Jefferson the Hypocrite???

It is interesting to read the historical record and find that Jefferson was one of the immoral landowning gentry, that were able to afford their lavish lifestyles by owning slaves. Not only slaves for free labor, but apparently for their sexual needs and fantasies as well, as illustrated by his slave mistress, Sally Hemings.

But the historical record also provides a nuanced insight into another side of Jefferson...that of a conflicted slaver who tried to abolish slavery nationally, in his writings, speeches and legislative actions. His attempts at ending slavery even lasted into the final years of his life, when he objected to the state of Missouri being admitted to the union because of their embrace and practice of slavery. His last attempt was crushingly defeated by the infamous 'Missouri Compromise' of 1820, which made the admittance of the slave state of Missouri, as a quid pro quo for admitting the free state of Maine. Jefferson correctly noted that the acceptance of this compromise "would eventually lead to the destruction of the Union." Just 41 years later, the civil war was fought, with slavery being one of many issues that led to the deaths of 618,000 - 700,000 soldiers and civilians.

Physical and economic slavery is still a worldwide phenomenon, and the lifestyles that we enjoy here in America, are in part made possible by the slave labor in China, Malaysia and other countries that produces goods and services that we import.

If we close our eyes to this fact, then we are in fact similarly conflicted as Jefferson, and also somewhat as hypocritical as he was.

R U a Celebrity Fawner?

A Fawner is defined as - "someone who behaves as if without self-respect or independent thoughts, who curries favor by behaving obsequiously and submissively, an apple-polisher, a bootlicker, a kowtower, etc."

As long as there have been celebrities, there have been those who have idolized and deified them, by attaching undue credibility, importance and credence to their every utterance and action, no matter how inane, ignorant, mean-spirited, self-aggrandizing or misinformed. Because of this near universal deference by their fans and wannabe followers, celebrities often take this as license to pontificate wily-nily on their bully pulpits, regardless of who it hurts or slanders.

I'm mystified that so many, despite their own personal accomplishments, will deify and give credence to the most inane, sophomoric, mindless rantings of celebrities. I know TV and movie exposure plays a big part in this 'anointing', but it still is dumbfounding.

My wise buddy, Nezet, Prophet of the Surreal says..."Completely and utterly dumbfounding! I've gotten into many an argument, not mere disagreement, but full-blown arguing with fam and friends over some sheet that a so-called celeb has said or done. I do NOT do celeb "worshipping" at all...and despite what society and the media says, I try to raise my kids to not worship celebs either. They are people...as flawed, nice and f-up'ed as any of us walking the planet, period. I think it has to do with collective low self-esteem, hero/ine worship, consumerism and projection (psychological term!). People are fed a constant dose of so-called reality by marketing, advertising and other corporate entities that they haven't achieved enough (foundation of capitalism IMHO), that when they hear and see people who speak well (and have all the material possessions to boot)....they seduce the masses with mass psychology/hypnosis (see: Hitler and other dictators, many televangelists and others)...and the lemmings (fawners) get behind the message cause it makes them "feel good"....and they feel so "connected" to the personality (see: Oprah, Cosby et. al.) that they think they are living their lives vicariously through these individuals. Despite a high level of education, people still flock to and are deluded in their thinking that Cosby, Oprah, Trump, Jakes...whoever, is somehow worthy of being deified and is "better" than them, because they have marketed themselves to make you part with your dollars and buy the "kool-aid" they be selling!"

Two prominent celebrities whose every word is often revered by faithful celebrity fawners, as if it was spoken from a mountain top by gods of the universe, are Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby. Recently these two have been quoted saying dismissive and disparaging things about the 'lower classes' of blacks in the ghettos of our cities. Their fawners, who hang on their every word, dutifully ignores the mean-spirited, damning words, and instead anoints them as modern 'truth-tellers' while ignoring their insulting, elitist words.

