Saturday, November 13, 2010

Some very expensive "undies."


I am going to start this post by attacking black. You Negroes just won't learn, will you? When you are a public servant you are supposed to do just that; serve. You shouldn't be using your position to line your own pockets. I am sick and tired of these political house Negroes trying to live large off of the trust and benevolence of others.

"ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A married pair of top officials in a Maryland county is accused of tampering with evidence after FBI agents said they recorded the husband telling his wife to flush a $100,000 check from a real estate developer down the toilet and to stuff almost $80,000 in cash in her underwear.

Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, whose second term expires next month, and his wife, Leslie, who was recently elected to the County Council, were charged with witness and evidence tampering and destruction, alteration and falsification of records in a federal investigation.

The charges grew out of a 5-year-old investigation into allegations of real estate developers in the county offering rewards to county officials in exchange for personal and business favors.

In an affidavit filed in federal court, FBI agents wrote that they recorded a mobile phone conversation between the Johnsons after agents went knocking on their door.

After Johnson told his wife, “Don’t answer it,” he instructed her over the phone to go upstairs to their bedroom and destroy the check, the affidavit said.

“Tear it up! That is the only thing you have to do,” Johnson told his wife, according to the affidavit.

Leslie Johnson then could be heard asking her husband, “Do you want me to put it down the toilet?”

The county executive responded, “Yes, flush that,” according to the affidavit, which noted that monitoring agents heard a flushing sound in the background.

Johnson then told his wife to put cash in her underwear, according to the affidavit. After FBI agents entered the home, they searched Leslie Johnson and recovered $79,600 from her underwear." [Article]


Mrs. Johnson, I hope you were wearing Victoria's Secret

Finally, you have got to love my man Rush Limp-boy. He isn't even hiding behind racial niceties anymore. My man is just throwing down the racial gauntlet. Screw the code words, and dog whistles, just go on and put it all out there. The white republican males frustration with the n*&#%rs on the democratic plantation is finally boiling over.

"Here's how Limbaugh broke down what he called the "Steny Hoyer and Clyburn, Hoyer wanting Clyburn to go back to the back of the bus, leadership battle."

"So there you have it. All hell breaking loose in the Democrat Party because now black and brown people [are saying], 'Tonight we on the inside, we wanna get in there,'" Limbaugh said. "The white racist leadership of the Democrat Party is trying to ace out Clyburn....

Clyburn has had power, but they want to take it away from him here. Tavis Smiley is not down with this. Clyburn starts to demand respect and all hell seems to break loose in the Democrat Party. Hey, I have a suggestion. You know, I like to mediate these things. I like to bring people together. I like to unify people. I don't like seeing this kind of strife. Clyburn's worried about not having the car. Clyburn's worried about not having the perk of a big office, driver, and so forth. The way this can all be worked out, Clyburn's new position: Driving Miss Nancy. He gets to keep the car. He gets to go everywhere she goes, parties and everything else. He's not in the back of the bus. He's in the driver's seat, and she's in the back of the car being chauffeured. Solved problem. " [Article]

Nice. Never miss the opportunity to make a political struggle a racial one. And here I thought that the republi-clowns were trying to get beyond race and the dumbocrats were the race baiters. Oh well, the beat goes on.



51 comments:

Ernesto said...

Why ain't Limpballs in jail? Wasn't he caught with enough dope years ago to be charged with violating trafficking laws??

focusedpurpose said...

um, guess the wife didn't get the memo. ride OR die chicks are now ride AND die chicks. THIS is how the jail cages are becoming so full of bw. it is ok to be a follower. it is essential to be a WISE follower. that would have been a GREAT time to tell him if he wanted something done he needed to do it himself! let folks overhear THAT. LOL.

interestingly enough, MOST other shades of criminals try to protect and shield their women by keeping them AWAY from thE details of the dirty dealings. i will let you guess what shade of criminal expects his woman to DO THE DIRTY DEED. like all the folks claiming the repeat offender TI's silly wife should take the rap for his drug charge. hear ye hear ye, ride AND die. RIDE AND DIE. there will be no thank yous or appreciation either!

and be real clear, any bw stupid enough at this point in history to obey directives like the ones overheard in this case, has richly earned the experience of having the police in her panties. it will simply be conditioning/training for the rapists that will pay her panties visits after she lands like the dumb bird she clearly is, as evidenced by her behavior, in her prison cage. even small children are known by what they DO. and here is the clencher...the HUSBAND will get the sympathy and excuses. folks will swarm like bees to say HE was set up. she will twist in the wind solo. think i am joking? take a peak at the kilpatrick clown and the foolish woman that got caught up in THAT mess. at this point there really are no victims. there are only volunteers. the Mrs. volunteered for this mess. hope it all works out for her. hopefully her daddy is well connected and can pull some strings so that she gets a do-over.

Jibreel Riley said...

don't they know one of the rules is "never talk on the phone" this is one of the wealthiest county in America too

Anonymous said...

from yardie; great post! i had just finished reading an article on why police had been unprepared for student demonstration in uk and noticed this quote ..i leave folks to connect the dots



"officers monitored blogs, politically extremist websites, the usual suspects, but failed to identify evidence that troublemakers would hijack proceedings. One view suggests that it was actual students, not anarchists, who rioted.Certainly, most of the 56 arrested are bona fide students.

