In the Face of Hope ... and Fear

Two faces of politics this morning: hope and fear. The fear: an update on elections in Zimbabwe. At least 30-60 people have been killed in what opposition supporters and international observers call retaliatory violence aimed at supporters of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai recently returned from abroad to stand in a runoff in an election he believes he already won but in which Mugabe will not concede. On two separate occasions we have been set to interview Tsvangirai when he had to cancel to address needs of supporters, as his people told us. Yesterday, he and a convoy of his supporters were detained. They were released about nine hours later. Today, we were able to get to his chief spokesman, Nelson Chamisa. Freelance reporter Brian Hungwe gave us additional perspective.

And, just as we got off the air came a wire story indicating that U.S. and British embassy (diplomatic) staff had been harassed by police in Zimbabwe -- their car stopped, the tires slashed, their telephones seized. They were threatened with being burned alive. This is highly unusual and provocative. We'll let you know more as we learn more.

And, then, the hope.

We have reflections on Barack Obama's historic role as a major party nominee for President. This is not a brief for Obama, but it would be journalistically negligent not to take note of the reactions to this milestone. Remember, equal voting rights for people of African descent was not achieved until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed. Until then, despite the Constitution, blacks were routinely and often violently denied the right to participate in the civic life of this country.

This is not ancient history. This is within the lifetime of most adults of voting age in this country. So perhaps you can understand why Congressman James Clyburn (the House Majority Whip and a member of the leadership and the highest ranking African American in the House) literally felt he had to be alone as he watched the speech, worrying that he would not be able to control his emotions, a remarkable admission for someone who has been in this so long.

But this is not, as Obama undoubtedly would himself have mentioned, about HIM. So we talked to a diverse panel of folks, most of whom you met before on this program, to tell us what they think the moment means. And, we want to know what it means to you.

Don't worry, we kept it real. It was not all, as they say Kumbaya.

And, finally, BEER. Our summer tasting series begins.

One of our producers Jack Zahora, had to help me out because I am not a beer drinker. Sorry, I took one (ok, three or four) for the team.

Cheers ... to YOUR health.

Michel Martin

2:40 PM ET | 06- 5-2008 | permalink