The Importance of Being Ernie
For 35 years, the lone African American in the legislature has been almost singlehandedly changing Nebraska.
When Ernie Chambers returns to work this January, it will be with the knowledge that he isn’t long for the world, at least the world of the Nebraska Legislature, where he has served for 35 years, longer than any other member, current or past. Five years ago, Nebraskans passed a constitutional amendment calling for term limits. Unless the law is overturned, Chambers will be tossed out of office at the end of 2008. With his departure, the unicameral body (Nebraska is home to the nation’s sole one-house legislature) will lose more than institutional memory, because Chambers is distinctive, to start with, and does not attempt to blend in. He wears sweatshirts and jeans amid a forest of suits and ties; his gray beard contrasts with the clean chins of most of his brethren. He’s been described as “left of San Francisco” in a state that for decades has been tightly tucked under the blanket of conservative Republicanism. And, also, he’s black, the lone African American in the Legislature.
Depending on your perspective, that fact means everything or nothing. To Chambers, it is the characteristic by which his enemies, who are legion, define him, and for which they despise him. “They don’t like who I am, and they don’t like what I do,” he says.
But they do help him do it, albeit reluctantly. Because of Chambers, the Legislature routinely backs bills its members wouldn’t otherwise have dreamed of supporting. He cajoled his colleagues into abolishing corporal punishment in schools, correcting the state pension system so that women would be treated equally with men, and backing a switch from at-large municipal elections to district-based voting so that nonwhites would have a chance to serve. Under his sway, Nebraska led the nation in the 1980s in divesting in companies that did business with apartheid-era South Africa. Every session he introduces a bill calling for an end to the death penalty. He once got the Legislature to approve it, but could not overcome the governor’s veto. He later led the Legislature in halting the execution of juveniles and the mentally retarded, ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nationwide bans.
Chambers is famous for an unsurpassed knowledge of legislative rules, which he uses to derail bills that threaten those he calls the “downtrodden.” This attracts the criticism that he is “the great obstructionist,” better at halting legislation than creating laws. As one colleague observed, “In Washington they call it a filibuster. In Lincoln, they call it Ernie.” Once, Chambers filibustered on the state budget until his colleagues agreed to set aside half a million dollars for a minority scholarship fund. In the 2005 session, he blocked the legalization of concealed weapons, as well as a constitutional amendment protecting the right to hunt, which he said would “trivialize and pollute” the state constitution. In classic Ernie Chambers style, he introduced a raft of riders to the amendment that would protect such other rights as “creating, recreating, conversating and procreating,” “hunting for the link between Noah’s Ark, Joan of Arc and Archimedes,” and “sitting on the front porch on a warm summer evening, drinking a glass of cold lemonade, dreamily watching the silvery moon rise to begin its journey across a darkening velvet sky powdered with stardust.”
Chambers’ mastery of oratory has gotten his arguments—in opposition to a state-paid government chaplain and in support of late-term abortions—cited in at least two cases argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the most recent session, he introduced an amendment to toughen the standards for DNA testing by police. The action came after officers in Omaha sought DNA samples from dozens of black men who roughly fit the description of a serial rapist. “Like an oversize dress, the description covers everything and touches nothing,” Chambers wrote in an opinion piece in a local newspaper. “A racial dragnet has been woven to justify random sweeps.” None of the men who were tested turned out to be a viable suspect. Chambers’ amendment required probable cause before a DNA test could be ordered and that samples be returned to those who are cleared. It passed 44-0.
With all that success, Chambers doesn’t feel overburdened with popularity. (One legislator frustrated by Chambers’ intransigence introduced an amendment that would have ceded Chambers’ Omaha district to Iowa.) Chambers feels the term-limit amendment was devised specifically to get rid of him. “This is Nebraska,” he says. “It’s a terrible place to be. It is an ultraconservative, ultra-racist state. I would not advise anybody black to come here.”