Another is that the anarchists have learned not to operate through social networking sites, knowing the police are onto them. "

Anonymous said...

Field, "And here I thought that the republi-clowns were trying to get beyond race and the dumbocrats were the race baiters. Oh well, the beat goes on."

Don't change your thinking, it is correct. What you have to stop is listening to Rush Limbaugh. If you did that you would see a marked improvement in your thinking and racial view on life.

Anonymous said...

Field, "Nice. Never miss the opportunity to make a political struggle a racial one."

Are you referring to what the "liberal" Dumbocrats did to Clyburn? It's funny that you liberal Negroes only see what the Republicans are doing. You miss the screwing you are getting from 'trustworthy' white liberal friends. Nice, Field, real nice.

field negro said...

"Don't change your thinking, it is correct. What you have to stop is listening to Rush Limbaugh. If you did that you would see a marked improvement in your thinking and racial view on life."

Oh, I am sorry, I thought Rush represented the republi-clown party. This is why I listen to him, to expand my political horizons.



"interestingly enough, MOST other shades of criminals try to protect and shield their women by keeping them AWAY from thE details of the dirty dealings. i will let you guess what shade of criminal expects his woman to DO THE DIRTY DEED"

You might be wrong there FP. The jail is full of women (of all races) who got caught up in the dirty with their significant other. In fact, I would argue that percentage wise, more white women are doing time for riding and dying with their boo, than all other groups. At least that has been my experience.

Amanhotep said...

Rush points out the obvious, except apparently to clueless liberal dupes like you. Blacks get used like doormats by the demo-rats and you bark at Republicans like a good dog.

You just don't want to learn, do you Field?

field negro said...

"You just don't want to learn, do you Field?"

If I had better teachers it would help.

Anonymous said...

"Oh, I am sorry, I thought Rush represented the republi-clown party. This is why I listen to him, to expand my political horizons."

Now you know you have been wrong. So STOP. There is much more to life than Rush Limbaugh.

PilotX said...

Rush is an outright racist and Ron Christie like a good HN defends him AND attacks the first Black president for being the "real" racist for his comment about Republicans sitting in the back of the bus. I swear bizzaro world is the new normal for conservatives.

Wesley R said...

Field,

Funny how Limpballs calls someone else a White Racist. Normally it takes one to know one. In this case, it takes one to invent one.

Anonymous said...

Amanotep said, "You just don't want to learn, do you Field?"

Field replied, "If I had better teachers it would help."

9:08 PM
_________________________________

Better teachers won't make a difference for bm with no desire to learn, AND no 'desire' to grow up. Open your mind, Field.

field negro said...

"Field,

Funny how Limpballs calls someone else a White Racist. Normally it takes one to know one. In this case, it takes one to invent one."

Yep!

focusedpurpose said...

"more white women are doing time for riding and dying with their boo, than all other groups."

FN, are these the ww with interracial boos and the soaring grip of oow babies? lol.

now you know there is one shade of man that acts like his woman was built to be under the bus. stop playing please. keep on acting like one segment of the male population is NOT acting decidedly different from the bulk of the rest of the planet's male population if you want to. one cannot even hope to fix a problem they won't address.

this fact is also why it is sinister to suggest bw should give felons any serious consideration as a mate. felonious activity usally follows felons around like nobody's business. i am trying to work with you. notice i gave the felonious activity more responsibility than the felons. lol.

from bernie maddox to the italians i know, to the russians, to the armenians, to billy make a grip of meth bob, the FIRST thing most other men will try to do is keep their women out of it. ESPECIALLY when they have children.

you do know there are more white folks in america, right? i find folks mentioning more white folks are doing this and that rather confusing as a result of this fact. when one knocks it off, they would have to see how disproportionate the numbers are for such a small percentage of the american population when discussing black folks. we ARE capable of better as a people. we MUST become like nike and JUST DO IT! (better that is)

Anonymous said...

"Never miss the opportunity to make a political struggle a racial one."
  
Projection?

Anonymous said...

FP-"now you know there is one shade of man that acts like his woman was built to be under the bus. stop playing please. keep on acting like one segment of the male population is NOT acting decidedly different from the bulk of the rest of the planet's male population if you want to. one cannot even hope to fix a problem they won't address."

Isn't it astonishing that most know the truth about bm except the bm himself? WHY is that? Even Field, an educated bm, can't see the obvious truth. I believe they call people who can't see the truth that is staring them in their face,--DELUSIONAL.

WHY is that? There is something going on 'inside' of the bm. There is something very painfully wrong with the inner spirit of some bm. Whenever the bm is faced with the hard painful truth in front of him, he turns away, and looks to hide and minimize it by lumping others in with his own.

It seems that BM 'as a whole', can't face the truth about themselves...it's too painful, and too shameful. The truth exposes hidden fears-that bm might not be so strong...that bm might be weak and INADEQUATE as a family man, a husband, a father and a protector.

From indications today, a lot of bm are poor in spirit and maturity. False pride and denial are blocking out that truth.

I really think we bm have a spiritual malaise that permeates our minds and hearts. It runs deep.

Ernesto said...

uh oh Field...the comments section bullshit detector is pegging past the red again at 10:17

Anonymous said...

