Over the last week the Don Imus fiasco as brought out a plethora of emotions, comments, and discussion. The one that was most prevalent is the issue of the "Double Standard".

Why is it OK for someone black to say it but not Imus? Well first as an African American I do not think its OK for anyone of any background to make such comments. Not all of Black America agrees with the music(rappers) and media(entertainers) that promote and portray the language such as what Don Imus said. Black America is as diverse as America itself on issues and ideas including this one. I do believe however with the fall of Don Imus we must turn our attention to hip hop music and other media outlets. This is the fight that will be fought long and hard on all sides.

First dealing with music. Hip Hop Music is a multi-million dollar industry. In particular "gangsta" rap and music with sexual content. This is what sells. So you now must ask not only the people who make the music to change but the people who give them millions to stop promoting it. Are these people willing to lose money to help stop the culture of violence, hate and sexism to save the children who listen to this music of all ages and ethnic backgrounds? Of course not.

According to this post in The Huffington Post

Few, if any, will lament the loss of the OJ book and interview, but make no mistake, unprecedented media, and newspaper consolidation poses the gravest threat to freedom of expression, and the First Amendment.

Newspaper consolidation has been going on since I was born. I vaguely remember when there were nine newspapers in New York; now I don't really know how to count the papers, but basically there are three big ones, with The Times being the only one of "substance." And like The Wall Street Journal which I didn't count, it has become more a national paper, and I believe has suffered greatly for that.

Regan's OJ mixed media event was unconscionable. I hate agreeing with Rupert Murdoch, but it was shady to begin with. Who goes through a third party for payment? I would be wary just for that.

As a blogger who has been fighting the radical right since I began to blog, I am scared for the future of The First Amendment. Let Regan self-publish the book if she believes that it will be a cathartic experience for abused women. But she probably wouldn't put her own money into it, because she knows in her heart that this is pure exploitation.

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Since we've decided to use YouTube and not host these ourselves, the process becomes a bit slow (it's not just as easy as dropping the file into a server). Check this post all throughout the day for clips of Beth Elohim Temple's CD-11 Candidates' Forum.

On greatest international threat to U. S.

On greatest environmental threat

How this...

...became this:

The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel has the scoop on a cartoon that Danish imams shopped across the Near East, presumably with the goal of inciting the ongoing riots. The "cartoon" in question purports to show the prophet Mohammed with a pig snout; an inflamatory picture, no doubt, if that were indeed the intent. However, it is not.

Der Spiegel quotes the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet in detailing the origin of the lower image. It is culled from a 43-page dossier that Danish imams showed around the Near East to illustrate supposed offenses against Muslims in the Danish press.

Here's the backstory: the image at top was taken during a yearly carnival in the French town of Trie-sur-Baise, a small farming hamlet in the Départment of Hautes-Pyrénées about 80 miles from Toulouse. The main industry of the town is, other than tourism, the raising of what must be rather delectable pigs – hence, their celebration in local folklore and at carnivals. The gentleman pictured above with the pleasing snout is one Jacques Barrot, who went on to win the contest he was taking part in. The goal of said contest was to produce the loudest, most natural oink.

In other words, whatever the "caricature" may be, it does not show Mohammed. Perhaps someone should inform the 'spontaneous mobs' running around in that bastion of free expression and liberality, Damascus. And the Danish imams should apply for positions at Faux "News" or other reactionary organs that value just such expertise – the term 'swift boat veterans' comes to mind - as they seem to possess.

The Politicker reports that the cartoon controversy has reached these shores. To be specific, following a refusal by the publishers of the New York Press to run the cartoons, the huddled masses of the paper's editorial staff, yearning to breathe free, have walked out en masse.

Bravo, gentlemen.

To be sure, the cartoons in question – see them here - are in part crass and offensive, as we discuss in depth here and here - but at this stage of the story, the overriding concern is not the original offending images. It is the senseless and barbaric violence unleashed in their name. It is the fact that Scandinavians are fleeing the Near East under military guard. It is that embassies have been burned. It is that enraged hordes are burning the Danish flag – a white cross on red – with especial relish, seemingly because they see it as a Christian symbol as well as a Danish one.

It's enough.

