You're So Lame Award Of Shame President Obama Bow & Scrape Edition

I can't say I thought I'd be writing a post where I'd give President Obama the Dunce Cap but so be it. I put in my time, money and effort towards getting him elected AND I voted so I have earned the right to be critical.

First of all he decided to be publicly critical of the Cambridge Police while defending his friend Skip Gates. Bill Cosby of all people stated it wasn't a wise move on Obama's part to the derision of many blacks. Well...when facing a rising backlash from law enforcement and a lot of whites (I read a few "conservative" blogs and trust me they were PISSED) he danced the jig yesterday. So it looks like the Cos was right all along. What exactly does I didn't calibrate my words mean? SMH. That was a biyatch move Mr. President. Seriously.

As reader Khadijah pointed out so eloquently in the comment section of my Friday post, blacks only have but so much currency to spend during this administration. Much of it was wasted on this incident instead of something that would positively impact the collective. We are a minority population whose votes are usually taken for granted - thanks to the squandering of our clout gained during the Civil Rights era. So many people consider Obama a sacred cow they can't fathom the concept of doing any critical thinking where he's concerned. So obviously flexing their voting muscles is out of the question. I caught a lot of venom on a popular black political blog yesterday from those staunch defenders who insist Obama is doing a head fake by pretending to apologize. They're the ones who have the wool pulled over their eyes.

Check -
"President Obama said that the actions of the CPD were stupid and linked the event to a history of racial profiling in America," said Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association.

"The facts of this case suggest the President used the right adjective, but directed it toward the wrong party."

"The supervisors and the patrol officers of the Cambridge Police Department deeply resent the implication and reject any suggestion that in this case or any other case, they have allowed a person's race to direct their activities," O'Connor said.

Check Mate -
"Because this has been ratcheting up and I helped contribute to ratcheting it up, I want to make clear that in my choice of words I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley specifically and I could have calibrated those words differently."

Now tell me when did Shrub EVER apologize for ANYTHING?

Oh yeah, he's invited Sgt. Crowley ("I'm-not-a-racist" but-really-he-is) to the White House for a beer - and he called him. Now that's a awfully big gesture for a "non-apology" as so many would like to claim. If you will also recall Crowley made it clear that HE WOULD NOT APOLOGIZE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. So why is Obama "calibrating his words"? Stalemate?

Like many destructive things going on in the non-existent "black community" this Idol worship regarding Obama has got to stop! Just like the lack of accountability for many of the pathologies that have gone unchecked. Obama has people to answer to and many of them don't want him in office period. They want to see him fail, publicly in a very spectacular way. I get that - but I don't care right now. There's far too much at stake. We need single-payer health care. We need jobs and career prospects. We need affordable homes and an attainable education.

I care more about the quality and trajectory of my own life - and relying on a politician to get that done is a big FAIL. Wielding power is a challenge and a responsibility. Obama is NOT beholden to black voters. He knows this - it's too bad many of "us" don't. Symbolic gestures amount to a hill of beans. He is not going to allow a build-up of any more white resentment than what's already there. I know that hurts to hear for those operating under a delusion but it's a fact. The sooner blacks accept reality and stop thinking in terms of what-ifs and what-they-wish-would-be the sooner we can take steps to get some long-lasting changes in place. That's not going to happen though.

You're So Lame Award of Shame: Trashing Michael Jackson & Republican Foolishness

Things were looking to be chugging along until we got the news that rocked our world. I started working on a post comparing the emails of SC Gov Mark Sanford to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick but Mrs. Sanford's kick butt and taking no prisoners attitude had me rethinking that. I celebrated her triumph from a weak-willed man instead. Not to forget about Ensign and his mistress, her husband and son...but that's just too twisted and I'm not soiling my mind with trying to figure that one out!

Then I'd heard that Mr. Truthiness himself, Stephen Colbert had made a "tranny" joke which is a big no-no. Also John Stewart had the nerve to insult Malcolm X's memory by comparing him to those hypocritical Republicans. He theorized the Democrats were like MLK. His comparison makes zero sense though and trying to deconstruct his pea brain on this one isn't worth the effort to me. See, that's why these comedians have staff writers. They're not so brilliant, irreverent or funny without them. 