"uh oh Field...the comments section bullshit detector is pegging past the red again at 10:17"

Another BM does not see the truth. Instead, he sees bullshit. No wonder so many bm are seen as hopeless. At least, Ernesto proved anon's point. LOL

classysbf said...

Ernesto,save time and avoid headaches--scroll on past the various "anonymous" posts.You'll get a more enjoyable experience from this site if you do that.:-)

Anonymous said...

"Ernesto,save time and avoid headaches--scroll on past the various "anonymous" posts.You'll get a more enjoyable experience from this site if you do that.:-)"

Another bf standing up for the present conditions of bm and the black race...Interesting. Maybe I got it twisted and it's the bw who needs to work on herself. The bm is perfect just the way he is cause classysbf says so. All those oow children, abandonment of children and bw, and black on black killings are just fine with her. FP, it's YOU who is crazy.lol

Is your head hurting, Ernesto? then take classysbf's advice and scroll past anon posts. Apparently anons have nothing to say and posters with IDs have everything to say.

The truth is for men and women, not boys and girls. So yeah, classysbf and Ernesto scroll quickly past the truth. Wouldn't want you to grow past puberty.

Ernesto said...

Quote anon 10:17 pm:
"Isn't it astonishing that most know the truth about bm..."
Quote anon 12:12 am:
"Another BM does not see the truth"
Quote anon 12:41 am:
"...scroll quickly past the truth."

The truth, apparently, is that all three of these posts are from the same person. Someone who refers to themself in the third person, no less. Someone who has delusions of some truthiness kind of grandeur. A self-appointed sage and seer that pathologically projects his own failures on a group of people he probably has never even interacted with, outside of an internet message board.

Mack Lyons said...

"now you know there is one shade of man that acts like his woman was built to be under the bus. stop playing please. keep on acting like one segment of the male population is NOT acting decidedly different from the bulk of the rest of the planet's male population if you want to. one cannot even hope to fix a problem they won't address."

You have men of all races who don't consider their womenfolk to be much. Perhaps your own personal experiences with Black men have clouded your own judgment to the point where you see almost every Black man as an opponent and Black men collectively as "the enemy".

"Isn't it astonishing that most know the truth about bm except the bm himself? WHY is that? Even Field, an educated bm, can't see the obvious truth. I believe they call people who can't see the truth that is staring them in their face,--DELUSIONAL.

It seems that BM 'as a whole', can't face the truth about themselves...it's too painful, and too shameful. The truth exposes hidden fears-that bm might not be so strong...that bm might be weak and INADEQUATE as a family man, a husband, a father and a protector. "


You know, I don't quite get any of this, the constant denouncing of Black men as husbands, fathers and protectors, as though they are somehow naturally incapable of being such. True you have many instances of Black men being more than derelict in their duties as husbands, fathers and protectors, but this talk of assuming how these men somehow represent the entirety of Black manhood...

For all the talk of Black men somehow hating themselves and each other, there seems to be an undercurrent of Black women subconciously hating themselves, somehow seeing themselves as not only unworthy of being loved, cherished and protected, but also hell-bent of vilifying all Black men as incapable of doing those things.

"The truth is for men and women, not boys and girls. So yeah, classysbf and Ernesto scroll quickly past the truth. Wouldn't want you to grow past puberty."

Spare me the song and dance. Like most other anons, you've hopped on a bandwagon for the sole purpose of throwing peanuts at the onlookers along the side of the road. Without FP around for you to feed off of, you wouldn't be able to stand on your own merits.

"Apparently anons have nothing to say and posters with IDs have everything to say."

Actually, you anons are ruining it for the anons who actually have something of value to say. The tomfoolery of previous anons resulted in an environment where others are forced out of necessity to ignore anonymous comments, assuming those comments are of little to no value.

Anonymous said...

mack ure just tryin ta arger with somebody nucka! its apparent that fp is the dumb sucka who been denigrating black men and its clear the bytch crazy u just respond to her cuz u want attention u just as bad as her and alicia stanks buceta breaf child!

field negro said...

"you do know there are more white folks in america, right? i find folks mentioning more white folks are doing this and that rather confusing as a result of this fact. when one knocks it off, they would have to see how disproportionate the numbers are for such a small percentage of the american population when discussing black folks."


"...I would argue that percentage wise..."

Come on now FP, I said "percentage wise". Let's keep it 100% with each other. Don't be like some of the anon. the trolls on the board and misquote me. LOL! You are a good enough debater without having to do that.

I really think we bm have a spiritual malaise that permeates our minds and hearts. It runs deep.

@ what Eernesto said. *nodding head in agreement*

BS Alert! BS Alert!

maria said...

leave it to FP to twist this into nothing more than ANOTHER indictment of how black men treat black women. and why bw shouldn't date felons (black ones, only, apparently as not all felons bother her).

so many other VALID ways to look at it and be outraged, (e.g., public corruption, illegal corporate activity, parallels with the fridge money) but nooooo. your field of vision is really a sliver.

chicago dyke said...

meh. some local officials were corrupt and developers were involved. water is wet.

i care much, much more about the trillions being spent on endless wars, bankster bailouts, corrupt security forces, useless intelligence gathering outfits, and weapons contractors. not only are they stealing from us, they're killing people. us. this is the age of great corruption, is anyone surprised that a couple of local nobodies thought they could get away with it too? house negroes always forget: when the master needs a scapegoat, that's why they knee-grows are in the house in the first place. "look, two corrupt black officials! be angry! negroes are shiftless and steal from you!"

meanwhile, a powerful cabal of very wealthy people are burning this country to the ground, literally and figuratively. priorities, people.

