THE FIRST CASH COMMENTARY FOR 2025 - January 9, 2025

                                                               CASH MICHAELS
 

                  GOODBYE,  JIMMY FROM GEORGIA

                                                      By Cash Michaels

Since December 29th when we all learned of his passing, I’ve been wondering… if former President Jimmy Carter had run against Pres.-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election, who would have won?

Of course I’m not talking about the 100-year-old former president who had spent over a year in hospice by the time he died, but rather the young, idealistic former Georgia governor and peanut farmer who deeply believed in the goodness of America.

No question who would have won last November. Donald Trump.

Why? Because this is his time now, his country, ruled by his people.

No longer are we the same citizens who voted Jimmy Carter into office in 1976 because we needed to get rid of the crooked stench of Watergate, and all of the national shame and disgust that came with it.

We’re the smucks who just voted a convicted criminal, racist and sexual abuser into office a SECOND TIME, all because he suckered most of us into believing that he could singlehandedly lower the price of everything, only to have him after he won, admit that he actually couldn't do it, but had to say he could in order to win the 2024 election.

In other words, he lied, and many of us (NOT me) fell for it.

        You know, MAGA - Making America Gullible Again!

“Tricky Dick” Nixon would have been gobsmacked by the depth of evil and deception he could have learned firsthand at the feet of Donald Trump. And history tells us that Nixon was a wicked fiend in his own right.

Yes, Trump would have beaten Jimmy Carter handily today, because no more are we a country that respects the true tenets of decency and democracy Carter represented. I mean, can you imagine…an ex-president who spent his time building homes for the poor free of charge, or teaching Sunday school each weekend, or being a world-renowned humanitarian and highly respected elder statesman?

Those deeds speak to the epitome of strong character and deep faith in GOD Carter possessed, in addition to the abiding love he coveted for his fellow man.

Hell no, Jimmy Carter would not have won the presidency in this day and age. His unimpeachable values and strong moral core would not have been acceptable to the vast majority of Americans now.

We want an unabashed white supremacist to be our leader, not someone like Carter, who built an historic bridge of peace between Egypt and Israel.

        We want a clown who brags about taking Greenland and the Panama Canal over by military force if necessary, renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, threatens to make the sovereign country of Canada our 51st state, and is trying desperately to sidetrack his criminal punishment and official record of his dastardly treachery days before he's sworn back into office.

        And who promises to pardon the traitors who attacked our U.S Capitol Building, and attacked our U.S. Capitol police officers defending our sacred building.

        That's who our hearts bleed for, not someone honest and just, like Jimmy from Georgia.

No, we wouldn’t have elected Jimmy Carter, because we no longer appreciate his kind of decency and honesty.We don’t have time for his small town Plains, Georgia kind of folksy-ism. We prefer the hard-boiled city slicker crap that Donald Trump gives us an abundance of.

We no longer appreciate the fact that Jimmy Carter was a happily married man of an amazing 77  years to the same wonderful woman and partner, Rosalyn, the saintly mother of his children; not to three or four women with more spoiled rich kids than he could remember.

And the pure honesty of Jimmy Carter, a Southern Baptist deacon, is something we chuckle at today, especially when he once admitted to having “committed adultery many times" in his heart. Hell, that perfectly normal, human admission back in the day almost cratered Carter’s chances of winning the 1976 presidential election.

Instead, we’re proud of electing a senile twisted pervert who bragged on video about grabbing women’s privates, and has a long history of sexually abusing females. And then would lie about it to the point of being dragged into court.

But we’re alright with that, apparently.

Look, all I’m saying is our nation has reverted back to the moral Stone Age. The results of the 2024 presidential election proved that.

The only “values” we seem to care about today are the ones attached to our homes, cars and pocketbooks. Forget the lofty stuff that the man from Plains, Georgia was talking about.

Forget how Pres. Jimmy Carter worked hard to make sure that African-Americans, and particularly Black women, had a place in his administration.

