Interesting Interview With O'Reilly And Rapper Lupe Fiasco

Conservative Fox News talk show host Bill O'Reilly was in the zone as he hosted rapper Lupe Fiasco, who referred to President Obama and all presidents of the United States as "terrorists."

O'Reilly puts rappers on a pedestal to inflate their political influence so he can portray them as too black and too dangerous as he tries to tear them down.

Notice in the interview how condescending O'Reilly is as he talks to his guest. It's not an accident.

As a side note, O'Reilly hosted this segment also to disingenuously appear unbiased by "defending" President Obama against this man referring to him as a "terrorist." I am not buying it and neither should anyone else.

This was a cultural attack by O'Reilly that allowed him to fake a defense of Obama. In a way, it's kind of brilliant on the right-wing host's part.

Source: Color Lines

Right-Wing Audience Laughs At Comparison Of Obamas To Sanford And Son Characters, But Not Pleased With GOP Jokes

Reggie Brown, the man paid to impersonate President Barack Obama, was welcomed with open arms as he made fun of the Barack and Michelle Obama and at one point likened them to Fred Sanford and Aunt Esther Anderson fighting from the old Sanford and Son show (you know ... because black couples are supposed to fight, be loud and act obnoxiously ... black marriages are not supposed to stand the test of time and challenges). Apparently, it was funny to laugh at a black couple fighting, but it was not so funny to hear stereotype jokes of Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and other jokes about GOP presidential candidates.

There were a few laughs with the Romney joke, but it clearly did not go over well with the right-wing audience and right-wing organizers.

Go on Reggie ... I guess you gotta get paid.

Random YouTube Video: A Mormon Explaining How Blacks are Cursed

It is interesting to look at this guy and try to figure out his body language. I hate to get into the Bill O'Reilly body language crap, but in this case it would be kind of interesting to get a feel for what someone thinks is going on with this guy.

Color Of Change Starts Petition To Get Fox News To Dump Fox "Business" Host Bolling For Racial Comments

Dear ColorOfChange.org member,

"It's not first time he's had a hoodlum in the hizzouse."

That's what Fox Business host Eric Bolling said on Friday about President Obama's meeting at the White House with the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, while photoshopping a gold tooth onto the man's image. Then a photo of popular hip-hop artist Common, who participated in a White House poetry event last month (and was later smeared by Fox), appeared on-screen .¹

It's just the latest from Bolling, who last month accused President Obama of "chugging a few forties" in Ireland.²Bolling's attacks are part of a long history of racially-coded language and stereotypes that Fox uses to create a negative perception of the president.

Please join us in demanding that Roger Alies Chariman of Fox News and Fox Business fire Bolling. If enough of us speak out, it will ensure that Fox's leaders face some public accountability for its consistent race-baiting. It only takes a moment:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/bolling

Fox Business and Fox News continue to be safe havens for commentators who try to whip up race-based fears and peddle racial stereotypes as hard news.

President Ali Bongo currently holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council and was visiting the White House on official business. While Bongo has a troubling human rights record, past U.S. presidents have met with problematic figures for diplomatic reasons or to get them to change their behavior. Hip hop artist Common is a well-educated cultural and charitable ambassador and a talented musician. We doubt that Fox would ever have referred to the White House as a “hizzouse” while George W. Bush, Bill Clinton or any other president resided there.

But on Friday, Bolling seized an opportunity to race-bait. He opened the segment by asking, "So what's with all the hoods in the hizzy?" Later, when a guest challenged him, asking why Bolling was treating the meeting as a social event rather than an official meeting between two heads of state, Bolling said, "How do you know what they did? Maybe they did have s'mores and watch movies. Maybe they watched a basketball game." ³

Such obvious promotion of racial stereotypes is nothing new at Fox.^4,5 In fact, it's what made Glenn Beck's career at Fox News before he took things too far⁶ — a move that eventually cost him more than 300 advertisers and his 5pm show on the network. Beck will leave this coveted time slot vacant at the end of this month, and some observers believe Bolling's over-the-top race-baiting last week was an audition for Beck's spot — his attempt to show Ailes and other executives at Fox that he's up to the challenge of stoking Fox viewers' anger at President Obama in a way fitting of Beck's legacy.⁷

Please join us in demanding that Fox Business Chairman Roger Ailes fire Eric Bolling. Ailes might not care what we think — but he has to care about Fox's public image. If Ailes fires Bolling, it's a step towards accountability. If he refuses, it will make it abundantly clear to the public and the media that stoking racial division is part of Fox's agenda.

Please join us by clicking the link below. And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/bolling

Thanks and Peace,

-- Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfchange.org team
June 18th, 2011

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU — your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/donate

References:

1. "Fox's Eric Bolling: Obama Is Hosting "Hoodlum[s]" In "The Hizzouse"," Media Matters, 6-11-2011
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201106110002

2. "Bolling: Obama Was "Chugging A Few 40's" Instead Of Responding To Joplin Disaster," Media Matters, 5-24-2011
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201105240034

3. See reference 1

4. "Tell CNN: Stop echoing Fox's race-baiting," ColorOfChange.org, 7-10-2010
http://orig.colorofchange.org/cnnfox/message.html

5. "An overview: Fox News and its problem with African-Americans," ColorOfChange.org
http://orig.colorofchange.org/fox/summary.html

6. "Call on advertisers to drop sponsorship of Glenn Beck," ColorOfChange.org, 7-30-09
http://orig.colorofchange.org/beck/message.html

7. "Is Race Baiting Part of Eric Bolling’s Fox News Audition?," Media Matters, 6-13-2011
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201106130006

Perfect Example Of An Insincere Apology: Featuring Eric Bolling Of Fox News

I chose this photo of Eric Bolling because of the caption that attacks MSNBC talk show host Ed Schultz. When Schultz made offensive comments about right-wing radio talk personality Laura Ingraham, he offered a sincere apology. He was truly sorry. Eric Bolling is sorry as a human being, but he is not sorry for the racially offensive comments he made in reference to President Barack Obama.