Anonymous said...

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Ephesians 6:12

Concerning the subject of this thread:

There are laws that govern the universe: when you violate these natural laws you will receive unnatural consequences. The universe or that divine mind doesn’t make exceptions because of your skin color, ethnicity, nationality, class, or creed. These are UNIVERSAL /NATURAL laws that have been consistent since the beginning of time. These folks violated those natural laws morally, ethically, and legally: end of story.

Concerning BW who are divested interracial evangelicals hijacking every thread on the very blogs they have no business being on if they claim to be divested black women:

Anyone who has been blessed with knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and discernment would naturally divest from anyone of any race, ethnicity, class, or creed or from anylifestyle/circumstance/situation that is out of balance, out of harmony, and out of order with those universal laws. Your thinking, would have naturally led to finding spaces of safety, peace, respect, and prosperity. Your thinking would naturally lead to diversity and inclusiveness because the truth isn’t exclusionary. A great example of this is Viktor Frankl's 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man's_Search_for_Meaning.


Contrary to the perception their movement cult leaders strive to present: there are many people of EVERY race, class, and creed who UNIALTERALLY rejected their movement due to the following:

1.They consistently changed and tailored their message for profit.
2.They aligned themselves with white male conservatives, patriarchy, and white supremacy. They encouraged their followers to support white supremacy and to use it as a weapon against black men, and black women who prefer black men or who are married to black men.
3.They denigrated, and called for the genocide of poor blacks, working class blacks, and blacks who are mentally ill.
4.They have denigrated what they call throw away children (children in State Care) as genetic mutants who are half human and un deserving of a loving home with ANY family of ANY race. According to them they don’t have a right to life. One prominent conservative organization actually has a different and refreshing approach: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/adoptive_families.aspx.
5.They maliciously slandered ANY black woman who dissented with their opinion as “male identified” or “enablers” of domestic violence and child abuse without submitting any evidence to support their claim: in fact, I’m surprised some of these REAL LIFE bloggers/opponents haven’t sued them yet…
6.They psychologically abused several of their own readers by shaming, debasing, bullying them etc, several of threads read like a mash pit. They have actually practiced several mind control games on their readers straight out the 33 Strategies of War and on.
7.Any black marriage or family is automatically written off as dysfunctional or unhappy because the male spouse isn’t white.

I could go on and on.
Eventually the truth will come out and they will be exposed for who they truly are.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and about those glorious white men who can do NO wrong:
http://www.declineofmen.com/
http://www.whyboysfail.com/
I pity the white men who were married not because they were loved and cherished but because they are trophy to parade in front of the world.

LACoincidental said...

chicago dyke said...

meh. some local officials were corrupt and developers were involved. water is wet.

i care much, much more about the trillions being spent on endless wars, bankster bailouts, corrupt security forces, useless intelligence gathering outfits, and weapons contractors. not only are they stealing from us, they're killing people. us. this is the age of great corruption, is anyone surprised that a couple of local nobodies thought they could get away with it too? house negroes always forget: when the master needs a scapegoat, that's why they knee-grows are in the house in the first place. "look, two corrupt black officials! be angry! negroes are shiftless and steal from you!"

meanwhile, a powerful cabal of very wealthy people are burning this country to the ground, literally and figuratively. priorities, people.


Chicago Dyke - I agree with you that these two county officials are small potatoes. That being said, "he who is faithful in little is faithful in much". Until average Americans learn to clean up their county offices, local school boards and state legislative bodies, we will perpetually be behind the 8 ball at the Federal level.

Mutt said...

Johnson's wife set herself up. I dont blame BM for that. She actually initiated the conversation by calling her husband when the feds knocked on the door, volunteering to hide the cash in her bra and flush the check down the toilet. (According to the WashPost, I didnt read the Affidavit). In any case, dumb criminals. This has been an issue for a while now, I was told back in February that he was going to get arrested soon. So it was pretty much common knowledge it was going down, why they would be so arrogant to have a conversation on their phones about it? SMH...

Whether this is a case of BM leading BW down the toilet I think is irrelevant. It is everyone's responsibility to do what is right. It's like the case of bad rap videos, BW up in arms about Nelly's Tip Drill, BM arguing that women want to be in the videos. What came first? The chicken or the egg? Did Johnson ask his wife to his Ride or Die? Or did she volunteer? Be the change you wish to see and stop worrying about other people.

Anonymous said...

Ernesto-"A self-appointed sage and seer that pathologically projects his own failures on a group of people he probably has never even interacted with, outside of an internet message board."

Looks like you are trying to be a 'self-appointed sage' yourself. Working in the black community for decades, I see first hand what's happening to those bm and bw. It's not pretty.

I have no control over the truth nor anybody. I can only acknowledge it, and pass it along. It doesn't take a genius to see where a lot of bm and bw are headed, and it's not heaven.

