Shalom Chaim,
I disagree with your logic in responding to my question about Frank Raines. For the record, I suspect that he is a moron, but my point wasn't to defend him. I submit to you that your line of reasoning is unconvincing and can hurt our movement for the following reason:
1) You don't specifically indicate as to how Raines incompetence has manifested itself. Clearly he was corrupt and unethical. But would a white CEO act differently than Raines? I am not certain - see point #2
2) Fanny Mae collapse was made possible thanks to OVER REGULATIONS not a lack of regulations! The way Fanny Mae was making money was by tying its KPI (key performance indicator) to the quantity of loans it underwrites. So, Raines, acted accordingly, by issuing as many loans as he could. Who cares?! - It was underwritten by US government and shoved down the throat of US market economy.
3) Most importantly - it is a poor argument on your part and it is a gross stereotyping to make a general observation that blacks have no concept of the numbers (true) and from that to deduce that Raines is a moron. It is not fair and it has a smack of racism and we MUST, if we have any hope of becoming a mass movement, to distance ourselves from any racial undertones in our messages.
I am not sure what our message is anymore - Blacks are inferior not through their genetic composition but via their culture. Right? But then, when a guy like Raines, breaks up with Ghetto culture, studies, makes a carrier for himself, we immediately are dismissing him as an affirmative action moron?! BTW, this is precisely the reason I don't like affirmative action - it is racist towards both, black and whites.
A proper argument of Raines incompetence would be to point out that, as an example, in 2002, in Congressional hearings, Raines stated that "... accounting standards are highly complex and require determinations over which experts often disagree,” and that he said that the findings by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight “involve highly detailed issues that I would not normally focus on in my role as CEO.”
Then you could have pointed that as a CEO of a mortgage investment company, his entire business was based on accounting! If it was too detailed for him, he was clearly an affirmative action pick.
Please know that I offer my criticism for the betterment of our movement - our message must be clear, honest, enthusiastic and appeal to the masses! Any racist undertones corners us and defeats our goals. Thank you for consideration!