Enough Is Enough!

If I hear about one more state assembly issuing an apology for slavery, I just might throw up all over my blue and white striped lounging pants and cool blue hoodie I bought myself for Christmas.

Long-time readers are keenly aware of what I think about so-called slavery apologies.

An apology for slavery would make sense under this scenario, and under no other: former slavemasters and those complicit in the government at the time apologizing directly to the former slaves for keeping them in bondage.

Other than that, keep your stinkin’ apology and get on with real business. Here’s what you can apologize for, Mr. Government: for taxing the heck out of me, followed up with the concrete action of lowering my taxes and allowing me to keep more of the money I earn.

Enough Is Enough! Part II

Now this is something I can support. A group of people fed up with nasty depictions of black men and women on channels like Black Entertainment Television (BET) started a campaign called Enough Is Enough, led by Reverend Delman Coates, to protest against these negative images and lyrics. This is what the group wants. More from the site (emphasis added):

The campaign contends that music companies do not equitably apply standards for lyrical content that is offensive to blacks as for other groups. Likewise, many American corporations have different standards for sponsoring artists whose music is offensive to blacks than they do for material that is offensive to other groups. That is, many American corporations sponsor, through endorsements and advertising on radio and television outlets, artists who promote negative messages about black people, but would not provide such sponsorship for artists who degrade other interest groups.

That’s a pretty serious charge. This Saturday (January 12), the group will gather outside the New York City home of Philippe P. Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom, which owns BET. On that same day, others will rally outside the Warner Theater in DC to protest THE BET HONORS. Hey, I might join them. It would make a great story.

Apologies for slavery are an abject waste of time. Speaking out against the atrociously scandalous BET is a public service. So many people sit around privately complaining about what they don’t like. Reverend Coates and the campaign’s supporters are doing something. Show your support!

I’m joining NPR’s Bloggers Roundtable this afternoon, and these are two of the topics. I wanted to talk about the Washington Post/RIAA thing, but since it is a segment about black topics, I guess it doesn’t fit. Oh, well.

Update: Listen to the segment here. We didn’t get to the apology for slavery thing, darn it. I really wanted to talk about that. That’s me at the end of the segment interjecting about BET’s religious programming.

I was on with Debra Dickerson and blogger Wayne Hicks. I met Dickerson, author of The End of Blackness, back in 2004 at a Cato book forum.

Wednesday, September 26: Ha! A part-time musician e-mailed to say he heard me on KSFO last week, was “impressed,” visited the blog and was “horrified” by my “near obsession” with “washed-up boy band” Hanson. First of all, I’m surprised it took so long for someone to e-mail something negative about my Hanson blogging. As I mentioned before, when I get excited about something, I tend to take it to the extreme. It’s dedication, not obsession.

Second, a lot of people confuse Hanson with being a 90s boy band because that’s when “MMMBop” hit its peak. Anyone listening to Hanson now (they write, sing, and play their own music) wouldn’t call them a boy band. Anyway, I thought the e-mail was hysterical. The reader/musician says he’ll strive to “increase awareness of music of substance, and attempt to resist mindless pop culture.”

Hey, you say “tomayto”, I say “tomahto.” My blog, my topics. Anyway, gotta jet for this TV thing, which has been bumped to 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, September 25: Coasting through Alpha Centauri. Just wanted to check in with this. (Zef insisted we bring a laptop, so…)

Later… Going on the Tammy Bruce Show now (1 p.m. EDT). Might be on CNN tomorrow. I’ll let you know. Broadcasting from space! Talking about politics, not music.

Even later… CNN tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with Tony Harris (maybe) to talk about this. I don’t see the controversy (when heard in context), but you know cable news shows.

——————————————————————————–

Can I…just…get up and go?

Media

Behold! There’s at least one conservative columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News, my favorite newspaper when I lived in Philly. Christine Flowers, a lawyer and pro-life conservative, mentioned me in her latest column (with some Donovan McNabb mixed in). Check out Poor Sports & Real Heroes.

Catch me today on the Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Program on KSFO radio around 11 a.m. EDT.

Get Up and Go!

I’m having one of those “get away from it all throw computer out the window” moments. Just want to run away – for a while. Wouldn’t it be cool to take a ride through space?