Forget how Jimmy Carter used his faith to demonstrate to the world what a true Christian says and does, not as a weapon to beat up on people he had a political beef with.

Forget how when he died, Jimmy Carter and his humanitarian work was lauded by both Democrats and Republicans alike.

Please forget all of that stuff because that’s not the kind of leader we apparently honor and truly admire anymore. The American people want no parts of that kind of servant-leader.

In fact, even though we’ve gone through several days of honors and salutations to Pres.Carter, only to finally give him his final words of tributes and resting place today, it's not a grateful nation doing all of that. Not a people who feel deeply for the high quality of leadership we once produced to get our country back on its moral footing.

No. For all intent and purposes, we just want to dump Jimmy Carter in the ground, get all of this tribute stuff over and done with, and then go on about our business…which is about caring only about ourselves.

Most of us apparently can’t wait for January 20th to come, when the chaos will officially begin, and the kind of “leader’ we really want takes office, and disgraces the legacy of Jimmy Carter, if not further disgraces the sanctity of the presidency.

Just think.We now have a leader who was re-elected after profoundly disrespecting our men and women in uniform by calling them “suckers” and "losers" for putting their lives on the line for their nation.

We now have a leader who has profoundly disrespected people of color in this nation with his racism, and especially those who are legal immigrants of color who are falsely accused of “are eating the dogs, are eating the cats."

And we now have a leader in Donald Trump who slandered Pres. Carter just weeks before his passing as he laid in his death bed, all because the former president wanted to live long enough to vote against Trump, who he rightfully had no respect for.

And what did we do? We sided with indecency, and re-elected Trump, because we’re so filled with darkness and rage, not hope.

Not the hope a principled statesman named James Earl Carter Jr. devoutly believed the nation he gave his life in service to should always have.

        It's ironic that Pres. Carter's body has been brought back to Washington, D.C. for his funeral and National Day of Honor today, a city where he was always an outsider because his agenda was service to the people, not how to screw the people he was elected to serve. We didn't appreciate that about the man until after he had long left office. That's how blind we are.

No, Jimmy from Georgia would have lost if he ran against Trump in 2024, because the majority of Americans today no longer believe in the decency, or democracy of America.

Goodbye, Mr. President. Thank you for reminding us in death, what many Americans have forgotten in living. We didn't deserve a man like you then, and damn sure don't now!

We may never see your quality of humanity, or leadership in the White House, or America, ever again. I feel so sorry for us.

-30-

THE CASH STUFF FOR DEC. 29. 2024

                                                                GOV. ROY COOPER

COOPER GRANTS NINE PARDONS,

SIX COMMUTATIONS ON WAY OUT

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

As his eight eventful years in office drew to a close this week, outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper decided to close out his office tenure by granting six commutations to people in prison, and nine pardons of forgiveness for those he felt deserved a second chance after being convicted a crime during their youth.

All of the cases involved were thoroughly reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency, and the Governor’s Office.

“Ensuring careful review of cases while taking executive clemency action is a responsibility I take seriously,” said Governor Cooper. “We carefully consider recommendations made by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to commute sentences for crimes committed by minors. All of these individuals are deserving of clemency and we will continue to work to protect our communities and improve the fairness of our criminal justice system.”

Some of those commutations include:

- Jonathan Burdette, 38, who has served nearly 20 years for armed robbery of a restaurant in Rockingham County when he was 17. He has completed his GED, taken vocational classes, finished an apprenticeship as an electrician and worked in a meat packing plant. He will be released in January. He will now become eligible for parole and whether parole is granted will be decided by the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.

  - Toney King, 62, has served 30 years for armed robberies of hotels in Rowan, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg County. His sentences were set to run concurrently. Mr. King has done extensive educational programming, including completing a bachelor’s degree and working in the Field Ministry Program. He has also had a good disciplinary record. Mr. King will now become eligible for parole and whether parole is granted will be decided by the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.

