I Can't Wait To See Chiraq, But I Can Wait To See Chiraq

I've long been a fan of Spike Lee movies. Now, in that time, I've seen some of Spike's movies that are great (Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing) and some ones that, to me, were not so good (Red Hook Summer). I've also watched some underrated films, by Spike (Get on the Bus and School Daze).

That all being said, I look forward to seeing the movie Chiraq. Obviously, the title is provocative. But, I look forward to absorbing the actual messages within the film that many of Spike's movies feature.

As I was taking advantage of my Amazon Prime account, the movie popped up as a pay film. Apparently, I will be able to watch it as part of my subscription next month. I am willing to wait a month, but I look forward to seeing it.

Movies with this level of controversy make me even more interested -- especially when it comes to Spike Lee movies. A lightning rod for controversy throughout his career, Spike knows how to generate some hype -- intentionally or unintentionally -- for his projects.

Mickelson's Success, Struggles Of Woods Brings Out The Inner Racism In Some

This was bound to happen as Phil Mickelson claimed victory in the Masters on Sunday in Augusta, Ga. at Augusta National Golf Club - home of the legendary tournament. Mickelson clearly is a feel-good story with what his wife is going through with cancer and the stand-up way in which he has carried himself through these trying and challenging times. So, as Mickelson won, a lot of us could not help but think - at least a little bit - about the racial factor in his victory. Some, thought about it more so than others and some thought about it more viciously than others.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's "Hatewatch" picked up on one such individual who celebrated Mickelson's victory by launching a vicious racist attack on Tiger Woods.

Here is how it begins:

Count James Edwards, host of the Memphis-based white nationalist, anti-Semitic radio show called “Political Cesspool”, is among those likely celebrating Phil Mickelson’s victory at the Masters golf tournament on Sunday. Not because Mickelson is a feel-good story, winning the green jacket as his cancer-stricken wife watched, but because Mickelson is not Tiger Woods. That is to say, Mickelson is not black.

Yeah, you can see where this is headed:

The Masters “is civilized. All civilization channels basic desires and instincts into something higher and nobler. Lincoln and the abolitionists did their best to put an end to it, and the Jews and liberals are trampling down what remnants are left.”

Edwards was still warming up.

Then along came Tiger Woods, a “mixed race Negro with the skills to break down the last sport of white refuge, golf, and its citadel, Augusta National,” Edwards lamented. “He was the black messiah of sports. The long awaited one who would tear down the last remnants of segregation.”

Most would see that as a good thing. Not Edwards, of course. He cited a litany of rancid racial stereotypes to explain why.

“He’s got the sexual mores of the most stereotypical ‘nigger’ that even the most hardened, bigoted cracker could imagine,” wrote Edwards, who opposes “primitivism,” homosexuality, loveless sex, feminism and abortion. “Oh, and he apparently only wants white women. From his Nordic model wife to the dumpiest diner waitress, all of his trysts are with white women.”

“Segregation in the old South was all about maintaining racial integrity and civilization,” Edwards continued. “About keeping our wives and daughters safe from sexual animals like Tiger. About building up and maintaining what is noble and good. If the ‘black messiahs’ like Tiger Woods and Martin Luther King Jr. are such animals, what about the mere mortals among them? Do we want to find out?”

Contained in that lengthy excerpt would be all of the racist stereotypes generally used against black men over the years. All tied up in the neat little package of your classic racist.

Chad Ochocinco: I’m Straight … I’ve Been Knockin’ Boots

Reporters were wondering if Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was going to be OK following a knee injury he suffered in this past Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets.

Ochocinco, whose team is set to open the National Football League playoffs in a rematch against the Jets, assured the media and his public that his game is tight and he is ready to make it happen come game time.

“I had sex yesterday,” he told the New York Post. “With some of the moves I did – I should be fine.”

Chad may or may not have been joking. Who really knows but him.

In the urban dictionary … this is known as “knockin’ boots” … if you were wondering.

Sanford Got Himself In Scandal … Media Is An Easy Scapegoat

In reading an article on News Busters I read from a writer who is upset about coverage of the controversy surrounding Republican Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Now, the media coverage on this has been big (for a lot of reasons … reasons that have nothing to do with political parties). The writer, Rich Noyes, articulates a few controversial cases involving Democrats he asserts have not garnered as much coverage as Sanford’s crazy tales. But, the writer seems to have omitted a couple of things that caught my eye as I read over the story: (1) I saw no mention of how the media beat up and beat down former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards (and, actually, continues to go after him) and (2) I saw no mention of the affair controversy involving a Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada (an affair that is not getting much coverage all things considered). The writer also seems to ignore that Gov. Sanford disappeared, few people seemed to know where he was, he is responsible for the people of South Carolina, there was dishonesty about his whereabouts, Republicans have portrayed themselves as the party of family values, he was missing around Father’s Day and … on and on it goes.

