Instead of the post I had planned, about European savages and the Heart of Darkness, this seems to be an editing day. Besides, there is much more interest, apparently, among my disgruntled readership, about Imus. Disgruntled at me, LI, for making my fine media analysis of this scandal! Questioning LI's media chops and novelistic sensibility!
Scandals and outrages have a wiring diagram, a simply path between connectors, and you simply have to plug the wire in according to the scandalized object. Is it, as in Imus' case, race and sex? We know how first there is the denial, then the trivialization, then grief, then anger, until finally we reach the normal equilibrium of self righteousness. In this case my two commentators, Northanger and Patrick, think I am off the track, here. Instead of continuing that thread on the subversive post, I'm putting up this one, with the nice picture of Mme Castiglione, Napoleon III's mistress, and an Italian spy, and a very strange partner in one of the more interesting series of photos to come out of the 19th century.
Meanwhile, if you want even more sexism, this time covered in a tasteful sprinkling of science factoids, check out Nicholas Wade's Time article here.
Oh, thank God! Just the kind of white nigger post I asked for! You PANDERER!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes, I think I'd agree that that's just the talk of a young kid saying 'scarred for life'. Still disagree about Coulter/Edwards, because think it doesn't have anything to do with Edwards being a known 'Breck Girl', but rather that he is singled out. I frankly think Imus was doing something akin to drunk talk, and I think it is fine for him to pay for it the way he's paying for it. I just think it's always important to separate certain black leaders like Al Sharpton and that 'media analyst' Utrice Leid from the rest. I knew a girl who worked for Roy Innes at CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and this was interesting, because Innes is sharp. I don't a whole lot about him still, but I did see him on Andy Humm's cable show 'Informed Sources', and he gave Utrice the business. There IS a such thing as a black racist, practically speaking, even if oh-so-distant theorists say that's a contradiction in terms. Utrice may have even taught the adorable Arpege Chabert to determine that every single thing that ever occurred was reducible to 'white racism'--including not only Staten Island's Molinari Machine, but Greek Culture as well (all of it stolen from Egypt). Except Arpege is between a rock and a hard place, because when Utrice ran NPR, she beat up Amy Goodman in the office--this is DEMOCRACY NOW! of NOAM CHOMSKY persuasions we're talking about now! I think Al Sharpton is a lot more analogous to George Fucking Wallace or maybe Trent Fucking Lott than to Jesse Jackson--and I think Jesse comes out with some rot too. But hell, remember when Jesse went on about 'Heime Town'--why, I wouldn't have gotten upset about that even if I was Jewish!
Definitely think Ann Coulter got off too easy. She is the evillest stringy-haired-headed white ho I ever did see.
Ms. Nawth-anger is always sharp as a tack, so she'll keep you on your toes.
media chops and novelistic sensibility?
ReplyDeletethere may be such a thing as a black racist &mdash but the politics of racism is not equal.
ReplyDeletenow, don't be calling these white bitches hoes Paddy. then we're forced to suspend your job, your advertising until we look into things further & you are properly reconstituted for our purposes. oh, found this the other day: GOP Dog Training
ReplyDeletethe hardest part about nonviolent resistance is going ... limp. you have to be trained to do that because you have to turn off that rabid human response to fight or fly. observe where the dogs come out, & when. observe when the fire hydrants get turned on. & who is writing the letter from the birmingham jail.
ReplyDeletepledge, turn ... prestige
Well, it's Imus Countdown. We can use this the way we did St. Paddy's and Escape Day. He just got canned from MSNBC, but not yet from WFAN. Well, this will tell us a lot about what the public mood is. Well, if people think this is the same as the Rodney King beating, then he needs to be fully fired to prevent large-scale riots. I still think meeting with the Rutgers kids was the nicest thing, but the networks and advertisers aren't interested in any of that anyway, of course. They are just trying to make their way through the Capitalist Matrix!
ReplyDeleteNorth, you are so hurtin my feelings and bustin' my clean and polished honky testicles. So you doubt my media chops and novelistic sensibility? Damn.
ReplyDeleteoubt thou the stars are fire/
doubt that the sun doth move/
doubt truth to be a liar/ but don't doubt Roger's got that media groove!
Your comments on non-violence remind me of the Daoist strategy of wu wei. As Lao Tzu writes:
"the softest under heaven
rides roughshod over the hardest under Heaven
The beingless [wu you] penetrates the spaceless [wu chien]
From this I know the advantage of no-action [wu wei]
the wordless teaching."
My own wordless teaching is, of course, full of fucking words - but that's just the beingless penetrating the spaceless.
And Patrick, I've never heard of this Utrice Leid person. I think Imus going to Al Sharpton was evidence of Imus having no sense of what he did. Now - you will hate this - if he went on Oprah, I'd actually think that maybe he was beginning to get it. Oprah, insofar as she is able, doesn't put up with that bs.
