Wait a minute while my eyes uncross...

There -- that's better.

Hi, Marcia!

I'm not sure how this got to be about race.

I'm not sure how the Black leaders of New York would respond to having a Representative from Georgia plead on their behalf for crumbs off a Saudi table.

I'm not sure how much fellow-feeling there is between American Blacks and either Palestinians or Saudis.

I'm not sure how the Representative's Muslim son's congregation's poor press coverage relates to the check for a gazillion dollars.

I'm not sure what it says about the dignity of the Black leadership if they go along with this woman's idea that they'll listen to anything, no matter from whom or on what occasion or in what setting, as long as they are handsomely paid to do so.

I'm not sure what she hopes to gain, except a gazillion dollars, which I doubt she'll get. If the prince had wanted to give it to a Black charity or two, I'm sure he could have found a cabbie that would take him to Harlem. No: He wanted to give it to the Mayor of New York at a place of power, not to voiceless minorities in tenements.

I feel embarrassed for her. She hasn't the sense to be embarrassed for herself.

Regards--
Mary Anne