For those who saw “Star Trek: First Contact,” remember when reluctant pilot Zefram Cochrane, Geordi La Forge, and Will Riker took that “magic carpet ride” in the Phoenix and hit warp speed? That’s what I need right now – speed of light perspective, man (or faster!). The rush.

Day in and day out, bad news, bickering, discord. I can’t even post an old book review without controversy. Good grief. And I’ve lost count of the number of e-mails I’ve gotten from readers who want me to blog Jena Six. Why must I? Why must I? Why must I? I might; I might not.

I’ll end the week with some “Get Up & Go” by Hanson, circa 2004 (click on the arrow). Photo, circa 2000 (Taylor, Zac, and Isaac).

Even if it kills you, try to have a good weekend. OK?

Signing off, blasting into space with Zef. “Get Up & Go” blasting in the background…Woo hoo!

Update (8/19): Well, that was fun. Big shout-out to Allahpundit at Hot Air for capturing the segment for me. (By the way, when I mention Rudy Giuliani, it sounds odd because Tony hadn’t asked me about Giuliani. We were supposed to talk about him but didn’t. I was thinking how much I preferred Fred Thompson over him, so when we got to Thompson, the Giuliani comment slipped out.)

—————————————————————————————

TV

As of this posting, I’m scheduled to appear on a show called “CNN Newsroom” Sunday night around 7:30 p.m. (if I don’t get bumped) with host Tony Harris. It’s going to be one of those conservative blogger/liberal blogger crossfire segments. Topics to be determined.

Radio

On Wednesday, I participated in NPR’s black bloggers roundtable with two other bloggers, discussing such lively topics as marrying across racial lines and the browning of America. One of the bloggers, the liberal, insinuated that the other (moderate?) must have married across racial lines because he doesn’t believe blacks who marry outside the race are traitors.

The liberal says, “You must be married to…another person…”

“A black woman,” Jim Collier corrects.

That “Woo!” you hear in the background is me. It was involuntary.

YouTube

Time for the latest feature on the new LBC: another Hanson video for your weekend pleasure. That’s “little” drummer Zac singing lead on “Go.” (Love the falsetto. For me, it all began with Prince, and…well, it’s a long story. Some other time.)

OK, my work here is done. I’m out. Hey, have a good one. Don’t drink and drive. Have a Dr. Pepper instead. Rest up. Be safe. Be good. Have fun. Take care.

Related posts:

• More Hanson 4 U
• Hanson “Boys” All Grown Up

9:12 a.m. PDT: I’m scheduled to appear on NPR’s “News and Notes” segment with two other bloggers today at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Topics include the Fairness Doctrine, Illegal Immigration, and “I got a crush on Obama” and similar videos. I typically don’t follow You Tube “girls of the campaign” stuff and other nonsense, but I had to suffer through a few videos to prepare for the segment.

It’s ironic that I’ll talk about the Fairness Doctrine on NPR. Whenever I blog about the dead policy, I usually mention NPR as a “liberal” station that likely would not survive if it had to compete in the free market rather than rely on taxpayer funding.

10:35 a.m. PDT: The topic line-up changed while I was on the air. No immigration. I had to shoot from the hip when the host talked about a BET video which purportedly encourages black kids to read. The video is raunchy, however, and some are shouting, “Racist!”

Update (7/20): The audio’s up.

Update (9/12): Instead of recoiling in disgust at the typo the editor and I missed, I’ll make a sport of it. See if you can spot the tiny typo in my otherwise OK book review of Juan Williams’s Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America — and What We Can Do About It.
—————————————————————————————

• A story in the Baltimore Sun about blogging — World wide gab — and a podcast link in the sidebar.
• Download (MP3) an interview with Stacy Harp (It was on a Friday and I was in a silly mood – the most unusual interview I’ve done in awhile).

I will appear on KFQD in Anchorage, Alaska, to talk about the recent March for Life rally, Planned Parenthood, etc., tomorrow at 7:15 p.m. EST. (See Marching for life and against the “Negro Project”)

On Sunday I’ll appear on KRLA around (?) with blogger and new talk show host Lores Rizkalla of Just A Woman. It will be her first broadcast. [Update: Wait a second...the show is on at midnight Pacific time, so that means I'd appear at 3:00 a.m. Uh...I'll get back to you.]

By the way, I plan to do a big round-up post this week. I haven’t done one of those in awhile. E-mail a link to something interesting, and I may include it in the round-up.