Okay, in the interest of proving my media savvy, I went to youtube and listened to the infamous
ReplyDeletebroadcast here.
How did this man ever become famous in the first place?
I am reminded of David Foster Wallace's famous famous famous article about an LA talk radio host, John Ziegler. One of DFW's best, after, I think, the article about the Adult Video Awards. Of course, Atlantic Magazine is now stingy with the article, so you can only find the first seven pages here
you know what? i don't have any problems with shock jocks. but why do all of 'em gotta be white? with clean & polished honky testicles?
ReplyDeletehuh?huh?
well, except limbaugh. he's got no testicles.
ReplyDeletelimbaugher. radio spam. literally & figuratively.
ReplyDeleteoh! i have no doubts whatsoever about your media chops and novelistic sensibility Roggie. Chops & Sensibility — you could write a book!
ReplyDeletehope that clears everything up!
:)
So North - Chops and Sensibility - sounds like a cooking show. Maybe that is my calling! Recipes from great 19th century novels!
ReplyDeleteSurely there is some black shock jock somewhere. I'm going fishing in You Tube.
Ho ho. Came up with somebody, at least. Wendy Williams . I admit that I think it is funny she calls Clinton Cat Daddy.
North, you are corrupting me in every way - two days ago, I was living in a blissful world of non talk radio, and now my paradise is gone!
your radio show Rog would be great. you'd translate all that dirty french nobody else wants to translate. rock. on! choquer jock.
ReplyDeletehe likes the black girls
ReplyDeletethe only thing wrong with Wendy Williams is that tiara. weak Wendy! it should be BIGGER! big tiara for Wendy.
i love when black women yell. & this one writes too!
a black woman yelling!
ReplyDeletethat's what you need in the marketplace when money starts talking too loud. drowning out all the really important shit.
since the sound of all that clean ball scratching can drive you nuts!
ReplyDelete& that tiara? real diamonds from Tiffany's! w/ a guard. two guards!
ReplyDeleteSo, here's the question: why not have Wendy Williams replace Imus at MSNBC or whereever the fuck he works?
ReplyDeleteThat would be so funny, the comments would come so fast and furious from Imus' fans, that I would have to laugh for a whole day. I really would just have to put aside one day for laughter. I'd lock the door, unplug the phone and computer, lie on my back, and just empty my lungs of all the laughter the last fucking six years have brought me, until I coughed up my lungs.
'And Patrick, I've never heard of this Utrice Leid person.'
ReplyDeleteWell, fancy that, and there's even Google. Your problem.
'I think Imus going to Al Sharpton was evidence of Imus having no sense of what he did. Now - you will hate this - if he went on Oprah, I'd actually think that maybe he was beginning to get it. Oprah, insofar as she is able, doesn't put up with that bs.'
Okay, explain. I don't understand what Oprah would have done that is so profound here, although I often think she is admirable, despite all. Frankly, you've ignored some of my points, so I will just say again, that the uproar must have a lot to do with Imus's tradition of doing this stuff--goaded on by this McQuirk producer and sidekick--and this time it's considered like a serious criminal act. I simply do not see that it is that terrible. Frankly, I don't even consider Coulter's remark all that terrible, I just hate her and wish she was as dead as her blonde job. Considering that they haven't even managed to get the epidemic of 16-19 year old kids killing and torturing homeless that was revealed this week, and teens like this who I heard in a bus in Queens 2 weeks ago bragging about pranks and mean things they'd done to homeless, I just think people have turned into idiots: I simply don't think what either Coulter or Imus did is of much importance; it just shows what fucking navel-gazers most Americans are, and how easily they get there feelings hurt, and how without toughness they are. The only reason I don't care if Imus gets fired or not is to some degree because I have no interest in him; but I don't consider some little repartee of this sort to be radically different in spirit from the shit you find in a lot of Compton rap to begin with (some of the writers are good, even when filthy, like Dr. Dre, but most of it is pure hostility, understandable, but to me, about the same shit.) Apologies for remarks ought to be enough. Coulter said hers was a 'joke', which it wasn't, and Imus said his was a 'joke', which it was and wasn't. Coulter definitely meant she thought Edwards was a faggot, or acted like one, and Imus definitely was uttering a racist remark that needed censuring, but this stupid kind of over-reaction is mind-boggling.
Look again and check. Wendy O. Williams was a punk singer, is white, and used to use the health food store in my neighborhood. She killed herself with a gunshot to the chest. She used to wear these little shorts all the way up to the twat and prance around, was member of the Plasmatics at one time.
ReplyDeleteOh well, I was wrong. There IS a new Wendy Williams you're seeing. I hate it when people use other famous people's names, like Peter 'Sellars' after Peter Sellers. Then there was William Smith, B-movie tough and now Will Smith. Shouldn't be so close like that. Simulacrum stuff.
