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I punched up the NAACP website and scrolled through Bond's convention speech. It was a loving mixture of his heroic youth with the usual rewrite of history (somehow, the democrat party had nothing to do with slavery or jim crow) the state of African-America is as bad and downtrodden as ever, more and bigger government is our only hope, Bush is the devil incarnate, blah, blah, blah. I keep recollecting a WSJ editorial Ward Connerly wrote after attending last year's convention; Bond did his usual spleen-venting but Connerly also noted that the audience (after the standard collection of celebrities and movement veterans) seemed to consist mainly of middle-aged black government middle-managers with chips on their shoulders and tinfoil in their hats. Not terribly representative of black america and not the sign of a vital, dynamic organization either. I wonder just how much of their operating budget comes from membership and how much is foundation life-support.

I may be wrong but I'm willing to bet that its only the moral authority that the Main Stream Media grants them by running to them for easy quotes that keeps them from sliding onto that ash heap of history. At least Julian Bond is an honest man in the checkbook sense. I truly thought it was all over for them after the Chavis sex-and-embezzlement scandal in the early nineties. I will give them credit for posting the responses on their website to their poll concerning President Bush's non-attendance. At least HALF the responses rightfully excoriated them for having the chutzpah to expect Bush to show up to be abused in person:

Jul-09-2004 18:45 Why should President Bush speak to an organization who has no respect for him and who has been hijacked by the radical left in this country. The leadership of the NAACP is shameful and should apologize to President Bush (for example, the hateful add sponsered by the NAACP during the 2000 election) before he would be expected to speak at a NAACP convention. There are far more admirable African American organizations where President Bush should and is spending his time with.

Jul-09-2004 23:58 I would not go either if I was treated like Mr. Bond treated the President. The racial comments he made were deplorable and if a Anglo would ever make those it would be considered a crime. Why not invite Senator Robert Bryd and his racist self.

Jul-10-2004 10:33 When you're certain to lose 90% of a voting bloc no matter what you do, there is little to be gained by speaking to a group that dosen't represent the majority of that group in the first place. Why should Bush give the press material to be used against him by subjecting himself to the ridicule of the NAACP?

Jul-10-2004 13:38 People who expect a handout are only being given the opportunity to quit. Democrats have now chosen the course of promising handouts and the ignorant feel that is their right. Stand up, by strong and succeed. Asians do it without help from the government. Bill Cosby said it correctly

Jul-10-2004 16:41 Considering the fact that I am the only African American woman who is running for U.S. House of Representatives in the state of Pennsylvania and am the endorsed Candidate for the 1st Congressional District AND a member of the NAACP who was not invited to speak or even attend the convention (and I live in Philadelphia), no I don't think PRESIDENT Bush is being disrespectful. As long as we support the person who gives us the biggest check during the election cycle and makes the biggest promises, we are going to continue to have silence from candidates who can see through our screen. We complain about the condition of our nation, but keep voting with blinders on (if we decide to vote at all) whenever an election cycle rolls around. We are losing out on good people because some of us can't afford to buy our way onto the convention stage, and then there are others who just won't bend to our whims because they know the NAACP is not going to support them anyway. It's not always a Black thing, you understand.

Jul-10-2004 17:53 No he is not being disrespectful. The NAACP is not the voice of ALL Black Americans anymore. They have continually shown themselves to be nothing more than a paid arm of the Democratic Party. (At least when you watch the actions of the leadership). It's pretty sad to hear Mfume and Julian keep saying the NAACP is non partisan yet when anyone has another view (blacks included) that are not those of the left leaning NAACP and the Democratic Party, they go on the attack. Everything about the NAACP is divisive, non-productive and only makes its leadership rich and continues to keep millions in a victim mind-set. This is NOT what the civil rights movement was about. Perhaps Julian and Mfume should go back to their roots , becasue it is obvious, they have lost something along the way.

Jul-10-2004 22:01 When NAACP leadership engages in what is essentially hate speech against the President, then invites him to dinner and thinks it is "incredible" when he passes on the invitation, one has to wonder what kind of leaders the NAACP has. One should look at the President's heart when he says things like: "There are children in America, whose mom or dad is in prison, wondering whether or not there's any hope. In other words, we got problems in this society. And those of us who have been given the high honor of holding office must utilize every resource, every power we have to help solve those problems for the good of the country." I think if you are reading this, you can see a real difference in leadership, and I'll go with the guy who is positive, optimistic, compassionate and color-blind.

Jul-10-2004 22:58 President Bush is NOT disrespecting "the Black community" by refusing to speak at the NAACP convention!!! Since WHEN does the NAACP automatically equal "the Black community?" The NAACP does NOT speak for this Black man, that's for sure, nor do they speak for many others. The NAACP and its leaders (Julian Bond, Kweisi Mfume) have deliberately and repeatedly spread vicious lies, slander, and insults about President Bush, time after time. The NAACP was rude, unprofessional, and bitterly partisan when Bush talked to the NAACP convention as a candidate. Why would the President go somewhere where he knows by experience that the people hate him, will NOT listen to him with an open mind, and will do every sneaky trick possible to embarass and humiliate him? It would be like Kweisi going to a KKK event, although Kweisi would stand a better chance of catching a break from his buddy Democratic Senator Byrd (D - WV), a "former" KKK Grand Kleagle. The NAACP has, sadly, become a hypocritical, partisan hate cult, and is now so far out of the mainstream that they no longer are seen as fair and objective. It's a shame. Dr. Martin Luther King and the other civil rights heroes must just be spinning in their graves when they see how corrupt and bitter the NAACP has become. The NAACP needs to listen to the wise and honest words of Dr. Bill Cosby talking about the real problems of Black America, and focus on fixing those. I am deeply ashamed as a Black man that the NAACP, which incorrectly claims to represent me and my family, is so unfair and filled with hatred that they can no longer be depended on or trusted with participation in the political dialogue of our country. For Bitter Shame!

I can only hope the NAACP leadership takes these responses to their poll (http://www.naacp.org/polls/comment_results.php?action=results&poll_id=109) to heart.

The article mentions the President's past addresses of the National Urban League conference (one of the good ones). I hope he does this again, but there are many more outspoken, conservative black organizations and individuals that could benefit from his attentions. I believe we can all think of a few. If my opinion is worth anything, I am convinced Bush should launch a full-court press for the black vote by unabashedly appealing to the same values we hold dear and boldly taking on the race hustlers through the bully pulpit, the speech, the press conference and the photo op; contrasting his approach to that of the statist shills at every opportunity. In today's Washington Times Rich Lowry reiterates that Bush should make the the "ownership society" his domestic theme; plugging unfettered IRA's, MSA's and Education Savings Accounts instead of just whining about democrat obstructionism. I concur and add that these themes should pitched aggressively to our black brothers and sisters as well with a deliberate kick at the backsides of the "just like Selma" dinosaurs. It may not give him a majority of the black vote, but I'll bet it would gain him a lot more that ten percent this time around.