Chris Brown Will Not perform on Good Morning America

 Adam Lambert was banned from performing on Good Morning America after his performance on the American Music Awards. Instead of him GMA decided to have Chris Brown perform. After the outcry that Brown was a batterer GMA rescinded their invitation to Brown. Now Brown is slated to do a prime time interview with Robin Roberts on the network. Why will the network interview him, but not let him sing? Don’t get me wrong I am in no way condoning Brown’s behavior, but to me the network is being hypocritical. If you are willing to do a sit down with him then he should be able to do a song. Brown is a performer that is what he does for living and he is currently serving his punishment for the crime he committed. At what point will he be free to perform again?

COGIC Minister Arrested for Raping 16 year old Girl Allowed to Stay in Pulpit

 This morning I read a story on the Gay Christian Movement website hosted by DL Foster. “The Memphis Commercial Appeal broke the story yesterday. Minister Dwayne Wilson of the St Mark COGIC (Church of God in Christ) in Memphis was arrested and charged with statutory rape of a 16 year female member of the church’s choir where he served as music minister.” If that is not egregious enough the pastor has refused to remove him from his position in the church. Ronald Rolfe, the church’s pastor refused to remove Wilson from his position saying that the Bible calls for us to love and forgive. “The word of God teaches us to forgive and to pray,” said Rolfe. “The best thing I can do as a clergyman is to extend God’s hands of forgiveness.” As a Christian I believe in forgiveness and judge ye not that you be not judged, but in this case the girl’s father chased the alleged rapist out of his house and he subsequently hid from the police. If nothing else this guy needs to be silent until this matter is adjudicated. “The girl’s father said he and his wife found a man in their daughter’s bed at about 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 17. The man fled but was arrested soon after by police. Officers found his keys in the bedroom and Wilson lying on the floor of a Toyota parked down the block, according to the police affidavit. The teenager told officers that she had sent Wilson a text message earlier that evening inviting him to sneak into the house, the report stated.” There are all kinds of people in the church and everyone that claims to be saved is not if what is alleged proves to be factual this guy will do jail time and to have a pastor refuse to sit him down might not be criminal, but it is wrong and if I were a member I would be looking for a new church home.

Will Maurice Clemmons be Mike Huckabee’s Willie Horton?

Yesterday four policemen were killed in a Seattle suburb. The alleged killer seemingly was targeting police because no one else in the restaurant was hurt. The person of interest is Maurice Clemmons. “In 1989, Clemmons, then 17, was convicted in Little Rock for aggravated robbery. He was paroled in 2000 after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted Clemmons’ 95-year prison sentence. Huckabee, who was criticized during his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 for the number of clemencies and commutations he granted, cited Clemmons’ age at the time of the crime was committed.”* Huckabee has released the following statement in reference to Clemmons “Should [Clemmons] be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him… Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers.”* First let me say the actions of the alleged gunman are his fault and his fault alone, but it will be interesting to see how this handled. This is reminiscent of the Willie Horton incident that the Republican Party used to smear the reputation of the 1988 presidential candidate Mike Dukakis. Horton was serving a life sentence and was granted a weekend furlough. While on the furlough Horton committed armed robbery and rape. This incident was used to establish the premise that Dukakis was soft on crime. The ads developed were ominous and racist and sadly successful. So as a Republican how will Huckabee handle this potential hot potato? It’s not his fault, but the truth never stands in the way of an effective political strategy.  *Huffington Post

Tiger Woods Owes Us Nothing

Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a tree. He ended up on the ground unconscious. There are rumors circulating that he had a fight with his wife and that he is having an affair with another woman. Now what part of this is our business? None of it. This is a private matter. We keep hearing he won’t talk to the police, but what they fail to say as a follow up is he does not have to talk to them. The question is will this incident effect Woods endorsement deals? No it won’t Woods is a man, not a perfect man and he like the rest of us has issues. He has a private life that became public when he came out of his home, but it is still not our business.