ReplyDeleteok. here's what a black girl hears at her momma's knee. totally swear!
ReplyDeletemy mom once said she'd be really scared when there was a white man & a black women as prez/vp (not in that particular order). why mommy? because (how did she put it?) something about it being one of the primary power relationships in american society.
Patrick, hey, you've ignored a few of my remarks too. This ain't no hs debate! I checked Leid on YouTube, and there wasn't anything on her. So, she isn't a media personality?
ReplyDeleteCheck the link for Wendy Williams. She's got a radio show in your town - no. 8 among all talk radio in the whole country, apparently. Here's a link to her site .
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1829292/
ReplyDeleteHere's some photos of your Wendy on IMDb.
well, i think this Wendy's last name is Experience — her middle name is Williams. her first name is The.
ReplyDeleteMs. The Wendy Williams Experience.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0931926/
ReplyDeleteThere's the punk one, you might remember her. She was in a porno movie or two as well.
I told you about Utrice. If you need to find out more, you may well do so.
'I checked Leid on YouTube'
ReplyDeleteSo you have gone all MySpace and wiki? giving up on print media for good?
That's one of the ugliest pics of Bush I ever saw, Northanger. And he's plenty ugly, seems to have passed the Alfred E. Newman period somewhat, but without real improvement.
ReplyDeletehave you seen the new movie 300? i heard it's about these guys in Iraq. over & over the same guys go until ... they're down to 300. it's so fucking awesome when The 300 finally win the war!
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the ugliest pics of Bush I ever saw
ReplyDeletewell....it's not one of his good sides.
They have started another intramural spring training tournament at Long Sunday, starring the cherubim of the Theory firmament and the seraphim of the Valve firmament. (I think 'spring training' might be as close as I can get to their usual heavy competitive sports like ping-pong, touch football, and badminton. They are all just sooooo butch.)
ReplyDeleteok, Long Sunday & Valve balls. who's got more skin to scratch? we want to hear from you ... call 1-000-000-0000 & give us your thoughts!
ReplyDeletenorthanger--are you for real? '300' has been the subject of discussion for 5 weeks of verbiage between the irrepressible Arpege Chabert and the charmant dejan, smart Serb who's moved to Holland and runs Cultural Parody Center.
ReplyDeleteYour Momma was right, but, of course, in American society there is also the stereotyped black men and white woman combo even more so, isn't there? Actually, Condi as a vice-president sounds very plausible down the line, but probably not president; she might even be an ideal vice-president for the right president, if there is such a Republican thing. I don't know about Obama myself, and can't figure out what he and Hillary are up to. Then Al Gore resurfaces and just as quickly is eclipsed. I'm not going to spend much spiritual capital on 2008 prez race.
black men and white woman combo
ReplyDeletenope. think about it for a sec. you'll get it. (lol, maybe probably one of the reasons black women get called hoes by black men so much).
whoa. Utrice Leid
ReplyDelete"What is going to be your statement in life?
good question to ask all those pull up/down girls.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't though. I am trying to think of well-known mixed marriages, and most of the ones I can think of are black men and white women, whether Kofi Annan and O.J., or Sammy Davis, Jr., and various affairs, or Diahann Carroll may have been married to that singer, I forget his name, was mayor of Palm Springs. I never heard of Condi dating anything, lord, she's clever about that part. the stereotype is the KKK stuff, of course, of black men raping white women. No, I confess, I am a slow learner, don't know much about white men and black women, wait, I think David Bowie married a black model, didn't he? but what does that account for? just a single example..
ReplyDeleteAh, from William’s book, Wendy’s Got the Heat.
ReplyDelete“Women ask me all the time how can they break into the business, how do they get down. How you get down? The quickest way to get down in this business as a woman is to “get down”, if you know what I mean. If you are willing to compromise yourself with a program director or an owner or executive of one of these radio conglomerates that own twenty-five stations across the country, you can all but guarantee yourself a job. He might put you in Nebraska but you can bet you’ll be his Nebraska chick. If you can suck a mean dick, you can become his Boston chick. Hey, I think that’s the number seven market. You poke a hole in the condom and have his baby, that might land you a New York spot because now you got his secret. There are women in all professions who got their jobs that way.”
Well, it is not quite Moll Flanders, but I liked that remark about Boston. That worked.
Hmm, okay. How is Imus for a prose style? Damn, Amazon won’t show me any pages from God’s Other son. Well, I don’t know how I’m going to compare him to Ms. Williams then. But I’m putting a black mark by his name for not sharing any of his pages on Amazon. So, score is: beauty – WW 4, Imus -4; pull with politicos, Imus 10, WW 3; prose style, WW 10, Imus n.a. Oh, and also general points off for being a pig, Imus, -4.
