Either Ryan Lochte's ghetto, or Grills aren't! At least Lochte's was a custom job (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2182126/Ryan-Lochtes-Olympic-grill-designed-rapper-Paul-Wall.html?ito=feeds-newsxml). And I didn't know swimmers were PAID like Lochte-- $25,000 per grill?!-- and he's got, like, 4!! Look out sport of swimming, once those little (real) ghetto kids realize you can both a) get paid, and that b) grills are part of the swimming culture, guess who's sgonna dominate that sport!?
Go on Ryan!
Friday, 3 August 2012
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Commercialism in . . . Football, Sports, Everything?
Just coming off my SUN morning ritual of watching the SAT, MLS highlights . . . . During the RSL vs. whoever match, there was a cornerkick-- oops!, I mean a "KFC Colonel's Corner Kick"-- whether or not RSL scored is immaterial here.
Is it just me, or does the "KFCC CK" seem absurd to anyone else? I'm all for a little marketing, especially when it's clever and funny, but a KFC corner kick?! I guess we Americans lead the way with such "innovative" methods, as I have yet to see a "Carlsburg" or "Vodaphone" penalty kick on ITV. Of course, we're spared with the BBC, as it's commercial free; but that's the other exterme. I mean, give me one or two good Superbowl-type commercials. (There are also some very good British ads.) But don't simply overrun my threshold sense of commercialism with marketing every little element of a sporting event.
Looking at the bright side, at least the MLS/KFC contract didn't dictate that it be called the "Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harlan Sanders, resumption of play after the defending team last touched the ball before it went into touch over said team's endline." That would be a proper way to even further innundate the advertising-starved audience norteamericano.
I guess such marketing has been going on for a while now. I remember such games as the Cotton Bowl, or the [fill in the traditional name] Bowl, initially being relabeled the [fill in corporate sponsor/product] [fill in traditional name] Bowl. Eventually the traditional name was dropped from many of these games, leaving just the [fill in corporate sponsor/product] [delete the traditional name] Bowl format, yielding such interesting tilts as "The Outback Bowl" (not played in Australia, btw), or the Beef "O" Brady's Bowl (is that a menu item, or a sports contest?) or the GODADDY.com Bowl-- wtf?! So it should be no surprise that we've descended even further into pure commercialism with the likes of the KFC Corner Kick or Doritos Halftime.
The million dollar question for KFC or PepsiCo/Frito-Lay's marketing team is how much a, say, $5M sponsorship (and what some may consider over-the-top "relabeling"-- or using a common-noun modifier-- of "Halftime") generates in a) new Doritos sales, and b) repeat purchases, by people who otherwise may not have done so? Does seeing Michelin Halftime make everyone run out to the nearest Pep Boyz (I hear they're changing the spelling to match kids' perceptions) to get new tires pur on the SUV? There must be something to it, otherwise the companies wouldn't spend the money they do on such subtle advertising.
The other question is where does it all stop? Or does it? Just imagine the possibilities for enhancing the Ibrahimovic's goal versus les Bleus with a football fan's desire for a bucket-- the KFC Biscuit (scone for those readers in the UK) is played wide toward the right, KFC Cole Slaw corner flag into the path of KFC Corn on the Cob #7, Sebastian Larsson. Buttery Corn Cob plays teh Biscuit with a brilliant first time, KFC Original Recipe cross back toward the top, center of the KFC Chicken Nugget 18-yard box, where KFC Extra Crispy, #10, Zlatan Ibrahimovic meets the Biscuit with perfectly timed run, adjusting midstride for a beautiful KFC Hot Wings (bone in), side volley into KFC Mashed Potatoes, #1 Lloris' KFC Bucket goal! How could any sports purist not appreciate prose so descriptive that it almost puts you into Row 15 at the final KFC Macaroni & Cheese, Group D match at KFC Euro 2012 in Kyiv's Colonel Sanders Olympic-Stadium?!
Is it just me, or does the "KFCC CK" seem absurd to anyone else? I'm all for a little marketing, especially when it's clever and funny, but a KFC corner kick?! I guess we Americans lead the way with such "innovative" methods, as I have yet to see a "Carlsburg" or "Vodaphone" penalty kick on ITV. Of course, we're spared with the BBC, as it's commercial free; but that's the other exterme. I mean, give me one or two good Superbowl-type commercials. (There are also some very good British ads.) But don't simply overrun my threshold sense of commercialism with marketing every little element of a sporting event.
