Dick Gregory on C-SPAN, really being heard (I own a few of his albums) crazy conspiracy theories (or not) and all. The coda, for his apology to Bill Clinton, left me in stitches:
"I tell Bill Clinton ain't nothing wrong with you being black, as long as you're playing - but when you try to use it as your address,…"
As the Jamaicans say, Wicked, Man!
Melding together that wickedness, with conspiracy theorists, someone in shit-stained galoshes - meaning an intimate to our neck of the woods - anonymously voiced (what seems to be) the prevailing opinion of those outside Lem's Comment Home:
That Lem's Comment Home has corrupted the Lemster.
That Lem's Comment Home has corrupted the Lemster.
It is a sewer and I don't know anyone, who's washed it off, that doesn't still find it painful - partially because Lem's name hangs over it. We feel for the guy, we know he's being used by evil - that was the word one friend used, yesterday, for Trooper York's comments - and it bothers us.
Freeman Hunt's a big girl who can see what's-what - can you imagine what encountering Lem's Comment Home is like for the unsuspecting?
That deceptive new header quote from MLK - twisted, just as whites did Bible verses in slavery times, so now it tells blacks to accept the abuse meted out by whites, there, with good humor - is likely to hide the stench, for a new visitor, for a while.
But posts by Michael Haz and other "overseer" types, showing a pointed concern for whites in South Africa - when, except for bad mouthing and lecturing us, Lem's Comment Home shows little passion for blacks, here or there, after centuries of abuse and torture - become telling.
And, eventually, the gag reflex is captured by the countless comments implying that killing blacks (for random acts of violence dubbed The Knockout Game) are O.K..
And I really should've begun with Barack Obama, the Grand Poobah of the "Other" Lem's gang can lob bombs at, all day long, because he's the president and - they're just a little too quick to want to remind us - you can't call somebody racist simply for criticizing the president.
Alone, this is true, of course but - add it to A) twisting MLK's words into a sinister configuration, B) multiple posts and comments showing concern for South Africa's white oppressors, and C) an open-and-repeatedly-stated desire to kill blacks you voice little concern about (except as D) vehicles for accepting your armed-conservative "advice") and - I think, you might be on your way to a convincing case!
It's unfortunate Freeman Hunt and others don't speak up more often, because this is the truly vexing work of the nation, however hopeless our other white fellow citizens may appear.
This isn't a job to be left to others - not if we're building a country.
The U.S. is only about 238 years old - young - so, I think, still building a country is what we're doing.
Here's hoping Lem sees his way back to it soon,…
The words of MLK are so rife with universal wisdom that we all glom onto them as it suits us. It would behoove me to keep in mind that they resonate ever more deeply with black people, especially those who were here when MLK was. Last year my g/f and I went to an A.M.E. church in a poor black neighborhood and I was moved by the spirit of it. The preaching was phenomenal and the singing of the choir was worth paying money to hear, and this was a small congregation probably barely able to keep their bills paid. Everyone was graciously welcoming of the old white guy and his high yellow girl friend. Those are the people I wouldn't quote MLK to. He belonged to them much more than to me.
ReplyDelete"It's unfortunate....others don't speak up more often."
Perhaps it's unfortunate that you labeled that group a sewer, Mr Emcee, because my whiteness - for want of a better description - is indelible. I won't criticize or defend them because I don't see them as being much different from me, and that's pretty much how I see myself. Just an old white cat with little to brag about and nothing much to be ashamed of, and loaded down with an inventory of opinions that I'd delete in a minute if I knew how to do it. Until then I'll have to keep sorting them all out and Lem's isn't a bad place to do it once in awhile, and TMR is the place to do it because you're good at provoking me to dig into my mental recesses and rearranging stuff I'd rather not think about.
Dick Gregory likes to SHOUT. Ted Nugent couldn't shut Dick up with his biggest deer rifle. I wish Ted would reorganize some of his mental processes and put some thought into what comes out of his mouth. He has a valid message but his insistence on being politcally incorrect makes him sound like an asshole. He could learn some things from Gregory and still be the Motor City Madman.
"Those are the people I wouldn't quote MLK to. He belonged to them much more than to me."
ReplyDeleteI am - by the definition you've used above - one of "them" and, as much as I'm sure I'd love your company, I know Dr. King wasn't cut down because his words "are so rife with universal wisdom that we all glom onto them as it suits us."
Bones, even a cursory thought to history tells you he was killed because he offered a stern and principled challenge to the powers that be, ending not with "I Have A Dream" but "Economic Justice", and telling the whites to stop the war and spend the money at home.
"you're good at provoking me to dig into my mental recesses and rearranging stuff I'd rather not think about. "
That, alone, should tell you, you're not like the rest at Lem's. You and I aren't playing "gotcha" or think there's a "side". I'm calling white people "white" be cause Lem's went on a "black" rampage recently and I noticed - so whites became "whites" and now Lem's calls me a racist for it. De-lish.
As far as the "sewer" over there, not only do I remember MLK's death, but also Columbine and the Oklahoma City Bombing, and not once did I or other blacks call for "whites" to be killed like some of those guys have for "blacks" over The Knockout Game.
Whites commit massive numbers of crimes, every day, and nobody's calling for their heads. But the people at Lem's? They see black kids as black kids and black kids are expendable. Those other guys are criminals, you'll never catch them - what are you gonna do?
We all make mistakes. "Sorry" isn't just a shame but a way to gain honor.
Dick Gregory's playing to the house. He's actually a quiet man. The battle, between Dick Gregory: the brilliant comic, orator, and thinker vs. Dick Gregory: the conspiracy theory-spouting whack job, rages on.
I've seen The Nuge's message in a good light - Sarah Palin's, too - and, like Lem's, they're not aware Trayvon was America's fork in the road, and the culture has taken a turn without them.
Don't be shy, Dad Bones - nothing's changed but the vernacular:
They HATE when I do that,...
Isn't Lem a person of color? I know he is Dominican, but where does he think his ancestors came from and why they were brought there in chains. I believe Lem is so happy to have gained a level of acceptance and has been elevated in status as compared to when he commented at Althouse, that he allows his blog and himself to be manipulated by the Trooper York followers. Strange how most of the co bloggers are Troopers. I found it shameful that Freeman and PattyO did not speak up more when certain commenters there were been abused and bullied. Does one's humanity and morallity get squashed down in the face of the majority, even when the majority act in such a way that you would not consider moral , nor would you treat your friends that way or want to be treated in such a manner yourself? I think it was cowardice. I see so much moralistic speechifying at Lem's by some, while at the same time engaging in the abuse themselves and sometimes even initiating it.
ReplyDeleteYes, cowardice, or an aversion to getting involved or rubbernecking, or stirring the pot like Chickenlittle likes to do. I notice how certain posters are trying to dial down he vitriol, only to have Sixt Grit and President Mom Jeans and Trooper York take overe thread. I also noticed how Deborah almost left the blog due to Sixty Grit's behavior. They all derive each other, most of them seem to be simply following the lead of Trooper York. Even some o th intelligen ones who really should've seen hrough him by now.