LL Cool J is No Sarah Palin Fan

Fox News has been promoting Sarah Palin’s new show which will air on Thursday.  The show will profile ordinary Americans as well as celebrities. One of the celebrities that is featured in the show promo is LL Cool J. Yesterday he tweeted that the segment on him was lifted from another interview he had done with someone else.  He said “Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else and are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin’s show,” the real-life James Smith told his Twitter followers Tuesday night. “WOW,” he added.” So why would Fox use the segment without the star’s permission? We will never know, but we do know LL wants nothing to do with this.

UPDATE (Fox Responds): ”‘Real American Stories’ features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith’s interview fit that criteria,” a Fox News spokesperson told CNN. “However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career.” In addition, the spokesperson said, “Fox News did not commit to restrictions on its interview with Mr. Smith so therefore the network did not need his permission to use the interview in this program.”

Father of Slain Marine Ordered to Pay court cost of Hatemongers

It is hard to imagine a parent’s grief at the loss of a child, but compound that loss with people protesting at your child’s funeral. Albert Snyder has been ordered by the Appeals Court to pay $16,510.80 toward the court cost of Fred Phelps, the protest leader and pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church. “Snyder sued Westboro because its members waved signs saying “God hates fags” and “God hates the USA” at the 2006 funeral in Westminster of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who had been killed in Iraq. A federal jury in Baltimore awarded Snyder $11 million in damages in 2007, saying Phelps’ group intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the family. The award was later reduced to $5 million, and eventually overturned on appeal.”* Is this truly free speech or is this simply hatespeak, or is this a perversion of the concept of free speech? This is a story that outrages most Americans. Conservative host Bill O’Reilly of Fox News has offered to pick up the court cost for Snyder and other organizations as well as everyday citizens are making contributions to help Snyder pay the court costs. This is truly an issue that cuts across party lines. This is simply just wrong.

*Baltimore Sun

Is Ronald McDonald making our kids fat?

 “A corporate watchdog group that got rid of Joe Camel is after another icon – this time, its target is tall, red and happy. Corporate Accountability International plans to host a retirement party for Ronald McDonald as it releases a report Wednesday that basically says, “We’re not loving it. ” The report calls for McDonald’s to stop using the iconic clown. For nearly 50 years, Ronald McDonald has hooked kids on unhealthy foods spurring a deadly epidemic of diet-related diseases,” said Deborah Lapidus, the senior organizer at Corporate Accountability International. “Ultimately the report makes the case that it’s time that McDonald’s stop directing fast food to kids. Really, Ronald deserves a break and so do we. The group plans to hold events outside of McDonald’s throughout the country and wants the fast food chain to stop using its corporate mascot.” So it’s Ronald’s fault that our kids are fat? Last time I looked he was not the Pied Piper leading our children by the hand to the nearest set of Golden Arches. Is it Ronald’s fault that kids spend more time texting than they do exercising? Is it Ronald’s fault that kids spend hours surfing the Internet or watching television and only move to get a snack? No, it’s not and it is up to the parent to determine what their children will eat. What happened to just say no. More often than not the parent takes the child freely and willingly to McDonald’s to try to blame the mascot is just another abdication of parental responsibility.

Michael Steele Needs to Watch his back…Somebody Dropped a Dime on Him

Michael Steele owes his job to the president. He was elected party chairman the same year that President Obama took office. This was the Republican party’s way of saying we are progressive too, but Steele saw his role quite differently. I truly believe initially he wanted to introduce some real change to the party. He made an effort to reach out to segments of the black community that had been ignored by the party, but his efforts for expansion were rebuked. When asked if Rush Limbaugh was the leader of the party Steele said no and called Limbaugh an entertainer, but a few days later he had to back pedal off the remark and come back and kiss Limbaugh’s ring.  It just seemed like if Steele said the sun was in the sky the party would say no its in a cave.  The man simply could not please them because they did not want to be pleased. Steele has worn out his usefulness. They don’t need him anymore. He is no longer their show pony, he is now simply a nag, and I think Steele saw the handwriting on the wall. He started using this situation for his own advancement.  He wrote a book without the party’s knowledge and he launched his own media tour.  He started taking more paid speaking engagements. He started putting his interests on the front burner, but this latest dust up was an orchestrated attempt to make him look inept. Tell me how did a relatively new website, The Daily Caller, the brainchild of conservative Tucker Carlsen get this story? Somebody leaked the tale of the topless club and the RNC paying the cost of a night of debauchery, and why would someone do this?  To embarrass the Chairman. No, he will not be fired over this, but he better watch his back because Mr. Chairman they are out to get you and that’s not paranoia that’s a fact.

