Jack & Jill Politics

yo, dnA, i really think you should link to the post this image is attached to.

Yes it’s a horrible offensive, juvenile and annoying image, but it’s promoting a piece whose headline is clearly visible

BET Founder Apologiese for His Portrayal of a Black Man.

The article text goes:

“Hillary Clinton supporter—and the reason for television shows like “Hot Ghetto Mess”—Robert Johnson apologized for making a reference to Senator Barack Obama’s admitted teenage drug use. Johnson now claims his tasteless comments were “made in haste in an attempt to be funny.”

No need for regrets, Mr. Johnson. We all know there’s only one way for Harvard Law grad Obama to earn your respect.”

This is a dis on Bob Johnson, not the Obamas.

HillBill has ‘Boomer Blacks’ in their back pocket. Obama presents a real change. In Al Sharptons word, ‘a race-neutral candidate.’

If Obama wins the nomination, not only will he leap frog over the entitled HillBill but all of those black establishment leaders that have been waiting patiently for queen Hillary to be crowned.

Please add Earl Ofari Hutchinson to the Hankerchief Head Squad:

“But it’s been the Clinton-Obama joust that’s shoved the Hillary loathe even deeper into the absurd. A textbook example of that was Clinton’s recent Martin Luther King, Jr. tiff with Obama. Clinton merely said that Lyndon Johnson gave final impetus to the push to get the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Bill through Congress. That straightforward and complimentary comment got twisted, mangled, and distorted to read that Clinton dissed Dr. King by minimizing his towering role in the civil rights movement. Clinton was talking solely about the Congressional fight for passage of the bill, not the civil rights movement. But it didn’t matter. The Obama camp sniffed yet another chance at a Hillary bash ran with it. But they weren’t finished. They picked up on a stray remark by BET founder Robert Johnson about Obama’s days as an organizer on Chicago’s South Side to imply that Obama did all kinds of nasty, insidious things in his younger days.

But here’s the rub. Johnson was forced to apologize to Obama for his real, imagined, or likely manufactured slight. Yet as of this writing there’s no sign of any like apology from the Obama camp for distorting and then blowing up Clinton’s King compliment. His much touted agreement with Hillary to tone down the race attacks is not the same as an apology. Don’t bet that that “truce” will last. “

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/chris-matthews-had-the-gu_b_82157.html

Ok, so it might be approaching the line. It’s also hilarious.

And if you see it for what it is-satire-you’ll see that it’s not that big a deal.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson has been publishing attack pieces on Obama for months. He’s not just a slave, but the type of slave he would have battled on the front lines for the confederacy. BTW, he’s White counter-part, Taylor Marsh was put on blast by the Las Vegas Sun for spreading erroneous stories about voter intimidation by Obama campaign staff, and they revealed she’s taken donations from the same union endorsing Senator Clinton, but you won’t see that on Huffingtonpost. I wish that one, just one, mainstream paper would cover the racism going on within the Democratic Party against Senator Obama.

Ronnie,
It’s a joke. It’s not that serious.

Magic’s turn… alludes that Obama is a “hyped” “rookie” in new Clinton radio spot.

You can hear the ad on Marc Ambinder’s blog on The Atlantic. Here is the script:

This is Magic Johnson. On the court and in life, successful leadership comes from hard work and experience. That’s why I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for President. We have great candidates this year, but I believe only Hillary is a proven leader, with 35 years’ experience dealing with challenges facing America. Are you looking for better jobs, universal health care, better treatment for veterans, opportunities for your children? Then you want Hillary Clinton for President. My rookie year, we won our first game on a last second shot. I was so hyped. But the captain of my team said, “take it easy rookie, it’s a long season, it’s a long road to the championship.” He was right. Winning comes from years of hard work and preparation. Whether it’s winning championships or a President who can lead us back to greatness, I’ll always want the most prepared and experienced person leading my team. That’s why I’m asking you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton for President.