Looking at the bright side, at least the MLS/KFC contract didn't dictate that it be called the "Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harlan Sanders, resumption of play after the defending team last touched the ball before it went into touch over said team's endline." That would be a proper way to even further innundate the advertising-starved audience norteamericano.
I guess such marketing has been going on for a while now. I remember such games as the Cotton Bowl, or the [fill in the traditional name] Bowl, initially being relabeled the [fill in corporate sponsor/product] [fill in traditional name] Bowl. Eventually the traditional name was dropped from many of these games, leaving just the [fill in corporate sponsor/product] [delete the traditional name] Bowl format, yielding such interesting tilts as "The Outback Bowl" (not played in Australia, btw), or the Beef "O" Brady's Bowl (is that a menu item, or a sports contest?) or the GODADDY.com Bowl-- wtf?! So it should be no surprise that we've descended even further into pure commercialism with the likes of the KFC Corner Kick or Doritos Halftime.
The million dollar question for KFC or PepsiCo/Frito-Lay's marketing team is how much a, say, $5M sponsorship (and what some may consider over-the-top "relabeling"-- or using a common-noun modifier-- of "Halftime") generates in a) new Doritos sales, and b) repeat purchases, by people who otherwise may not have done so? Does seeing Michelin Halftime make everyone run out to the nearest Pep Boyz (I hear they're changing the spelling to match kids' perceptions) to get new tires pur on the SUV? There must be something to it, otherwise the companies wouldn't spend the money they do on such subtle advertising.
The other question is where does it all stop? Or does it? Just imagine the possibilities for enhancing the Ibrahimovic's goal versus les Bleus with a football fan's desire for a bucket-- the KFC Biscuit (scone for those readers in the UK) is played wide toward the right, KFC Cole Slaw corner flag into the path of KFC Corn on the Cob #7, Sebastian Larsson. Buttery Corn Cob plays teh Biscuit with a brilliant first time, KFC Original Recipe cross back toward the top, center of the KFC Chicken Nugget 18-yard box, where KFC Extra Crispy, #10, Zlatan Ibrahimovic meets the Biscuit with perfectly timed run, adjusting midstride for a beautiful KFC Hot Wings (bone in), side volley into KFC Mashed Potatoes, #1 Lloris' KFC Bucket goal! How could any sports purist not appreciate prose so descriptive that it almost puts you into Row 15 at the final KFC Macaroni & Cheese, Group D match at KFC Euro 2012 in Kyiv's Colonel Sanders Olympic-Stadium?!
Sunday, 3 June 2012
US Football-- not tough enough??
RE: Klinsy's call for the US team to be nastier
There's been some talk of coach Jurgen Klinsmann's call for the US team to be "nastier" or play with a littler more bite somtimes. Here's my take . . . .
Remember Jeremies tackle on Reyna right out the gate in WC 1998 (in what I believe must have been one of Klinsmann's only matches vs. the US). I recall it being over the top, but it completely neutralized Reyna, our best and key player, for the rest of the match. With the skill gap, I'm not sure that GER needed to rough us up back then, but it was probably standard practice-- at least in any major competition-- to get into the opponnents' heads. As Cap of that squad JK carries all of that knowledge and experience. Not much changed in our following, 2002 WC. Although we had an incredible tournament and should have beat Germany, we still weren't physical, even in response to physicality-- e.g. Marquez's blatant elbow to C. Jones' head. Someone should have (cleanly) put a crunching tackle in on Marquez-- or any of the other 9 MEX outfield players-- after that, a la J. Jones. In addition to an overall, higher US skill-level compared to the '98 squad, it was ironically, the swagger-- i.e. the "mental" lack of respect (awe or over-respect, that is) for our opponents-- displayed by the likes of the 21'ish LD and DMB that helped take us so deep in '02. However, physicality is a different facet of respect. I think LD's "US DNA" comment is actually pretty fair- i.e. fairness and toughness (but on the receiving end-- e.g. no diving/acting) are somewhat US-cultural. But physicality (on the giving end) is an aspect of the game we need take on/develop. It's no different than any other contact sport-- you've got to be able to "bring it" at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner.