One admiring fawner wrote this;

"I am also so sick and tired of the jealous Black (and White) newsmongerers who can’t stop criticizing Oprah and Bill Cosby whenever they get the chance. Both of them have been exceedingly generous, having donated millions over time to historically Black colleges, numerous causes and to innumerable individuals in need here in the USA. Neither of them came from wealthy backgrounds, in fact just the opposite. They know the “ghetto mentality” and could have chosen to remain there themselves. However, God has blessed them exceedingly and has prospered them. They have the right to do with their wealth what they will. If they want to help the other Black nations of the world to come out of poverty, apartheid, HIV/AIDS, so what??? What wrong with that? We need to be proud of them and LISTEN to what they are saying.

Whether we want to accept it or not, calling it “airing our dirty linen in public,” what they have said is THE TRUTH!!! Ipods and sneakers and long baggy pants, hiphop music, rap music with its awful disgraceful lyrics, gansta rap, holdups, prison, gangbangging, crack/cocaine, methamphetamines, MTV, homelessness, fatherlessness, teen pregnancies, “Baby Daddies” welfare, etc etc etc are the order of the day in the Black community and it is DISGRACEFUL. Just walk through any mall or through any of our urban communities and there they are with doo rags on their heads and hairstyles with 5 different colors. Ask them a geography question and they’re looking at you as if you have rocks in your heads. Most don’t own a passport because they are not planning to go anywhere. Most can’t spell, read or speak. They take disgraceful pride in being on Jerry Springer and Maury Popvich illuminating their disgusting lifestyles. We know there are many of us who have pulled ourselves up against unspeakable odds and have succeeded. But we are less than 1%. Let’s not kid ourselves.

When Oprah or Bill Cosby try to speak out. They are NOT being insulting. But even those of us who know better want to shush they down. Why? We are in crisis!! MLK and Malcolm would turn over in their graves if they could see where we are now. After all they fought for, we have slidden backwards instead of forwards. Stop the jealousy because that’s all it is. Leave Oprah and Bill Cosby Alone!!!!"

It's clear that there will be those, like this writer, who make equally offensive remarks about the 'lower classes', and will defend these truth-tellers' not because they are necessarily telling the truth, but because they are celebrities, and therefore above criticism and being held accountable for damaging and insulting words, that would be rightfully deemed stereotyping and racist if uttered by any other ethnic group.

Moreover, every story has a contextual framework. To only tell part of the story while dismissing contributing factors, is disingenuous and factually incorrect. If one is going to tell the "truth" - then tell the whole truth, warts and all (see an article by the recently departed Norman Mailer that does such, here: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0708-01.htm )

We will all do well, if we view celebrities as just as flawed and subject to error, as any of us who are not celebrities. Their words and deeds must be subjected to the same scrutiny and criticism, as those of us who don't have the big bully pulpits they do.

'Trump'-ing Oprah and Cosby

Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby are three zillionaires who reek of egocentric excesses that say more about them, rather than the purported cause de jour they are trumpeting. Maybe I'm being too hard on Oprah, but I'm certainly spot-on about Trump and Cosby.

Trump has filed for bankruptcy, twice - hardly what we should expect from someone billing himself as the biggest. the brightest and the best at everything. His golf course and real estate housing development in Palos Verdes, Ca., is embroiled in a multi-million dollar lawsuit by neighbors who have alleged property destabilizations and devaluations because of his project. Also I can never forget the full-page ad he took out in the 90s, libeling minority youths that were falsely arrested for the rape and assault of the Central Park jogger, as 'wilding animals'. After years in jail, the real perpetrator was caught, and the youths were all released, but without nary an apology from 'The Donald' who libeled them.