It is looking bad for the I-Man.
William Cohen & "First Lady of the Pentagon" (Janet Langhart)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etan.org/action/15alert.htm
ReplyDeleteMore on Utrice. Interesting that she would show courage only a month after doing private brutality (combining the 2 articles; I hadn't known wbai was so close to WTC and she'd kept it open)
but Utrice beat up Amy, Paddy! she's a meanie!!
ReplyDeleteIn my own humble opinion, Condi, and anybody associated with the Iraq disaster, will never ever live it down. Powell won't. The neocons won't. Cheney is the undead, so living things down or up is problematic in his case. Bush certainly won't. Gates, in the end, won't. Every single general that has carried out the Pentagon's woeful and disgusting semiplans won't. D.C. loves to recycle failures - vide Gingrich - but not failures from an unpopular war. None of the original vietnam architects, save McNamara, had a second act. And in this case, we have certainly not seen the worst of Iraq, not by a long shot.
ReplyDeleteDavid Bowie married Ms. Iman. (not Imus drag).
ReplyDeleteI did not even know about Janet Langhart--she's quite a beauty. I always loved to hear Cohen talk, because he sounds just like the robots in the concourse trains in the Atlanta Airport (they have more 'expressive' ones now, I think, as in the subways here--sounds like a cornpone Midwesterner when it says 'Stay-and clurrr the clo-zing doooors, plaize...'
ReplyDeletewe have certainly not seen the worst of Iraq, not by a long shot
ReplyDeleteyup, mighty long booklist in the pipeline piling up. Autopsy Iraq, Iraq Aftermath, Iraq: The Unhidden Vietnam. Iraq, The Anthology. Iraq in Critical Theory. Iraq: Continental or Analytical? Iraq: Pure Stupidity. Iraq: The List of Books that Made Careers....
'but Utrice beat up Amy, Paddy! she's a meanie!!'
ReplyDeleteIn fact, she IS a meanie, and a true nightmare. I saw her insult many people and be as condescending as possible on Andy Humm's local show. She bullied everybody long before she went after Amy. And, as you'll notice, even her 9/11 courage did not suffice to keep her job, although we may not know whether she wanted to. I think her time was up at WBAI, one way or another. So--working for the NYParks Department. that's too much for Jewish television...
Roger, i had the sickening opportunity to work with several radio stations. haven't really enjoyed listening since. those ball scratchers really do want you to get down & suck dick. literally & figuratively.
ReplyDeleteHoward Stern & Robin Quivers.
ReplyDeleteI worked temp at WCBS Golden Oldies twice, for about a week each. It was fun and totally juvenile. I had been aware of more in-office sex when I worked at Family Court in Bklyn, where the head of the dept., one I-----
ReplyDeleteS----at the time, had a Xmas Party moment with a cop that had become the stuff of legend. There was one of the milder shock jocks at WCBS, Cousin Brucie, he may be still there.
seriously Paddy (just between me & you). Cohen seems like the last white man i can think of willing to walk down the street with some sweet brown sugar on his arm.
ReplyDeleteXmas Party moment with a cop. tell! tell!
ReplyDeletei remember Cousin Brucie.
i know--Cohen is the stiffest thing I ever saw. ZERO sex appeal, his wife got all of it in that duet.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't know the filligree of I----'s copulation in HER OWN OFFICE DRUNK with the COP at their annual party! that's all I know. That place is a fucking madhouse, but I had a blast. There were some hilarious ladies there that I ganged up with, and we tore down this disgusting sweatshop thing in front of the boss. It was called 'A Round Tuit', and was naturally about lazy wage slaves who 'will get around to it.' We told our fairly nice but slave-mentality boss that we no longer had use for such things in our work, and that we had made a decision to remove this 'round tuit.' She needed us more than we needed her, so she condeded defeat.
I must call it a night, and read a little more before bed. I just checked Long Sunday, and I always love it when I find the first use of 'tout court'. I think the holbo personage did it this time. They really should go back to internet gambling and incentive sites.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/books/11cnd-vonnegut.html?hp
ReplyDeleteVonnegut dies.
night paddy! i'll write something about my own personal 'round tuit' while you snoozles.
ReplyDeleteHey you two! Remember, I can't afford a libel lawyer. Mask those places and names!
ReplyDeleteVONNEGUT'S DEAD? shit shit shit. I hate it when writers down under the reign of Bush. At least he stuck it out until the pillars started crumbling.
oh gosh that hit my heart.
ReplyDeleteyou will have a special Vonnegut post Roggie?
ReplyDeleteYeah.
ReplyDeleteNight, North. Bummer way to end the thread, man.
KV
ReplyDelete“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”
ReplyDelete