Recently in Controversy Category
Music star John Legend put The New York Post on blast for publishing a cartoon (above)depicting two cops standing over the bleeding body of a chimp that they've just shot to death. Critics of the cartoon claim that the dead chimpanzee was meant to represent President Barack Obama in a racist fashion (chimps have historically been a derrogatory symbol of African Americans) , as the caption on the cartoon reads "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Barack Obama is widely viewed as the "spokesperson" for the stimulus bill.
Here's John Legend's letter to the editor, published in Friday's New York Post:
Dear Editor:
I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really?
Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our president has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?
If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack the Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.
I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well.
You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed.
I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new president, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric.
Sincerely,
John Legend
Rupert Murdock, Chairman of The New York Post, apologized Tuesday for the decision to run the cartoon.
Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin wear tattoo and ring at Republican National Convention. Photo from US Weekly and credited to Justin Sullivan of Getty Images.
Bristol Palin's "baby daddy," Levi Johnston, wore a "Bristol" tattoo on his ring finger during his debut appearance at the Republican National Convention. Bristol wore what appeared to be an engagement ring. Bristol, 5 months pregnant, is 17 years old and Levi is 18 years old. The soon to be teen parents attended the convention to watch Bristol's mom, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, accept the Republican nomination for vice president.
The press has had a field day with this little tidbit:
Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, is an unwed, pregnant teenager.
Meghan McCain, daughter of John of course, offered this support for Bristol on her blog:
It's a rough go being the son or daughter of a politician. I have not known Bristol Palin very long, but there is a certain kinship I feel to her as I do other political daughters such as Chelsea Clinton, Jenna and Barbara Bush and Mary Cheney. You can't fully understand it unless you have lived it. So I just wanted to let it be known that I support Bristol and the entire Palin family.
Hoping to make a fashion statement, a 25 year old Manhattan student decided to sport an "Obama is My Slave" T-shirt. Onlookers were offended, and some teenage girls shoved and spat on her. She was surprised by this response. (What kind of dumbass is she?)
She is now suing Apollo Braun, who designed the shirt and sold it to her for $69. Braun says the First Amendment shields him against the student's lawsuit.
Braun has designed and sold other shirts with anti-Obama slogans. The most popular is his "Who killed Obama?" shirt.
Braun says that he "can't stand" Obama "because he is Muslim." Obama is Christian, not Muslim.
New ad by the Tennessee Republican Party targets Michelle Obama. The ad takes a 5 second clip from one of Obama's speeches and plays it over and over again to critically characterize who she is and what she stands for.
Is this okay? Do you think Michelle Obama fair game? Let us know in the comments.
By the way, we haven't seen a potential first lady attacked like this in an ad before (absent a simultaneous attack on her husband). If you know of such an ad, give us the heads up in the comments, k?
What nutcases are wearing now. Photo credit: Review Journal
Why does Hillary Clinton keep getting the short end of the stick when it comes to celebrity endorsements? Barack Obama gets Oprah, and Hillary gets stuck with Roseanne Barr. Anyway, much to Hillary's chagrin, Roseanne announced her endorsement with this rant against Barack and Oprah on her blog (printed as written, with spelling errors and all):
barak obama
is an empty suit selling "hope" in lieu of Truth. Oprah Winfrey helped to elect Arnold Swartzenegger. I have no doubt that she voted her purse by doing this, as she is a large land owner in California, and that ilk fears Dems because they do not want to pay their "fair share" of Cali tax. Oprah has given us Swartzenegger and Dr. Phil. If that was not offensive enough to decent thinking people, now she brings us Obama. He has no ideas, no plan and nothing to add other than the cynical pacification of the masses with bedtime stories about hope, while calling Unions "special interest groups" that need to be done away with.
Obama votes with Bush constantly funding this terrible endless war. Oprah, you play the race card and the gender card too.
You are a closeted republican and chose Barak Obama because you do not like other women who actually stand for something to working American Women besides glamour, angels, hollywood and dieting!
When Americans find out that Obama backs right wing corporate racist anti worker bullshit, they will not vote for him, and the victory will go to the most racist right wing republican ever.... Mccain, who is a fascist! That the culinary service workers in vegas have promised barak their vote,( he is anti union in his votes) over edwards, who is a pro-union man, just proves how stupid americans are and how they can be tricked so easily by the color of a person's skin...exactly what MLK hated!
Obama doesn't even back reproductive rights for any woman! It is historical that Oprah Winfrey, beloved of women, chooses a flashy man with small credentials over a seasoned woman politician with 35 years of experience...and sells that to the female demographic who look to her for inspiration!
She backpedalled in a follow-up post:
I am so sorry for sounding like I don't like Oprah or Obama. I do. Oprah has been a force for good for a long time, and I just got carried away with my preference for Hilary over Obama. I think she is smarter and better than he is, but either of them is better than any Republican, and will get my vote no matter who ends up on top. I got upset because I felt Oprah was adding to the divisiveness in this country. I am sorry Oprah, I really do admire and love you for all the good you do and have done in this country and the world at large. I am just so worried about another Republican getting in, my stomache hurts and I can't sleep, and I go over the top sometimes!
Everybody knows by now that Rudy Giuliani was getting it on with then mistress and now 3rd wife Judith Nathan, while he was still married to 2nd wife Donna Hanover. Giuliani made frequent trips Nathan's Southhampton condo to "do it." That's the old news.
The new news is that he billed the travel and security expenses to New York City taxpayers, and allegedly tried to hide it by charging the accounts of obscure city agencies. "There is really no good reason to do this except to have nobody know about it," a former New York City budget director told Politico.
None of this is good news for Giuliani's presidential campaign. "Using public money to carry on an affair, and do it in a way that is designed to conceal that fact from the public, people would think that reflects on his character," David Rohde, a political science professor at Duke University, told the AP. "And most especially social conservatives, who are dicey about him in the first place."
See also:
Giuliani biled obscure agencies for trips [Politico]
Security billing case for Rudy Giuliani for Rudy Giuliani's Hampton trysts with Judith Nathan raises questions [AP]
Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire received phone calls from a mysterious source that questioned Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. Such calls are known as "push polls" - "surveys" that are intended to spread negative information about a candidate, rather than collect information about a voter's opinion of a candidate.
Voters who received calls were asked questions that could give a negative impression of Romney based on his faith, such as, "Some people say the Mormon church is a cult, would that make you more or less likely to vote for Mitt Romney?" Conversely, the calls included questions that could lead to a positive impression of rival John McCain, such as, "If you knew [John McCain] was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, would that make you more or less likely to vote for him?"
New Hampshire is investigating the source of the calls, as New Hampshire law requires all campaign advertising to identify the candidate being supported. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have denied that their campaigns had anything to do with the calls. Whoever did it, this is so not cool.
See also:
Romney: Anti-Mormon phone calls 'un-American' [CNN]
Mitt Romney, Push Polls And McCain-Feingold [CBS News]
N.H. to probe negative calls tarbeting Romeny campaign [The Boston Globe]