Are Students Responsible for the Suicide of Phoebe Prince?

Yesterday Northwestern Massachusetts District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel brought charges against 9 students in connection with the suicide death of Phoebe Prince.  Charges included statutory rape, violation of civil rights, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. “Prince, who recently immigrated to the United States from Ireland with her family, was the target of abuse and bullying since last fall, Scheibel said, sometimes within the view of school staff, as is said to have been the case on the day she took her own life. “The harassment reported to have occurred that day in the school library appears to have been conducted in the presence of a faculty member and several students, but went unreported to school administrators until after Phoebe’s death,” Scheibel said.”* Some are applauding the District Attorney for bringing these charges but why have there been no charges brought against the school administrators since some of these incidents happened on the school grounds in front of school personnel? I sympathize with the family of Prince and I am sure that the behavior of the children was out of bounds, but was suicide the foreseeable consequence of their actions?  Yes they contributed to creating a hostile experience for Prince but what will this accomplish? Hopefully it will make others think before they speak or click or is this just wishful thinking?  

*AOL

Death Threat Against Rep. Eric Cantor

 

Norman Leboon was arrested for posting a youtube video threatening the life of Congressman Eric Cantor and his family. The political verbiage has been very heated on both sides of the aisle and words do have power. Fortunately no harm has come to the representative or his family. “Norman Leboon will be charged with two federal counts: threatening to kill a member of Congress and interfering with his federal duties, and posting video online containing such threats. He was scheduled to appear in federal district court in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon.” I have been very critical of the Republicans and their efforts to demonize the president and his healthcare policy, but although I have my bias I also try to be fair, and no one has a right to threaten a member of Congress no matter what party they represent.

Stop the Sag Movement

I saw this video on Newsone and the message was so powerful. So many of our young men walk around with their pants sagging and this powerful video addresses this style better than any words I could say. Thank you State Senator Eric Adams.

Boycott the Real Housewives of DC

Bravo TV has made alot of money off the Real Housewives franchise, and I have enjoyed watching the antics of the ladies from New York, New Jersey and most of all Atlanta, but I will not be watching the ladies of DC. I find it very disturbing that the White House gate crashing Salahis will be featured in this series. The Salahis breached security and had unauthorized contact with the President of the United States and footage from their escapade will be included in the series. The Salahis have been dismissed as mere social climbers, but would the response to the breech have been as casual if this had been George W. Bush? I don’t know, but I do know they got their wish a featured slot on the wanna be express, and I  find nothing comical or charming about what they did, and I will not be watching this show and hope the majority follows suit.

Should a Congressman’s Address Be Posted on a Website?

This morning I was reading a Washington Post article, Health-care protest site: Ohio congressman’s house by Krissah Thompson. Rep. Steve Driehaus voted yes on the healthcare bill and a group of protesters picketed in front of his home. Driehaus is a Democrat who lives in an area that is adjacent to some Republican strongholds. Minority Leader John Boehner in response to Driehaus’ yes vote said, (Driehaus) “may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati.” In typical Republican fashion Boehner said his analogy was political not literal because of course he was not condoning violence, but even if you disagree with the vote does a voter have the right to picket a lawmaker’s home. In an effort to get people to attend the protest the congressman’s address, as well as a map and a best place to park information was published on protest leader’s website.  There is something wrong about this. Let’s look at a typical manager who from time to time has to fire an employee. What if that former employee showed up on the doorstep of the employer? What would he do? The employer would call the police and the ex-employee might be arrested for stalking or harassment well what is this? It is harassment. When the Congressman is in Washington he is at work and when he is at his home with his family he should not be harassed by angry zealots. This is not an act of patriotism this is more like an act of terrorism.

Did Tea Party Member Spit on a Congressman?

Last week when Tea Party members were accused of spitting on Congressmen the cry was if this happened where is the tape? Here is some footage. Watch carefully and tell me what you see.