Nonsense Upon Stilts

This weekend, Serena Williams and Kanye West both had really public, ugly, meltdowns. They behaved horribly, which both of them later acknowledged. Whether their apologies (Williams; West’s initial apology, and what’s on his web site now) move anybody remains to be seen. With Serena Williams, she hurt herself far more than she did anybody else. Her tirade against the lineswoman cost her match point, a $10,000 fine from the USTA, and put Kim Clijsters in the finals (Clijsters won, which is all kinds of awesome).

For Kanye West, who is no stranger to controversy, this particular episode ended up hurting not only him, but also both Taylor Swift and Beyonce (although Beyonce is a total class act and had Taylor Swift come onstage and redo her acceptance speech).

One (black) woman who I follow on Twitter (she usually writes about tech stuff) posted several comments about how Kanye’s behavior would reflect poorly on black people. I didn’t agree with her assertion then, and I don’t now. When I heard about what he did, I wasn’t worried that we’d all be tarred with the same brush as West; I was just thinking, “Not this stupidity again.” I mean, seriously, how many times can one person wander across stage at an awards show before he determines that it isn’t a good idea?

BUT…Rep Joe Wilson also did the same thing. His was probably even worse though, because he heckled the freaking president. Ummm…not smart. And I haven’t heard anybody say that they feel all white people would do this, just  because one white person did it. If there is an assumption that any person who is in some way other (which in this country usually means non-white and/or non-male) than the norm speaks for everybody in that same demographic, the smart thing to do isn’t to pander to it. That kind of thinking is central to stereotyping and racial profile, and people shouldn’t accept that kind of laziness. Is it naive of me to think that this kind of thinking isn’t common? Do people generally go around thinking “all black people are…?” I really hope not. I’m an individual, and anything I want to say, I can say for myself.

Kanye West does not speak for me.

Serena Williams does not speak for me.

I’m pretty sure that Joe Wilson would not speak to me, and he damn sure doesn’t speak for me.

Related:

Joe Wilson, Serena Williams, and Kanye West Kick Off National Outburst Week

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Facepalm, Government/Law, Horrible horrible people, Music, Politics, Sports | tags: Joe Wilson, Kanye West, MTV Video Music Awards, Music, Serena Williams, Tennis, VMAs. | #

Who knew that a back to school speech could cause such an uproar? I think it’s pretty sad that people are keeping their children home from school and that some school districts are requiring parents to opt their children in to hear a speech by the President of the United States. I know! The President. Not some random dude in an office or anything. I understand that using the phrases “socialist agenda” and “left-leaning” to critique the President is generally another way to say “I’m a raging idiot and/or racist asshole,” but I still find this pretty disappointing. The worst part is that the text of the speech is up on the White House’s web site, so there’s no reason to speculate as to its content.

This, from the CNN article that I linked to above, is one of the scariest things I’ve ever read, “”I believe this is the greatest country on Earth, and I try to teach that to my children. … I don’t want them hearing that there’s a fundamental flaw with the country and the kids need to go forward to fix it.” I feel so sorry for this man’s children.

1 Comment | In: Absolutely terrifying, Barack Obama, Facepalm, Government/Law, Horrible horrible people, Just awful, Politics, This is why we can't have nice things | tags: Disillusionment, Facepalm, Partisan Politics, President Obama, Shenanigans, Stupid. | #

It’s been a while since I checked in with her, and I don’t do well with change, so it’s a relief to know that our friend Michele Bachmann is still as crazy as ever. This time, she temporarily blocked voting on the resolution that celebrated Hawai’i’s 50th year as a state, and, (oh!) also named it as the birthplace of our 44th president. Controversial stuff, there, right? Thankfully, her nuttiness didn’t impede the resolution from being passed 378 – 0 (not that it was unanimously approved; over 50 cowardly jackholes just abstained from the vote).

No Comments | In: Amusing, Barack Obama, Government/Law, Horrible horrible people, Politics, United States Congress | tags: Barack Obama, Hawai'i, Michele Bachmann, Politicans, Politics, U.S. House of Representatives. | #

My buddy, Sarah Palin, has decided to step down from her post as governor of Alaska. Initially, people thought that this might be to give her time to get her act together, so that she could run for president in 2012. And, seriously: how sweet would that be? With Palin as the Republican nominee, Obama could introduce Hookers and Blow Tuesdays in the Oval Office and still beat her handily.