There's been some talk of coach Jurgen Klinsmann's call for the US team to be "nastier" or play with a littler more bite somtimes. Here's my take . . . .
Remember Jeremies tackle on Reyna right out the gate in WC 1998 (in what I believe must have been one of Klinsmann's only matches vs. the US). I recall it being over the top, but it completely neutralized Reyna, our best and key player, for the rest of the match. With the skill gap, I'm not sure that GER needed to rough us up back then, but it was probably standard practice-- at least in any major competition-- to get into the opponnents' heads. As Cap of that squad JK carries all of that knowledge and experience. Not much changed in our following, 2002 WC. Although we had an incredible tournament and should have beat Germany, we still weren't physical, even in response to physicality-- e.g. Marquez's blatant elbow to C. Jones' head. Someone should have (cleanly) put a crunching tackle in on Marquez-- or any of the other 9 MEX outfield players-- after that, a la J. Jones. In addition to an overall, higher US skill-level compared to the '98 squad, it was ironically, the swagger-- i.e. the "mental" lack of respect (awe or over-respect, that is) for our opponents-- displayed by the likes of the 21'ish LD and DMB that helped take us so deep in '02. However, physicality is a different facet of respect. I think LD's "US DNA" comment is actually pretty fair- i.e. fairness and toughness (but on the receiving end-- e.g. no diving/acting) are somewhat US-cultural. But physicality (on the giving end) is an aspect of the game we need take on/develop. It's no different than any other contact sport-- you've got to be able to "bring it" at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner.
Saturday, 23 October 2010
How People Categorize Themselves
This is one I've been intending to explore for quite some time now- the draft was dated 28 FEB 2008!
It's not a new topic or anything. And I've been told about at least one study on the topic. Of course, I will od my best to bring a fresh, new perspective to the table.
The questions is: how do you subconsciously "label" or tag yourself? The follow-up questions are a) how you rank those characteristics, and b) whether you arrived at the characteristics and rankings based upon how others see you or how you see yourself (or some of both??). Another interesting question is whether you change your rankings depending on who you're speaking to.
For example, would Sarah (sp?) Palin use any of the following adjectives to describe herself: former AK Governor, hockey mom, Idaho-ian(?), woman, former US VP candidate, married, white, maverick(y), Republican, Alaskan, Tea Party-ier, bulldog with lipstick (her own words), conservative, fashionable, (norte) American, etc.
Assuming most of these are legit adjectives Ms. Palin would use to describe herself, question #1 is how she'd order those in importance. My point is that a person who sees themselves as Conservative, Republican, Tea-partier, American, former AK Governor, white, mom, woman, etc. would have a different belief set than if the ranking were woman, mom, N. American, former AK Gov, conservative, T-Partier (no, that's not a French word), etc. However, this is the same person. How do we arrive at our labels, but more importantly, our self-rankings?
Get my point? We'll have to come back and revist this one, as it could get lengthy.
Next up, Michelle Obama.
hasta pronto
It's not a new topic or anything. And I've been told about at least one study on the topic. Of course, I will od my best to bring a fresh, new perspective to the table.
The questions is: how do you subconsciously "label" or tag yourself? The follow-up questions are a) how you rank those characteristics, and b) whether you arrived at the characteristics and rankings based upon how others see you or how you see yourself (or some of both??). Another interesting question is whether you change your rankings depending on who you're speaking to.
For example, would Sarah (sp?) Palin use any of the following adjectives to describe herself: former AK Governor, hockey mom, Idaho-ian(?), woman, former US VP candidate, married, white, maverick(y), Republican, Alaskan, Tea Party-ier, bulldog with lipstick (her own words), conservative, fashionable, (norte) American, etc.
Assuming most of these are legit adjectives Ms. Palin would use to describe herself, question #1 is how she'd order those in importance. My point is that a person who sees themselves as Conservative, Republican, Tea-partier, American, former AK Governor, white, mom, woman, etc. would have a different belief set than if the ranking were woman, mom, N. American, former AK Gov, conservative, T-Partier (no, that's not a French word), etc. However, this is the same person. How do we arrive at our labels, but more importantly, our self-rankings?
Get my point? We'll have to come back and revist this one, as it could get lengthy.
Next up, Michelle Obama.
hasta pronto
2009 in Review, pt. 2- Charles
The biggest event for me in 2009- yes, that's almost a year away now- actually happened in early 2009. My worst and lifetime-lasting memory of that year will be the death of my dear friend Charles. This should have gone at the top of my list, and I'll leave it at that.
And as promised almost a year ago, my first pix on your favorie blog (o.k., so it's really only a link to fotos . . . .)
R.I.P. Charles. We miss you.
And as promised almost a year ago, my first pix on your favorie blog (o.k., so it's really only a link to fotos . . . .)
R.I.P. Charles. We miss you.
Friday, 29 January 2010
2009 in Review (before 2011 begins)
I'm back, and I apologize to all around the world who have been waiting very patiently for a new post for the past oh . . . . . year or so now. I thought I'd try to make more of a habit of posting (choose and adjective) interesting/controversial/informative/funny/none of the above perspectives on various topice of importance. With this first, return-to-action post I thought I'd pitch a softball, a nice easy review of some 2009 events. These are in no particular order of importance, and there's no way I can promise chronological rank because I can barely remember what I did last week. The following are just a few of the things that stuck out in my mind from last year:
A) America Day at Madame Toussaud's (sp?) in London: on 20 JAN 2009, the famous wax museum let everyone with an American passport in for free in honor of Barak Obama's inauguration! You know I couldn't pass THAT up- the free bit, that is. That day, not only did we get to go on a "date" to the wax museum (and romantic it was), but we also got to see BO sworn into office, bringing that intangible hope to many Americans. OK, so maybe it was only about 55% of Americans, but that's way more than in either of the Bush elections. And it was very reassuring to see W and Laura ride off in Marine whatever the number changes to when you're no longer the Prez. Of course Cheney is still lurking around in his lair, probably plotting the first US coup.
BO's first year has been not quite what many had predicted. I am hoping that is more a symptom of the challenges of getting anything logical done in DC than his shifting from an evil socialist who wants to make society more egalatarian to el presidente behind the latest Afghanistan surge and the still-opened Guantanamo "detention" center. He also stepped in it on the Honduras thing, you know that little triangular-shaped pais in C. America.
B) My first full club match in London: yes, finally, just under 2 years after arriving in London, I played in my first proper, 11-a-side match with my team from Lewisham. The most striking thing about this match- one of MANY Sunday football matches through London- to probably any Norte Americano is that at first glance they may have thought is was an NBA match, except for the large grass field and 22 people running around. Or perhaps it was an NFL practice (with 2 black QB's- remember when that was a big deal?!) without pads and with all of the players kicking the (round) ball?!
It was neither of these, but the main aspect my US-trained mind picked up on was that it was ALL bruthas, the Jamaicans vs. the Africans. And boy did the the Africans play nice football- we eventually lost about 4-1 or so. Anyway, I just find it so funny when some "African Americans" I encounter- mostly the blacker-than-thou types- always want to bash football and so myopically think it's soft or boring, etc. It's always easier to disregard something about which you have no knolwledge or exposure. The sad part is when you stop your investigation and analysis there.
Well guess what all of you proud-to-be-black people in the US-- pretty much all other black folks around the world play the beautiful game, and most play it quite well- see the Africa Cup of Nations. I'd imagine if some of the heroes of your more narrow world- e.g. Kobe, Reggie B, Neon Deion, Barry Sanders, etc.- played proper football from a young age, not only would you be singing a different tune, but I'd bet money that the US would have won a World Cup by now. Oh, that's the tournament that actually produces a TRUE world champion.
And don't get me wrong, it's not just black folks who don't understand the complexities of football. US whities are just as guilty and see it as a foreign, non-macho endeavor. However, at home, the sport has always been viewed as more of a white sport, though the reality of that looks to be shifting. I'm also simply more critical of my own peeps, who many times are very satisfied, or even feel they MUST be followers of all things "black," whatever that is. Oh, right, those are the expectations and stereotypes we and others place on ourselves, that we buy in to and thereby limit what we allow ourselves to achieve and be exposed to- i.e. to learn.
C) X-mas Play at School: suffice it to say there ain't no separation of church and state here. The kids respective X-mas productions are straight up what you have to go to church to get at home. They sing about baby jesus and dress up as wise men and shepherds, joseph and mary, and basically act it out in front of the full-on manger backdrop.
That's one of the cool things about England. They don't worry about offending anyone. Of course, they're not setting out to offend anyone. They just haven't folded to the whole, stupid PC mindset, where how you phrase something is more imoprtant than what you actually do! i.e. the general part of London that we live in is very integrated, and you don't get all of these people who are either over snesitive about race, which causes others to worry about how or whoat thay say. Most here would describe me as "American" before they'd describe me as "black," or god forbid, "African American." As a result, here they still say "Happy Christmas" (of course, they screwed up the Merry part, but they really do need to work on some aspects of their English here) and act out birth-of-JC scenes in the public schools . . . and nobody really seems to care. It may be a little insensitive, I don' tknow. But that's how they've done it here. And more importantly, people's actions (like their travels, the friends they keep, etc.) speak louder than hollow, conformist words.
It all really hit home with the little muslim girl, head scarf and all, was right up on the risers with the rest of the rainbow coalition of kids singing about Christmas and jesus. Could you imagine such a scene at home? Whoat!?
D) Death of MJ (no, not Peter Parker's dreamboat): this is primarily a mention for my girl, Meena. Of course, I am quite a big fan of "Off the Wall" and consider it one of the best albums ever. RIP Michael.
E) Lagos, Nigeria: this place takes the cake for 3rd (oops, I mean "Developing") World- meets crazy oil money- meets one of the most densely populated cities on the African continent. I don't even know where to start.
I've put in some time in the developing world- from my regular hitch hikes in Honduras to an almost toppling bus in Nepal to tromping around bits of Guatemala and India. But the bustle, traffic, pop. density and the street entrepeneurs who put the Crenshaw and Slauson bruthas to shame were over the top. On one strecth of major boulevard coming back into Victoria Island, the stop-and-go traffic creates an almost bazaar-like atmosphere . . . down the MIDDLE of the road!? No, not on the median, I'm talking between the lanes. You can buy everything from socks, to music, to food, to clothes, to kitchen utensils, to floor mats for your car. It's like a drive through where you don't drive up to the window, but the windows walk up to you.
Needless to say, the whole atmosphere was a bit of sensory overload. For the first time in my life, I really had no desire to leave the big hotel's gated,walled compound and go explore my surrondings. Of course, it must be Lagos. I mean, it couldn't be me just getting S-O-F-T in my old age . . . . .
And that pretty sums up all of 2009- pretty efficient, eh? Note that there are definitely exceptions to those issues I discuss above. However, you can pretty much take what I say as the most enlighttened perspective. Now you can also look forward to hearing from me more frequently in 2010.
A) America Day at Madame Toussaud's (sp?) in London: on 20 JAN 2009, the famous wax museum let everyone with an American passport in for free in honor of Barak Obama's inauguration! You know I couldn't pass THAT up- the free bit, that is. That day, not only did we get to go on a "date" to the wax museum (and romantic it was), but we also got to see BO sworn into office, bringing that intangible hope to many Americans. OK, so maybe it was only about 55% of Americans, but that's way more than in either of the Bush elections. And it was very reassuring to see W and Laura ride off in Marine whatever the number changes to when you're no longer the Prez. Of course Cheney is still lurking around in his lair, probably plotting the first US coup.
BO's first year has been not quite what many had predicted. I am hoping that is more a symptom of the challenges of getting anything logical done in DC than his shifting from an evil socialist who wants to make society more egalatarian to el presidente behind the latest Afghanistan surge and the still-opened Guantanamo "detention" center. He also stepped in it on the Honduras thing, you know that little triangular-shaped pais in C. America.
B) My first full club match in London: yes, finally, just under 2 years after arriving in London, I played in my first proper, 11-a-side match with my team from Lewisham. The most striking thing about this match- one of MANY Sunday football matches through London- to probably any Norte Americano is that at first glance they may have thought is was an NBA match, except for the large grass field and 22 people running around. Or perhaps it was an NFL practice (with 2 black QB's- remember when that was a big deal?!) without pads and with all of the players kicking the (round) ball?!
