Gov. Bush to miss NAACP's conference

Gov. Jeb Bush, whose affirmative action and education initiatives have drawn fire -- and lawsuits -- from the NAACP, will miss the first national NAACP convention to be held in Florida in more than two decades.

A spokesman for the governor said Thursday that Bush, who was invited, would not be able to attend the Miami Beach event next week because he's needed in Tallahassee as legislators return to tussle over his insistence on revamping the state's medical malpractice insurance system.

The special session starts July 9 and is scheduled to end July 16. The civil rights convention runs July 12-17.

They said they believed that Bush's advisors fear the governor would be greeted harshly if he were to appear at the convention because he has been criticized by black activists over Florida's high-stakes graduation test, the FCAT.

Some activists angered Bush by calling for a boycott of Florida tourism -- they complained that the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test unfairly disadvantages minorities.

Bush has frequently been at odds with the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches over high-profile issues, including the aftermath of the controversial 2000 presidential election and his push to roll back affirmative action, greeted with a massive protest at the state Capitol. The civil rights organization sued the state in federal court, alleging voter disfranchisement. That suit was settled last year.

Though legislators are unlikely to meet over the weekend and the special session ends the day before the convention wraps up, Gov. Jeb Bush's office rejected the suggestion that the governor was ducking the event.

Spokesman Jacob DiPetre said Bush had asked his scheduling office ''to make it work'' but was told it couldn't be done. Bush is sending Wendy Berger, his assistant general counsel, to stand in for him.

''The governor doesn't shy away from criticism, and there's nothing more to the situation than his schedule,'' spokesman Alia Faraj said. ``The governor welcomes comments, criticism and suggestions from anyone who reaches out to him.''

He said officials at NAACP headquarters in Baltimore were notified by telephone June 11 that Bush would not be able to attend. A letter was also mailed that day.

On June 6, state NAACP president Adora Obi Nweze announced plans to file a complaint with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, contending that the FCAT harms black and other minority students.

Nweze said she hoped Bush would reconsider, but she said she doesn't regret her criticisms of the test.

''It wasn't anti-Jeb. It's pro-children. Our business is to make sure that those who have not passed [the test] are the concern of those who are successful,'' she said.

Whitfield Jenkins, first vice president of the state organization, said he was disappointed by the governor's decision.

''He must be getting bad advice if he's making the decision based on people who are advising him,'' Jenkins said.

Bush has threatened to call legislators back to the Capitol all summer until they agree to cap medical malpractice awards. On June 24, he ordered lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a second medical malpractice special session to begin July 9, the day after he returns from a trade mission to Canada.

The session is scheduled to end July 16, though the Senate shut the first session down early and there is no indication that a compromise between the governor and the Senate has been reached. In a letter Wednesday to his fellow senators, Majority Leader Dennis Jones said the chamber is not ready to accept Bush's push for a strict cap on jury awards.

The NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, returns to the Sunshine State for the first time since 1980.

The governor is among several national and state political leaders invited to the conference. His brother, President George W. Bush, has not indicated whether he will attend. A forum for presidential candidates will be held July 14.

Several potential Democratic challengers have confirmed their attendance, including Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, former Sen. Carol Mosley-Braun and activist Al Sharpton.

Bush's absence, however, rankled some Florida civil rights activists.

Keep in mind, Jeb made this announcement over a week ago! Now, Miami media are working hand in hand with the whiners of the NAALCP trying to make an "issue" out of Jeb not being there.


50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out. A refund is then due. The team is about to mail refunds when the Congressional Democrats stopps them and decrees that they send out refund amounts based on the Democrat National Committee's interpretation of fairness. After all,if the refunds are made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the wealthiest ticket holders. That would be unconscionable!
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Bush's absence, however, rankled some Florida civil rights activists.....

They're rankled only because they won't have Bush in-person to bash.

Right why go where you are hated screw Frizzell Gray (Kweisi Mfume)who has sired many bastards and the wellfare bus he rode in on.

Why go there to take the abuse in person, when you can read in the paper about the charges the NAACP will hurl. The presence or absence of Governor Bush will make no difference in the invective. Not one member of NAACP will change his or her degree of support in relation to Bush, whether Jeb shows up or not.

Fostering Bush-hate seems to be the whole point of the convention. No known positive agenda. No known redeeming social benefits. Just chanting thoughtless slogans and recounting dreary tales of oppression, that could never be traced to Republican governance.

......this from the same group of people that ran a commercial comparing President Bush to the chain pulling death of a black man........

On June 6, state NAACP president Adora Obi Nweze announced plans to file a complaint with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, contending that the FCAT harms black and other minority students. Nweze said she hoped Bush would reconsider, but she said she doesn't regret her criticisms of the test. ''It wasn't anti-Jeb. It's pro-children. Our business is to make sure that those who have not passed [the test] are the concern of those who are successful,'' she said.

Of course, we all know how harmful it is to make children learn how to read and write!

You got that right. That is exactly the reason they are rankled, otherwise, they could care less if Gov. Bush was there or not.

Bad move on Bush's part. Now he is sure to lose the support and endorsement of the NAALCP - forever!

Here's hoping that Jeb keeps his scheduled date with the one task more important than the naacp convention - clipping his toenails.

The media must no longer refer to black Democrats as civil rights leaders. Civil rights are not particular to blacks and even if they were, these Democrats put their party ideology over any specific interests relating to the black community. They are Democrats who just happen to be black. By labelling them "civil rights leaders", the media is conferring a certain authority and moral perch to the unworthy- and it allows their criticism of the President to sound more substantive rather than petty and partisan. The media must end this charade.

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