road to recovery. Deep issues
like co-dependency or adult child difficulties cannot be cured by a magic wave
or gesture. A serious person must seek out competent help, and be willing to
work things through.
There are other scams, “blessed” candles that sell for outrageous amounts of
money (anything over $30 unless the candle is huge, or is an art-piece),
“exorcisms” and other questionable practices. Many practices that I might
consider fraudulent at worst, or useless at best, are held in high esteem by
some of my colleagues, but you can bless your own candles, and you should learn
how to clear the energy in your home yourself. If you feel that you need these
services, try to find them on a donation basis, or at a reasonable fee. I would
want to pay a psychic for her time, and I would judge how much time it takes to
“clear” a space, and pay her at the same rate as her readings. If you wish to
pay more out of the goodness of your heart or gratitude that is one thing – if
you feel you have to because you are afraid she will “curse” you, that is
something different altogether.
There are two schools of thought where it comes to psychic services. One might
say that it is wrong to charge at all. People who hold this view think that the
psychic gift is a “holy” one, and should not be a business. I argue that a
painter or a doctor has a divine gift too, and just as rightly deserves a reward
for their time and knowledge and just not an outrageous one.
Some additional thoughts …
Don’t let yourself be pressured into readings or purchases. That is the first
sign of a scammer.
If you are or have been a victim of this kind of scam, or something similar, you
absolutely must report it to the police! If you are not concerned about
yourself, at least think of others. You can prevent a serious crime (recently I
read of two elderly victims being fleeced for over a million dollars).
You can report anonymously, through your local Crime Stoppers, if you fear
retribution. Don’t be afraid if you report, that the so-called “psychic” will
curse you. Most of these cads are about as psychic as the average brick, to
begin with.
And remember … no-one can “curse” you without your permission. It’s less a
function of the psychic ability than it is one of suggestion. There are sections
in the book that teach you how to deflect negative energy if you feel that this
is a real risk, but I can assure you it is unlikely. Most “curses” work because
the victim is aware of them and believes in them.
A new Vaseline ad campaign in India urging men to whiten their faces has sparked international controversy, with critics of the ads contending that Vaseline — a subsidiary of the Dutch-Anglo conglomerate Unilever — is promoting the notion that only white skin is beautiful. But in India and in other countries, face-whitening creams — and all their accompanying cultural hangups — are nothing new.
Unilever released a Facebook application that permits men to upload photos of themselves and then “transform” their profile photos by lightening them, much like they promise their new lightening cream will do. The company recruited Bollywood star Shahid Kapur to be the face of the campaign.
According to an Agence France-Presse report, advertisements for skin-whitening creams have been controversial since the first cream for women hit the Indian market more than 30 years ago. Men are a more recent target of the $500 million-per-year industry in India.
Detractors say the whitening industry’s ads are manipulative and racist. Brinda Karat, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association told AFP that a 2003 advertisement featuring a dark-skinned woman who couldn’t catch a husband was “highly racist.” Another advertisement in 2008 featured a man thinking of leaving his dark-skinned girlfriend for a lighter-skinned rival.
Unilever is defending its Vaseline ad campaign as culturally appropriate. “Much like self-tanning products in North America and Europe, skin-lightening products are culturally relevant in India,” the company said in a statement, according to CBS News.
A skin-whitening defender writing in the Wall Street Journal argued that Indians should be allowed to buy the creams without people in the West worrying they are being “brainwashed.”
“In a country where a dark complexion is seen as a liability, a deal breaker for putative nuptials, a stumbling block for one’s career prospects and — correctly or not — a marker of one’s standing in the caste hierarchy, the skin-whitening industry does well,” writes Rupa Subramanya Dehejia in the Journal.
India’s system of social stratification based on lighter skin color is rooted in the country’s ancient caste system.
A 2009 poll by an online dating company of 12,000 participants living in Northern India found that they rate skin tone the most important factor in choosing a romantic partner. “Fair skin is generally associated with beauty, greater affluence and increased employability,” writes Riddhi Shah at Salon, who copped to using the creams herself even while criticizing the country’s racist ideas about beauty in her work.
Whitening creams hold an appeal for men and women in the United States, too. A New York Times investigation found many African-American and Latino women support a robust U.S. market for over-the-counter whitening creams. And it’s not just women: Former Chicago Cubs player Sammy Sosa admitted he used the creams.
thxs,goodwin