This is no longer about racism or Islamophobia. It is about whether or not our free press will allow itself to be muzzled by hate-mongers who knowingly incite and use violence to suppress ideas they deign that others have no right to entertain. Nobody in a free society has the right not to be offended. If you don't like what you see, turn the page, flip the channel, cancel your subscription, surf to another web site.

Will our press rise to the challenge? Stay tuned.

Update

The Pentagon Post reports that the Bush administration's insipid, spineless cowering hasn't paid off. Several people in Afghanistan got killed trying to ransack a U.S. base.

Editor and Publisher reports that the Joint Chiefs of Staff took the rare step today of sending a protest letter to the managing editor of the Washington Post. The letter condemns the paper for publishing this cartoon.

Egads, the foundations of the Republic are tottering. To quote the Joint Chiefs:

"While you or some of your readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, we believe you owe the men and women and their families who so selflessly serve our country the decency to not make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices."

Here's an idea, gentlemen: perhaps you should create a situation where such cartoons are not necessary or relevant. After all, besides 2,245 killed, we also have about 14,000 wounded s a result of the Iraq war you botched. The plight of the wounded and the state of the forces under your care are, indeed, the topic of this cartoon. I am glad that the Joint Chiefs take their mission of defending our troops so seriously as to protect them from potentially life-threatening satirical attacks on the SecDef. But when you're done with that, perhaps you could see to it that they get adequate medical care and, finally, adequate body armor. In fact, the best thing you could do is to press for the immediate firing of what is likely the most breathtakingly incompetent SecDef the nation has ever had to endure.

The NYT reports that Osama bin Laden has issued a new audiotape via Al Jazeera. The tape shows that whatever else can be said about the man who murdered 3,000 blue-staters on 9/11 – see the NDM 9/11 web site here - he has an acute grasp on the psychology of the present American government and the coalition that sustains it.

The tape, when stripped of its Islamofascist gibberish, makes two main points: one, a threat of impending terror attacks in America itself, and two, an offer of an unspecified truce.

The threat of further attacks can and should be seen as a direct challenge to the cowardice of your average republican. No doubt, staunch chest-beating, military-evading Bush voters in tiny hamlets across America are shitting themselves as of this writing. To me personally, the most unpleasant aspect of the 2004 campaign was the hysteria I inevitably encountered from Bush voters, seemingly convinced that Al Qaeda would bomb their local Wal-Mart in whatever godforsaken little town they lived in. Meanwhile, those of us who live in actual terror targets – New York, say, or Los Angeles or Washington or Seattle – who are Democrats almost to a man, tend to show some intestinal fortitude. I've always wondered just how much satisfaction Osama must be able to draw from the abject fear he inspires in the average freeper.

As far as the offer of a truce is concerned, really, that is a psychological masterstroke on Osama's part. Notably, in practical terms that truce has been in effect since about mid-2002, when Bush finally turned his attention to Iraq. From the White House:

Bush: “So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him. … And, again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.

A friend of mine, Chris Owens, is a co-host of a brand new program (started this month) called "Inside the Congressional Black Caucus." Chris is son of Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens (one of the few Congress Critters who voted AGAINST the Patriot Act and AGAINST the invasion of Iraq) and brother of a member of the Cosby Show cast. He is also a candidate for Congress himself. Below is Chris' announcement (slightly belated) of the airing of this new show. Check it out!

It is my pleasure and honor to announce the launch of "Inside The Congressional Black Caucus", a one-hour public affairs program, making its debut on the CoLoursTV network this Sunday, December 18 at 9:00 am.

ICBC will be bringing information about the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus and their work to the American people.  Yours truly [Chris Owens] is the Executive Producer of ICBC as well as one of the hosts.

The first two episodes of ICBC will feature presentations by CBC members and special guests made during the 2005 Annual Legislative Conference this past September.  And, as we all would expect,

the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is the primary topic.  These first two episodes (aired on 12/18 and 12/25) will repeat on 1/1/06 and on 1/8/06.

ICBC is a joint production of the Black Education Network, Inc., and Coppin State University (Baltimore, MD).  As many of you know, ICBC is a show some nine years in the making.

We are proud to bring you an excellent and entertaining program that will soon be a great current affairs and educational program available on different networks.