Fox News has a long and well-documented history of hosts and guests making hostile and offensive comments about people of color.

So, when the Eric Bolling (who seems to be auditioning to replace Glenn Beck) started making racially offensive comments about black people it was hardly a big surprise. If he is indeed sort of auditioning for the Glenn Beck role then this kind of racially offensive mentality would be totally expected, if not encouraged.

I am going to start with his apology expressed by this guy Bolling, first:

One editorial note. On Friday, we did a story about the president meeting with the president of Gabon. We got a little fast and loose with the language, and we know it's been interpreted as being disrespectful, and for that, I'm sorry. We did go a bit too far.

"Interpreted as disrespectful" sounds a lot more benign than calling it what it was, in my opinion: "racist." That alone should be indicative of a lack of sincerity.

It almost sounds like he is sorry it is being (not been) interpreted as disrespectful. Does this guy have a heart or a conscience in his body? This man seems as an arctic icecap.

First off, why is this man discussing this topic and using such offensive language on the so-called Fox Business channel?

Now the comments expressed by Bolling. This is an excerpt from News Hounds:

In other words, Bolling is not apologizing for using such offensive language as "It's not the first time (Obama has) had a hoodlum in the hizzouse" or posting a photo of Gabon’s leader with a shining tooth or the repeated use of a banner saying, "Hoods in the House." No, he's apologizing for how that language has been interpreted.

You think he would have said this about George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush or even Bill Clinton? There is no way he would have said this about a white president.

He is flat out not sorry for what he said. It was not his first time making offensive comments and it will not be his last time. He is almost certainly making his case to replace Beck as the host of one of the Fox News hours of hate.

Look, this is a weak, WEAK "apology" from Bolling. It is completely insincere and sounds every bit the part of a man forced to apologize for something he is not the least bit sorry about.

White Rapper Kreayshawn Sparks Controversy With N-Word Issue

Natassia "Kreayshawn" Zolot

The issue of whites and white rappers using the so-called N-word has come into focus again, with a story about Natassia "Kreayshawn" Zolot, a white rap artist.

She uses the word and doesn't much apologize for her use of it - in spite of the fact that she has now found herself knee-deep (at least) in a controversy. One of the general arguments in this case, and as is typical with use of the N-word, one of the primary arguments is that if they (black people) can use it then everyone else should be able to use it.

Here is a comment she recently tweeted about the controversy:

“People are acting so funny OMG lol. I got 200k views, not 200k dollars. WTF YOU WANT FROM A NIGGA. DMX VOICE.”

That comment tells me a few things: 1. She feels passionate about this issue, 2. she doesn't care too much what other people think (at this point) and 3. she is getting a WHOLE lot of marketing value out of this controversy.

A report from News One added this little nugget to the issue:

“In Oakland, Asian people will call Mexicans that. A Mexican will call a black dude that. A white person will call an Asian that. Everyone calls each other that. I feel like that word is used in the low-income community more than anything. I can see if I was some rich crazy trick and I was just saying this because it’s hip-hop,” Kreayshawn said, “I was raised around this. Me and my sisters were all raised around this. People call me that. But personally I’m not flaunting it around.’’

Whether she is flaunting or not is an interesting discussion. One thing is for sure, this controversy is helping Kreayshawn big time.

Honestly, she has the right to use it (like anyone else), but no one has the right to everyone's approval of use of the word. Based on what I've read, she probably has built up some credentials to be able to use it more than some (based on where she is from), but it doesn't mean everyone has to like it. Some do not and will not like it.

It's a controversy and not an easy one.

Weiner-gate Is Pathetic On Many Different Levels

The trouble that Rep. Anthony Weiner finds himself in is sad on so many different levels.

First, we're subjected to the pathetic and disgraceful right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart gloating about his fetish for photos of Anthony Weiner's penis - disguised as a politically-motivated pursuit. The gloating that far-right extremist Breitbart is doing over having nude photos of Weiner is disturbing on its own. No one wants to imagine how often the excited and happy Breitbart has looked over and carefully examined the photos of Weiner's penis.

On the other hand, it's sad to watch how much Weiner has deservedly fallen from grace for his actions followed up by a weak, weak attempt at a cover up. In hearing some of his initial responses I had little doubt that his story seem farfetched to say the least. Frankly, my first thought was that he was embarrassed and was lying his butt off.

Weiner was emerging as a strong advocate for liberal positions bolstered by his toughness and intelligence.

Now, quite frankly, he has screwed up so bad he is in danger of being forced out of office. As is often the case, it was the cover up that caused more damage than the actual "crime" he is seen as having committed. He has fallen in his self-created mess and now has a lot of work to do to rehabilitate himself.

It won't be easy and it should not be easy.