How odd that on the 40th Anniversary of the Moon landing we lose the person that brought it home to us. I remember Dan Rather being someone I could trust, but I’m sure he got that gift from the great Walter Cronkite. Cronkite or “Uncle Walter” as some called him, was “the most trusted man in America,” and the litmus test for all broadcast journalists. There is no one broadcasting news today that you can just look at and know you are getting the truth. He delivered to us the most important events of 
the last half of the century. The Cuban missile crisis, The Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, Nixon’s resignation, and the Iran hostage crisis; stories that were told through this man’s objective, even-toned perception and voice. Without a doubt an icon of his profession, one that we will never see again. Let me put it in perspective for those who are having trouble with this…He was the Michael Jackson of broadcast news (except without the surgery, skin bleaching, and pedophilia). This is a big loss. What a shitty month it has been.Barack Obama really needs to remember that he is the president, and anything he says can and will be used against him in the court of public opinion. It turns out that the white police sergeant criticized by Obama for arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. outside his home is an expert on racial profiling.Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black. Odd person to be calling someone who “acted stupidly” and Obama made the comments after admittingly not knowing all the facts. Now when it comes to his personal opinion, Obama is entitled to it. Unlike the Supreme Court, personal experience does seep into personal opinion. However, all the facts are not known, and for those of you who are ignorant of police procedure, the Supreme Court ruled a long time ago that police can ask anyone for ID whenever they want, and in this instance the cop was responding to a break in call. I wonder if Gates had told him to go away and there actually was someone in his home and he was hurt, would he then blame the police for not adequately protecting him? Now I can also say that it is difficult to be guilty of disorderly conduct in your own house, which is probably why the charges were dropped, but where exactly the conduct took place is unclear. If it happened on the sidewalk then sorry crybabies but it was a legal arrest. I’m glad Crowley is sticking to his guns and not letting himself be bullied into apologizing for it. I hate bullies on any side of an issue.
Look, not that I don’t know where Gates’ anger stems from, but this wasn’t the incident to be used to fly that kite. And when a trivial incident like this takes the headlines away from real racial profiling it only hurts people. Complaints in New York City alone against the police for racial profiling are up a dramatic 50% from last year, and I’m sure those were not all Harvard
professors complaining. So, is Rick Sanchez of CNN going to report on all of them?And for Sanchez to say “I know racial profiling exists, I have been a victim of it,” is both ridiculous and insulting. He looks like what he is, a white guy with a Spanish last name. If this asshole can count to ten in Spanish I’d be impressed. His idea of racial profiling is someone putting a bit more hot sauce on his taco than given to the white guys sitting with him at the country club. He does not speak for my community at all.
SPORTS
Don’t look now but the Yankees are in first place. Had they won half the games they played
against Boston earlier this season they would have a comfortable lead in the AL East. Now that they have swept Baltimore and Detroit, a first place team, they have shown that they can play with, and beat the good teams. More importantly, it shows that they can win close games, which is what the playoffs are all about. I can’t get enough of those “walk off” wins myself. Phil Hughes coming out of the bullpen has been reminiscent of Mariano Rivera in 1996. I still think he should be starting though, but maybe next year.
I’ve never met Jennifer Lopez, I’m not a fan of her work, nothing she has done has ever effected me directly…so why do I hate her so much? I guess some people in the world just exude “asshole” without even trying. Whether it’s covering her fat ass with the fur of some poor endangered specie, or having the audacity to say that she is a regular person while demanding whoever she might be married to at the moment to buy her millions in gaudy, tacky jewelry; Jewelry that was probably illegally mined by ruthless child labor in Africa.I spend little to no time thinking about this waste of space until she shows up at a press conference announcing that her husband Marc Anthony has bought a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins. Wayne Huizenga was a great owner, but since Stephen Ross took over, he has turned a serious, storied sports franchise into the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards, selling the team off in pieces to Gloria Estefan, Jimmy Buffet and now Anthony. So at the press conference, Lopez gets a Dolphins jersey. A jersey? Why? Did they sign her to play offensive tackle? Maybe she can use her big fat ass to keep Chad Pennington from getting sacked
THIS WEEK’S REASON WHY TERRORISTS WANNA KILL US
Barack Obama just might get the greatest health care reform bill in the history of the United States passed through Congress, if his own party can just get the hell out of his way…so why the fuck am I reading an article about the jeans he was wearing at the All-Star game last week? WTF??? And it just proves how out of touch the people who wrote that article are because men don’t wear tight jeans…unless you are one of the fucking Jonas Brothers.