Anonymous said...

Mack Lyons, "You have men of all races who don't consider their womenfolk to be much. Perhaps your own personal experiences with Black men have clouded your own judgment to the point where you see almost every Black man as an opponent and Black men collectively as "the enemy"."

Yeah, it is MY experience and observation, as a bm. But thanks for clearing up my clouded thinking through your own presumptions. I am grateful for Whites like you. In fact, A-merry-ca needs MORE Whites like you.

Mack Lyons-"..True you have many instances of Black men being more than derelict in their duties as husbands, fathers and protectors, but this talk of assuming how these men somehow represent the entirety of Black manhood..."

No one said they represented the 'entirety' of bm, YOU said that...However, as you obviously have observed, there are 'MANY bm being MORE THAN DERELICT in their duties as husbands, fathers, and protectors.' rofl.

Mack Lyons-"For all the talk of Black men somehow hating themselves and each other, there seems to be an undercurrent of Black women subconciously hating themselves, somehow seeing themselves as not only unworthy of being loved, cherished and protected, but also hell-bent of vilifying all Black men as incapable of doing those things."

Excellent observation....Mack, you are a genius.

Mack Lyons-"Actually, you anons are ruining it for the anons who actually have something of value to say. The tomfoolery of previous anons resulted in an environment where others are forced out of necessity to ignore anonymous comments, assuming those comments are of little to no value."

Yeah, I guess some of us anons are 'indeed' ruining it for other anons because of what we say. It's too bad that folks like you see it as an indictment of ALL Anons.

Your solid reasoning sounds like the words of a White racist in our fine liberal country about Blacks.

You, Mr. Mack Lyons, are a RACIST against anons!

We are considering writing a letter to Field that will burn his hands about your racist ass...Anons deserve to be treated as equals on FN blog and not as second class citizens!

Jennifer Woodroff said...

You know, the country is currently in the stranglehold of the monied and most of them are WHITE. Eric Cantor and Joe Lieberman have been to Israel to assure Netanyahu that they will side with Israel against the President (TREASON) and they are WHITE.

Black folks fuck up, too. There's nothing extraordinary about it. Simply, humans are greedy animals and no flavour appears to be exempt.

field negro said...

Hi 5ving @ what Mutt said.

Damn, Anon 10:54 AM came deep on us. Dear president of Anon. Inc., have you been recruiting new and more knowledgeable Anons to try and compete with the other folks on the board? :)

mellaneous said...

Anon at 10:54 that was deep!
Chicago Dyke- thats how I feel!

Anon said:"It doesn't take a genius to see where a lot of bm and bw are headed, and it's not heaven."

Anon from my reading of scripture they will have a lot of company and it appears that there will be a whole lot more folks that call themselves white who will be told after saying Lord, Lord, that indeed the Creator doesn't know them.

Field it really doesn't make sense for black politicians to do anything wrong. I mean you gotta know that if you are black people are looking at you a little closer. And the government makes a point of targeting black politicians. Its a way of spreading the propaganda that its the black folks that can't be trusted rather than the folks who have robbed the earth blind and even many peoples of their dignity.

maria said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111202857.html

required reading for everyone who plays at being a journalist and disrespects my profession. for those who think all news is slanted and expect nothing less.

Ted Koppel: Olbermann, O'Reilly and the death of real news
By Ted Koppel
Sunday, November 14, 2010;

To witness Keith Olbermann - the most opinionated among MSNBC's left-leaning, Fox-baiting, money-generating hosts - suspended even briefly last week for making financial contributions to Democratic political candidates seemed like a whimsical, arcane holdover from a long-gone era of television journalism, when the networks considered the collection and dissemination of substantive and unbiased news to be a public trust.

Back then, a policy against political contributions would have aimed to avoid even the appearance of partisanship. But today, when Olbermann draws more than 1 million like-minded viewers to his program every night precisely because he is avowedly, unabashedly and monotonously partisan, it is not clear what misdemeanor his donations constituted. Consistency?

We live now in a cable news universe that celebrates the opinions of Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly - individuals who hold up the twin pillars of political partisanship and who are encouraged to do so by their parent organizations because their brand of analysis and commentary is highly profitable.

The commercial success of both Fox News and MSNBC is a source of nonpartisan sadness for me. While I can appreciate the financial logic of drowning television viewers in a flood of opinions designed to confirm their own biases, the trend is not good for the republic. It is, though, the natural outcome of a growing sense of national entitlement. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's oft-quoted observation that "everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts," seems almost quaint in an environment that flaunts opinions as though they were facts.

And so, among the many benefits we have come to believe the founding fathers intended for us, the latest is news we can choose. Beginning, perhaps, from the reasonable perspective that absolute objectivity is unattainable, Fox News and MSNBC no longer even attempt it. They show us the world not as it is, but as partisans (and loyal viewers) at either end of the political spectrum would like it to be. This is to journalism what Bernie Madoff was to investment: He told his customers what they wanted to hear, and by the time they learned the truth, their money was gone.

It is also part of a pervasive ethos that eschews facts in favor of an idealized reality. The fashion industry has apparently known this for years: Esquire magazine recently found that men's jeans from a variety of name-brand manufacturers are cut large but labeled small. The actual waist sizes are anywhere from three to six inches roomier than their labels insist.

