Bush holds first NAACP meeting of his presidency

AP ^ | 12/21/4 | JENNIFER LOVEN

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON --President Bush met Tuesday at the White House with the outgoing head of the NAACP, the first meeting of his presidency with the nation's oldest civil rights group.

"It was a very frank and a very open dialogue," NAACP President Kweisi Mfume told reporters afterward. "We both have real differences."

The White House did not provide a description of the session, but Bush press secretary Scott McClellan said the president had looked forward to it.

"The president is always open to talking to people who want to work together on our common challenges and our shared priorities," he said.

The meeting came about after NAACP President Kweisi Mfume sent Bush a letter on Nov. 5 congratulating him on his re-election and requesting the chance to discuss challenges confronting the nation, said John White, the group's spokesman. Mfume announced Nov. 30 he is stepping down from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leadership post.

[ken5050]

I agree.. to a great extent..but politics is the art of the possible..yes, it would be a photo-op/figurehead post, but, maybe, Kwaisi's learned something..we do believe in redemption..don't we..?

THink cynically for a moment..otherwise, why would W meet with him in the WH? It's some type of signal..

[ken5050]

He filled it.. but there could be other changes..

[libs_kma]

I just want to know what the IRS investigation of the NAACP finds out. The NAACP is a political organization and there is no way Julian Bond can dispute that. His record and his recorded statements speak for themselves. The only reason they havent been stripped of thier tax exempt status is because it would cause controversy. Well, the hell with controversy. BRING. IT. ON.

It seems we need controversy to bring to light the organizations that bring this country down. The ACLU, the NAACP, the UN, all do nothing but keep this country from achieving its potential. They should be banned. No ifs, ands or buts. BYE! Need help packing?

[Southack]

It's the waterfall effect. First, the Black Leadership of various powerful organizations such as the NAACP have noticed that Blacks have unlimited opportunities under President Bush (e.g. Secretary of State). Said leadership manages to cobble together the thought that previous Democratic Party opportunities were not available to them.

...then, a single Black leader jumps ship and finds a warm welcome in the Republican Big Tent. After that, two more jump, then still more. The waterfall begins.

We're almost there. Congressmen Ford hasn't missed the fact that Democratic leaders have snubbed him for promotions. Newly minted Senator Obama has already lept over him, as has lilly-White Nancy Pelosi.

Does Kweisi Mfume want an Ambassadorship to Angola? Such a switch could be the start of a waterfall.

Does Donna Brazile want to work for a Party that supports school choice vouchers, or does she instead want to be continually snubbed by the lilly-White New England elites who are frequently winning the Democratic Party's Presidential nominations over the years?

Hmmm...Party of Lincoln or Party of NE White Elites...decisions, decisions...

[reagan_fanatic]

Why reach out at all? The NAALCP doesn't want dialogue so that differences can be resolved...they want dialogue simply to score points off President Bush and Conservatives in general.

Ignore 'em.

[rdb3]

Why reach out at all? The NAALCP doesn't want dialogue so that differences can be resolved...they want dialogue simply to score points off President Bush and Conservatives in general.

You don't read well, do you?

Mfume is leaving the NAACP. I don't agree with him on much of anything, yet this meeting slaps Julian Bond right in the kisser for one. To that I say, "Good!"

Stay tuned. Don't go flying off emoting instead of thinking. That's what RATS are for.

[NonValueAdded]

Of the two people in that meeting, which one has done more to advance the prospects for Blacks? </telling question>

[John_Galt518]

LMAO!!

[Drammach]

I tend to agree..

Mfume has shown his dissatisfaction with Bond and the NAACP... He's leaving..
He has now extended a hand to Bush.. which was accepted..
Under what conditions, we do not know, but at least a "dialogue" was realized..

Mfume will return to Bond and NAACP with a message, possibly some recommendations, personal or passed on from the president...
How they respond to that message will be the question..

[reagan_fanatic]

You don't read well, do you? Mfume is leaving the NAACP. I don't agree with him on much of anything, yet this meeting slaps Julian Bond right in the kisser for one. To that I say, "Good!" Stay tuned. Don't go flying off emoting instead of thinking. That's what RATS are for.

Sorry I didn't make myself clearer. I wasn't referring to Mfume specifically but the the NAACP in general, Bond included.

Any face time with a Republican President by ANY of these so-called 'leaders' is just giving them more of what they really want - to puff up their own sense of self-importance and give them an opportunity to sport their latest anti-Conservative sound-bites for the evening news broadcasts.

[BenLurkin]

Well, the skin color doesn't mean a darn thing, IMO.

But a culture of entitlement is very much at odds with the ownership society.

[Conservative Canuck]

"Well, the skin color doesn't mean a darn thing, IMO."

True enough. That was meant to be a joke (even if it is a little off-color - no pun intended.) :-)

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[NJ_gent]

"Bush press secretary Scott McClellan said the president had looked forward to it

Like I look forward to a root canal…"

Ugh - why can't they just say what they mean? I'm so tired of the sanitized goodspeak that comes out of every "spokesperson's" mouth these days. I'd give just about anything to have someone just stand up there and say what's really on their minds and what's really happening with no sugar coating or doublethink.

[longtermmemmory]

Mfume was booted and Bush was staying with a mandate.

If anything dissing the NAA"L"CP helped President Bush stay President.

[Right Wing Assault]

"I wonder if there was a sole print on the soul man's backside when he left the meeting with W."

And I hope he left a few large sole prints on Quasi's ego, too.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

No matter what President Bush does the leftists at the NAACP are going to call him a bigot anyway.

Wait a min.. isn't calling a person (with lots of pigment in their skin) -a colored person- a bigot?

Oh thats right it is do as I say not as I do with the NAACP folks.

[Tribune7]

I don't agree with him on much of anything . . .

And people can change too. Think Horowitz.

[LibertarianInExile]

Does anyone know if this guy ever legally changed his name from Frizzell Gray? I'm sick of the press calling people what they want to be called. They interview me, I'm gonna tell them I prefer to be called Johnny Wadd.

[Wolfstar]

...what are the odds that W tries to find a place for Kwaisi in the administration.

About the same as W trying to find a place for me in the administration, which is to say less than zero.