Barack Obama just might get the greatest health care reform bill in the history of the United States passed through Congress, if his own party can just get the hell out of his way…so why the fuck am I reading an article about the jeans he was wearing at the All-Star game last week? WTF??? And it just proves how out of touch the people who wrote that article are because men don’t wear tight jeans…unless you are one of the fucking Jonas Brothers.
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- Supposedly Prof. Gates, while inside his home, and once his identity was established, was asked to step outside by the arresting officer. I know nothing about what should be lawfully done in this case, but every police expert I've seen on TV says the officer did not follow proper procedure at that point. Which would explain why the charges were dropped.
ReplyDelete- Um, I dunno about you but I didn't need to know his name to suspect that Rick Sanchez was Hispanic. Also, I have heard him speak fluent Spanish on the air. (In fact, he has documented his arrival as a non-English speaking Cuban immigrant and eventual transformation into an English-language newscaster.) So, unless you know more about this guy than you have let on here, guess what? You have just racially profiled him. Sorry.
- Yes, there are way more important things to report than the President's choice of attire at the All-Star Game. Regardless, since we're on the subject, let's make it clear that while it would not befit him to wear tight jeans, for him to come out to a baseball game and throw out the first pitch while sporting "Mom" jeans is just plain sad and insanely uncool from someone we expect a bit more from. Any old pair of regular Levi's could've done the trick.
Well once again since all the facts are not known, anyone on TV would be irresponsible to say what procedures were or were not violated, which is why I set forth both scenarios. Charges can be dropped for many reasons, and if it were imporper procedure it would have been on the record as the reason for the dismissal, which has yet to be the case.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sanchez, sorry but I DO know more and I HAVE heard him speak. I have yet to write anything that I pulled out of my ass. My AFS brother from California speaks better spanish. Maybe he just lost it living here so long, and my point wasn't even about how he spoke, it was about how he LOOKED, and he certainly does not look like someone who would be racially profiled which is why I put a picture up...
- I dunno man, the first time I saw Sanchez on TV, I thought "Dude's gotta be Hispanic." And to me that's what he looks like in that pic you posted: a light-skinned Hispanic. I can see him easily being profiled. His chances are smaller than those of a black man, but still...He's not a stealth Hispanic, like, say, Joanna Kerns, for instance.
ReplyDelete- No disrespect intended to the deceased, but I have never understood this whole "most respected" designation for someone who essentially read the news. Now, if he'd been a commentator whose opinions made him worthy of respect, I'd get it. But why someone would be elevated to a plateau of practically elder statesman based on reading the news off a cue card or a teleprompter is a head-scratcher to me.
Rick Sanchez looks like a white guy. If he looked like George Lopez instead of George Hamilton I could see why he might be the victim of profiling, but I dont think he ever was he is lying to jump on the bandwagon
ReplyDeleteLMAO that George Lopez line is pretty good. I don't know if Sanchez was lying about BELIEVING he might have been a victim of racial profiling, I just can't imagine him suffering through a situation like being arrested because of the color of his skin, which has very little color by the way. I can't imagine that fool in the South Bronx getting lined up in a row against a wall and randomly frisked by cops. I see your point though he seems like a bandwagon jumper.
ReplyDeleteAs for Cronkite, I think how people receive world news is extremely important. And I believe that the professional, calm demeanor of a news broadcaster has ALOT to do with how people react to world events. It's certainly not just reading off a teleprompter. If that were the case then let me give you an image...who would you have rather relayed the events of September 11th to you, Dan Rather or Paris Hilton? OK bad example...she has yet to prove she can read.
That I would like to get my news from someone capable and coherent is one thing, but to bestow gravitas on someone who is not submitting an opinion or some form of enlightenment but essentially relaying info is perplexing to me. It's like bestowing the same stature as the composer and arranger to the guy who would notate the music.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sanchez, you were being disingenuous, dude.
"If this asshole can count to ten in Spanish I’d be impressed."
When it was pointed out that he could, you backtracked with "I HAVE heard him speak. I have yet to write anything that I pulled out of my ass...My AFS brother from California speaks better spanish...and my point wasn't even about how he spoke, it was about how he LOOKED..."
