Nappy Headed Status Quo

[omega minimo]

There is a great opportunity presented by the uproar over the bigoted slurs used so sloppily and casually by a nationally broadcast hatemonger. The boil of bigotry on America’s ass has been lanced and what oozed out was not pretty. A nation caught with its pants down and forced to face in the mirror the assumptions and attitudes that we sit on, day after day, decade after decade, with varying levels of discomfort....

It’s no longer possible to keep those attitudes in the dark and deny their existence or laugh them off as “entertainment.” The outrageousness and the outrage has finally reached a tipping point.

Yet the opportunity is obscured and could be lost when attention is shifted to the small arguments and black and white thinking that professional media hatemongers have conditioned the American public to engage in and expect. A public with short tempers, short memories and short attention spans are easy to manipulate.

Two decades of social progress segued into the rise of Reaganism, the fast-tracking of corporate and media consolidation, the end of the Fairness Doctrine and the Backlash against women and other subgroups whose progress threatened the status quo. Another quarter century passed and those combined forces led us to the moment when a syndicated schlock jock/political wannabe chuckled over the appearance of a collegiate team of champion athletes who happened to be women, many of whom happened to be African American.

With all his power to broadcast his bile and belittlements, propped up with visits from prominent politicians, the poor man was baffled by the sight of youth, vitality, power and achievement in the form of women with dark skin. The image did not fit into the limited repertoire of acceptable cliches formatted into his mind and his audience-- a repertoire of cliches limited to those that serve the needs of the owners of the company he worked for.

Which boosts ratings? Which serves the status quo of the powers that be? Praising the winning team of athletes as athletes and not even noticing or mentioning their color and gender? Or ridiculing, insulting and dehumanizing them and their achievements?

Attacking them with bigoted slurs puts them back in their place, maintains the status quo and inflames the audience. It’s a win-win-win!!

The companies that own and operate national hatemonger media (where right wing blowhards complain about “liberal” media that Lush Rimbaugh now calls “The Drive-bys”) also happen to produce and market the formulaic corporate music that the public is supposed to blame for injecting hate speech into the mainstream. Unable to connect the dots, we are expected to argue about rappers making big bucks and if they can say it why can’t anyone else and why are they allowed to say it and what about censorship and he’s not the only one that does it and why was he singled out and he’s not the only one that does it and why do we put up with that?

And it’s all good for ratings.

The offensive schlock jock was not fired for political or moral or social reasons-- it was a business decision. The media octopus doesn’t mind lopping off an arm-- it will just grow another one.

Some of those arms work overtime to make sure that styles and demographics stay rigid and regimented; that the limitations on appearance, participation and perceived power are kept in place; and that the public is divided along artificial and obsolete boundaries, lest they wake up one day and notice that the game is rigged. Wake up and form a team, a powerful group that takes on the status quo and wins.

[saltpoint]

1. Katrina exposed the most vile demonstration of systemic racism when

the President of the United States refused rescue to U.S. citizens in New Orleans and along the Gulf coast generally, owing to their race and their class.

Imus? He's a curmudgeonly crank and small potatoes next to Bush, who is not only racist but recalcitrant as well.

The demand for dismissal should start with the most grievous offender.

I do not believe a President Gore or a President Kerry would have refused rescue to U.S. citizens, no matter their race or class. If they were in need of help, I believe Gore or Kerry would have responded dutifully and swiftly, and from the heart.

But not Bush.

[Mabus]

2. Gore charted planes and rescued people

including the elderly aunt of a woman we know. Kerry also contributed aid to those affected by Katrina. I think there was even one point when Kerry and other Dems were being criticized for wanting to extend aid to illegal aliens.

As for the dismissals starting with the most grievous offender I would say, sometimes the populace is so blinded that the process has to start with what they are made aware of rather than what they've actually been blinded to.

[saltpoint]

4. Hi mabus. I agree with you on Imus and the level he represents,

but I'm more interested in holding Dubya accountable for that absolutely unpardonable response -- or lack of one -- regarding that storm.