Radio appearances:

• Confirmed: KWEL with Craig Anderson. Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. EST.

  Update: (12/30): I’ll return to KWEL on Monday, same time.

• Confirmed: Pundit Review tomorrow on WRKO around 10:00 a.m. EST to discuss various topics.
• Confirmed: KSFO in San Francisco on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. EST with David Gold.
• Confirmed: WZNN with Ken Bagwell. Thursday, January 5, at 3:05 p.m. EST.

Confirmations later. I’m going offline to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey for the 10th time.

This will probably be the only post for the day because I’ll be traveling. Time for another road trip.

Some of my long-time readers may remember a controversial post I wrote called A Christian or a Liberal? It generated a lot of comments and some not-so-nice e-mail. A high-profile liberal blogger linked to it, and his minions crawled out of the woodwork to serve their master. It was a hoot.

I’d linked to a column written by Doug Giles on the topic. He’s a much edgier writer than I am, so I can only imagine the kind of mail he receives. Doug is no stranger to controversy (see his archives).

He liked my latest column on Townhall.com, Harry Potter and the Charmed Christians, and I’ll be on his radio show tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. EST to talk about it. I only recently came out of the closet as a fan of the books, and now I’m doing radio interviews about the boy wizard.

I’m also doing a BBC radio interview (TBA) about the Narnia books. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will hit theaters in December.

This post will be open to whatever you want to discuss. Leave links in comments and/or trackback to one of your posts. For readers who e-mail links to posts, I haven’t been ignoring you. I get too many requests, and I’m usually too busy to post many of them. Whether you’ve sent links or not, I encourage you to let readers know about your latest and/or greatest post.

Discuss Harry Potter theories, the new Supreme Court nominee, or whatever else is going on in the world.

See you tomorrow.

Update (11/2): Tune in to Clash Radio tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST to hear me and Doug Giles talk about Harry Potter and Christians.

You can listen to me tomorrow around 9:00 a.m. EDT on Bruce Elliott’s radio show. We’ll discuss illegal immigration in general and the Herndon (VA) day labor center specifically.

On Monday at 4:05 p.m. EDT I’ll appear on CRN to talk about the same article.

Have a good weekend, rest easy, and take a break from the Internet. Read a book.

The BBC was looking for bloggers for a story on the effect blogging has on people’s lives, and my blogger friend Mark Tapscott, media guy at Heritage, gave one of the producers my name. He and his camera crew will come to my little place on Monday to interview me and film me in different locations.

I asked, “Are you bringing a make-up crew?”

He laughed. This will be an “as you are” event, he said. I’m still processing all this, so I don’t have any insightful comments right now.

Unrelated Update: Listen to James White’s radio program on Hurricane Katrina. He discusses the disaster in light of God’s word, particularly the Old Testament (which some Christians don’t even read anymore), the recent news in California, etc. White is a Reformed pastor, author, Christian debater and apologist.

Update (9/10): Did I mention that you should listen to this broadcast? Particularly the first 30 minutes.

Tomorrow morning around 9:00 a.m. EDT, I can be heard on the Morning Show on KSFO in San Francisco with host Melanie Morgan.

Tentative topics: Dumbed-down tests, the Air America scandal…

Update (8/22): I forgot to link to Melanie’s organization, Move America Forward.

Did any readers catch my interview last Sunday on Pundit Review Radio? The handful of radio interviews I’ve done have been friendly: conservative or conservative Christian hosts and callers who agreed with me. One day I’ll be faced with a hostile host and a hostile audience. I got a taste of it Sunday night.

One of Jesse Jackson’s sheeple (a black man) called in to complain about my harsh treatment of “Reverends” Jackson and Al Sharpton. It turned into a mini-shouting match, to my chagrin. The caller said that he was glad people like Jackson and Sharpton were out there speaking up for “African Americans” and that I needed to lay off.

I told him the liberal media propped up those clowns (I didn’t use that word on the air) because it’s easier to get quotes and sound bites from so-called black leaders speaking for a group than it is to actually deal with blacks as individuals.

In response, the caller said as a person of African descent, he appreciates what Jackson and Sharpton do. I interrupted him (rude, I know) and said as someone also of African descent, I did not, and I resented the white media’s perception that such men represent me and my interests. I asked:

Are we sheep? Why don’t other racial groups have leaders? Why only blacks? Are we children who can’t think for ourselves and be responsible for our own lives?