“Ernie sees racism when he pours his breakfast cereal,” responds Lee Rupp, a land manager from a rural district who served with Chambers for five years. “His problem is that he doesn’t think politically. He sees everything as right or wrong, with no shades of gray.” Others say Chambers’ perceptions are apt. “When Ernie gets under a person’s skin, which you can do through speech pretty effectively, one of the ways of responding to that is to bring up a racial issue,” says Vard Johnson, an attorney who served alongside Chambers for nine years. “I can tell you that in talking with my own constituents I would hear racially derogatory references made about Ernie Chambers.”
In the long run—and it’s been a very long run—Chambers may be as emblematic of his state as he is exceptional. “The Great Plains has a rich history of this sort of rabble-rousing individual,” says Gary Moulton, professor emeritus of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Chambers’ detractors should take heed of the state’s populist legacy, he says, one that includes William Jennings Bryan and other ad-vocates for the ignored and voiceless. “Ernie comes out of the ’60s, but if you take a step back you can see that it’s another aspect in the same populist vein,” Moulton says. “Instead of oppressed farmers it’s oppressed minorities.”
Unlike most of his colleagues, Chambers does not supplement his $12,000 legislative salary with other work. In 1984 Chambers successfully sued the state to get reimbursement for senators’ travel and food expenses, but they receive no pension or other benefits. “The Legislature here is a starvation deal,” says Rupp, who became a lobbyist after his stint in the capitol. “Everybody does it to put it on their résumé so they can go on to something else and make a living.”
Chambers, though, has stayed, logging 250,000 miles on his seven-year-old Honda Civic, commuting almost daily between his office in Lincoln and his two-bedroom apartment in a predominantly black district in Omaha. “I do it because I believe in it,” he says. In 2002, Chambers turned 65 and became eligible for Medicare; it was the first time in many years that he’d had health insurance. “I have not accumulated houses or stocks or bonds or anything; this has not been a lucrative office for me,” he says. “I entered the Legislature a poor man, and I will leave the Legislature a poor man.”
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Ernie Chambers is your classic malcontent. However, he is a very powerful malcontent so it seems.
s the story says, Chambers isn't afraid to singlehandedly derail a piece of legislation. Nebraska is also unique in that the members of their one house Legislature are elected nonpartisanly, that is, without party labels.
An update to this story...oral arguments were heard this week by the Nebraska Supreme Court on a case involving the constitutionality of the legislators' term limits law, which was enacted by a voter initiative. The court is not expected to rule for several months.
Ernie is the 'Last Angry Man'. I am blessed to say that not only do I know him, but I thank him for giving me a moral compass. His only desire is to have people think, reason and do what is right. Imagine that...
I admire Ernie for taking an unpopular stand in advocating for an end to busing, because the evidence does not show that it has improved Black achievement. It's something that Blacks need to accept and move on to really address the real issues and underlying causes of underachievement.
If all lawmakers in America would strive to emulate Ernie Chambers, this nation would truly be a model for the rest of the world.
Ernie Chambers is the most racist human on this earth...His whining and lack of pushing the black to be responisible members of soceity. He wants hand outs not a hand. Thank God for term limits.
First off i have the greatest respect for the man. I dont alway agree with what he says or how he says it but respect none the less.
I hope that since his tenure in the state legislature is coming to a close that he uses his time to build up the commintiy that has seen fit to elect him all those years to office. Omaha's black commity is now one of the poorest in the whole nation.
He needs to be a strong role model for the people that he served, to stop the black on black killings, help the young teenage mothers, bring higher paying job(real livable wage) to north omaha, and stop the hate.
God bless Ernie
Uh,
"Ernie Chambers is the most racist human on this earth...His whining and lack of pushing the black to be responisible members of soceity. He wants hand outs not a hand. Thank God for term limits.