I've been hearing about but not wanting to watch the widow Russert Maureen Orth on MSNBC or hack writer Toure playing in endless loops on tv trashing MJ one way or the other. Of course Orth's entire career has been solely based on trashing Jackson so this isn't surprising. CNN is asking whether Jackson transcended race which is a stupid question to begin with. Fixed News immediately chose to give unflattering coverage but that's not a surprise. Entertainment Tonight decided to show us MJ's not quite dead body being worked on by EMTs. Perez Hilton said he got slapped by a Pea and whined about it. He also claimed MJ was faking an illness for media attention. Gee here's someone who'd know all about that. 

This year's BET Awards airs tomorrow and with it's planned MJ tribute will likely be its highest rated show ever. Boy timing is everything. You know I have a BET ban in effect but broke it to see Maxwell's debut video and I'll be watching (and critiquing) this one. Chris Brown and a whole other cadre of BW beaters/abusers/haters will get to take center stage. Hurl. One thing MJ did not advocate was violence and he always spoke highly of Black women so this is an insult of the highest proportion to mar his legacy by throwing these idiots in the mix. So drumroll....the award goes to: All of Them.

There's so much foolishness going on this week they all deserve it.

You're So Lame Award of Shame - White Men Howling At the Moon

I swear if I had a dollar for every white man supporting a supremacist agenda that has cried foul, racism, had a pity party and engaged in other mealy-mouth BS over the SCOTUS nominee I'd have quite a few extra in my pocket this week! So let's clarify that President Obama's choice of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a big deal and SUPER SCARY to some people apparently. Somehow having a brain and a vagina is going to do some people in. Yeah I said it! Vagina, vagina, vagina. The fact is they'd prefer a woman who was afraid of hers or wanted to repress its capabilities, but that's a whole other slippery slope. A divorced woman with no children - oh my! What does that mean????

From Rush "Never Met A Racist/Sexist Cause He Doesn't Support" to G. Gordon Liddy quite a few of the Usual Suspects have been up to no good as per their marching orders from the great White Power Oz. Isn't it time we pull the curtain back and throw some water on this sucker? Liddy....shouldn't this man have been executed for treason after he called for the murder of American citizens because he didn't agree with their politics? Somehow graduating at the top of your class from an Ivy League makes you an Affirmative Action "lesser than". I suppose being a legacy admission with a C average means you're freaking brilliant and have done all the work COMPLETELY ON YOUR OWN MERITS, huh? Not! 

Anyway, I would have preferred Obama nominate another equally if not more qualified African-American female lawyer like Kimberle Crenshaw. In case you are not familiar with her work she coined the term "intersectionality". Read this excerpt from her Wiki page:

Crenshaw has published works on civil rights, black feminist legal theory, and race, racism, and the law. She often commentates on various aspects of law and racial politics and her scholarly interests center around race and the law. She is the founding coordinator of the intellectual movement called the Critical Race Theory Workshop. She is currently a Professor of law at UCLA and Columbia Law School and teaches Civil Rights and other courses in critical race studies and constitutional law. In 1991 and 1994, she was elected Professor of the Year. At the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she received her LL.M., Professor Crenshaw was a William H. Hastie Fellow. Later on, she clerked for Justice Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Crenshaw has published numerous works including Critical Race Theory, Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory, and Assaultive Speech and the First Amendment. She was also the coeditor of Critical Race Theory: Key Documents That Shaped the Movement and her works have appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the National Black Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, and the Southern California Law Review. She has lectured nationally and internationally on race matters, addressing audiences throughout Europe, Africa, and South America as well as facilitating workshops for civil rights activists in Brazil and constitutional court judges in South Africa.

Her work on race and gender was influential in the drafting of the equality clause in the South African Constitution. In 2001, she wrote the background paper on Race and Gender Discrimination for the United Nations World Conference on Racism and helped to facilitate the addition of gender in the WCAR Conference Declaration. Crenshaw has also served as a member of the National Science Foundation's Committee to Research Violence Against Women and has assisted the legal team representing Anita Hill. She is also a founding member of the Women's Media Initiative and is a regular commentator on NPR's The Tavis Smiley Show.

Crenshaw is also co-founder, with Prof. Luke Harris, of the African American Policy Forum (AAPF). AAPF was founded in 1996. According to AAPF's mission statement: The Policy Forum is dedicated to advancing and expanding racial justice, gender equality, and the indivisibility of all human rights, both in the U.S. and internationally.