You are right on Kerry and Gore, too. They behaved like grown-ups, like public servants, like presidents. That's what I want in a leader, whether famous or not -- someone who will help when help is called for.

[Mabus]

6. He and his cabel are guilty of that and so much more

the lives they've ruined, destroyed and ended. Their absolute devotion to the dollar, their friends and their agendas means more to them to running a government that was created by and for the people.

In my ideal world they'd be real sorry for what they've done. Believe me, I'm with you.

[omega minimo]

3. Indeed

[saltpoint]

5. There it is. That woman iin the photo is one of the U.S. citizens

Dubya turned his back on.

Evidently he couldn't be bothered to send help; he was busy clearing brush on the ranch.

It was his vacation, after all.

Thank you for this post tonight, omega minimo.

[Mabus]

7. and sharing McCain's birthday cake with him, attending a fundraiser and playing with a guitar

:grr: One of Bush's mottos seems to be: Photo-ops uber alles!

[saltpoint]

10. I can't imagine what McCain is thinking these days. Most high

schoolers can read a damn poll, and the polls say the voters oppose Bush's war.

And what does McCain do? He flings himself bodily across Bush's carnage and incompetence.

I kind of thought I "got" McCain in 2000, but clearly I was dead wrong. I think he's not going to be the Rethugs' nominee.

[Mabus]

11. IMHO, he's very mentally ill

War does strange things to people and add to that he was a prisoner for years. I think he's afraid he'll look weak if he says to pull out.

I don't know, I just don't think he's in his right mind any more.

[saltpoint]

17. It was at least somewhat refreshing in 2000 when he denounced Falwell

and Robertson as sleazebags.

These days he's smooching the president's fanny 24/7.

Your theory may be exactly right.

[Mabus]

18. I have to admit

I'm old enough to remember the Keating Five and that McCain was among them. I did have a small amount of respect for him back in the late 80's/early 90's when he "reformed" (because he was part of the Keating Five) but over a short time I noticed his tendency toward being an opportunist and cropping up a lot on news programs. I really got suspicious of him back during the 2000 election cycle when the press was fawning over him. I don't trust most of the press and I detest their high school clique mentality. They pretty much decide how they are going to cover the news and thereby set the tone of how America views the candidates, people, events, issues etc.

I've also heard Carville and others say things to McCain about his time in Viet Nam and taking direct swipes at him about being a POW. I've heard Carville say things, directly to McCain, like "Senator you become a war hero by capturing the enemy" (implying, of course, that McCain isn't a hero because he was captured by the enemy) and (about Abu Gharib) "Is that how they treated you in the Hanoi Hilton?"

I think McCain also knows that if Carville says stuff like that to his face that his probably the butt of a lot of jokes in private. Personally, I think Carville's comments were below the belt but I also understand that Carville's distaste for McCain comes from two sources: The Clintons and Mary Matalin (along with the rest of the Bushies). In other words, Carville's comments toward McCain are heavily influenced by people who hold McCain in disdain.

I think stuff like that really sticks in McCain's craw and affects him psychologically. I sometimes look at McCain and I think about G. Gordon Liddy's "Will" and how he trained himself to endure things like burning his own flesh just to prove he wasn't weak. Liddy has also demonstrated blind loyalty to lost causes.

[omega minimo]

8. That image sums it up, eh?

Thank you for being here... I appreciate your focus and also the exchange above with Mabus.

Interesting comment:

Mabus: "As for the dismissals starting with the most grievous offender I would say, sometimes the populace is so blinded that the process has to start with what they are made aware of rather than what they've actually been blinded to."

In Katrina, what much of the populace was blinded to genocide, even as they were looking at it being beamed through the screen. That same media octupus managed to do both at once, just as it is playing all sides in the Imus mess.

[saltpoint]

9. I think you and Mabus have this place rockin' tonight.

I love also your reference in the OP to the "octopus." That image has some resonance with me. I lived not far from Mt. Sutro in California, named for one of its mayors in days gone by. Sutro fought the always-extending multiple arms of the corporate "octopus."

http://www.sfmuseum.org/bio/adolph.html

Hell of a guy, from the sound of things.

