I do not want to share these on Facebook because I truly do feel bad for the Romney supporters today. I know how bad it felt in 2004 and if you double my feelings about then President Bush, that's how I feel about Gov. Romney and I have no doubt the Romney supporters feel that way about President Obama. I don't want to gloat but these are too darn funny not to share and since it is my blog, most of my readers are liberal and you have been duly warned about the upcoming content, here you go.....
A secondary disclaimer, may contain bad words
Andy Borowitz @BorowitzReport tweets:
BREAKING: Man Who Told Half the Nation to Fuck Themselves Somehow Loses Election #election #election2012 #vote2012
So I found this the other day (I have no idea how long it has been out cyberspace) It's a political satire by Randy Newman about how many anti-Obama folks are not anti-Obama, but anti-black-man-in-the-White-House. (And I don't think we need to argue whether or not that is a true fact- there are countless examples of racist comments about the president) This video is a commentary on this issue. Unfortunately, Newman ends up sort of reinforcing stereotypes of another kind while attempting to comment on our racism here in the US.
From the middle of the song....
I’m dreaming of a white President
Someone whom we can understand
Someone who knows where we’re coming from
And that the law of the jungle is not the law of this land
In deepest darkest Africa nineteen three
A little boy says, “Daddy, I just discovered relativity.
A big eclipse is coming
And I’ll prove it. Wait and see!”
“You better eclipse yourself outta here, son
And find yourself a tree
There’s a lion in the front yard
And he knows he won’t catch me.”
How many little Albert Einsteins
Cut down in their prime?
How many little Ronald Reagans
Gobbled up before their time?
I don’t believe in evolution
But it does occur to me,
What if little William Howard Taft had to face a lion
Or God forbid, climb a tree?
Where would this country be?
Where to start? How about with deepest, darkest Africa? Conjuring images of Africa as wild and untamed, maybe dangerous and possible bad or evil. Then of course the obvious Africa is not a country, despite the song (and most Americans) believing that Africa is a unified whole- rather then a continent made up of multiple countries spanning a wide variety of religion, environment, culture... I could go on but you get the drift. How about the law of the jungle is not the law of this land? Because the term jungle hasn't been used at all in context of talking about the President. Oh right, yes it has been used.
A lot.
There' a lion in the front yard. I can say with great confidence the the vast vast majority of Africans have never had a lion in their front yard and additionally that most Africans have only seen lions in the zoo. (The same way most Americans have never had a bear in their front yard) But that doesn't stop him implying lions have Gobbled up many future leaders before their time. And of course, to further reinforce that point he adds great video of lots of little "African" kids with a quick cut to the lions in the field chewing on their latest "prodigy"
So in trying to call out Americans for their racism he ends up employing many of the same stereotypes and completely wrong assumptions that to some degree fuel our racism- there very racism he is railing against.
“The unique premise of ‘The Baby
Wait’ is that it documents both the lives of the birth mother and
adoptive parents while they ride out the waiting period before the
adoption is finalized...This waiting period varies from state
to state and can range from a few days to several weeks or even a month.
We also follow only one birth per episode, allowing us to go deeper on
each story.”
So goes the official press release for the newest show on LOGO, The Baby Wait, premiering on Tuesday.
Watching the preview makes me think it's going to be more like this....
The protagonists of the show are the adoptive parents and the first mother is relegated to a supporting role at best and the role of "villain" as worst . There is nothing that I see in any of the previews that leads me to believe that the birthmothers are going to be presented in a positive light- they are inherently going to be the one standing in the way of some other couple's eternal happiness. Or to the degree that they are presented positively, I suspect that they will still be portrayed less favorably than the adoptive parents. While (some) people will recognize this the majority of people watching the show are those who already accept the predominate narrative that adoption is the most wonderful thing in the world, providing an infant without a family (or without a family that meets our societal expectations) a new (better) family. In light of the common acceptance of this narrative, there is little way to see the birthparents in any other light but a negative one. Even the positive spin "she loves you enough to give you a better life" is fraught with the same judgement. These birthmothers are (a least in the preview) clearly struggling with no longer having their children. If they have (or the viewer has) bought into the idea that the placing of their baby is the ultimate act of love and selflessness- how does it appear when they have second thoughts, especially if they decide they want to parent their child? And since the states involved have a longer waiting period- there will be lots of happy scenes of the new families bonding with their children to make sure that the viewer forgets that these are also the birthparent's children too.
Even the tag line for the series.... 6 couple 6 unforgettable stories tells us what the show is really about Shouldn't it be 6 couples, 6 birthmoms (and birthdads), 6 unforgettable stories. The previews break my heart. I am not sure I can stomach watching the shows. Someone please let me know if I am wrong. I suspect I won't be.
I can not understand claiming to be Christian and still voting for the current Republican agenda. But she says it far better than I could.
Our government is far from perfect, but it is still, in my mind, the
greatest example of the good that be done via a democratic government
of, by, and for the people. As Christians, we have an obligation to care
for all of God’s people—even when it doesn’t seem quite fair; even when
poverty results from a toxic and convoluted mix of a sinful communal
history, bad or nonexistent policies, and poor personal decisions; even
when our initial efforts to fix a problem as big as our nation’s
healthcare inequalities might be clumsy and in need of fine-tuning.
To
put it simply, I am a Democrat because the Democratic Party is doing
more than the Republican Party to care for the “least of these,” however
imperfectly. And Jesus made it absolutely clear that caring for the
least of these is central to our identity as his followers.
I have thought about how to respond (and to help her respond) to the probably inevitable teasing that D will experience about the shape of her eyes. I had always assumed that it would be trying to address a teasing incident and that it would be something that bothered her. Didn't expect this.... So the other day I picked D up earlier than usual at Latchkey since she has gymnastics practice now. While she went to get her backpack I went to fill up her water bottle so she could run straight to practice once we got to the gym. When I came back she was talking and laughing with some (slightly) older girls and as we were leaving I thought I saw them do the "Chinese eyes" thing- when people pull the corner of their eyes out to make them look more almond shaped (often accompanied by the taunting rhyme "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees look at these") I started to say something but realized K was already out the door to the car and I decided in that moment that my 4 year old walking out to the parking lot alone was slightly more critical than a lesson in diversity.
But we get into the car and I asked D what was going on. Who were the girls? Are they your friends? What were they doing with their eyes? I wanted her take on it before I said anything too much. She said they were her friends and they were playing. So I said
"you know as we were leaving it looked like they were pulling the corners of their eye to try to make them the same some people who are Chinese like you. Lots of people who are Chinese have almond shaped eyes. What was happening?"
"We were talking about eyes" "Were they being mean?" "No" (I should add that the written word doesn't really explain the exasperated 'really, mom?' tone she answered in)
"Okay, because sometimes when people do that they are trying to be mean to someone and make them feel like their eyes are different or bad"
"No"
"So nobody was teasing?"
"We were playing"
"I am glad to hear that. But sometimes when kids want to tease other kids, they make fun of how they look. If you want, I can help you come up with some ideas about what to say if people do try to tease you"
So I guess this constitutes the first of many conversations like this we will be having as she goes through school. And while I realize that I should probably be relieved that we had the chance to start to talk about it in a situation where there really didn't seem to be any ill intent beyond noticing eyes are different shaped and she truly wasn't upset at all. That I will be able to revisit it with her and empower her in a way that will be proactive rather than reactive. But mostly it makes me sad (but in no way surprises me) that even now in 2012 she will have to deal with ignorant people who think it is cute and funny to make "Chinese eyes"