Cosby's corporate sponsors did not make him wildly rich without expecting a payoff somewhere down the line, and at a time and place that suits them. Apparently, now is the time for him to use his bestowed celebrity as a bully-pulpit to savage and disparage a segment of his own people. This is the ultimately selling of his soul, and once one starts down that road, there's no turning back. This explains why Cosby, despite heavy criticism, continues to spew his invectives, at and against, the defenseless 'lower classes', as he is now doing in his latest book and rounds of media interviews. He apparently values his riches more than the suffering he is causing and will continue to cause, his people to be subjected to.

Oprah has had a string of over-the-top personal investments that have turned sour. Her trumpeting of the book by Frey as her #1 book club pick, that turned out to be mostly fabricated, is just one of those that I remember recently. Another is her lavish reception for Obama at her estate in Montecito, Ca.. Well-heeled attendees were reportedly miffed and outraged that they were restricted only to the expansive lawn of the estate, and were not allowed to enter her home as a wealthy guest who paid so much money to attend, would normally expect. Now her lavish $49 million girl's academy in South Africa is in the spotlight because of alleged sexual abuse of some of the girls by a member of the staff. In this instance she has told of how personally hurt and betrayed she has felt, which leads me to believe that it is more about her feelings and ego, rather than about the feelings of the girls that have been abused.

Oprah and Cosby's brand of truth-telling' about the black community, could best be described as picking on the weakest and lowest segments of the community, for more fame, and for more profit. Cosby is now touring and hawking his book on all the major networks, where he is dutifully being given the mike to rant his dismissive venom on his own people. Of course nary a word about the 'cause and effect' of the dysfunction is given - because that would inappropriately indict the rich white boys that gave Cosby his fat book contract. It would also indict the systemic, societal racism that acts in one accord to neutralize and render ineffective, as many blacks as possible - by any means necessary. Listening to him you would think that the ills he is ranting against just happened out of thin air - like magic, with no cause other than the defective genes these 'lower classes' are born with. He is too much of a coward and bully to hold his sponsors accountable for the 'cause and effect' of their actions - plus he is not about to lose his well-paid lifestyle they have been providing over the years. Likewise Oprah would never dare confront the power structure that gives it's blessing to the system of inequality and white supremacy that is dished out to a segment of her people, by any means necessary. If you think Oprah's fortune is not conditioned on her following a prescribed program dictated by those sponsors who made her rich, you have a fool for a brain.

Some of us are apparently so stricken with celebrity worship, that we will confer credence, importance and integrity to the most inane and disingenuous rants of comedic buffoons and political sell-outs like Cosby, and increasingly, Oprah. Personally, I am not in awe of either of them, because I know their bully-pulpit is bought and paid for by their corrupt corporate sponsors, who made them rich enough to compromise whatever integrity they originally had.

It's undeniable that the corporate sponsors of Oprah and Cosby have made them disproportionately rich compared to most blacks, and even most whites - the question is why....and to what purpose?????

This same question must be asked of all who have been made rich by accepting various corporate sponsorships in the form of book deals, think-tank fellowships, speaking engagements etc., and who have also been lashing out at a defenseless segment of the black community. Their words have been a verbal lynching that encourages regressive public policies by racists in high places, who point to their words as proof of an innate, genetic dysfunction among the 'lower classes', which cannot be addressed and changed with liberal social policies and programs. Therefore many of the most needed, critical programs have been defunded or ended.

It's time to connect the dots and ask... why?????

Amused by the Abusive Imus

So Don Imus is shortly about to return to the airwaves on right-wing radio station, WABC. This will be a fitting place for his brand of racist, sexist, sophomoric, unintelligent drivel. The marketplace has decided to take another chance on him, after deciding he was too much of a liability by his offending so many a few months ago. His free speech was never an issue then, since no government entity attempted to suppress his speech. Instead, the capitalist marketplace decided he was a liability, at least in the short-term, and would lose more money than he would make for it, so he had to go.