One of the persons receiving a pardon of forgiveness is:

- Seth Cole, 35, was convicted of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon in 2006 in Guilford County. Since that time, he has graduated summa cum laude with a degree in computer and information systems and worked as a substance abuse counselor and a systems engineer.

                                                                -30-

RALEIGH POLICE OFFICER SUSPENDED, THEN 

RETIRED AFTER POSTING THAT

JUNETEENTH IN “MADE UP HOLIDAY”

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

According to published reports, a veteran Raleigh police officer was at first suspended, then retired after a post on his Instagram page showed that he referred to Juneteenth as a “made-up holiday.”

Juneteenth is a federal holiday, designated on June 19th across the United States to indicate the official end of slavery in 1965. Celebrations date back to 1866 in Texas, and across the South.

The News and Observer newspaper reports that Raleigh Police Senior Officer Daniel Twiddy, who has served with the RPD since 2009, was suspended on Sept.4th, and then retired on December 1st. It was last June when a screenshot from Twiddy’s Instagram account showed a picture of the officer drinking a beverage at a Hilton Head Island resort, with the caption, “Juneteenth is a made-up holiday. Toady is my birthday and it’s been that way for 38 years. You’re welcome for the day off!”

That screenshot was shared across social media by several outraged people, particularly some who have been tracking Twiddy’s Instagram account ever since an incident in 2016 when Twiddy shit and killed 24-year-old Ariel Denkins in predominately-Black Southeast Raleigh.

Twiddy maintained that he shot Denkins four times after h reached foe his weapon. Denkins was wanted for failure to appear in court on a felomy drug charge.

Denkins’ family claimed that he was shot in the back by Twiddy, but Wake County District Attorney Lori Freeman concluded that Twiddy was justified in his actions, based on the physical evidence and the officer’s version of events.

After Twiddy’s controversial Instagram post was made public, Raleigh Police confirmed that they were investigating the matter in July. Police Chief Estella Patterson issued a statement thanking the people who exposed the screenshot, saying, “ We expect our employees to hold themselves to the higher standard of excellence that reflects favorably upon the organization, both on and off duty.”

The N&O further reported that Twiddy was named in a 2022 lawsuit involving a no-knock raid on the wrong address. He was later dropped from the suit, before it was settled for $350,000.

-30-

THE LAST CASH COMMENTARY FOR 2024

 

                                                                   CASH MICHAELS

    DENZEL

                                                 By Cash Michaels

It’s the last few days of 2024, so if I can steer clear of talking about politics, so be it. Thus, this is my last commentary for what has been a tortuous year.

Quiet as it’s kept, I’m not a political animal. I really don’t live and breath by the tic-toc of either Washington, D.C. or Jones Street in Raleigh. That’s not a bad thing, per se, just not who I really am when I’m allowed to have my dithers.

What I am is a lifelong fan of popular American culture, and I have been since I was a little brown kid growing up in Brooklyn, NY. As the only child of a single mother, I was exposed to books, television/movies and music. Back then, the key to freedom for a Black child was education, and expressly so. The television/movies and music parts were the extras allowed for me to indulge in so I wouldn’t grow up to be square librarian or something (not that there’s anything wrong with being a librarian, just wasn’t me).

So I fondly remember those years of my youth, and how when it came to visual culture - film and TV, all of my heroes then were…white. Had no choice, that’s who dominated American television and movies then. I’m not complaining, I just did what most Black kids did at the time, choose the coolest white heroes who came cross the screen.

And then when I reached my teens, some of those heroes at the movies turned into Black men like Shaft, or Chinese Kung fu artists like Bruce Lee. Still had a few white ones (James Bond hung around for a while, and I loved westerns) but my motion picture and television palette decidedly began to change color.

Then as I reached young adulthood, this one young Black movie star began to catch my eye on both TV and in the movies. His name was Denzel Washington, and they always had him costarring with major white stars in some goofy racial farce, until later on they made him a doctor on the hit NBC drama, “St. Elsewhere.”

