Racism That We Can all Believe In... Three Times A Charm

The New York Post issued a half-hearted apology for Wednesday's notorious stimulus/chimp cartoon which has inspired outrage among many critics and readers. Lets be absolutely clear, so-called apology not withstanding, the New York Post is a racist rag and a disgrace to journalism. They did not learn a damn thing from all the uproar and they need to called out for their bigotry and hatred. No amount of editorials or spin is going to alter what the stimulus/chimp cartoon really meant and we all know it.

The pressure has to be kept up and the staff at the Post have to be made to understand: that brand of racist humor WILL NOT BE TOLERATED !!!

The first decade of the 21st century is almost done and we still have "so-called" New York City newspapers printing this type of stuff during Black History Month ?!? And then we are suppose to be satisfied with a lame explanation and a few bait and switch words ?

Sorry, no sale.

It might not make much of a difference to a rich guy like Rupert Murdoch, but all the advertisers that buy ad space with the Post need to given fair warning...you guys wont be getting our money as long as you continue to do business with this disgraceful rag. Hurting the bottom line will definitely make an impression at the Post.

Who knows they even might have an revelation and actually come to realize that perpetuating hate and stereotypes is bad business and more importantly, not funny. And speaking of funny...

Here is the apology:

Wednesday's Page Six cartoon - caricaturing Monday's police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut - has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp's body: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else - as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past - and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback.

To them, no apology is due.

Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon - even as the opportunists seek to make it something else.

Racism That We Can All Believe In... part duh

The New York Post has come up with a brilliant idea regarding the uproar over the stimulus/chimp cartoon that appeared on Wednesday.

Blame Al Sharpton!?!

It makes perfect sense, instead of accepting responsibility for their so-called "political-satire", and God forbid, try to issue a sincere apology, they have opted to blame Rev. Al. Way to go fellows. But in case the people don't buy the bait and switch routine, write an editorial and put the blame on the Democrats and Hamas, that always does the trick. "They must be stopped...our country is in danger. Don't let the smoking gun be a mushroom cloud, amber alert or red alert."

Yup...that should work.

The truly amazing thing is that the New York Post stands behind the cartoon. As far as they are concerned, they are an enlightened group of journalist serving the public trust and defending democracy in the bargain. Unfortunately, this is not the case and many people besides Rev Al Sharpton know exactly what the New York Post is and more importantly, what the underlying message was in the stimulus cartoon.
To recap: it wasn't funny, it wasn't a "political satire", and it was deeply offensive and extremely racist in content. It's clearly obvious that Rupert Murdoch could care less about civil rights or real journalism, after all, FOX News is an ultra right-wing propaganda machine dedicated to serving the public trust by telling Liberals to "shut up."

The brain trust at the New York Post might not care nor "get it" but everyone else: black, white, male, female, liberal, conservative, etc, need to care and speak up. Words are powerful, they can inspire and they can hurt.

And a picture is worth a thousand words....

Racism That We Can All Believe In...

First of all...The New York Post has always been a racist rag. Second, I am not at all surprised by Wednesday's notorious stimulus/chimp cartoon which inspired outrage among many readers. The only thing that was missing was a white sheet and a burning cross and it would have been a true work of racist art.... a Triumph of The Will courtesy of Rupert Murdoch and company.

I am sure many media talk-heads like Rush Limbaugh will defend the offensive cartoon: first amendment, it wasn't intended as an insult to our new President during Black History Month, Al Sharpton is stirring up trouble, blacks are taking it out of context, it's just a stupid cartoon, etc. And I am sure there are many people that will be hoodwinked by those excuses. But lets be clear, no amount of excuses will ever make the Post cartoon anything other than what it is--a racist sucker punch.

Maybe fifty years ago, before the Civil Rights Act was passed and segregation was struck down by the Supreme Court, filthy rags like the New York Post could have gotten away with their bigotry and hatred and sold a lot of papers in the bargain. But unfortunately for Rupert Murdoch and his minions, time has passed and most Americans have learned that the content of a persons character is more important than the pigment of their skin. America has come a long way, we have a black President and I think that is a good look for a nation that prides itself on diversity and upholding Christian values.

The New York Post doesn't "get it" nor will it ever understand the furor that has erupted over their so-called "political satire." And unless we all speak up, make our voices heard and call out the bigots, warmongers, and all the other assorted trash that attempt to turn back the hands on the clock, we will be no better than the staff of the New York Post.

Change We Can Believe In...Just Without The Pork

Okay...President Obama has made his case for his stimulus package. And the American economy is in desperate need of some serious help. We can all understand the urgency to do something, to fix a problem that threatens our children's future. Yes we desperately need to do something ... jump start our ailing economy with some adrenaline, invest in infrastructure and new technologies, get Americans back to work, etc. Unfortunately President Obama has made a major political error and I am not talking about Tom Daschle and his other picks... that debacle is a story for another time.

President Obama's huge blunder has been giving Nancy Pelsoi (Speaker of The House) and Harry Reid (Senate Majority Leader) to much free reign to draft a stimulus bill heavily laden with pork entitlements. Its grab bag time and the Democrats are in the middle of an orgasmic rush of epic proportions, after all, its not everyday that you get to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayers dollars on pet projects. According to Senator John Kerry, "This is not the moment to cut spending. This is the moment to prime the pump. This is the moment you've got to get money flowing into the system."

Obviously, writing checks with no money in the checking account doesn't present a problem to our elected officials. So what if we are spending ourselves into greater debt, and we are borrowing this money from future generations. Its foolish to expect Democrats and Republicans in Washington to understand that what President Jimmy Carter spoke about in his famous Malaise speech (give up our wasteful, consumer driven pax Americana ideology, and dependency on foreign oil) was sound advice that speaks to the heart of our current problems.

Like I've note in another blog, its Christmas time in Washington and the goodies are coming, we all get to sleep well tonight. And more importantly, the world gets to see America at its best -- while our economy melts-down we spend like the true gluttons we are....