The timing of this announcement can only be called curious; much like Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s announcement of their divorce immediately prior to Thanksgiving, Ms. Palin’s July 3 press conference seems like nothing so much as an attempt to dodge as much of the media as possible during this holiday break. The Mudflats, a web site from Alaska that I visited a few times during the presidential election, linked to a transcript of Ms. Palin’s speech and provided some speculation as to why she would step down as governor (rhymes with “skimbezzlement”).

I wonder, too, if this has anything to do with the tell-all book about Ms. Palin that is being written by Steve Schmidt, her former campaign strategist (and the guy who picked her to run with John McCain; do we really trust his judgment anymore??); Gawker had a juicy tidbit from it the other day, and if the rest of it is as forehead-slappingly stupid as this bit, no wonder the woman wants out before publication. Gawker also speculates as to why the Alaska governor decided to resign her post.

Doing a quick look around the tubes and twitter, it seems that trouble with the IRS is the most prevalent theory. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

No Comments | In: Awesome, Barack Obama, Election 2008, Facepalm, Government/Law, Politics, Sarah Palin, Things that make me go hmm | tags: 2012 Presidential Election, Alaska, Barack Obama, Gawker, Hookers and Blow, Mudflats, Politics, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Steve Schmidt, Twitter. | #

Ann Coulter likes to say that liberals have no sense of humor and can’t take a joke, but I love how she is so thick that she didn’t realize that this Car and Driver article about President Obama ordering Chevy and Dodge to stop supplying vehicles for NASCAR was a joke? Is this more ammunition for the theory that Ann Coulter is secretly a liberal who is mocking conservatives?

In other WTF news, what was going on in the president’s head when he decided that giving the Queen of England an iPod that contained, amongst other things, his own speeches and photos of himself. Arrogant much?

No Comments | In: Amusing, Barack Obama, Politics | tags: Ann Coulter, April Fool's, Queen Elizabeth II. | #

I wish that Maureen Dowd was a dude, so that I could kick her in the junk. She’s always saying stupid things, and nothing makes her happy. First she tried throughout the campaign to imply that President Obama was weak and unmanly, and now that he has the most important job on the planet, she’s calling him elitist and arrogant. If he keeps his promises to Democrats, she says that he’s ignoring Republicans. If he reaches out to Republicans, she accuses him of ignoring those who put him in power. What does she want from him? Does she understand that life does not exist only at the ends of a spectrum?

I find Maureen Dowd obnoxious, and I do not for one minute believe that that is her actual hair color.

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Boo!, Government/Law, Horrible horrible people, Politics | tags: Barack Obama, Columnists, Editorials, Maureen Dowd, New York Times. | #

Okay, Obama. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General? Seriously? This is troublesome, unless of course you would like to consider Press Secretary Jon Stewart, and then all will be forgiven (until the next boneheaded cabinet appointment). I know that Dr. Gupta really is a surgeon, but do we really need to resort to selecting our Cabinet members from basic cable? Were there no other authoritative, intelligent, reasonable surgeons in the whole country? This is not going to help matters with those who find Obama’s worldview to be drastically different than their own.

In good news, Al Franken is now the governor of Minnesota. I know! Even when I was rooting for him, I didn’t think that he had any sort of chance. The results were close enough that Coleman is definitely going to pursue a legal challenge, but for now, we have a former Saturday Night Live actor as a state’s governor. Of course, Minnesota famously elected Jesse Ventura, so it’s not like Franken is even the most interesting television performer elected in the Gopher State.

If you’re wondering why I’m more okay with Franken being senator than Sanjay Gupta Surgeon General, here’s a short list:

• Shut up.

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Politics | tags: Barack Obama, Politics, Sanjay Gupta. | #

Remember Stephen Lewis, the Murfreesboro Free Press columnist who thought it would be hilarious to rewrite the theme song to The Jeffersons with the Obamas in mind? Well, as the person who commented on my post mentioned, in addition to reworking songs and ridiculing the accents of naturalized Americans in his free time, Mr. Lewis spends his days as a principal of an elementary school. Oh goody, because he is exactly who I want overseeing the next generation! (Overseeing! See what I did there?)

It seems that, in addition to the apology published by the editor of the Free Press, Mr. Lewis emailed his own tepid apology to the parents of those children who attend his school.

Although my hobby as a columnist is not connected directly to my position as principal I should have known better than to attempt to find humor in a subject so sensitive to so many. With all of that being said, I truly apologize to those of you who were offended by my comments.