From that point, as I grew, I watched this interesting young actor grow in his roles and his influence, no more in television, but in important films like “Crimson Tide” with Gene Hackman; “A Soldier’s Story “ directed by the great Norman Jewison; and the extraordinary “Malcolm X” costarring Angela Bassett and directed by Spike Lee.

That range of films taught me that this young Black actor was bold and consequential. He would take markers laid down by earlier Black actors like Sidney Poitier and run for daylight without limit. Soon Washington would go beyond proving my point with a gripping Academy Award-winning performance in the 1989 Civil War epic “Glory,” where he allowed a single, yet powerful tear to roll down his face while being lashed as a runaway slave caught returning to his Yankee regiment after leaving unauthorized to seek shoes for his bare feet.

Until that time, no one in the history of American cinema had given such an exceptional, thought-provoking performance.

With each succeeding role, Denzel Washington made his performances something you just couldn’t take your eyes off of, and as he grew older, films like “Remember the Titans,” and his Academy Award-winning “Training Day” became modern classics.

When you paid money, or took the time to watch one of his old films on television, Denzel Washington, even through his worst films, always gave you your money’s worth. And his appeal was universal. Yet, Denzel trademarked each of his roles with his standard, defiant Black man’s gait, as a way of telling his audience he always knew who he was deep down, and nothing would change that.

We have watched Denzel Washington grow into an extraordinary actor, one that no less than the New York Times has crowned as the best of the 20th century. He has given us a plethora of extraordinary performances, sprinkled with some Shakespeare here and there, not to mention some theater on Broadway, where he insists that’s where you really learn acting.

        Now there's word Denzel may be up for yet another Oscar, this one for his scene stealing role in the hit current film, "Gladiator II."

Not only has Denzel (and for the record, few people know that his actual name is pronounced “Dinzil” NOT “Den-zel”) starred in many great motion pictures over the decades, but was trained at Fordham University and the American Conservatory Theater before going back to New York to work in The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park ensemble.

And by now many people know that during his childhood years growing up in Mount Vernon, NY, Washington attended the Boys and Girls Club as a way to stay off the streets and stay out of trouble. So when a young journalist recently asked Denzel whether he was a fan of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (“A Clockwork Orange,” “The Shining” and “2001: A Space Odyssey”) Denzel replied that he wasn’t, and had spent most of his youth doing other things besides watching films.

The question and response made news, primarily because one had to wonder why the young man even asked the question, and what was he trying to get at by doing so. Denzel’s answer raised eyebrows because people weren’t sure whether he was being serious or not, and just gave the interviewer a backhanded reply as a way of moving on to the next subject.

        And get this. Now it's being reported that Denzel has joined the ministry of a black church. if you've ever seen him preach to a college audience, you know the man has much spiritual wisdom to share with everyone, especially young people.

All I know is Denzel Washington turns 70 on December 28th (I turn 69 on January 3rd). He’s accomplished a lot during his life, and doesn’t owe anybody any explanations for how he’s lived his life (a happily married man with four adult children), and says he has a few more films in him before he hangs them up for good.

On this, the last full week of the year, and on Denzel Washington’s birthday, I salute a true artist for doing things his way, and contributing to our culture in memorable ways that many of us will never forget.

Thank you, Denzel.

As I said earlier, this is my last commentary for 2024. I always take the last week off because of the holidays and my birthday all running together.

So I wish all of you and your families nothing but the best for the holidays, and hope to see you fresh and ready to go in 2025.

GOD Bless!

-30-

THE CASH STUFF FOR DEC. 20TH, 2024

                                                         BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER
  

BISHOP BARBER SUES

AMC THEATER CHAIN

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Civil rights activist Bishop William Barber has announced that he has filed a federal lawsuit against AMC Theaters for what his attorney, Harry Daniels, claims was an “injustice” when the management of the AMC Theater in Greenville allegedly forced Barber to leave the theater after he brought his own special chair to watch a movie with his 90-year-old mother in December 2023.

Bishop Barber says he suffers from a form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis, and thus cannot use regular seating when he attends events, such as at the White House. So he brings his own stool, and is usually allowed to chose a place to sit without argument.