Perhaps it doesn't matter that we are being flattered into believing what any full-length mirror can tell us is untrue. But when our accountants, bankers and lawyers, our doctors and our politicians tell us only what we want to hear, despite hard evidence to the contrary, we are headed for disaster. We need only look at our housing industry, our credit card debt, the cost of two wars subsidized by borrowed money, and the rising deficit to understand the dangers of entitlement run rampant. We celebrate truth as a virtue, but only in the abstract. What we really need in our search for truth is a commodity that used to be at the heart of good journalism: facts - along with a willingness to present those facts without fear or favor.

maria said...

To the degree that broadcast news was a more virtuous operation 40 years ago, it was a function of both fear and innocence. Network executives were afraid that a failure to work in the "public interest, convenience and necessity," as set forth in the Radio Act of 1927, might cause the Federal Communications Commission to suspend or even revoke their licenses.


The three major broadcast networks pointed to their news divisions (which operated at a loss or barely broke even) as evidence that they were fulfilling the FCC's mandate. News was, in a manner of speaking, the loss leader that permitted NBC, CBS and ABC to justify the enormous profits made by their entertainment divisions.


On the innocence side of the ledger, meanwhile, it never occurred to the network brass that news programming could be profitable.

Until, that is, CBS News unveiled its "60 Minutes" news magazine in 1968. When, after three years or so, "60 Minutes" turned a profit (something no television news program had previously achieved), a light went on, and the news divisions of all three networks came to be seen as profit centers, with all the expectations that entailed.

I recall a Washington meeting many years later at which Michael Eisner, then the chief executive of Disney, ABC's parent company, took questions from a group of ABC News correspondents and compared our status in the corporate structure to that of the Disney artists who create the company's world-famous cartoons. (He clearly and sincerely intended the analogy to flatter us.) Even they, Eisner pointed out, were expected to make budget cuts; we would have to do the same.

I mentioned several names to Eisner and asked if he recognized any. He did not. They were, I said, ABC correspondents and cameramen who had been killed or wounded while on assignment. While appreciating the enormous talent of the corporation's cartoonists, I pointed out that working on a television crew, covering wars, revolutions and natural disasters, was different. The suggestion was not well received.

The parent companies of all three networks would ultimately find a common way of dealing with the risk and expense inherent in operating news bureaus around the world: They would eliminate them. Peter Jennings and I, who joined ABC News within a year of each other in the early 1960s, were profoundly influenced by our years as foreign correspondents. When we became the anchors and managing editors of our respective programs, we tried to make sure foreign news remained a major ingredient. It was a struggle.

maria said...

Peter called me one afternoon in the mid-'90s to ask whether we at "Nightline" had been receiving the same inquiries that he and his producers were getting at "World News Tonight." We had, indeed, been getting calls from company bean-counters wanting to know how many times our program had used a given overseas bureau in the preceding year. This data in hand, the accountants constructed the simplest of equations: Divide the cost of running a bureau by the number of television segments it produced. The cost, inevitably, was deemed too high to justify leaving the bureau as it was. Trims led to cuts and, in most cases, to elimination.

The networks say they still maintain bureaus around the world, but whereas in the 1960s I was one of 20 to 30 correspondents working out of fully staffed offices in more than a dozen major capitals, for the most part, a "bureau" now is just a local fixer who speaks English and can facilitate the work of a visiting producer or a correspondent in from London.

Much of the American public used to gather before the electronic hearth every evening, separate but together, while Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Frank Reynolds and Howard K. Smith offered relatively unbiased accounts of information that their respective news organizations believed the public needed to know. The ritual permitted, and perhaps encouraged, shared perceptions and even the possibility of compromise among those who disagreed.

It was an imperfect, untidy little Eden of journalism where reporters were motivated to gather facts about important issues. We didn't know that we could become profit centers. No one had bitten into that apple yet.

The transition of news from a public service to a profitable commodity is irreversible. Legions of new media present a vista of unrelenting competition. Advertisers crave young viewers, and these young viewers are deemed to be uninterested in hard news, especially hard news from abroad. This is felicitous, since covering overseas news is very expensive. On the other hand, the appetite for strongly held, if unsubstantiated, opinion is demonstrably high. And such talk, as they say, is cheap.

Broadcast news has been outflanked and will soon be overtaken by scores of other media options. The need for clear, objective reporting in a world of rising religious fundamentalism, economic interdependence and global ecological problems is probably greater than it has ever been. But we are no longer a national audience receiving news from a handful of trusted gatekeepers; we're now a million or more clusters of consumers, harvesting information from like-minded providers.

As you may know, Olbermann returned to his MSNBC program after just two days of enforced absence. (Given cable television's short attention span, two days may well have seemed like an "indefinite suspension.") He was gracious about the whole thing, acknowledging at least the historical merit of the rule he had broken: "It's not a stupid rule," he said. "It needs to be adapted to the realities of 21st-century journalism."

There is, after all, not much of a chance that 21st-century journalism will be adapted to conform with the old rules. Technology and the market are offering a tantalizing array of channels, each designed to fill a particular niche - sports, weather, cooking, religion - and an infinite variety of news, prepared and seasoned to reflect our taste, just the way we like it. As someone used to say in a bygone era, "That's the way it is."