We could use him back today, no question.

You put up posts on these boards that require concentration, m'lady. And that is greatly appreciated.

[omega minimo]

20. "Old" perhaps, but

:yourock:

"Thought provoking" is not necessarily an insult :evilgrin:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x633408

Is the mountain near the Baths? :hi:

[saltpoint]

24. Near the Baths? Not far.

It's just above Market Street, SW of the Haight. Big tower stands on it nowadays.

[Mabus]

23. Thank you.

:blush:

I just appalled at how many media people came out and defended Imus while admitting that he is an asshole. I was hoping for some more media reform in the form of "to whom are the media beholden?" The people/truth or their friendships/social & professional aspirations? Besides, wasn't it the the media hype the now horrible hip-hop that helped its culture spread? I remember the media doing stories about hip hop street artists back in the 80's. Then it was cool and hip.


I also want to mention about how the media and others beat up Tipper Gore back in the 80's, Singling her out for wanting to put warning labels on the CD/records so parents would have some idea what kind of lyrics were contained therein. Now, the media is calling for the type of censorship that they once accused Tipper of wanting. There is a big difference between labeling music with graphic language back then and with their current push to get hip hop off the air and accusing a portion of the music industry of Imus' downfall. The media is corrupt and hurts us as much as it helps. Talk about aspens that are connected at the roots.

Sometimes I think my head is going to explode.

[saltpoint]

25. Tipper Gore should have been allowed to speak her peace without

media interference, no matter the personal views of her position.

Frank Zappa and John Denver had some pretty terrific testimony in those hearings, I thought.

All combined, it was a damned interesting discussion.

These days the anti-female lyric is far more prevalent and much more harsh, IMO. Canning Don Imus is not as satisfying to me as impeaching the president for ignoring New Orleans, but it is at root an assertion of women and minorities of their inherent dignity as human beings.

Limbaugh is even worse, much worse, and I'd like to see him accidentally slip off a causeway into the hungry mouth of a hammerhead shark.

Accidentally, of course.

[Mabus]

13. The thing about the Imus thing that has been shoved to the background

was the reaction of the Beltway media and other reporters. Many of them acted like they had been punched in the gut. I heard Ana Marie Cox (the former "Wonkette") say that Imus was the godfather of the Washington media. I think Imus has helped exposed how incestous the relationships in the Washington press/media really are. Right now the media is pushing the question toward "rap is the evil" and steered it away from their own participation in his show and their excuses for him.

Which brings up the "it was only entertainment" excuse that Rush, Coulter and the rest hide behind whenever they're called on the carpet. :grr: At one moment, they are giving commentary and pass off talking points thinly disguised as news, the next minute they are making some abhorent comment that they later brush off as "a joke" or "I'm a entertainer". It's bullshit. They know it and we know it.

[omega minimo]

21. It's a racket

"Right now the media is pushing the question toward "rap is the evil" and steered it away from their own participation in his show and their excuses for him."

and the pubic takes the bait.

"At one moment, they are giving commentary and pass off talking points thinly disguised as news, the next minute they are making some abhorent comment that they later brush off as "a joke" or "I'm a entertainer". It's bullshit. They know it and we know it."

You know it. :spray: How do these people sleep at night? Oh, I forgot-- prescription addiction!

[Reterr]

12. There is N0 comparison between Kerry or Gore

and the lying, thieving, snivelling creature in the Whitehouse.....

[saltpoint]

14. Now about your adjectives there to describe the president:

I'm real comfortable with 'em.

:toast:

[Reterr]

15. Except...

he is Not my President :)
:toast:

[saltpoint]

16. LOL!

Great photo of Dubya there. It captures his essence, definitely.

[omega minimo]

22. Poor man. He's out of his depth

or not.

[omega minimo]

19. True. Especially because

They were each elected president and he wasn't.

[omega minimo]

26. .