What an apology, huh? I’m guessing that the school board or whoever actually hired him told him to write that. It certainly doesn’t sound heartfelt. To me, it sounds a lot like, “I’m sorry you overly sensitive whiners can’t take a joke.” I still really cannot believe that anybody would be dumb enough to write that column, but especially somebody who works with diverse populations every day and knows about the standards to which educators are held. How could this have seemed like a good idea? It would have been a terrible thing just to forward to a few friends, so how much more boneheaded was it to submit it for publication in a newspaper? You have to wonder about some people.

For those people who were directed to this post because of its title, George said that in an episode of Seinfeld, a show I generally don’t care about at all, but which I find selectively quotable.

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Election 2008, Facepalm, Horrible horrible people, Politics | tags: Apologies, Barack Obama, Education, Educators, Facepalm, Followup, Ignorance, Murfreesboro Free Press, Murfreesboro Tennessee, Politics, Principals, Race-baiting, Racism, Schools, Stephen Lewis, Stereotypes, Stereotyping, Tennessee. | #

My mom is understandably super happy about Obama’s win. It really shows her how far we as a nation have come. My mother grew up in segregated South Carolina. Only her youngest brother (last of my grandparents’ 10 surviving children), ever went to school with white children, and then I think only in the last few years of high school. So my mom doesn’t hate anybody, but still has comfort issues around white people. She doesn’t really hang out with any, and I think that, to her, my having so many white friends is a source of confusion, amusement, and perhaps a little bit of pride (she’s happy that I don’t have the same bad associations that she does).

So anyway, I received all of these really uplifting, corny, cheesy, vaguely messianic emails from her about Barack Obama going into the election, and the volume, corniness, cheesiness, and messianic undertones have all increased since his win. Just like everybody else on the Internet, I have seen Patrick Moberg’s illustration pretty much everywhere since November 4.

And now you've seen it, too!

But by now we all know that too much saccharine sentiment in our diets can lead to an irony deficiency, so here are two covers that I prefer to a lot of things my mom has sent me (predictably, she hated them). They’re from the Chicago Reader. The Obama cover is the one they went with (for obvious reasons), but they had the McCain cover all ready just in case.

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Election 2008, Politics, The Fam | tags: Barack Obama, Chicago Reader, Election 2008, Election Aftermath, John McCain, Patrick Moberg, Political Cartoons, Politics, President-elect Barack Obama, Presidential Election, Segregation. | #

Stephen Lewis, a humor columnist at the Murfreesboro Post of Tennessee, wrote an opinion column yesterday that included a song about the Obamas move to Washington. As you may have guessed by its inclusion in this post, this song was not in the best of taste. Mr. Lewis chose to set his “Ode to President Obama” to the tune of “Movin’ On Up,” the theme song to 1970’s-era television show, The Jefferson. Wow, Stephen. That’s Klassy!

Here’s the first verse:
“Well we’re movin’ on up,
To Washington, D.C.
To a deee-luxe pimp pad,
Painted whiiiite.
Yeah we’re movin’ on up,
To the White House.
I’ll be jetting with P. Diddy cross the sky.

Let’s examine the stereotypes found just in those lines (nevermind the rest of the song): We’ve got the missing “g” in “movin,’” because when you’re a black, Harvard-educated lawyer planning at least a 4 year squat in the White House, the last thing you’re thinking about is saying your words properly. Then we’ve got “pimp pad” (I’ll excuse “deee-luxe,” as it is in the original song). Because every black man aspires to being a peddler of women. And of course, what’s the point of being famous and black if you can’t hang out with P. Diddy? Nothing says you’ve reached the zenith of the American political establishment more than hanging out with Sean Combs.

Because newspaper articles on the Internet has the opportunity to reach readers around the world, Mr. Lewis’ stupidity did not stay limited to the Volunteer State. By Monday morning, this article, which initially appeared in the Sunday edition of the Post, was making the rounds on the Internet, offending latte-drinking, arugula-eating leftists and beer-swilling, gun-toting rightists alike. By Monday afternoon, the editor of the Murfeesboro Post, Michael L. Pirtle, had issued something resembling an apology. Here’s a link to Mr. Lewis’s column, with the editor’s note of the usual passive-aggressive sort apologizing “for any offense generated” by this column.

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Election 2008, Facepalm, Horrible horrible people, Politics, Things that make me go hmm | tags: Apologies, Barack Obama, Murfreesboro Press, P. Diddy, Parody, Politics, Race-baiting, Racism, Sean Combs, Stephen Lewis, Tennessee. | #