That picture is insulting, promotes negative stereotypes, and has more power than the text. On balance the whole piece is demeaning to the Obama family.
If pimp gear is acceptable satire, then Mr Johnson should be dressed like that.
But Barack Obama is running for president of the United States and should be treated with dignity.
Of course if one objects too much, it promotes the story and the picture – and the eyeballs on the post.
If you find out where we can at least post a comment (I see no comments) please post.

i will defend satire till the day i die.

of course the image “could” float out there independently of the context, but since when do you limit your speech because someone MIGHT take a word or phrase out of context?

imagine a group of protesters shouting “NO JUSTICE. NO PEACE” but they decide not to because they’re afraid someone will only hear “NO PEACE” and take them for a violent, unreasonable mob.

google image search is no reason to NOT do satire. That makes no sense to me as an argument.

the intent here is seriously important. whoever put that piece together, in my opinion, threw a major punch at Mr. Johnson. To judge the photo without the accompanying article is like judging a punchline without the setup.

If I just said:

“..so the next day I went out and beat a white lady myself”

that makes no sense, sounds needlessly violent, etc.

But if you read the entire context:

“I was so shocked by the results in Iowa. Barack Obama became the first black man in American history to beat a white woman in public and get praised for it. Not only that, people saw it as a sign of progress. So the next day I went out a beat a white lady myself. Didn’t work out as well for me.”

I know images are powerful, and that’s why I think this is such an indictment against Bob Johnson, but let’s see this for what it is. The creators are NOT trying to dis Obama, and that is ABUNDANTLY CLEAR

and, more importantly, funny

I’m a big 1st-Amendment Advocate too…and I’m not really bothered by the satirist/creator of the image. I respect their right to create whatever they want…

If this image had shown up on HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam,” I wouldn’t be surprised/bothered…If the pic shows up on the front of the NYTimes, I WOULD Be bothered.

And I am concerned with HuffPo’s editorial decision to showcase the image on their main page. I’m sure that there are gazillions of disgusting images of Hillary and Bill (floating around in cyberspace–created by Republicans) that HuffPo could’ve tapped to show…but they did not.

I’ve never seen a “derogatory” image of the Clintons on HuffPo (which supposedly strives to be a reputable blogging spot).

There are appropriate “venues” for this type of satire…HuffPo lost a few points with me today.

D. said… Jenjen,
You know, techinically speaking, Magic’s right…you know, first term senator, not even through his first term. Granted, Obama has experience outside the federal government which may lend some benefit…but within it, he just got here.

D., you know, if it weren’t for your website (Cute John McCain quote! Nice Obama oppo!! LOVE your Immigration stance!! And your Free Republic links! If you ever wanna see some good, old-fashioned racism, just head on over to that nutbin), I might be able to take you as an honest broker. It’s one thing to argue with the pro-Hillary card, but ain’t no way I’m getting into it with some Freeper John McCain fan.

See you in November.

This shows that satire is very difficult and most people suck at it. This also shows how brilliant people who are good at it are.

Well, satire is great and all that (when done well – a completely subjective opinion, that).

I guess the Huff Post folks think this one is done very well, as they do seem particularly fond of this particular picture. You’ll notice that, hours later, most of the page around it has changed, as new stuff goes up and other stuff gets pushed down or off the page… but that picture is still sitting right where it was (still with comments closed) – making sure that everyone gets a chance to appreciate the full satirical flavor of it, no doubt.

well i do agree it’s been up there WAY too long. it ain’t THAT funny we can agree.

off to make some progressive college kids laugh. peace blog world!

I’m thinking on the wiki just posting the link to Taylor Marsh as she seems to have devolved into simply smearing Sen. Obama regardless of if it is fact or fiction from her head.

Seriously, i saw that while Hillary is trashing Obama for his remarks about Reagan and taking it out of the historical fact he was discussing, it seems she listed both Reagan and HW Bush as presidents she most admired.
Her campaign is furiously back peddling right now.
Ben Smith on Politico has a fun post about it.

But Barack Obama is running for president of the United States and should be treated with dignity.

C’mon. Really?

I couldn’t agree with Baratunde more. The intent matters. It has to. There’s a whole conversation not being had here about whether that imagery is inherently and immutability insulting, and if so, why it is so.

I don’t think it is.