CoLoursTV is currently carried on Dish TV (Channel 9407) as well as some Comcast and Adelphia cable systems.  Check the cable schedule in your area.  If you cannot get CoLoursTV where you live, call

your cable carrier and tell them "I want my ICBC!"

I apologize for the short notice.  Your feedback on the show is encouraged (commentary@icbc.tv).

Via Media Matters comes this non-exhaustive list of the top right-wing inane utterances of 2005.

Here are the most outrageous statements Media Matters for America has documented this year. From attacks on women, Muslims, and African-Americans to a call for the assassination of a foreign leader to an open invitation for Al Qaeda to "blow up" San Francisco to a claim that gay marriage would lead to unions between "a man and his donkey," these statements acutely represent the extreme conservative speech we found in the news media in 2005. (We tried to limit the comments to a Top 10 list, but it was simply impossible.)

• Former Reagan administration Secretary of Education Bill Bennett: "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." [Salem Radio Network's Bill Bennett's Morning in America, 9/28/05]

• Pat Robertson: "If [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." [Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, 8/22/05]

• Bill O'Reilly to San Francisco: "[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. ... You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead." [Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 12/8/05]

• Bill O'Reilly, agreeing with caller that illegal immigrants are "biological weapon[s]": "I think you could probably make an absolutely airtight case that more than 3,000 Americans have been either killed or injured, based upon the 11 million illegals who are here." [Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 4/15/05]

• Rush Limbaugh: "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/12/05]

• Rush Limbaugh on the kidnapping of peace activists in Iraq: "I'm telling you, folks, there's a part of me that likes this." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 11/29/05]

• Ann Coulter: Bill Clinton "was a very good rapist"; "I'm getting a little fed up with hearing about, oh, civilian casualties"; "I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning." [New York Observer, 1/10/05]

• Ann Coulter: "Isn't it great to see Muslims celebrating something other than the slaughter of Americans?" [Syndicated column, 2/3/05]

• Radio host Glenn Beck: "[Y]ou know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 9/9/05]

• Tucker Carlson: "Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada." [MSNBC's The Situation with Tucker Carlson, 12/15/05]

• American Family Association president Tim Wildmon: Liberals "don't have the kind of family responsibilities most people have, and certainly not church responsibilities." [American Family Radio's Today's Issues, 5/11/05]

• David Horowitz on Cindy Sheehan: "It's very hard to have respect for a woman who exploits the death of her own son and doesn't respect her own son's life. ... She portrays him as an idiot." [MSNBC's Connected: Coast to Coast, 8/16/05]

• Radio host Neal Boortz on the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams: "[T]here will be riots in South Central Los Angeles and elsewhere. ... The rioting, of course, will lead to wide scale looting. There are a lot of aspiring rappers and NBA superstars who could really use a nice flat-screen television right now." [Boortz.com, 12/12/05]

• Pat Buchanan: "Our guys" in Iraq "have got every right to have good news put into the media and get to the people of Iraq, even if it's got to be planted or bought." [MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, 12/1/05]

• National Review editor Rich Lowry: Given EPA-mandated "small-flush" toilets, "[h]ow is it possible to flush a Quran down the toilet?" [Young America's Foundation speech, 8/5/05]

• Neal Boortz, suggesting that a victim of Hurricane Katrina housed in an Atlanta hotel consider prostitution: "I dare say she could walk out of that hotel and walk 100 yards in either direction on Fulton Industrial Boulevard here in Atlanta and have a job. What's that? Well, no, no, no. ... Well, you know what? [laughing] Now that you mention it ... [i]f that's the only way she can take care of herself, it sure beats the hell out of sucking off the taxpayers." [Cox Radio Syndication's The Neal Boortz Show, 10/24/05]

• Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson: Same-sex marriage would lead to "marriage between daddies and little girls ... between a man and his donkey." [Focus on the Family radio program, 10/6/05]
• Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid: "Have you noticed that many news organizations, in honor of former ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings, have embarked on a quit smoking campaign? So why don't our media launch a campaign advising people to quit engaging in the dangerous and addictive homosexual lifestyle? ... It appears that the homosexual lifestyle is as addictive as smoking." [Accuracy in Media column, 12/14/05]