Posted by:disgused in omaha"
Dear Disgusted, no group is given more handouts, as YOU referred to them, than Whites. No group has benefitted more from Affirmative Action than White Women. Why don't you know that? Do you do any independent research, or do you simply parrot the hate preachings and teachings of white supremacitst and corporate media? You, yourself, are probably some poor-assed white hillybilly railing againts Blacks getting handouts which you would readily accept were they given to you.
"I admire Ernie for taking an unpopular stand in advocating for an end to busing, because the evidence does not show that it has improved Black achievement. It's something that Blacks need to accept and move on to really address the real issues and underlying causes of underachievement.
Posted by:D. M. Jefferson"
WHAT are "the real issues and underlying causes of underachievement, D.M. Jefferson??? Perhaps you could share with us what your research has yeilded on that subject?
First off i have the greatest respect for the man. I dont alway agree with what he says or how he says it but respect none the less. I hope that since his tenure in the state legislature is coming to a close that he uses his time to build up the commintiy that has seen fit to elect him all those years to office. Omaha's black commity is now one of the poorest in the whole nation. He needs to be a strong role model for the people that he served, to stop the black on black killings, help the young teenage mothers, bring higher paying job(real livable wage) to north omaha, and stop the hate. God bless Ernie
Posted by:kate Johnson
Ms. Johnson, is Ernie Chambers the only Nebraska legislator responsible for all that has gone wrong in bring the education of Black folks out of the dark ages? Is he the only legislator capable of being a "role model" to Blacks? I mean, I know that making Black men the scapegoats for all that goes wrong in this country is a time-honored tradition, but some of the comments about this one Black Man in the Nebraska legislature tells me that it will be a sad day for this abysmal state when he is gone. Believe me, Ernie Chambers will be Nebraska's loss, not the other way around.
Peace!
Isaiah
I would just like to say that Ernie's comment on Nebraska being an ultra-racist state is asinine. He feels that because not everyone agrees with his views that it has to be because we are racists. Guess what Ernie, people are allowed to disagree with your views. It has nothing to do with your age, gender, race, or anything else you can think of. Your views on a lot of issues would get the same reaction no matter what state you went to.
While I never lived in Nebraska, I been all over the state on Indian issues. And I agree with Ernie, it is one of the most racist states in the midwest. Anti-Indian, anti-black, anti-hispanic, and mostly white. Ernie is a Black American Socrates and when the hispanic labor imported illegally to work the white farms and ranches get the right to vote? Well, let's just say they will be more compassionate to white folks than has the white folks been to Ernie.
Hello I am not a U.S. citizen - but I am writing this on a unseasonable sunny morning in London across from Manchester Square. I only wish that Mr. Ernie Chambers - if prevented from continuing in politics/law in the states - would feel the compulsion to visit our shores and enjoin his sage wisdom amongst the citizens of the UK. Ernie should run for Mayor of London. I have just read of his Swiftian genius in his pursuit of God in the U.S. law courts. It reminded me of a Professor John Gray's paper: 'Totrture - A Modest Proposal' which in turn was also in homage to the great Swift.
All hail the very noble Ernie Chambers.
Martin Sexton - London Sept 2007
Ernie is not a hero for living on his $12,000 legislative income only. Why would a person do that? You can make more money at McDonalds! He does that for two reasons. 1. It's for show. Part of him wants the world to see a black man serving in the legislature and living on $12,000 a year. 2. He's lazy. He's been doing this for over thirty years, and doesn't have any retirement? 401K? IRA? If Ernie has any intelligence whatsoever, why is he going to leave the legislature a poor man?
Ernie is GREAT! I am a white middle class woman and I love to hear about his antics. I have occasionally seen him about town eating at very posh establishments such as The Country Kitchen. I hope that Ernie decides to set his sites on Washington DC. Think of the mayhem that he could unleash on capital hill. Politics in Nebraska are going to be very boring without him. He is not completely penniless because I think that he still owns a barbershop.
I'm not sure why a reject like Ernie Chambers is allowed to breath the same air as the rest of society. A message to Ernie: You are a dumb [deleted].
