Like a worn old record the press, via Obama is at it talking the proverbial crap about black folk. Reportedly Terry Moran, whom we shall rename "moron" forgot his professional ethics and taking a cue from the Fox "News" network tweeted that President Obama had called Kanye West a "Jackass". Of course this comment was off record and should not have seen the light of day, but like Jesse Jackson's "balls" comments in the age of the internet even professionalism goes out the window for page hits.
This is not to defend the actions of Kanye West (for the record I was watching The Matrix Reloaded) at the MTV VMA awards. The point here is that Obama has been directly smeared by a whole host of white folk. Beck, Palin and Limbaugh all come to mind. Yet I do not recall that Obama has called any of them "jackass" on or off the record or within' earshot of an itchy reporter. There are a few possible reasons for this:
1) Obama has never said such a thing about any of the mentioned people.
2) Obama has said such things but they have not been overheard by reporters.
3) Obama has said such things within earshot of reporters but those reporters had the "integrity" to not report on it since it was said off record.
4) Obama has said such things but the reporters didn't find it amusing enough to report.
5) The media loves to dump on black folk when the opportunity arises.
I'm partial to option 5. Why? Well lets look at Serena's outburst. Yeah, she was mad. She was losing. Anyone in competitive sports knows full well the frustration that can come when you cannot get your game together. But I don't think I've seen Serena on TV that many times in such a short period of time when she's winning much less when she catches diarrhea of the mouth.
Anyone my age knows full well that a certain white, male tennis player who shall go unnamed, was not only known for his antics on the court, but people actually tuned in and showed up to see when, not if, he would go off. This unnamed white male ex-professional tennis player has parodied on many a comedy show and even has of late been featured in commercials. I don't recall EVER having seen this cat been asked to apologize to the public. No one was talking about how his antics were a disappointment to his young fans. No that was just how he was. You shook your head, you laughed, and the game went on.
Oh and this isn't the first pick at Serena. Earlier this year it was bout how "loud" the women were being when they were playing. And of course the lead to that particular "news" segment was Serena loudly serving. Hmmmm...really. So she's not being lady like? Is that the message here?
Anyway, lets not be distracted by the antics of Kanye or the mouth of Serena. And if Obama wants to impress me, he can call Cheney a jackass. He can call Beck, Limbaugh and Palin jackasses. And he can do it on record. But I suppose that would be too much to ask.
(17 years of informed commentary)
