It's been exactly a week since Washington Post ombudsman, Deborah Howell wrote her piece admitting bias in the coverage of "all-things-Obama" during the campaign. This particular sentence elicited such a loud, "Ya think???" from me, I scared my damn self:
"But Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago."
"But Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago."
And wonder of wonders, here we are with the mainstream media engaging in gushing, leg-tingling ObamaLove yet again, still not scrutinizing the President-elect's recent appointee. Lord! It feels like the Bush Administration/Iraq war, parrot-the-company-line coverage all over again!
At least the conservative, Judicial Watch is paying attention. Oh I'm sure some esteemed journalists will characterize them as conservative wing nuts or something, but through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, they've got documents backing up what they say in their November 14, Obama Advisor Valerie Jarrett Linked to Real Estate Scandals! (She reminds of another Black woman I know who sold a great idea of "revitalization and restoration" of the Black community and then used the cash to unjustly enrich herself and her family for years. The city council finally paid her off to bow the hell out this year as I recall.)
Even Lynn Sweet (whose work I followed because it always had the "balance" clearly missing from the corporate shills of the large print, radio and television media organizations), seems to have soft-pedaled on Valerie Jarrett. Her November 15 piece, The Valerie Jarrett Story. Named senior Obama White House advisor, was certainly not the kind of truth-telling I'd come to know and love. I mean, if you're going to tell "The Valerie Jarrett Story," shouldn't it be the whole story? Judging from the comments section, I'm not alone in my disappointment.
Were it not for Ms. Sweet's prior reporting on the Chicago crew, The Boston Globe's investigative piece to which I linked in my last post and Ryan Lizza's well-written and informative, "Making It, How Chicago shaped Obama" in The New Yorker last July which was swallowed up in the smoke-screen of outrage at the satirical cover - subjective hype and sketchy, yet masterfully presented voting records would've been all I had to begin trying to objectively quiet that nagging feeling of being worked by the man who looked Black like me.
At this point, I don't expect much from most mainstream media outlets. They've got too much invested in holding up this new administration as the "Second Coming" rather than holding them accountable.
6 comments:
It's so scarey, his connection to this, this woman who doesn't even look like she was cooked in the oven completely. LOL! That's all we need! A bird-embryo looking housing thief and a scoop-mouthed jungle queen in the white house. LOL!
Sugar...Hey!!! ROFLMAO!! Gir-r-l, you are too funny!!
But now that the chuckle is over, you're absolutely right about the scary part. Us "po' creeters" (like my grandmama used to say)living here better watch the hell out! I can see her salivating all over NE & SE!!!
And what's worse, nobody, N-O-B-O-D-Y in the mainstream media will challenge anything this administration does for fear of being called racists or because they got so much "ObamaLove" going on.
Chile, old doesn't always mean wise cuz I'm feeling naive as hell about the kind of Journalism I wanted to do. It's disheartening to see how the Fourth Estate has become such a shell of its former self.
I know what you mean sista gurl. I had to get out of the newsroom full of hateful menz. I quit my job as soon as I saw that Hilary lost. The hate that was going on in that place went 10 fold. How could we as black folk become so "ignant" (as Big Momma used to say0 as to turn against the Clintons like that. They did so much for our people. But I feel so lost now. I voted for McCain but it didn't do any good. Can't they see that this misogynist pimp and his closet-panther wife are gonna put us out in the cold? The evidence is there. He's associated with a slum lord, so you KNOW we gonna be in trouble. That's why I joined the PUMAS. We gotta get the info out there. He's part of the Trilateral Commission, he's gonna be a slum lord... Oh sweet alabaster-skinned Jesus, take the wheel!
LOL!
Catty Panthers are sleek, Scoop mouf gotta "badonk" as pastor manning says. Have you ever seen a First lady with a butt like that? Disgusting! We can't have Hilary or Sarah, but we gotta be stuck with someone who should have been on the cover of a Luke album! LOL!
Wow, the amount of hatred towards women of color y women of color in the comments section of this blog is troubling.
Catty...It's been awhile (let me just say that I know my sister's voice when I hear it)! That being said, I want to beg your indulgence on the "hateful menz" and "misogynist pimp " parts of your comment as I'd just started working on a post addressing exactly that after I read the comments here.
You said, "How could we as black folk become so "ignant" (as Big Momma used to say0 as to turn against the Clintons like that. They did so much for our people. But I feel so lost now."
I understand your frustration, I definitely feel it too. No matter what we call it (ignant, disingenuous, needy, validation, Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder, or just plain wrong)- it is, what it is. And you know, I think I even understand why! But that doesn't make turning against the Clintons any more right or any less frustrating.
I'm certain research will show the Clinton years were as good, as they were bad for my people - depending on who you ask. As I've said here before, they were good for me and mine on a personal level. I don't feel lost as a result of her losing or our community's turning their backs however. Rather, I am clearer now about a lot of things that I hadn't been as clear about before. And as a result, I stand firmer now in who I am. Now that doesn't stop the frustration! But it certanly helps guide me on this "road less travelled."
I did not vote for McCain. I couldn't. Though I was glad to see Sarah Palin get up there and say the things about the Changeling that really needed to be said - by some damn body, I do not believe in most of the issues for which either of them stands. I voted for Cynthia McKinney because she spoke to issues in which I believe strongly, whether she had a chance or not. That's part of what I mean by standing firmer in who I am.
Whether the Changeling puts us out in the cold - literally or figuratively - has already happened IMHO. I don't believe in that, "Just let him get in there first and then he'll do the right thing" shit. It makes liars out of all who say, "Yes, America is ready to elect a Black president." If that were truly the case, he wouldn't have had to go at this like some "undercover brother."
As for his association with a slumlord (well, more than one), you're right, the evidence is there - no question at all about that. I don't care how anybody tries to spin it. They preyed on the poor Blacks on the Southside of Chicago under the guise of "community revitalization" and "affordable housing" and made millions for themselves doing it while people lived/still live in conditions in which they wouldn't even think about living!
You said, "That's why I joined the PUMAS."
Fair enough, but I find I am less and less a "joiner" these days. The journey demands it because the only motivations of which I can be 100% sure, are my own. While I absolutely supported the PUMAS in their stand against the Changeling, I did not "join" them.
P.S. Seems you still got that stalker thing going on! :-)
Sugar...the post I'm working on is dedicated to both your comments and my reactions to them. Bear with me while I finish it. Then, you can let me have it if you need to! :-)
brotherkomrade...I haven't seen you around since I stopped going to Field's blog. Welcome. I can't say for sure why you find the comments so troubling, but let me finish this post, after which I'd love to discuss it!
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