I find it funny that most african americans fail to recognize that they are racists. I want to puke everytime I hear "they just stopped me because I'm black." or they didn't save me from the flood because I'm black. You are and fit every definition of the term racist. What, you don't think you can be a racist? Ernie is not only a dumb [deleted], but he is also a racist.
Suing God? What a waste of tax payer's dollars! Maybe it is time to test Mr. Chambers for dementia.
A quote from our Toronto Ontario Canada news site made this statement and I have sent them a very brief note about it....
Politician Sues God To Make A Point
Tuesday September 18, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_14849.aspx
The senator's ill fitting suit will likely never make it to court, of course. After all, when you're suing God, it would be impossible to find a jury of his peers.
My Note to them reads.
"I don't agree the head of the major churches should be a jury of "His" peers and perhaps it is time they stood up and were held accountable for all of the wars in "His" name etc. "
I think that Ernie Chambers is a true American. He has stood up to the narrow minded, faith based, sheeple and he has won. He has not used force nor brutality but his wit and wisdom. Would that there were more men and women like him in our flacid government.
Suing God? This guy is an idiot.
God bless this man and his tireless work as an advocate of those clearly not represented by the Nebraska Legislature. He does have a law degree, the man will clearly go on to bigger and better things when he retires from office. He has had a long and distinguished career, people like this man make America a better place.
Way to go! Show them that the people are tired of frivolousness of the "Get Rich Quick" climate of the "Microwave America" What ever happened to Hard work and perserverance?
Thank You!
Robert M. Todd
Southern California
I don't know anything about, Senator Chambers. When viewing the Senate on the Television I can't say that I can recall the camera panning to or showing Senator Chambers. However I'm certain that it must be, my changingof the channel when the hearings or whatever are taking place. the Aviator, when the Senetor in the certain Airlines pocket, was attempting to derail Hughes for the sake of money, comes to mind. The fact that Senator Chambers has no income other than his salary is easy to explain. How do you think he can fillibuster. ( By the way the term was used long ago, Aaron burr, wanted to take a group of armned down into Mexico to claim it for U. S. soil. Remember he shot Alexander Hamilton for slandering him in the media. A duel if you will. Hamilton apologised privately but refused to do so publicly. Hamilton and his coherts were concerned that he would start a third party. At the time, Democrats and Republicans. But I digress, Senator Chambers obviously has earned his Salary at least five times over per year. He is a continuing student. He has spent time in study and in listening to the needs of the downtrodden. You know like the bit written on the statue of Liberty. I have no doubt that like all of us there lies the hypocrite below the skin. Senator Chambers has a slighted view of some things. I have to ask have you read anything on the founding of this country. I think our U. K. friend probably knowsalot more than the bulk of our citizens on our history. Read Howard Zinn, his book A peoples history of the United States, Quite enlightning. However reading the articles here, The man does his homework and is obviously after matters of the heart. The vote, 44-0 impressive. Sadly there aren't enough folks willing to stand out and say bigotry on any level for whatever reason can not be acknowledged or tolerated. Senator Chambers I wish you well, and thank you for your service to our country. I am ashamed that I don't know more about you or the other men and women serving our goverment, I will work on it. And obviously you are taking good care of your body another reason why you are now one of my respected role models. Stop the greed and the spending and invest in one another. Shout out to U.K. I enjoyed the fact that despite being across the pond. You added to the pot. Best to ya! Incidently, It was federalists and capitalists at the time. But using the former, present day terms, present day is repeating itself.
Dear Americans,
I am a student from Holland. Most people from holland think pretty negative about the states because't some americans are so gdm hypocritical. The message that Ernie Chambers is spreading, could change the negative view that rest of world has about you guys.
keep on the good work!!
