(NNPA)—March Madness, the frantic round of tournament showdowns to determine which team will emerge as the top college basketball unit in the nation, has nothing on the Capitol Hill madness that occurred over the weekend.

Outside the domed deliberations over health care Saturday, so-called Tea Party protesters shouted the n-word at several African-American congressmen, including John Lewis who was brutally beaten in Selma, Ala. as part of the Selma to Montgomery March that led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Another Black representative, Emanuel Cleaver II of Kansas City, Mo., was spat on by one protester, who was arrested by Capitol Hill police.

(REAL TIMES MEDIA)—Everyone would like to believe that even if your boss’ wife doesn’t like you that it won’t affect your performance evaluation. We also want to believe that if our best friend’s husband owns a struggling Ford dealership that she won’t be mad when we drive up in a new Hyundai. But deep down, we all know this is not the case. The bonds between husbands and wives will always affect how these men and women behave in their public lives. That is why I’m perfectly comfortable with suggesting that Clarence Thomas remove himself from several Supreme Court cases in the coming term.

(NNPA)—Yes, and that is a very blessed thing. The Old Guard seems to be moving slower than ever and the “Party Loyalists” are clamoring for fresh ideas—ideas that they are not receiving from their leadership. The economy is in the tank and all they are concerned with on Capitol Hill is health care. We had better get involved in business development, deficit reduction, lower costs and taxation. Those are the only things that are going to get us out of our predicament. History will show that as this country teetered on the brink of financial ruin all they could do is hammer out some futuristic health care plan that makes no sense and will solve nothing. It is kind of like Nero playing his violin while Rome burned.

(NNPA)—When first lady Michelle Obama decided to launch the “Let’s Move” campaign to fight childhood obesity, she brought much needed attention to a crisis facing millions of children. It’s a special concern for children of color because new research shows Black and Hispanic children are disproportionally at risk for nearly a dozen factors that increase their chances to be obese. But children of color are far from the only ones in danger. Experts estimate one-third of American children are currently overweight or obese, and these rates have tripled among children ages 12 to 19 since 1980. Some adults may see a heavy child as a sign of a healthy eater, or think that for children, extra weight is mainly just a cosmetic issue. But serious risks for overweight children go far beyond appearance.