So Sotomayor has made some rulings that don't sit well with certain "progressives". She may not be the prefect candidate but she's a heck of a lot better than John Roberts "I Don't Think AIDS Is An Epidemic"...and Alito! That was Robert's stance in the 80's when he was advising Ronald Reagan at the beginning of the outbreak. It prompted the President to distance himself and ignore the future millions of people who'd die because the Republicans couched everything in "you're a dirty sinner" language instead of seeing it as a public health (and national security) threat. In case you're thinking Roberts has mellowed some guess again. He's the Chief Justice on top of it. 

I'm hoping President Obama gets to appoint at least two more Justices who will use common sense and leave their narrow religious/sexist/racist views out of the court. Yeah I know I'm asking for A LOT. But all of the things some of these men are accusing Judge Sotomayor of are the very same things they do on a regular basis. They know it - and so do we! So lay off. 

And for crying out loud - pronounce her name correctly!!

You're So Lame Award of Shame - Virginia Foxx

Well Keith Olbermann laid it out so well during this segment. His 'mocking voice' was funny but a bit over the top.  Rep. Bachmann must have been part of a social experiment to pass people regardless of their comprehension. Rupert Murdoch can't keep letting his Editors put up cartoons of primates and tie them to legislation (and indirectly the President). But this week's award hands-down goes to NC Rep. Foxx who unlike another Foxx can't blame it on the alcohol for her bias, ignorance and delusion. To oppose the hate crimes legislation that passed was bad enough but to claim Matthew Shepard's murderers were only out to rob him and killing him for being gay was a hoax is...just beyond my pay grade of depravity. 

If someone would automatically think that a woman would have more compassion by virtue of anatomy then they'd be proven how wrong that premise is. Some people are only interested in things that directly affect them and have zero empathy. Bachmann and Foxx are cut from the same Palin swatch and to dismiss them would be unwise. We must catch ourselves lest we become swayed by gender loyalty (as easily as some are to race) and acquiesce to white privilege.

You're So Lame Award of Shame - Asher Roth & Larry Summers

I was deciding between Jackie Chan and some others but then this just came in: Larry Summers fell asleep during a VERY IMPORTANT meeting between the President and members of the Banking Industrial Complex as they have to justify gross overcharges in credit card fees. I guess he hadn't had his Wheaties. This is a huge consumer issue and one where laws enacted to protect us from fraud need to be enforced. Especially after the CBC sold out the Black community in thwarting the ability to include certain debts in bankruptcy filings. Yes we bear some responsibility but we know the amount of credit being issued was usually more than what would be advisable. 

The one strike rule where if you missed one payment your interest rate could nearly double was ridiculous - esp when the banks ask for and get gov't bailouts, favorable rates and other concessions. Summers was already a controversial choice for the Obama administration with his conflicts over gender insensitive statements and his very public fight with Cornell West so you'd think the man would at least TRY to show up for work ready to work, but I suppose that's just too much to ask for!  

**********

So I was all set to publish this when I spent a little early evening Twitter time and lo and behold I've got another entry for ya'll. Some dubious character named Asher Roth who's a rap artist and claims he's about the "culture" of hip-hop yet doesn't want seem to want to properly acknowledge that culture came from BLACK PEOPLE made some off the cuff joke about "nappy headed hos" because he was at Rutgers. Yeah the Imus assault all over again. At least he got a flood of responses from others calling him out on it. He quickly deleted it from his stream and said he was "sorry" - except it had been resent. 

Blogger Byron Crawford did a screen capture so we have the proof. I sent him a message saying he needs to read the posts at Racialicious blog about Hipster racism and get a clue. Oh and the excusers and deniers came out to defend his insult to Black women, because it "doesn't have anything to do with me personally" and "you're being overly sensitive". Including a few very CLUELESS Black women. When will we learn that every "little" slight leads to further depravity? I'm sure he's a nice person and it's all a misunderstanding because he said he meant no harm. Yeah because racialized sexism is just so darn funny, haha. As funny as a gas chamber, hey Roth? Two steps forward, five steps back people!

P.S. Now in the biggest CYA action in recent memory, his PR flunkies are now trying to claim his account had been hacked into. Oh really...then why apologize? People are so concerned about not APPEARING racist they never learn from their mistakes. BIG FAIL!