Reality TV Wannabees Will Do Anything for Their 15 Minutes of Fame

In 2000 CBS launched the reality TV show Survivor. It was a simple premise 8 contestants lived on a desert island and each week one was voted off. The last one standing won a million dollars. Richard Hatch was the winner and he has since spent time in prison for tax evasion. Since that time we have seen literally hundreds of reality shows. There was a show on Fox that asked the question “Who wants to Marry a Millionaire?”   Women vied for the affection of a complete stranger because he had a million dollars. We learned later that he did not have the money. We have seen a woman give birth to 8 children at one time when she already had six. Why would a single mom do this? She wanted a reality show. We saw a cute family show morph into a family tragedy, and that was Jon & Kate Plus 8. In the early years we saw a seemingly loving couple try to raise their kids with the help of supportive family and friends. We saw both Jon and Kate buy into their own hype and ultimately become shadows of their former selves. When TLC (the Learning Channel) saw the marriage start to unravel they decided to change the direction of reality. They wanted to launch Kate and 8 and just drop Jon from the show. This seemed to be a working solution for them, but Jon did the first paternal thing he has done in months. He said enough and decided his children would no longer participate in this perverted reality. We have seen Susan Boyle the brilliant singer plucked from obscurity meltdown under the constant pressure of the spotlight. Her story started out as a Cinderella story. Here was this plain Jane with an incredible set of pipes. We heard people make fun of her looks and marvel as if only beautiful people could sing. We witnessed her external makeover, but we have seen her recently reduced to sucking her thumb for comfort in public. She is a woman on the edge, but because she is hot she will continue to be pushed as long as it is profitable. We are left to ask why are these average people willing to do almost anything for their 15 minutes? In most cases it is not the money, but it is the fame. When you watch these shows you see they tend to select people with extreme personalities. The more extreme you are the more camera time you will get. On the first season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta one of the wives was DuShawn Snow wife of former NBA player Eric Snow. She was dropped from the show because she was too normal and normal does not bring in the big ratings.  On the flip side Nene Leakes is loud, brash and obnoxious and she is recognized as the show’s star. Bravo knows how to sniff out a star, and that’s why it is hard to believe that Bravo is feigning ignorance in the White House Party Crashing Fiasco. Bravo assigned a camera crew to cover the Salahis the day of the State Dinner. Bravo said they were told by the couple that they had been invited and they acted on good faith. This is an inadequate excuse. Most parents do more vetting than this when their child visits a new friend. At any time did the officials at Bravo ask to see the invitation?  Right now the spotlight is on the inadequacies of the Secret Service and the actions of the couple, but Bravo does not have clean hands in this and they need to also be called on the carpet. The reality is reality television is cheap to produce and networks make a lot of money off the misery of people. We are seeing people cheapen themselves for a few minutes in the spotlight. We saw the Heenes lie to police and say their son was missing. What was the motive? To get a reality show. Law enforcement devoted manpower and resources to search for a missing child who was actually at home. The Salahis are the latest to attempt to jump on this speeding train to fame, but finally it hit a glitch that might actually derail the fame train, but fear not maybe they can star as the Real Inmates of DC.

The Gate Crashing Salahis Came Face-to-Face with the President

Today the Secret Service says they are embarrassed by the security breech. To think that someone off the street could get this close to the leader of the free world is just frightening. Why were these people passed through? Could it be a case of racial profiling? Would a black couple have been able to move so easily through the gates? I don’t think so we are constantly challenged to prove who we are. It was bad enough to see their pictures with the vice-president, but today we now know they were up close and personal with the president. Some are laughing this off as some kind of humorous prank, but this is serious. These people wanted their 15 minutes and they got it, but hopefully there will be some serious consequences from this incident.

Don’t Call them White House Party Crashers, Call Them Criminals

 Today we learned that a couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi,  breeched security and attended the White House State Dinner. This is the first time something like this has happened. How could this happen? According to NBC Brian Williams they tried to enter one of the entrances and they were turned around. They then entered the pedestrian entrance. How did they get through? They looked like they belonged. They were dressed appropriately and they had the right swagger, but what else? This couple managed to take pictures with Vice-President Joe Biden and they had the nerve to post them on their Facebook page. They are being called party crashers, but that simply seems a little too cute. These people are criminals there is nothing cute about this. Assassination attempts are up 400% since President Obama took office. This is a security breech and some heads need to roll on this one. This is simply unacceptable.

Don’t Buy into the Hype of Black Friday

 Today I went to the beauty shop and heard one of the stylist say she was leaving her home at 11:30PM tomorrow night to be in Pennsylvania by 3AM to be in line for a sale that would start at 4AM. When did we lose our collective minds? When my kids were younger I would get up at 5 and go to Toys Are Us, but I learned it really was not worth it. Some of the so-called doorbusters are gone by the time you enter the door, but that is not the biggest problem. Too many people are still putting too much on plastic. One of the stylist said that she was behind on her car note but she was not going to miss the Black Friday specials. Black Friday is something dreamed up by the merchants with the goal of getting everyone hyped up to buy. This year let’s exercise a little self control. Instead of letting your child give you a list as long as your arm, ask them to write down 2 things that they really want. Smaller kids are easier to please, but as they get older their wants get more expensive, and notice I use the word want. Most Christmas presents are not needs they are wants, and wants can be managed. So let’s curb expectations this year. Let’s use the sense God gave u,s and our mothers cultivated, and let’s finally put the brakes on some of this foolishness.

Thanksgiving 2009-Why I am Thankful

This Thanksgiving is different for me. In July I lost my job and have not found a new one yet, but in spite of that I am still very thankful. I am thankful that I have a supportive family and loving friends who have been a constant source of emotional support. I am thankful that my family is healthy and the dreaded swine flu has not stopped by my home. I am thankful that our  extended family will be arriving tonight for the holiday. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to share my thoughts with you for almost two years. I am thankful that I live in a country that allows me to share my uncensored and unfiltered opinions everyday.  I am also thankful that you take the time to read my blog. I would say God Bless America, but He already has. So I will ask for His continued blessings on all of you, and I will just say Enjoy your Turkey Day and try not to eat too much!

“The Extreme has Become the Mainstream”

President or Jihad. Car dealer/Birther is exercising his right to free speech. Some segments of America can not deal with the fact that the president is black, but they can’t say that. So they will continue the mission to de-legitimize the president. It has been 10 months since he took office and they can’t get over it. So they will continue to do things like this, but in spite of the billboard President Obama will go to sleep in the White House tonight because like it or not he is the elected leader of this country.