If you've heard him speak, then why would you wonder about his ability to count? (Btw, your AFS brother must be a Spanish-language scholar since Sanchez's Spanish is quite solid.) And if you in fact were trying to shed light on his appearance what does his speaking ability have anything to do with that?
Don't like the guy? Fine. But the guy looks as Latino as Jorge Posada, for instance. And no matter how famous you are--as the Gates case has taught us--if you are black or brown, racial profiling can knock on your door any day.
Maybe we just have different ears. I heard him speak and don't think it was any different than someone who took spanish as a second language. And I have my own pair of eyes and I don't think he looks latino enough to be the victim of racial profiling. If he can count to ten...great. I would be impressed because he just doesn't seem like someone who speaks for Latinos who would be the victim of this. His ability to speak spanish was not the weight of my message, only part of a point I was trying to make. Nit pick if you want, but I think the point was clear. Saying that is disingenuous is insane, I just don't agree with you, and I don't agree that he would be the victim of what is racial profiling. I have been involved with the criminal Justice system for 13 years now, and I have yet to meet a victim of profiling who looks like Rick Sanchez. If you can find one, I would also be impressed.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you look at the definition of racial profiling, Gates was not the victim of it either.
If he thinks he was, then let's see him prove it in court. If he is so animate that he was a victim, then where is the lawsuit?
It's disingenuous in that you used "x" as one of the defining characteristics to underscore your point and when the dubious nature of "x" was pointed out, you came back with a disavowal of "x" in favor of "y". That's all. "I don't like Rick Sanchez, and I was using hyperbole" would've probably been a better response.
ReplyDeleteI'll take your word in that you've "yet to meet a victim of profiling who looks like Rick Sanchez"; I'm sure you're quite aware it doesn't mean they're not out there. (And are you sure you want to get into the whole identity politics of who looks Latino enough?) 'Cause, I gotta tell you, the first time I saw that dude on TV I thought he was Mexican. And I'm sure plenty of non-Hispanic white folks would say the same.
I think you are reaching to make a point that really doesn't matter. But I stand by what I believe.
ReplyDeleteMy point was that while--in terms of his appearance--Sanchez may not be the most representative Hispanic out there, not many white people--or otherwise--would confuse him for one of their own. Next topic.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree I think Sanchez can be confused with a white guy. His name alone don't make him a latino
ReplyDeleteI think many white people have confused him with one of their own
ReplyDeleteQuestion here.
ReplyDeleteDo any of you think Mariah Carey could ever be a victim of racial profiling?
You know, her grandfather was a Venezuelan immigrant. His last name was Nuñez. How Hispanic does this make her? Have you SEEN the woman?
Do any of you honestly believe she'd ever be pulled over for standing out and looking too Hispanic somewhere in the suburbs?
Come on. Seriously.
What do a name and/or language skills have to do with the way you look?
There is no way in hell Rick Sanchez has ever been a "victim" of racial profiling. If he has, why has he NOT made a complete stink about it? Maybe he's full of shit and trying to appeal and relate to certain audience...?
AMEN to that! ^^^
ReplyDeleteAnswer: if light-skinned black/Hispanic women--which is what Mariah Carey looks like--can be racially profiled, then yes, she can be a victim of racial profiling. It's that simple.
ReplyDeleteDid it ever occur to you that maybe Rick Sanchez was racially profiled BEFORE he had the power/forum--ie, the widespread access to the media--he has now? He didn't say when it happened, now did he?
Mariah Carey looks like a white woman. I'm sorry but if you can't see what I see when I look at Rick Sanchez and Carey; we're just gonna have to agree to disagree, period.
ReplyDeleteYou and Jesse have different ears, you and I have different eyes.
And sure, it may have happened to Sanchez before he was known in the media... but then why bring it up if it happened when you were a nobody? There's no point unless you want to make a big stink of it, and let it be known because you can do that-- because you're in the MEDIA. This is just some yahoo who wants to claim whatever he wants to claim; probably knowing that neither you nor me can prove when it happened, how it happened, or IF it ever happened.
Who cares when it happened or even if it did. even if it did I don't think he was tortured by cops or arrested or anything serious or he would have blabbed about it forever.
ReplyDelete