Ted Koppel, who was managing editor of ABC's "Nightline" from 1980 to 2005, is a contributing analyst for "BBC World News America

field negro said...

Mel.you are right about black pols. But that is why they should try harder. No excuses.

Maria, thanks for that Ted Koppel moment. He was one of the last real journalist in A-merry-ca. Kind of ironic that he works with The BBC now.

Ernesto said...

Anon 12:04 pm.
I lived in rural Pennsylvania (aka Pennsyltucky) for 5 years and saw a steady parade of white boys going to hell, too. I think there might be a connection...no economic opportunities, poor education, poverty. Not until that paradigm is changed will things get better.

maria said...

welcome.

and sorry to disagree with some, but the PG county ex scandal is actually a very big deal around here.

oh, and ted also works for NPR. perhaps he isn't allowed to say that or chose not to out of sensitivities ala juan williams.

field negro said...

"Pennsyltucky". :)

focusedpurpose said...

ML-

"You have men of all races who don't consider their womenfolk to be much."

nice original excuse-everybody's doing it. no argument from me there, though. ALL men, collectively,practice sexism. they foolishly see it as their right as men.

now, focus here and try to stay with me...

ALL these other collectives of men, ALSO manage to in much greater numbers PROVIDE FOR AND PROTECT their women and the children born of them. they seem to see value in their children. they see value in their women. they seem to understand that there is no THEM without their women and children. they perform certain functions as a means of survival while practicing sexism.

granted, chinese men have had to be snapped out of their femicide lunacy the hard way. placing a premium on the male children and drowning the baby girls will have folks lamenting about there being no one to marry in the not so distant future. i hope they got it now. lol. the baby girls that made it through undrowned/unmurdered DEFINITELY have the last laugh.

now, you guess, which group of males, collectively, have absolved themselves of performing the very functions that would qualify them as men while practicing EXTREME sexism, racio-misogyny, and violence against the women of their group?

i think the less ACTUAL power a man has, the worse his behavior. who is the least powerful of men in the us? around the world even? which group of man throughout history is more times than not the slave of other men? boy was i glad to read of the haitians and moors! though the moors' fascination with whiter skinned women became their undoing. i used to feel slightly depressed and extremely thankful that i am a woman, with the weakness of this certain group of men, demonstrated time and again throughout history.

i think this is also why the lie of big sexual organs is fiercely defended. if that lie gets debunked...THEN WHAT will be left? and WHERE are the "not all bm crew" when THAT lie is being perpetuated? LOL.

"Perhaps your own personal experiences with Black men have clouded your own judgment to the point where you see almost every Black man as an opponent and Black men collectively as "the enemy".

wrong. i suppose you and the truth evading males like you self-medicate on this notion. i don't consider bm the enemy. bm are ONLY enemies to THEMSELVES and anyone naive or foolish enough not to carefully vet anyone that they allow in their space. this is why bm are collectively treated like a joke. have you missed this? give a bm a gun and he will only muster the courage to shoot another bm or a bw or a bchild-effectively killing himself. IF he wants to show his displeasure with injustice, he will tear up HIS own stuff...like a coward fool. argue with the LARGE numbers that support my assertion if it makes you feel better. when you stop responding so emotionally to the truth, hopefully you can re-direct your attention and energy to other bm that DESPERATELY need the attention. since on another thread you indicated folks should ask bm WHY their self destructive behavior is what it is; i nominate you for this project.

focusedpurpose said...

i AM however, acutely aware of the fact that i am least safe around bm and their female sista soldier types. so unless an individual bm SHOWS me and PROVES to me that he is a friend, i DON'T ASSume he is a friend because we share similar amounts of melanin. in truth, rare is the bm that gets too close to me these days. i look at bm as men. i don't grade on a curve and do the whole "BM" thing. when doing this, most bm eliminate themselves from any type of consideration. the bulk of the bm that i know, love, trust and respect are older bm. the younger, fatherless batch don't even know how to respectfully approach and address a woman. as such, they are promptly dismissed and i keep it moving.

ML, this might require additonal self medicating on your part. the reality is, at this point, i am less concerned with what bm do and think. get it together or don't, it is up to the bmenfolk. NO, i will NOT "help a brotha out". my assistance/focus is directed squarely at other bw and bgs. i move on a help a sista out tip. be clear, she too, is vetted. IF she is a sista soldier looking to drain my time, energy, or resources, she is dismissed as well.

if bm don't care about your own survival enough to actually DO something about what even a blind man can see, i can't afford to care as a woman. america is a patriarch. ONLY black america is a matriarch due to bm's collective neglect and irresponsibility. WHY would i care one way or the other when too many demonstrate they don't care by their actions? the name of the game is survival of the fittest. that's as much help as you have coming from me...a clue.

i am more concerned with the women and girls that seem to think similar melanined men are their "friends" right off the bat. these women and girls believe this LIE because they are being conditioned and doctrinated to believe the lie. notice how often those of us that refuse to silently stand and watch the lies perpetuated are attacked and bullied in an effort to secure our silence.

when we are out with our nonblk partners folks take even greater liberties. i am noticing that folks are now perpetuating the belief that one must have been "hurt", "scorned" or some other negative in order to be a bw with a nonblk man. it can NEVER just be a preference for a mate that treats you well and with which you are compatible. um...i STILL don't care.