His many fans of like-minded insensitivity and racism, will be delighted that he is returning, and on one hand I'm not so sorry he is returning either. We need examples of slime like him, to remind those who say racism and sexism is now a thing of the past and the playing-field is now level, that racism is very much alive and well, and has not really gone anywhere, at all. On the other hand though, what about the millions who tune in to validate their own belief systems that embraces privilege, separation and hate? I can see how this show can serve to bolster their unbalanced view of the world, and if Imus believes it and says it, this is all they need to perhaps embolden them to racist actions. For this reason, I would prefer that he did not return.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/opinion/10ifill.html

The marketplace that had been rewarding him so handsomely, turned on him and decided to suspend subsidizing him. It had nothing to do with Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson's displeasure, just plain old American profits and the bottom line that was being jeopardized by this latest of his many racist rants. The angry white men demographic, that Imus champions, are in the same school of bullies like him, picking on those who have no voice or a microphone, as they did to the Rutgers female basketball team. This time enough people resented his disrespect and racism, that even the amoral capitalistic marketplace had to react and fire him, at least for a while. His brand and product was the lowest of the lowest products out there, and for just a few months, the consumers voted with their wallets, and said, 'you're fired!'.

To me, Imus is just a decrepit, unapologetic, alcoholic, cowardly racist, and his ignorant vitriol has been ongoing for decades. His defenders cried 'political correctness', which is just another attempted slur invented by white males, who can't abide cultural changes and diversity, and who believe themselves to be exemplars and paragons of the best and brightest. Consciously or unconsciously, he was using his bully pulpit to affirm his investment in whiteness, and protecting his group's privileges and power as top dogs in America. He was also showing his deep investment in historical white narcissism expressed as scorn for 'others' - in this case the mostly black, Rutgers basketball team.

He's now found a different network where his insensitivities are acceptable, at least initially and until he again reactivates the market forces that 'fired' him before. I'm betting that he will be just as, or even more offensive than before - after all, there are millions of his demographic that just loves his slop!

'It's the 'Dawg' in Me'

That's the song that Duane 'Dog' Chapman should be singing after being exposed for the racist he is, by a tape of a conversation with his own son Tucker, that liberally used the 'n.....' word concerning his son's black girlfriend.

The cable company A & E, has suspended their number one bounty hunter/bail bondsman show, pending an investigation of what he said and how it negatively impacts their bottom line. Already one sponsor, 'Yum Brands' which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has cancelled their sponsorship, citing Chapman's "despicable" behavior". A & E's position to me, is most hypocritical since they put this low life ex-con on the air in the first place. So what should they expect of this kind of scum/trash, given his background and criminal record. I certainly did not have any expectations of anything different from the 'dog', so to learn that he is the racist that I already thought he was, is no big deal to me.

I've watched the show and laughed hysterically when 'Dog' and his posse is shown 'praying' before they set out to capture the bad guys. Some folks even have been fooled into thinking there is some kind of spiritual 'mandate' for his efforts, because he prays in Jesus' name before his trips. I would remind them that the KKK also read scripture and prayed before going out to lynch, rape and burn blacks who they despised. So praying ain't necessarily more than empty words, depending on who is praying.

Another interesting point in this story, is that his son, Tucker, taped their conversation and sold it to the National Enquirer for a reported $15,000. So his fear of being exposed as a racist, was actually achieved by one of his 12 children by 6 different women. I'm sure his son had numerous experiences with his father's racism and racist speech over the years, and finally had enough when his father demeaned his black girlfriend and threatened to fire him if he did not leave her.

Of course 'Dog' has apologized profusely and said his remarks were misunderstood and taken out of context. But that's what they all say when they have been caught in mid-racism. Instead of telling his son to get rid of his girlfriend so she would not hear his and his posse's racist speech, it would instead, have been more sensible for him to clean-up his speech and avoid exposure. But as some of his many defenders are saying, he has the right to speak privately as he wishes. I agree, but I also agree his son has the right to expose his racist dad as he did, even if it kills his TV show.

I would have expected nothing less from the 'Dog', and I have not been disappointed.