I don’t think he answered me, and the questions were rhetorical anyway. I thought the exchange was blogworthy, and since I’m way more interesting to myself than to anyone else, I wondered if you heard it. Unfortunately there’s no audio file of the show to download.

The Pundit Review bloggers host a radio show on WRKO Sunday nights from 9:00-10:00 p.m. I’m scheduled to appear around 9:20. Call in number is 877-469-4322.

Update III (6/15): How could I have forgotten about my kindred spirit, Jerry McClellan? He’s a faithful reader and commenter from my old Blog*Spot days.

The Blogdom of God grows!
————————————————————————————————————————-

Other frequent commenters with blogs: SCSIwuzzy, PatsRick, DarkStar (I’ll let him reveal his real name), Republican Jen, Chris Roberts, Renee, Mark La Roi, Stephen Johnson, Mike M. (who went on a profanity-laced rant yesterday), M.J. Klein, my young friend Ian, docjim, and yes, even Actus…

Also, the Therapist…

Have I missed other frequent commenters with blogs?

Addendum: Can’t exclude frequent trackbackers: Don Singleton, Broken Messenger, WILLisms, California Conservative, Conservative Outpost, Michael King, Danny Carlton, Lorie Byrd…

Update: Several commenters have blogs but won’t give us the URL.

“I keep telling myself I’ll launch, but compared to La Shawn and some of my other faves, why bother,” writes one.

“I started a blog, realized I was just full of hot air, and sorta forgot about it,” writes another.

Come on guys, give out the URLs and blog! When I first started, I had the advantage of being a non-blog reader. My expectations were low. I wanted to start an online journal as a place to rant between the bi-weekly op-eds I used to write and send to newspapers, even if I were the only one reading it.

I didn’t know what hits were, didn’t know who the popular bloggers were, and I certainly wasn’t worried about my own hot air. A blog is the place for your hot air, your own corner of the blogosphere. And if you’re a consistent poster and decent writer, readers will come.

A lot of readers ask how/why I started blogging, how I built a readership, etc. I’m thinking of writing an e-book and selling it on the site. There’s a market for it, I know a little about it, I’m self-employed, and I need the cash!

Update II (8:26 p.m.): A couple of weeks ago I did a podcast interview with Australian blogger “Tom Paine,” and I fell in love with his accent. If you have nothing better to do tonight, listen to Part I and Part II of my rambling, meandering narrative (I was distracted…) and other interviewees. Naturally, I don’t like the way I sound, but you know how self-critical I am. Remember the MSNBC segments I hated? Yuck.

There’s a liberal on the podcast who calls conservatives “greedy.” Entertaining.

I’m signing off line. If you post a comment and don’t see it, it’s probably caught in the moderation queue because you’re a first-time commenter or regular commenter who used a spam word. Unless you’re a troll, I’ll approve the comment in the morning.

Update (5/23): Blogging may resume later today, definitely tomorrow, readers. I’m busy earning the palace right now. By the way, I did a radio interview Saturday afternoon on KSFO in San Francisco. Discussed was Vicente Fox’s misplaced apology to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
—————————————————————————————————————————

…as long as you spell my name right:

Conservative bloggers, in particular, were apoplectic over the Newsweek lapse. Glenn Reynolds, whose InstaPundit.com is perhaps the most influential right-leaning blog, linked to a rant by Dean Esmay charging that “the press is not on our side in the war…. You guys are enemy propagandists. It’s just who you are. It’s nice that you’ve at least stopped pretending.” Another, the increasingly prominent religious-right blogger La Shawn Barber (?), pushed this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, writing, “Whether Americans flushed the Koran down the toilet is irrelevant. Newsweek should not have reported it, even if true. It’s common sense, people. Those journalists knew how Muslims would react! Why would you hurt your own country and risk more deaths just to report this ‘fact’? To what end???”

To what end? Well, the truth — in this case, the truth about how Muslim detainees are being treated in the secret prison at Guantánamo Bay. It’s too bad that Barber has so little regard for that truth. Unfortunately, Newsweek’s regard for the truth was only slightly greater than hers. (Emphasis added)

And a link would have been nice.

By the way, the whole world knows about the prison at Guantanamo Bay, so how is it a secret?