Kehinde Wiley, the artist who painted the portrait of Barack Obama, coming under fire for previous paintings depicting beheaded white women

 The portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama have drawn fire, and some criticism and praise, for their unconventional take on the former president and first lady. Now comes word that the artist who painted Obama, Kehinde Wiley, has done paintings of black women holding the severed heads of white women. Artistic license or in bad taste? You decide.

Bako Bits: graduation season, celebrating high achievers and fretting about the lost generation

Coming off another splendid weekend in Bakersfield, which lived up to its nickname "Bako" on Sunday when my car told me it was 106 degrees outside. Hot as it was, the skies were blue and everyone was out: working in their yards, washing cars, on the bike trail early, enjoying the coming of our "warm season." I spent the weekend at a skeet tournament in west Kern where I came across a number of youngsters, most of them high school seniors eager to call it a day and move on to college. I admire these kids who manage to stay focused to the end, particularly one who sat on a sofa studying for her final Advanced Placement exam and another who was celebrating a scholarship to a small college in Missouri. But let's be honest: Kern County has a dismal high school dropout rate (above 20 percent) and only 7 percent of our seniors have what it takes to get into a "UC" like UCLA, Berkeley, UC Davis etc. So it's worth celebrating those that do:



* ... BEST AND BRIGHTEST: The magazine BakersfieldLife is once again devoting its cover story (check it out above) to some of our high achieving kids. I'm always impressed with these kids and their stories. This year we've got one going to MIT in Cambridge, a bunch headed to UCLA and one bound for Georgetown. (Hint to the uninformed: you have to have better than a mere 4.0 GPA to get into UCLA and Georgetown) I challenge anyone to read this and not be impressed. Local writer Dana Martin wrote the story and did a terrific job capturing the spirit of these kids. Look for BakersfieldLife in the Saturday home delivered edition of The Californian on May 30.
* ... MICHELLE OBAMA: Hats off to First Lady Michelle Obama who gave the first commencement address at the new UC Merced campus. Reports said her 22-minute speech was truly uplifting, a nice valentine to this new California campus.
* .... AND WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?: I made the mistake of dropping by the Marketplace shopping center early Friday evening. I was greeted by literally hundreds of young teens and they didn't exactly inspire me or give me confidence for the future. Many of these kids looked liked a classic "lost generation" of underachievers who might one day be part of those kids who never make it through high school. Judgmental yes, but take a look for yourself.

McCarthy: allow banks to repay TARP money; Republicans regrouping to fight spending

A busy week for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakerfield) that included his wife and daughter attending the First Lady's Luncheon. In his own words:

"This week was a busy week on several legislative fronts. After listening to many of our neighbors in our communities and attending the Bakersfield tea party, I continued to hear about the fear that many of us have with the record Federal spending and borrowing that’s taking place in Washington. We voted on the final version of the Federal budget blueprint, and I voted against it because it contained the same extraordinary levels of spending and borrowing that could lead our nation to doubling our national debt in five years, and tripling it in ten years. This unprecedented lack of fiscal responsibility will only mortgage the futures of our children and grandchildren tomorrow to pay for new spending programs and bailouts today.

"Serving on the House Financial Services Committee, I have been troubled by news that Treasury is making it difficult for banks that received taxpayer-funded TARP bailout money to repay portions of those loans back to the Treasury, and ultimately the taxpayers. That is why I introduced legislation to make sure that if a bank wants to repay bailout money, that the money goes straight towards paying down our national debt, instead of going back to Treasury where it can be spent. This prevents that repaid money from being used as a revolving line of credit for other things Washington would like to spend money on.

"The swine flu continues to be a major concern for our country, and especially our communities, given our close proximity to the United States-Mexican border. As of Thursday, there were 14 reported cases in California. I have posted a link to the Centers for Disease Control on my website for current updates and background information.

"The week ended with a big national announcement. On Thursday, my colleagues and I introduced the National Council for a New America, a new group to listen, facilitate, and create solutions to address the problems we face in our country. Listening to the American people will provide the real solutions that our country needs to solve our current challenges. We know the best ideas are not in Washington, but throughout America. The National Council for a New America will engage our communities in a conversation to gather common-sense solutions from hard-working American families. Please join us in this discussion as we use the power of new ideas to move our country forward. You can email me your thoughts through my website, or send me a tweet on Twitter or a note on Facebook. I also discussed this on CNN and Fox News to introduce this new grassroots group that will be a policy-based forum to engage in a thoughtful conversation with the American people. You can check out those interviews on my YouTube page.

"And finally, check out my new official website -- it was just redesigned in an attempt to make it more user-friendly and easier to access information. If you would like, let me know what you think (and also about other ideas you may have) by submitting feedback and thoughts here.
My wife, Judy, and daughter, Meghan, were in DC for a few days and were able to attend the first ladies luncheon with First Lady Michelle Obama, and today we are headed home. We are en route back to Bakersfield. Have a good weekend!