You're So Lame Award of Shame

This week's award again was a toss-up. Pick Rush Limbaugh for his usual idiotic yet divisive statements, Glen Beck for being a Rush wannabe, the Teabaggers who are being used by the Republican Party to stir up trouble or other. I guess I'm going with other. There's some fake brouhaha over the number of Twitter followers between a celebrity and a news organization. Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN. 

There's a race to see who gets across the million-follower mark the fastest. Now bear in mind Kutcher joined Twitter around two months ago and CNN is (supposedly) a reputable news organization. They do tout the use of Twitter and their anchors have accounts. If this was an effort to highlight attention for a charity I wouldn't care, but this is about nothing!

The fact this is even a story is ridiculous in light of the serious issues going on right now like these constant race-based attacks/power maintaining tactics against the President and First Lady. Some may think it's silly and harmless fun but I see it as the epitome of huge egos and misdirection of what's really important. 

Per the Associated Press: The 31-year-old actor recently threw down the gauntlet, challenging CNN and its founder, Ted Turner. In a Web video posted earlier this week, Kutcher said he would ding-dong-ditch Turner's house if he beat CNN to 1 million. Larry King responded by saying: "Are you kidding? Do you think you can take on an entire network? Do you know how big we are? Do you know what CNN is? Kutcher, you're playing out of your field. You're in another time zone. This ain't gonna work. CNN will bury you!"

Okaaay. Step away from the keyboard Larry this really isn't that big of a deal. When we have real stories of women like Asia McGowan being murdered from deranged people who've contacted them online and the millions of children lured by predators this fake Twitter-war is just beyond childish. More power to you though, but wear that dunce cap proudly! 

Update: Kutcher is giving away 10K bed nets for World Malaria Day, but that wasn't the purpose of this little contest. Also he was referencing the followers of the CNNbrk Twitter account which isn't actually owned by CNN. See how ridiculous this is!??

You're So Lame Award of Shame

It's the end of the week so how could I forget to pass out the dunce cap?! It's a toss up between Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly but honestly that could be any week. I'd lean towards Rush but his vitriol has become rather predictable as of late. So I guess O'Reilly wins by a nose. Aside from trying to cash in on all things Obama with his book about electing the current President, he's now on a tear with rapper Enimem over his latest music video. Is it because Marshal has used his music videos to display his pathological mistrust and objectification of women and gays? Oh no, nothing that evolved. Not from a man who has engaged in oppressive tactics and sexually harrassed a female co-worker - and still has his job might I add. No O'Liely is mad because Queen of the Tundra Sarah Palin has been satirized in it. Can we bring out the hook now? I'm not showing the video because I cannot support either men's careers. They both need to be ignored and unsupported so they go away permanently. 

Dad Takes Kid On A Fieldtrip to Robbery

Nope this isn't an April Fool's joke. I know people are desperate but this is ridiculous. Just watch the video. I really have no words and I already gave out the Lame Award of Shame...

You're So Lame Award of Shame

You know most blogs have what they all refer to as their dunce cap awards to people in the news who deserve them. I've been wanting to do something along those lines myself but didn't want to use dunce cap because it doesn't translate internationally. I think enough of us have some pop culture references under our belt to under the word "LAME". It's kinda like "DUH" but worse! I would call it the idiot award but I think I'd want to use that in every post about someone. So hence the use of the word lame and shame. If more people had some and let it the humiliation be a tool for learning the world might be a kinder place for some.

I just read the latest rogue cop to get caught and face public scorn has quit the force. Oh boo hoo to the now former officer and all around racial arsonist Robert Powell who QUIT the force even though he was on PAID leave after stopping and threatening the Moats family. In.the.hospital.parking.lot as Jonetta Collingsworth died. 

I'm certain he's embarrassed but is he sorry? Of course not. He just doesn't want to face public scrutiny and an IAB investigation into his long and sordid history of harassment and any possible skeletons that will come falling out. I doubt he'll even be unemployed for long. He can now be a goon for hire for a private company and beat the crap out of as many Black people as he wants.  

Like the other coward with a badge - Johanes Mehersle - I'm certain Powell will land on his feet. I'm surprised he quit considering the police were fully prepared to cover his ass like they do all cops regardless of their nefarious actions but....celebrity and money won out. If Moats had just been a regular Black man with no connections we'd have NEVER heard of this "incident". So I hope people learn to start using the power of the pen and media to shake up the system a little bit. Now whether this changes anything in the rank and file is another story entirely but NOW IS THE TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT!