PERCEPTION REALITY AND PENANCE

Roland Martin was suspended by CNN for an assumed Homophobic 'Tweet' comment. The GLAAD association filed a formal complaint over a Superbowl tweet that Roland Martin made to his "followers" which, according to Roland was taken out of context and fueled by the same uncontrolled and chaotic resources of limited human common sense we call social media. The argument used to justify the suspension were past comments defined as racist, homophobic, liberal, socialist and every and any other definition used to describe a CNN host. What gets me most about this is the exploitative nature of the issue. The Boogyman in the closet factor. Normally I wouldn't care about something like this but I did take the time to bone up (I hope saying that don't get GLAAD on my ass for saying) on the facts and my jaw dropped. I mean dropped like a Looneytoon moment for shock and awe. I did not read anything remotely homophobic in Roland Martin's comment. If anything, it was a greater diss on H&M than anything sports, sex or gay related. But then again, I was using common sense and basic comprehension skills.

What Roland stated was the following:

"Ain't no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear! If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! I bet soccer fan Piers Morgan will be in line at H&M in the morning to get his hands on David Bechman's (sic) underwear line."

I mean REALLY .. for this tweet comment?

Believe it our not, I not only thought the same thing at my Superbowl event, I actually said something similar, OUT LOUD which got a roomful of collective laughs. By the way, I am quite sure the Gay people in the room weren't psychologically scared due to the fact that they were more interested in "WHO" David Beckham was and where they could get the granny-panties he was wearing. All-in-All, the ad was successful for attracting both Women and Gay men to buy a pair of over priced H&M booty-chokers. And for those who are not in the know, H&M is Metrosexual central for fashion. Hoping GLAAD isn't hot on my ass for poking at the truth for saying this but H&M has been the primary source of the uppity-urban fashion trend for knock-off Couture and Cat-Walkmania since day one and if it is Gay, Metro-trendy and inexpensive, its at H&M. Its reality living in New York City. I'm not saying that H&M is an exclusively Gay business or that it is a hyper-Gay-friendly corporation but real is real, a large amount of their profits come from Women and the Gay Community. Look at their profits and then get back to me if you want to call me anything outside of speaking truth or being honest. Even David Beckham stated he felt uncomfortable doing the Ad. And this is coming from a guy who kicks balls for a living. Again, GLAAD, no pun intended so keep back your lawyers.

I once posted on a social media network, "It's so humid, even crackers have lost their snap." WOW, was this a lesson in White vs Black humor when the truth of the matter was, I had an opened box of crackers that had absorbed the humidity in the room and literally, each cracker was moist and soft. I say this to say, some realities are just that, REALITY. The ad is homoerotic. The style and look is very Gay in its tone and intent.

What amazes me is that tweets and one's personal life seems to COEXIST as one entity. It seems that there are whole societies that sit, study and police the every word and moments of tweeters. A Big Tweeter Consortium dedicated to "Getchu". So much is this becoming past-time that Twitter has become, at least by my perception, no different than TMZ or some other tabloid rag. Having an account by a recognizable person and hoping to avoid Big Brother, one would need to have a DL account, an Anonymous presence so that they can speak free and clear protected by the the virtual Constitution and the laws governed by free speech and expression. 

I didn't find Roland's comments offensive. Maybe because I don't care about Beckham, the sport of soccer, a tattooed man in granny panties, about the overall Superbowl-mania or the fact that this issue was born out of a mix of some of the worst Superbowl commercials to date, but I am beginning to side with a lot of other Americans, many whom are Racist, Sexist and Homophobic .... "&#$%@ GET OVER YOURSELF".  The Ad was Gay. If you take a Poll of Gay men (which no one has done thus far) you'd find that even they would say .... "That Ad was Gay-esque" or at least Gay-Sexy. Women who were Polled voted over 60% that the Ad was sexy and "Facebookable enough to "Like".

Yes, Martin Roland can be an ASS. I have experienced this first hand but one thing I can say, he is an honest Ass. He doesn't mix words with the truth which is why he, I and many within the industry gives him deference and respect. So if he said he was making fun of David Beckham as a soccer player and the sport .... it is safe to say the man doesn't respect the sport or Beckham. Reading his "tweet" and exercising basic comprehension skills, it was very clear as to his intent. The H&M ad was very different and unexpected for the typical Superbowl barrage of drink more, eat more, buy more, treat women like sex objects more. To throw in a naked man in booty-chokers as if he was auditioning for Victoria Secrets .... I mean REALLY? Who were you really trying to impress with brief (no pun intended) peeks and glimpses of crack and crotch? I guess my comment of, "OMG, another Hooker commercial!" after the tenth scantily dressed woman in a bikini was shown, I would be primed for being insensitive, misogynous and needing firing destined to intense sensitivity training. In America under the Constitution, Free Speech, Expression, blah blah ... its my perception, my reality and I spit in the face of anyone who tries to campaign any degree of penance upon me to make me apologize. And for the record, I DON'T LIKE SOCCER EITHER.

THERE GOES THAT CHURCH AGAIN

You know, I am hard on comedians that cross the line. Since the question is always, “Who determines the line and where is it placed for crossing?” is as much a matter of personal opinion as beauty is for a Mother pretending her ugly baby is cute. Now that was supposed to be funny but for those Mothers out there with ugly babies, its personal and I am sorry.


You see, for saying something like that, and “Me” not being a comedian, I’d have to apologize for offending people with slighted feelings. As much as some people would think that was funny (and some of you are still laughing) it isn’t right to place judgment on people. Call it Karma, call it respect, call it the uniqueness and variety that make up Humanity, you often get back whatever energy that you put out in the Universe although I have yet to see many comedians get back in “spades” what they put out there for laughter – unless you are Flava Flav. Again, that was a joke.

So what’s the big deal about what is funny? Some would say to do that you need to have a license to be funny, a track record for knowing when and what to say or "timing", a PhD in the area of the Punch line, a working knowledge in being quick on your feet. Like the thousands of people who audition for American Idol each year, we get to look at them all and shake our heads and say, “Oh no she didn’t just sing that? Why?”

We get hit hard with the “Slippage of the Lippage” (I just made that up so you all better pay me if you try to use is as a new catch phrase like Billery or Bradjolina) and when Non-Comedians try to be funny (i.e. politicians or your drunk Uncle Tommy) the results can be often damaging. We all remember the "Macaca" scandal by ex-Senator George Allen of Virginia and his bid to be “funny”. His attempt cost him his seat in Washington DC and opened the door for a relatively unknown competitor to waltz into a relatively easy win.

Even comedians can “cross the line” of Political Correctness. Cross it so far that even fellow comedians can distance himself or herself in a “HOT OBAMA REV. WRIGHT MINUTE” (again another joke). Last I heard, Michael Richard, the fallen from grace comedian famous for his role as “Cosmo Kramer” on Seinfeld, is now sitting on top of mountains calling on his Higher Power to get his “chi” back because somewhere between being funny and calling a room full of Black folk the “N-word”, he lost his MIND. And let us not forget the “Nappy-Headed Hos" and "Jiggaboo” comments from Don Imus. Although this was washed over the media as the sensation for the moment, the hurt still lingers in the halls of funny enough to see that the numbers of those that aren’t laughing are more than those laughing. In a Blog posting entitled “Punk Ass Damon Wayans”, I talked about how in his bid to be funny on the couch of The View, Damon Wayans evoked the Nappy Headed Hos comment and tried to justify its validity as a piece of Creative Comedy on a Daytime Talk Show created by a Woman, for Women and hosted by Women. With the couch shared by three other Comedians, his ability to escape intact was a miracle at best, BUT what was most important was that in his comments, there was no TRUTH to his justification. His time spent on the couch only came off as a desperate need to make a few dozen people begin a chain of uncomfortable giggles thus giving room and validation for others to follow in concert.

“It has been historically noted that the Fool, the Trickster, the Jester and other similar characters were always walking the line of social and political correctness. Even today we honor the kid that can make us laugh as the Class Clown. And that’s who comedians are, Clowns; people who wear masks to hide the truthfulness of both their humanity and ours. And in our laughter he subconsciously laughs at our strengths and weakness, the beauty and our ugliness. BUT you have to be funny with an underlying message to elevate society because that is ‘ART’.” – The Poet: Shazza Blog (November 23, 2007)

We now go back to the “Whats” of funny/satire vs. offensive/politically incorrect in society. It is safe to say that America, as a culture, allows comedy to dance on the line of acceptability and once you begin peeling back a few layers, deep within the cultures, funny is considered a “Blank Thang” with each ethnic group filling in the “blank”.

The cable channel Comedy Central has an array of ethnically diverse comedians that universally are accepted by everyone. You rarely, if ever, hear people say they do not like a comedian because they are a particular "Race" but more so because they are either Funny or Not. I would almost place bets that Comedy Central is the MOST ETHNICALLY DIVERSE NETWORK CHANNEL in existence for its purpose. You have Black, White, Asian, Latino, Native American, Old, Young, Men, Women, Blind, Handicap, Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Overweight, Overly Thin, The Beautiful, The Visually Challenged, Arab, German, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, The Political, The Anarchist, Red Necks, Rated G to Rated PG R and all making fun of you and all the socio-political groups that exist. Actually it is prerequisite to make fun of yourself before others. It’s in the "Official Rule Book of Comedians"; “Thou Shall Make Fun of No Man or Woman Before Not Making Fun of Thine Self.” So when you have a comedian come on stage ranting about others without first talking about themselves, we get a since of uneasiness and eventually reserve our laughter for someone a little more talented since this BUSTER is a HATER. And even with bad comics, there is always that “Shield of Anonymity” that protects the comedian from being called a Terrorist, Anarchist, Ex-Patriot, Racist, Sexist or any host of Anti-American sentiments.

“You see when you consider yourself an “Artist” you create for yourself a ‘Shield of Anonymity’. You pull this infamous philosophy provided by the Constitution and its FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Sadly to say, the Racist of our nation do it equivalently and or in worst degrees practicing the same rhetoric.” – The Poet: Shazza Blog (November 23, 2007)

So here we are again with Rev. Jeremiah Wright back in the spotlightt although not as front and center as we’d like. This time, the Man with the satire in question is another GUEST speaker of Trinity United Church of Christ, Father Michael Pfleger. Now I will be honest, I don’t know a thing about the man so I can’t promote myself to a place high enough to throw stones BUT I will say this much, from what I know and saw (in the sound bytes flooding the media like a monsoon in the Pacific Ocean) HE IS FUNNY. He’s funny because it’s a BLACK THANG and I wouldn’t expect Non-Black Folks (maybe some Brown Folk) to get it.

“I won't lie, I watched the Father Pfleger and found it funny, almost MAD TV/In Livin' Color funny but I will also be honest and say what Rev. Michael Pfleger preached (is) what and how BLACK FOLK think and talk behind closed doors everyday about this election so for Black people to be up in arms and pointing fingers at the MEDIA, we all need to OWN UP and Keep It Real. The way Black folk talked, voted, turned on Black politicians, Super Delegates, Tavis Smiley, Julian Bond and many others we need to watch out for all those stones we are dropping in the Glass House.” – The Poet: Shazza on Jack and Jill Politics (The Obamas Leave Trinity)

The reality of those not culturally connected to the stage in which Father Michael Pfleger spoke on would easily sit “stone faced” and “pruned” over the comments while Black folk laughed, bounce and cried tears of uncontrolled laughter on par with a SANDMAN SHUFFLE off the stages of the Apollo Theater. Most of America isn’t remotely knowledgeable of the going ons of what takes place within a Black Church and will not get the Theatric component. "Fair or Fierce", Black Churches sway, swoon, dance, cry, become inspired, laugh and yes, have opinions about Politics and Politicians. STRONG opinions. Black Churches can be ruthless in its HONESTY because it is the only place where Truth (regardless of one’s spiritual perspective) can be spoken without condemnation. The Church can allow for personal emotions as well as opinions to wear on one's sleeve for an entire community to share. Or so we (Obama) thought. Knowing all of this, we still have to ask the question, why was Father Pfleger funny?

If all the World’s a stage, then for Black folk that stage represents the Church; which for its people is the center of the Universe. What happens in the World and beyond is explained clearly and colorfully every Sunday on this stage. So why was Father Pfleger funny? Because on the Black Church stage, he had a license to BE funny. It is part of the formula which Black folk have embraced. For Black folk, it is human to laugh just as much as it is to sing and dance and cry and love and the whole range of human experiences held together with prayer. Some may find it difficult and even a bit alien to be part of a church that does not sit quietly and reflect but Black folk are active participants during Sunday services. Outsiders may think that Father Pfleger was pandering to the members of Trinity BUT he actually part of the norm of its expectations. As this Nation changes (really as it begins to open a book and or get over its “fear” of avoiding dialogue with people different from his or herself) you will find that the Black Church is traditionally NOT A QUIET PLACE or a place to wear masks.

I have watched as Jay Leno, David Letterman, The Daily Show, Dennis Miller, The Colbert Show, Jimmy Kimmel and others have begun their shows, dedicated whole monologues to ridicule Politicians more so Bill and Hillary Clinton for more than 20 years. Some have “crossed the line” of good taste and other jokes that are timelessly hilarious. The difference is that as a Religious figure, you are not suppose to be licensed to be funny, at NO ONE TIME EVER. Even if within the comedy, there is truth, it is taboo to place it, state it, do it from the pulpit. Not for the Black Church. Here, you use whatever tools needed to get the message of Truth out. If laughter bring you close to your truth, than so be it, you use it like a tool for building the gateway to the Lord. To ignore a sense of humor is a bold example for ignoring the grand design of human expression because even GOD has a sense of humor.

Am I saying what Father Michael Pfleger said was right? Well being me, and my political and social views on People of Color in America, I plead the FIFTH, but for being funny I would have been in the mix of laughing patrons. NOW if he was in any other church, speaking before a college graduation or at a Political rally my option would change but in the Black Church … I’m not so offended. I actually would like to have had an encore performance though, possibly with John McCain, George Bush, Condoleezza Rice or anyone with embedded rhetoric needing to get “Churched” on Sunday.

RUSH LIMBAUGH HAD NO POWER IN TEXAS

I think people have given Rush Limbaugh too much credit. Based upon Exit Polls and media coverage of the people in the rural areas of Texas, neither Rush nor his Talk Radio Show was a major or even deciding factor of the election result. Contrary to the “Volunteer”, Robert Swann , whom worked for the Hillary Clinton Texas Campaign, there is this deep belief that a small percentage of Republican banded together, to throw the State’s election as a direct protest against John McCain, the Republican front-runner then and now Presidential Nominee. The truth is the matter us what made the difference in Texas was the last Debate between Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, the small but significant scandal with Obama and the Revko case which took center stage in Chicago that same week (where the media's perception of Obama was that of his avoiding answering questions of his direct connection to the case) and the fact that Texas is a Pro-War, Military and Veteran State which worked in Clinton's favor especially since she has a Liberal-Conservative viewpoint to War, Clinton’s 3 AM Political Ad and lastly, Obama’s complacency in campaigning in Texas. This meaning that although Texans like all things BIG, when it come to their politics, a “flesh to palm” and door-to-door works better that the star, stage and stadium approach. The populations of older voters do not turn on and turn out to the types of campaigning that Young Voters gravitate to.

Contrary to all assumptions, the issue with Race, Religion and Ads played very little into the whole voting issue since the deciding factor for Hillary's victory was that Obama did not cut ENOUGH into the Latino Vote. He did get a fair number of the Latin Youth vote but he was an estimated 3200 votes shy of their projections. With 83% of the Black vote, Obama needed 40% of the Latin Vote to even command a 50 plus 1% overall. Rush Limbaugh could not affect that many people (within the Democratic party) even on his BEST DAY. To consider that Ultra-Conservatives would vote for Hillary Clinton as a political stratagem to give Obama “FALSE HOPE” is almost laughable, more so it ranks up there with the Best of … The Texan Conspiracy Theories. There is no evidence and to be honest, no one is even researching all that hard to find out.

Another thing, the Religious Vote (Catholics) came out strong. Catholics voted more for Clinton in Texas than all her other State victories. For Obama, his projections were even with Clinton prior to Tuesday. Obama hit all his Urban Areas, the Middle-class and Wealthy, College age and Black Americans but his exception were those OLDER LATIN VOTER, which consistently keep missing. His camp made the same MAJOR MISTAKE in Ohio as well. It was in Obama’s campaign complacency and lack of presence in those Southern Texan districts, the people saw his lack of interest and in that black hole, Hillary’s campaign took charge. Those people watch TELAMUNDO; they saw a significant amount of that Clinton Ad. Like it or not, THE AD WORKED on the right people.

There was also this point as well, TEXAS did not have a record turn out in "Registered" Republican votes which would kind of make the Rush Limbaugh argument suspect. There was no major turnout of Republicans or Independents voting for Hillary Clinton. If anything, those borderline Independents and Republican Independents went Obama but in small numbers.

Looking at the MATH, it was going to be a tie from the start, especially since Texas began it’s voting early. It is always recognized that when a large number of votes are recorded early, there is a tendency for those voting late to stay home. We see this in National voting when the WEST COAST watched how the EAST COAST is voting which in some cases effect the whole election.

Lastly, THIS IS POLITICS not American Idol or Big Brother House. You have to be just as hard on the Media. Obama is the FRONT-RUNNER and every single stumble he makes (and OBAMA did stumble by not running a STRONG campaign in Texas among other things) you can't blame the "CLINTONS" nor can you point to Rush Limbaugh as a "serious" contributing factor. That is the easy and most Obvious thing to do when one does not understand the dynamics of running a campaign. My Political insight into campaigning is this for Obama, he needs to aggressively reach out to OLDER AMERICANS and to the Latinos and MILITARY Veterans that he keeps ignoring. This is what each group talk about, the idea that OBAMA isn't speaking to them and only the BLACKS and the Young Folks. Those groups are the SWING votes that are either voting for Clinton or John McCain. He also needs to make an appeal to Catholic Voters whom bring in Big Numbers to Clinton.

Instead of Preaching he has GOOD or BETTER Judgment, Obama needs to start talking about Current International Issues in detail and what He Will Do once he becomes President. Neither Clinton nor Obama has ENOUGH individual Foreign Policy experience BUT if you start talking about Foreign Policy in terms of THE PEOPLE , America will know that Obama at least know the NAMES of the major players. Obama needs to have more of his Foreign Policy Advisers come forward and begin schooling him in speaking PUBLICLY about World Events. That is why Coni Rice was brought on board for George Bush in his race for President and partly how he won. Same thing must happen with Obama, those on the fence do not feel he knows the World enough to speak to it. That is WHY and HOW he lost Texas, Ohio and RI, NOT because Clinton is Racist or a Fear Monger; all she did was play to Obama's weaknesses and exploited his campaign's complacency.

As much as I dislike Rush Limbaugh, I will always be convinced that people gave him too much credit, especially with his assumed affluence with Texan politics. This is a Man identified by his own Republican party as a "Man who does not debate in Reality", a shotgun Political Pundit which every mainstream Republican distances themselves from. Looking at the numbers after the fact, you will see, especially when you can go to the CNN exit poll for all the statistics, that what was proposed by Rush was and is incorrect.

THE POLLING TEST

I am not one to take Online Polling Test that determines who I am most like or what my interests are. Usually they are a little off and in some cases total opposite what you think the results would be. Then again, there are some psychological exams that get deep into a person's conscious/subconscious mind and allows for one's true Character to be seen.

I watched a CNN News Report on how scientist wired up people to a monitor while they watched the Political Debates. With each person, their statements all showed opposite to their initial chooses for political Candidates. We found that Women whom liked Hillary upon watching Obama speak, liked him more. Men who liked Hillary disliked her when she smiles or laughed but enjoyed her most when she was confrontational. These examples were all emotional results and not based on any logic or rational thought which ultimately should be the end result of any decision.

So I got this Online Polling Test and to my interest, I polled in the Right Party but the Wrong Politician. Now my confidence is SHATTERED.

NOT !!!

Take the test and see what you get.

http://www.electoralcompass.com/

FUZZY MATH

Adults of working class families can relate to this story. You come home from school with a mountain of homework and you run to your parents. You complain about that EVIL teacher that wants nothing more than to eliminate your free youth time with homework that NOBODY understands. So in their interest your parents ask what type of brutal torture was bestowed upon their poor little child. You whip out THE MATH! “OH LORD”, your parents think to themselves, the curse has finally come for me. Your parents hear the words of their past ancient academic tormentor saying; “YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU WILL NEED MATH IN YOUR LIFE.” They then whisper to themselves, “SHUT UP!” as you respond back in concern, “WHAT?” Your parents assure you its nothing as they continue to listen to your complaints while the pit of their stomach grumbles and under arms turns on faucets of perspiration.

You place before your parents the MATH assignment when you notice your parent’s face has turned a Ghost White and you ask again, “Are you OK? You look a little sick.” Your parents tell you to, “Go on Boy and stop asking stupid questions” while they scratch and fidget like a Crack addict. You begin to explain how confused you are with THE MATH when after about 5 minutes in, your parents stop you and say, “This MATH is different from the math we did when I was your age. This must be that NEW MATH.”

New Math? At this point a quick thought comes across your conscious, “You must be dumb if you can’t help me” but the guilt in calling your parents dumb plus the WRATH OF GOD dispels the thought real quick so you just say, “OK, I’ll just go upstairs and figure it out myself.”

This is mostly a shared experience when people tell WHEN and HOW they first heard the term NEW MATH. It wouldn’t be until years later and realizing that my parent’s weren’t PERFECT PEOPLE that New Math meant anything beyond addition, subtraction, division and fractions. That New Math; Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Statistics and Calculus was all that stuff that most working class or poor parents were only bless to get IF they were selectively picked in Segregated Schools or Bused to areas where WHITE children attended. Long story short, I survived my NEW MATH rite of passage and for the record, I did quite well in school.

My understandings of Math lead to my understanding of Science, which lead into Logic and eventually Psychology. There is a clean and completeness with these disciplines. The patterns make sense; there are no loose ends or doubts. So when you apply them to life, you get a crystal clear picture of real events and reality up until RECENTLY. I am listening to the predictions of the many Super Tuesday Polls and I am saying to myself, “When will these people learn that this all means nothing.” The Pundits are explaining where and how the numbers are adding up and the degree of margins plus the factors and “ifs”, “buts”, “possibles”, and “last times” and then I head one of the reported ask, "So how did you come up with these numbers?” The Political Analyst replied, “Well, its all Fuzzy Math.” FUZZY MATH? Was this the NEW MATH of my generation, something that I need to tell my children about or is this more like the Voodoo Economics of the Bush Sr. Administration of the early 1990’s? All of a sudden I am as confused as my PARENTS were when I showed them Geometry for the first time.

I kinda get it when the factors and possibilities aren’t matching up. Nothing is like it usually is. For years we had the same old politicians doing and saying the same old thing but how do you account for two credible MINORITIES in an election. This is all new ground for everyone to cover. If you are a person that wears glasses and your view is blurry, you take them off and clean the lens. If your view is still no clear and you know that the lenses are clean, then you know you just might need to see a doctor or get a stronger prescription. Why? Because what you currently have, isn't working. The fact that this guy used the term FUZZY MATH only told me one thing, HE DON’T KNOW. Just like my parents, they didn’t know THE MATH so they decided to call what they didn’t know something NEW when the truth was that it was/is MATH that has "existed for centuries". I respect my parents enough for NOT pretending to know and thus lead me down a road of failure and frustration but, to call it something NEW,was not right and I forgive them for that … it wasn’t their fault for not knowing. For this Political Analyst to try and DUMB ME DOWN with creating something out of THIN AIR and calling it a MATH, I needed to smack him in the back of the head. The scary thought is, this might be a new trend to say "FUZZY MATH" the way the media has decided to call Senator Hillary Clinton, "Billary", and it actually become a new College Course of study or POLITICAL THEORY. When FADS become trend to become practice to become reality have pause.