Senator Ernie Chambers is someone I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with during my two years, living in North Omaha. My first impression of him was "this is how Jesus" lived! Chambers is "Salt of the Earth" and one of the greatest minds I've ever met! Call him what you will, but Senator Chambers is honest, truthful, totally for the downtrodden and not your typical money grubbing, power-hungry politician. He may be an "atheist" by Judeo-Christian standards (and I don't blame him, considering the wretched history and hypocritical thinking of Christianity), but there's a lot of "Higher Power" in this man. And I don't believe for a second that he's a true atheist in its purest since. He just doesn't buy the theology of western-euro-religiosity. I had forgot all about my comrade, Senator Chambers until I heard Whoopi Goldberg saying that he was sueing God. That's great! He's making a point about bogus lawsuits. A shameless plug... Check out my book, "My id... Ignant & Dissfunkshunal!: Life in the Yahweh Cult and the Witness Protection Program" , a memoir where I recount how the government relocated me to Omaha and my dealings and meeting Senator Chambers. www.iuniverse.com (Khalil Amani) www.myspace.com/khalilamani
Senator Ernie Chambers is someone I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with during my two years, living in North Omaha. My first impression of him was "this is how Jesus" lived! Chambers is "Salt of the Earth" and one of the greatest minds I've ever met! Call him what you will, but Senator Chambers is honest, truthful, totally for the downtrodden and not your typical money grubbing, power-hungry politician. He may be an "atheist" by Judeo-Christian standards (and I don't blame him, considering the wretched history and hypocritical thinking of Christianity), but there's a lot of "Higher Power" in this man. And I don't believe for a second that he's a true atheist in its purest sense. He just doesn't buy the theology of western-euro-religiosity. I had forgot all about my comrade, Senator Chambers until I heard Whoopi Goldberg saying that he was sueing God. That's great! He's making a point about bogus lawsuits. A shameless plug... Check out my book, "My id... Ignant & Dissfunkshunal!: Life in the Yahweh Cult and the Witness Protection Program" , a memoir where I recount how the government relocated me to Omaha and my dealings and meeting Senator Chambers. www.iuniverse.com (Khalil Amani) www.myspace.com/khalilamani
It is NOT God's fault.
We have our own FREE WILL and CHOOSE our own situations by our thoughts,words and deeds.
So if everybody minds these three important things then all hate,war,poverty,egoism etc. will leave the world.
So DON"T blame God. HE is only waiting for all of us to come and ask HIM for help.But our arrogance stands in our way!So we have to sit on it first!
The point is that we think we can do,live by ourselves without asking Him to guide and protect our lives.
So, here lies the crucial point,my dear friend!
No one can find real happiness and peace without letting Him in our hearts and lives. So, we have to start with ourselves first!!!
Please, see: www.bruno-groening.org
or: www.supremmastertv.com or www.godsdirectcontact.com
God's richest Blessings to all inhabitants of this planet Earth.
For those of you who think that the case against "God" is without merit, that is the very point. He is doing it to make a statement that Americans are very prone to filing frivilous lawsuits, not because he thinks he can win. The following is a quote from the Associated Press article:
"State Sen. Ernie Chambers sued God last week. Angered by another lawsuit he considers frivolous, Chambers says he's trying to make the point that anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody."
So, without a concept of sarcasm or knowledge of the context for the lawsuit, it is understandable why some of the readers would not understand what is going on here.
Nebraska will be much worse off with the loss of Ernie in the Legislature...he kept everyone on their toes and let no injustice go unnoticed.
eu li algo que diz que ele tem odio de DEUS, pois eu digo que ele pode ter odio de DEUS, pode critica os atos de DEUS dos cristãos que servem a DEUS, mas não pode fugir de DEUS, mas cedo ou mais tarde ele vai prestar contas com DEUS sobre tudo o que ele falou contra DEUS, pois o Senhor não e DEUS de guerra mas sim de paz, se acontece furacões, tempestades, não é Deus mas sim nós que fazemos isso conosco atravez da poluição que jogamos no céu.
When he leaves Nebraska, can he come to our state? Could he head to Washington?
Bravo Ernie Chambers! Politics needs more like you!