In fact, it is the law that he and other handicapped individuals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - “…a federal civil rights law (passed in 1990) that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities.”

As reported last year when the incident occurred, in Bishop Barber’s case, he was specifically protected because, under federal law, “…to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities….that they encounter in everyday life….businesses that are open to the public …have to follow (certain) requirements of the ADA.”

The ADA is broken up into five different sections called "titles.”

Under ADA Title III, businesses serving the public, like restaurants, hotels, retail stores and movie theaters “…must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to access the goods and services that they offer."

In Bishop Barber’s case, because he required the special high chair that he brought with him, AMC theater management should have helped him decide where it would have been best placed to not only ensure his safety and comfort while viewing the film with his mother, but the safety and comfort of audience members sitting around him.

Instead, theater management decided to violate the ADA, allegedly not even try to accommodate Barber, and called the police to escort him out,  alleging that he was trespassing, even though he paid good money for his tickets. The police were never needed if AMC management knew the law.

Effectively, the AMC theater in Greenville violated Bishop Barber’s civil rights as a disabled American, legal observers say. The ADA did not require Barber to call ahead to notify the theater that he was coming, or what his needs might be. They were required serve him sight unseen as they would any other paying patron.

AMC subsequently apologized to Bishop Barber for how he was treated, but that’s not stopping Barber’s federal lawsuit against the popular theater chain.

"This is a race issue - a human race issue. At some point, if you are blessed to live long enough, you may find yourself in a similar situation," Atty. Daniels said. "Make no mistake: this was an injustice, not just to Bishop Barber, but to all of us. Every family knows someone who needs additional accommodations."

Bishop Barber’s lawsuit seeks $100,000 in damages.

"I know Reverend Barber is focused on is accountability and [the] treatment of others, and that's what we're pushing for," Atty. Daniels said.

-30-

REPORT ALLEGEDS UNC TRUSTEES 

KEEP TABS ON CERTAIN APPLICANTS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

At least 15 trustees of the UNC- Chapel Hill Board of Trustees regularly inquire about certain applicants to the school, asking for updates from administration officials, according to a recent report from The News and Observer newspaper. Record obtained and reviewed by the N&O reportedly shows some UNC trustee board members regularly texting university officials during the 2023-24 year to receive application status updates, including the probability of said applicant ultimately being admitted to the school, even from a  waitlist.

The N&O reports that the text messages “span more than 100 pages of screenshots, are heavily redacted, with the names and identities of applicants obscured.” So that makes it unclear how prospective UNC students are being inquired about, or how many time a single applicant is being asked about. It also is unclear what the direct relationship student applicants have with the inquiring trustee board member.

In many cases, it is also hard to determine whether the inquiring trustee board member is acting on behalf of a friend or family member. In any case, there appears to be no instance of any trustee board member using his or her influence to either force the admission of a student applicant, or stop an admission, the paper reports.

“In some cases, though, the trustees appeared to weigh in with their perceptions of the students and their academic record or athletic accomplishments. The trustees’ communication with administrators during the admissions process could raise questions about whether the trustees are unduly influencing officials’ decisions — even if they do not intend to do so — or otherwise getting involved in the process in an unauthorized way,” the N&O reports. “ But the communications could also represent some board members’ growing frustration with the length of time it takes for students on the waitlist to receive a decision about their admission.”

According to the N&O, “In the UNC System, trustees are expected to serve as advisers to the university’s chancellor, but are not authorized to direct “matters of administration,” as system President Peter Hans reminded the UNC trustees in a memo earlier this year. UNC is a member of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), a national organization that provides guidance on board governance, according to the organization’s membership database. When it comes to admissions, AGB President Fram Virjee told The News & Observer, the roles of trustees should include “providing oversight for admissions and ensuring that the admissions process works properly,” among other tasks. Those roles should not include “getting involved in the day-to-day operations of admissions, and definitely not reviewing individual admissions decisions.”

-30-