It was neither of these, but the main aspect my US-trained mind picked up on was that it was ALL bruthas, the Jamaicans vs. the Africans. And boy did the the Africans play nice football- we eventually lost about 4-1 or so. Anyway, I just find it so funny when some "African Americans" I encounter- mostly the blacker-than-thou types- always want to bash football and so myopically think it's soft or boring, etc. It's always easier to disregard something about which you have no knolwledge or exposure. The sad part is when you stop your investigation and analysis there.
Well guess what all of you proud-to-be-black people in the US-- pretty much all other black folks around the world play the beautiful game, and most play it quite well- see the Africa Cup of Nations. I'd imagine if some of the heroes of your more narrow world- e.g. Kobe, Reggie B, Neon Deion, Barry Sanders, etc.- played proper football from a young age, not only would you be singing a different tune, but I'd bet money that the US would have won a World Cup by now. Oh, that's the tournament that actually produces a TRUE world champion.
And don't get me wrong, it's not just black folks who don't understand the complexities of football. US whities are just as guilty and see it as a foreign, non-macho endeavor. However, at home, the sport has always been viewed as more of a white sport, though the reality of that looks to be shifting. I'm also simply more critical of my own peeps, who many times are very satisfied, or even feel they MUST be followers of all things "black," whatever that is. Oh, right, those are the expectations and stereotypes we and others place on ourselves, that we buy in to and thereby limit what we allow ourselves to achieve and be exposed to- i.e. to learn.
C) X-mas Play at School: suffice it to say there ain't no separation of church and state here. The kids respective X-mas productions are straight up what you have to go to church to get at home. They sing about baby jesus and dress up as wise men and shepherds, joseph and mary, and basically act it out in front of the full-on manger backdrop.
That's one of the cool things about England. They don't worry about offending anyone. Of course, they're not setting out to offend anyone. They just haven't folded to the whole, stupid PC mindset, where how you phrase something is more imoprtant than what you actually do! i.e. the general part of London that we live in is very integrated, and you don't get all of these people who are either over snesitive about race, which causes others to worry about how or whoat thay say. Most here would describe me as "American" before they'd describe me as "black," or god forbid, "African American." As a result, here they still say "Happy Christmas" (of course, they screwed up the Merry part, but they really do need to work on some aspects of their English here) and act out birth-of-JC scenes in the public schools . . . and nobody really seems to care. It may be a little insensitive, I don' tknow. But that's how they've done it here. And more importantly, people's actions (like their travels, the friends they keep, etc.) speak louder than hollow, conformist words.
It all really hit home with the little muslim girl, head scarf and all, was right up on the risers with the rest of the rainbow coalition of kids singing about Christmas and jesus. Could you imagine such a scene at home? Whoat!?
D) Death of MJ (no, not Peter Parker's dreamboat): this is primarily a mention for my girl, Meena. Of course, I am quite a big fan of "Off the Wall" and consider it one of the best albums ever. RIP Michael.
E) Lagos, Nigeria: this place takes the cake for 3rd (oops, I mean "Developing") World- meets crazy oil money- meets one of the most densely populated cities on the African continent. I don't even know where to start.
I've put in some time in the developing world- from my regular hitch hikes in Honduras to an almost toppling bus in Nepal to tromping around bits of Guatemala and India. But the bustle, traffic, pop. density and the street entrepeneurs who put the Crenshaw and Slauson bruthas to shame were over the top. On one strecth of major boulevard coming back into Victoria Island, the stop-and-go traffic creates an almost bazaar-like atmosphere . . . down the MIDDLE of the road!? No, not on the median, I'm talking between the lanes. You can buy everything from socks, to music, to food, to clothes, to kitchen utensils, to floor mats for your car. It's like a drive through where you don't drive up to the window, but the windows walk up to you.
Needless to say, the whole atmosphere was a bit of sensory overload. For the first time in my life, I really had no desire to leave the big hotel's gated,walled compound and go explore my surrondings. Of course, it must be Lagos. I mean, it couldn't be me just getting S-O-F-T in my old age . . . . .