IF i could address the ills that affect bw/bgs W/O mentioning bm, i would. as i am sure bm would address racism without mentioning wm.

ps. as long as you are not in other folks' community doing dumb criminal ish or wearing the neglected child, poopy diaper, sagging pants criminal uniform, YOU TOO are safer around non blk men. check your stats before you argue. you are MORE likely to be killed by another bm than you are by a cop or non blk racist. looking at the odds, i would take my chance with the cops or racists. shameful isn't it? what besides attempting futilely to silence a little woman like me do you plan to do about this mess big man? hmmm? if denial is all you got, then that's your choice. just don't expect me to adjust my flow, ok?

focusedpurpose said...

ML-

"there seems to be an undercurrent of Black women subconciously hating themselves, somehow seeing themselves as not only unworthy of being loved, cherished and protected,"

yes. and it is for THIS reason, i am purposefully focused. let us not forget that there is also a great deal of conditioning and indoctrination that takes place among bfolks aimed squarely at bw going back to when they were little black girls. i have personally sat and talked with bw that will be on the receiving ends of punches and when asked why they won't call the police, they will tell you, it is because they don't want another "brotha" in jail. cops=bad. bm criminals=in need of protection AT ALL COSTS. that is just ONE example. this comment would cause howls regarding length if i broke it all the way down.

the so-called black community has it all backwards.

i don't think bm are incapable of being good husbands and fathers. history points to them doing so previously in history with far less opportunities. collectively bm CHOOSE to absolve themselves of responsibilities of men, while yelling about being men and conveniently blaming others.

MOST bm are NOT married and WILL NOT be married to ANY WOMAN they are WITH. it has NOTHING to do with genetics or inherent capabilities. why do you and uts like to derail your little minds with that rubbish? it has ALL to do with CHOICES AND ACCOUNTABILITY? WHO dares to hold the bm accountable for his flagrant irresponsibility? obamessiah tried. see how well that went over? cosby tried. wasn't warmly received. IT IS ALL ABOUT CHOICES.

my purpose is to get more bw to reject the notion that marriage is for white folks. that provision and protection is only for white women. to choose ONLY to marry and have children with men that demonstrate through consistent behavior they will esteem her and the children enough to respect, love, provide for and protect them. i am adding to avoid fatherless males as well. they are woefully clueless in most instances on what it means to be a man. they have been socialized by women and frankly act like women in more instances than not. hope that helped with the clue you are seeking ML...

btw, aside from making excuses, what are you up to? God knows ya'll "good" bm got a lot of work to do. how's it going?

focusedpurpose said...

and leave it to Maria to delve her pale pancake behind into a conversation that has NOTHING to do with her. decent non blk folks know they have no place in the conversation and their decency causes them to hush.

yes, Maria, how DARE bw address their mistreatment by bm. Maria, IF any group of women need to go sit their below the radar racist, entitled, duplicitous, deceitful behinds the heck down and hush, it would be WHITE WOMEN like you. i thought you were going to take your irrelevantly dumb schtick on the road elsewhere? wasn't THAT your threat as you stormed away in tears no doubt, after getting more than you bargained for when being dumb with the wrong ones? you may want to consider being a woman of your word or at least missing me with your nonsense. i don't suffer fools gladly.

Maria, feel free to scroll past my comments, as i do yours for the most part. you are NOT who i am speaking to anyways. the only ones that deny deny deny MORE than ww like you are bm. lol. this could be way ya'll are such big fans of each other.

this story is VERY much tied into the ongoing saga with bw and bm. of which you are neither Maria. i bet this woman will sit in her cage and commend herself for knowing how to let her man be a man. lol. folks may not want to hold their breaths waiting for anyone to address how the husband can be heard clearly leading the wife astray. her "following" him will all be charged to her account.

FN, not misquoting you in the least. simply pointing out to you and others that like to mention white folks when discussing what ails quite a few black americans. there are MORE of them. so what is the POINT of mentioning them? how does doing that fix our issues as black folks?

focusedpurpose said...

"Oh, and about those glorious white men who can do NO wrong"

no one that i have heard, including wm, have claimed they can do no wrong. it seems someone's inferiority complex is shining through...you may consider fixing that, as only you can...

maria said...

focused purpose said:

and leave it to Maria to delve her pale pancake behind into a conversation that has NOTHING to do with her. decent non blk folks know they have no place in the conversation and their decency causes them to hush."

really? i have no right to comment on public corruption happening in the county right next to me? i have more right to comment than you, racist.

and guess what, dear, LOTS of people said the same thing as me--i just said it first, i think.

i have never gone away in tears, not the least of which from you and your bloviating self.

thanks for the laughs!

maria said...

and by your line of "reasoning," you shouldn't have cared about eliot spitzer's fall from grace, right? because that was a white couple. some things are universal and transcend race, no matter how your small brain tries to warp everything into your tiny area of concern.

it's sad, really.

Anonymous said...

Maria, "i have never gone away in tears, not the least of which from you and your bloviating self.

thanks for the laughs!"

Way to go, maria. you really let FP have it! She will never be the same.