I discovered Sara Catania this evening after reading an online excerpt of her book, "A is for Afro". Sara's writing has a powerful but simple clarity and has greatly moved me. Truth has a way of affecting people in that manner. The article on Ernie Chambers was a great read. Ernie's story/plight is the story of a hero, fighting greed, corruption, and politicians who only care about their own material desires. We need more Americans like Ernie to throw a wrench in this big nasty machine that America has become. Maybe if we slow it down enough we can get back on track and start to be what we tell everyone we are. Thank you for the great story Sara... your honesty and objectivity (and damn good writing) are sorely needed to help America become the great country is never really was but can become.
I'd never heard of Ernie Chambers before yesterday. WOW !!! I finally have an American hero. I may not agree with his position on some racial issues, but he sure got the GOD thing right. It takes someone with a real brain to get "outside the box" like he does. WOW I think you should head for Congress Ernie !!!
Dear Ernie: Gee, sorry to hear that Nebraska is such a "Racist state"... I'll bet most of them believe in God too. Not saying that christians are racist! I'm saying that you've got an apparent chip on your shoulder, you think everyone's out to get you. God, however, is not one of them. Sadly, I don't think you'll ever figure this one out. product of a power-trip, what a shame.
The concepts of an all knowing God and the idea that mankind has free will are mutually exclusive. If God is all knowing, then he knew I was going to write this. He knew it before he separated light from dark. I was going to do it, that's that. I had no decision in the matter. If I didn't write this, he would've known that also, again before he separated light from dark. Therefore, everything that I do was pre-ordained, allowed by God, before he ever made a single molecule. Therefore, since He knows everything, he decides who will live in a penthouse or a penitentiary, who will be gay or straight, live long or commit suicide. It was all known by Him before he separated light from dark. Since He knows all, and allows all to happen, he is completely responsible for all on earth. He's the one that allows our soldiers legs to be blown off in war and gives us the power hold down women while we rape them. Therefore, he's responsible for all that is good AND all that is bad on earth. The existence of an all knowing, all powerful god by definition excludes human free will.
He wants to sue God to proove the American Suing System (or whetever it's called) is a useless scum
Thank you.
Learn to spell Responsible and Society. You should be disgusted by that and not "disgused" by Ernie
I enjoyed reading this very much!!!
I think Ernie just says all this bull[deleted] racist stuff to get his colleages going. Who knows what he really believes. I do think he knows the law pretty good. But then I guesse he has nothing better to do.
Not only is Ernie the biggest bigot in the state, he has cost the state more dollars per year than any one.
The only thing keeping the downtrodden down are themselves.
I voted for term limits because of Ernie Chambers!
As a contributing black... in Omaha... I am completely insulted by the person who claimed that ernie chambers is racist. I find that person to be racist. And i say this with the innocence of a child, i am a minor.
OH my Lord people!!!!!! is this all that you do with your lives??? bust some old guys balls??? really? WOW!!!!! im 16... black... a GIRL NO LESS, and i find all of the crap that most of you are talking to be ignorant, pointless, and yeah, kinda racist (and its not because im black its because in NORMAL!). we learned about this thing in AP world history today... its called excestentialism (excuse my spelling) that means get off of ERNIES NUTS AND CHECK OUT YOURS!!!!!!! i cant cast the first stone.... CAN ANY OF YOU?!?!?
You're 16, so you have no real scope of reference as to whether Chambers is a racist. I lived most of my life in Omaha (I'm 38) and Chambers is a racist but more importantly, he's an opportunist. His main goal was to keep his face on television. Like most of the so-called black leaders of the last 30 years, he has no interest in bringing people together. The last thing he'd want is for racism to go away. And if Nebraska is the most racist pace on the planet, how did you manage to get your racist butt re-elected a zillion times?
Nebraska is a racist state. Never experienced more direct racial aggression, it is against AAs and Hispanics. Stay away from that state. They only get poorer because nobody wants to invest in a racist state. They are so ignorant they think it’s okay to be outspoken about it in public and private companies. Yes, even NASDAC traded companies. Nebraska, stay isolated, please don’t infect everyone else with your decease. Local EEOC is useless, they give the impression they are paid by local companies.