Here is the News Busters article:

In the week since South Carolina’s Republican Governor announced he had flown to Argentina to carry on an extra-marital affair, the broadcast morning and evening news shows have gone full bore on the scandal, cranking out 49 stories even in the midst of other major stories like Michael Jackson’s death and the continuing repression in Iran.

The morning after Sanford announced his affair, on the June 25 Good Morning America, longtime correspondent Sam Donaldson used the scandal to broadly charge Republicanswith being “sanctimonious. They thump the Bible. They condemn everyone else, and when they [act] human, they don’t have much credit in the bank for forgiveness.” Unlike when New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught consorting with a prostitute in March 2008, all three broadcast networks immediately identified Sanford’s party ID.

A number of top Democrats are enmeshed in embarrassment or facing allegations of wrongdoing, but the networks have far less interest in publicizing those cases.A rundown of ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening coverage so far this year [ talks about Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Ex-Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA).]

I am not saying those are not scandals, but to imply bias seems off base.

Noyes’ headline: Heavy Coverage of Sanford’s Woes, But Where Are Democratic Scandals?

Noyes must have been asleep during the presidential primaries.

Ask John Edwards if his affair got far less interest.

What Are The Palins Thinking?

What is going on with Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd Palin? Why can’t they just be smart and let the whole David Letterman thing go?

From The Christian Science Monitor:

When asked if Sarah Palin would accept an invitation to appear on David Letterman’s program, Palin spokesperson Meg Stapleton responded by saying, “The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman.”

This is an unbelievably stupid statement on the part of Stapleton and I can only hope the Palins did not approve of such a boneheaded comment. The Palins are successfully turning David Letterman from the heel into the victim while turning themselves into the exploitative heels. This statement sort of validates what I was saying before about how the Palin camp is trying to portray Letterman as some sort of pedophile … which is absolutely ridiculous.

Will Sarah Palin try to get more mileage out of this controversy by going on the talk show circuit?

Time will tell.

David Letterman Apologizes For Taking A Shot At Daughter Of Sarah Palin

Comedian David Letterman has come under fire for making an in-poor-taste joke about the daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. It was a highly-inappropriate joke that was in reference to the Palin daughter who had the baby. Of course, conservatives tried to spin it to say he was talking about her younger 14-year-old daughter, but I am not willing to go so far as to say that was his reference. It does help the Palins and the right demonize Letterman a little more by portraying it that way, but that is not the reality of the situation that Letterman put himself in.

“We were, as we often do, making jokes about people in the news and we made some jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughter [Bristol]… and now they’re upset with me…” Letterman says on tonight’s show. “These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl…. Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes. Did I suggest that it was okay for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No.” Saying he hopes he’s “cleared part of this up,” Letterman extended an invitation to Palin to come on the show as a guest.

First of all, he was not talking about the 14-year-old. Any rational person without an agenda knows he was talking about the older daughter. I’m not saying it’s appropriate either way, but we should be intellectually honest about his intent – whether or not the joke was appropriate.

Now, clearly it wasn’t the strongest apology conservatives hoped for. Instead, Letterman chose to clear the air about the intent of his joke. His apology, of course, was not strong enough for conservatives. For once, conservatives might be right (although he did admit to being “guilty of poor taste” in his response. Letterman should have issued a stronger apology instead of what seemed more like a clarification.

Here was Sarah Palin’s statement that Letterman referenced:

In an e-mailed statement, the Republican governor said: “Laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/N.Y. entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands — that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone’s daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.”

I was going to put Todd Palin’s response, but he made some puzzling and gratuitous reference about “Alaskans” that seemed to have no value.

Noticed how Sarah Palin played upon Letterman’s age and then latched onto the age of her younger daughter? That was not by accident. She tried to play up the angle of older men exploiting young girls (that too was inappropriate). She had the moral high ground and sort of blew it by trying to play some kind of pedophile card against Letterman.

Still, Letterman made an inappropriate joke and it’s good he at least recognized the out-of-bounds nature of the joke.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/11/letterman-responds-to-pal_n_214128.html

Entertainment Weekly:
http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/david-letterman-responds-to-flap-over-sarah-palin-jokes.html