Adonal Foyle is the Dikembe Mutumbo that Geroge Bush fears

Adonal Foyle once remarked that if it took millions of dollars to become an NBA basketball player, the NBA would be boring, because it would be packed with George Bush- quality players.

Into the address, at the State of the Union, George Bush took a moment to honor his guest, Dikembe Mutumbo, the 7-foot NBA star seated in the second balcony. Bush let everyone know how much he appreciated Mutumbo's humanitarian work in his home country of Nigeria. Mutumbo, smiling after recognition, waved back at the president.

It is well known that Mutumbo, one of the longest-standing NBA players today, has been generous with his money over the years. It is also well known that there are many NBA basketyball players who use some of their monstrous flow of cash to fund various organizations for the underprivileged.

Why Mutumbo, why not, say, NBA center Aondal Foyle? Besides that fact that Mutumbo is better known, and a better center, Foyle and Mutumbo have similar stories. Both are known as fan-loving players, nice guys, and generous. Both are immigrants and are heavily involved in the NBA players unions.

The difference between the two, and the reason why Bush prefers to draw attention to Mutumbo and not Foyle, is because the players fighting poverty and injustice in different ways.

While Mutumbo will donate mass sums of money for disaster relief and hospitals, Foyle has used his money to build a grassroots movement that aims to change the system, more specifically, change policy on campaign financing.

Mutumbo's form of activism does not threaten the Bush regieme. Mutumbo provides basic relief to those who have fallen victim to imperialism and poor government. It is instant relief that is more like giving a fish to a hungry man.

Foyle, however, created Democracy Matters, a youth grassroots organization that is attack State policies on campaign financing.

Bush certainly does not support campaign finance reforms. Bush is the one who outspent every Democratic candidate combined last election. Without special interest money, Bush is a nobody.

As more and more Americans are beginning to realize that we need legitimate means to become political representatives (with publicly-funded campaigns), Bush has tried once again to distract us with the image of Mutumbo.

Bush would like us to believe that in order to change the world we can do so with the current system, as it's set up. As the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow, NBA players like Adonal Foyle is doing it his way, it's different, and it's putting oppressors like George Bush out of business.