I am a white,educated, middle aged female in great health and who has aged gracefully. You would think I would NOT be for Ernie based on that previous comment right?
Ernie is Ernie. Without Ernies in the world to stir up conservative thought processes there would never be changed for the better. After all Yeshua (Jesus) was placed on earth to change the conservative and very corrupt Jewish tribes. On a historical standpoint Yeshua is remembered for his radical behavior and "stirring up the pot". And so will Ernie!
Have you ever thought Ernie was being sarastic by the "God thing". Go within yourself (when all is quiet in your mind) and ask yourself what was Ernie's real purpose for filing a lawsuit against "God".
Let me tell you this...When Ernie moves to the other side and sees all the reflections of his life on earth, he and the divine will has felt he did make a difference on earth!!!
This may be to complex for you to understand right now, but I just ask that you try to read more into what people say---just what is place on on the surface.
I am a white,educated, middle aged female in great health and who has aged gracefully. You would think I would NOT be for Ernie based on that previous comment right?
Ernie is Ernie. Without Ernies in the world to stir up conservative thought processes there would never be change in our world. After all Yeshua (Jesus) was placed on earth to change the conservative and very corrupt Jewish tribes. On a historical standpoint Yeshua is remembered for his radical behavior and "stirring up the pot". And so will Ernie!
Have you ever thought Ernie was being sarastic by the "suing God thing"?
Go within yourself (when all is quiet in your mind) and ask yourself what was Ernie's real purpose for filing a lawsuit against "God".
Let me tell you this...When Ernie moves to the other side and sees all the reflections of his life on earth, he and the divine will have felt he did make a difference on earth!!!
This may be to complex for you to understand right now, but I just ask that you try to read more into what people say---than just what is placed on on the surface.
As a native Nebraskan I am proud and privileged to have Mr. Chambers serve in my state's government for so long. I wish there were more politicians like him, which makes me want for him to run for a position on the national level; though I know that probably will not happen. It is unfortunate that alot of Nebraskans do not, and will not ever, appreciate the work he has done.
I wish every politician was like this man.
WAKE UP, did they teach you any logic in school? Why do you THINK he did that? He is REPRESENTING that area, what do you think the median income of a working adult is in that are? How can he REPRESENT people when he doesn't live that life....oh yes....that's why we have the problems we have...
The world be a LOT better if we all lived more simple.
Hey, he might be angry, because he GETS it. If you haven't been poor, really poor, haven't grown up black in Nebraska. Stop yammering, start thinking.
He is himself. No one agrees with everything he does. If you did, you wouldn't be needed. He does his best, he is not always perfect, but he's given his life to something bigger than himself, something bigger than whining about taxes.
By the way, I'm a white woman.
Yes, there's nothing keeping the poor down except endemic racism, poverty, poor education, lack of opportunity, drugs, crime and even pure bad luck.
I've worked in Ghana and Brazil, building houses, schools and hospitals for the poor. These are people who lack electricity, running water, modern healthcare and often food.
Are they poor because they want to be? Or are they the unfortunate victims of years of imperialism, racism, and exploitation? No one wants to be poor, but sometimes poverty is unavoidable due to circumstances.
Of course, being predominantly white and middle class, I doubt most of you would understand that.
We need more of Earnie Chambers, not less.
Ernie Chambers is perhaps one of the most brilliant men I have ever heard of. I do think that some of his views and claims of racism are a bit off, but he has done his job. He has represented the people who vote for him to the best of his ability. He takes their concerns to heart and brings them to the unicameral. He will not talk to lobbyists about education, and has almost always voted to improve education and schools. He graduated from law school with my grandfather, Creighton Law none the less, so he's not an uneducated man. I do not agree with him 100%, but he is someone to respect, and who has been committed to his job