And that pretty sums up all of 2009- pretty efficient, eh? Note that there are definitely exceptions to those issues I discuss above. However, you can pretty much take what I say as the most enlighttened perspective. Now you can also look forward to hearing from me more frequently in 2010.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
JC is Correct
So I completely blew my New Year's Resolution to drop science more consistently with this blog stuff. The bright side is it probably served to do nada but allow the anticipation to build even more.
First current topic: no, not JZ and the country singer who he just made famous, but Jimmy C and his view that Rep Wilson's outburst during the President's healthcare address was motivated or caused by racism, or something like that.
I think many people missed the point and took Prez Carter to be saying that Rep Wilson IS a racist. As Wilson's AG son said, I wouldn't go so far as to call Wilson a racist. I mean he doesn't laugh at "stupid" (I believe that was the word AG used) jokes. He probably even has a black friend.
But really, what I think JC meant is that Rep wilson wouldn't have pulled such a stunt- regardless of whether it was due to a lack of self control, as asserted by the SC Dem Party Chair- had the man speaking been white. Even if it was Joe Biden, or a male Nancy Pelosi, I gaurantee you he wouldn't have shouted out. Could you imagine if a Democratic rep had shouted "You lie" to W?!? He probably would have been shot on the scene. And Bush actually did lie about a few things- ok, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he made a few poor asessments(sp?). But you still don't yell at the President, no matter how much you disagree, or . . . . can't stand to see someone from the other party, who just happens to also belong to a group that is not supposed to achieve much except in sports, entertainment and incarceration, runnin' the show. I'm not saying that Wilson-or all of the others who speak, display messages, or think violently about the President- actively hate blacks or other minorities. Something just doesn't quite sit right about having someone of a darker hue "running the country," even though you'd imagine they know the Prez doesn't actually RUN the US. He's just the most visible symbol of the count . . . .
Oh, wait, now I get it! You mean there's a nigger who's the symbol of my great country?!? I knew there was something making me uncomfortable; I just cant' quite put my finger on it. "I don't hate him, because, I'm not a racist. I just don't trust him." But it does just make me want to scream; because it's ok to scream at someone you don't truly respect, even though they're more educated, accomplished, and bright than you, not to mention the leader of your nation, whether you like/agree with that individual or not.
If you disrespect the office, you're basically dissin' your country.
First current topic: no, not JZ and the country singer who he just made famous, but Jimmy C and his view that Rep Wilson's outburst during the President's healthcare address was motivated or caused by racism, or something like that.
I think many people missed the point and took Prez Carter to be saying that Rep Wilson IS a racist. As Wilson's AG son said, I wouldn't go so far as to call Wilson a racist. I mean he doesn't laugh at "stupid" (I believe that was the word AG used) jokes. He probably even has a black friend.
But really, what I think JC meant is that Rep wilson wouldn't have pulled such a stunt- regardless of whether it was due to a lack of self control, as asserted by the SC Dem Party Chair- had the man speaking been white. Even if it was Joe Biden, or a male Nancy Pelosi, I gaurantee you he wouldn't have shouted out. Could you imagine if a Democratic rep had shouted "You lie" to W?!? He probably would have been shot on the scene. And Bush actually did lie about a few things- ok, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he made a few poor asessments(sp?). But you still don't yell at the President, no matter how much you disagree, or . . . . can't stand to see someone from the other party, who just happens to also belong to a group that is not supposed to achieve much except in sports, entertainment and incarceration, runnin' the show. I'm not saying that Wilson-or all of the others who speak, display messages, or think violently about the President- actively hate blacks or other minorities. Something just doesn't quite sit right about having someone of a darker hue "running the country," even though you'd imagine they know the Prez doesn't actually RUN the US. He's just the most visible symbol of the count . . . .
Oh, wait, now I get it! You mean there's a nigger who's the symbol of my great country?!? I knew there was something making me uncomfortable; I just cant' quite put my finger on it. "I don't hate him, because, I'm not a racist. I just don't trust him." But it does just make me want to scream; because it's ok to scream at someone you don't truly respect, even though they're more educated, accomplished, and bright than you, not to mention the leader of your nation, whether you like/agree with that individual or not.
If you disrespect the office, you're basically dissin' your country.
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