Milwaukee Mob Attacks: Beatings, Looting (Video)

UPDATE, July 7, 2011: Response to Riverwest attack not Police Department's 'finest hour,' Flynn says
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It's taken a while for the police and the media to fully report on what happened in Milwaukee on the night of July 3rd and into the early morning hours of the 4th, but finally we're learning the extent of the crime and disorder.

At first, there was a definite effort to downplay the size of the mob and its thuggery.

Jeff Wagner writes:

Early in the morning of July 4th, a gang of approximately 50 teenagers looted a convenience store at the corner of North Avenue and Humboldt. Shortly afterwards, the mob attacked groups of people hanging out at Reservoir Park after the July 3rd fireworks.

A surveillance video shows the convenience store being looted. Televised interviews with victims of the attacks in the park confirm the wildings. Residents in the area say that the mob has been running around the Riverwest neighborhood for weeks.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary however, the Milwaukee Police Department says that reports of a "mob" are not accurate! Huh?

Chief Flynn seems to be saying: "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes and ears"? In this case, with all due respect to Chief Flynn, I think I'll believe the photographic evidence and eyewitness accounts.

Reality eventually has forced officials to acknowledge the truth.

A mob went on a criminal rampage in Riverwest. Innocent people were victimized.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Shaina Perry remembers the punch to her face, blood streaming from a cut over her eye, her backpack with her asthma inhaler, debit card and cell phone stolen and then the laughter.

"They just said 'Oh, white girl bleeds a lot," said Perry, 22, who was attacked at Kilbourn Reservoir Park over the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Though Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn noted Tuesday that crime is color blind, he called the Sunday night looting of a convenience store near the park and beatings of a group of people who had gone to the park disturbing, outrageous and barbaric.

Police would not go quite as far as others in connecting the events; Flynn said several youths "might" be involved in both.

"We're not going to let any group of individuals terrorize or bully any of our neighborhoods," said Flynn.

Perry was among several who were injured by a mob they said beat and robbed them and threw full beer bottles while making racial taunts. The injured were white; the attackers were African-American.

Store video of the BP station at E. North Ave. and N. Humboldt Blvd. shows the business being ransacked. A clerk at BP confirmed to the Journal Sentinel that he was busy waiting on customers when one or two people held the door open to let others rush in and steal snacks and candy.

Not far away, a group of 20 to 25 friends from Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood had gathered at the park shortly before midnight to watch some fireworks set off by a neighbor. In interviews with 11 people who said they were attacked or witnessed the attack, a larger group of youths appeared in another section of the park around midnight and were joined by more young people running up the park's stairs.

At some point the group of friends and the group of youths intersected; those interviewed said the attack appeared to be unprovoked.

"I saw people dancing and I figured they were just having a good time," said Jessica Bublitz, 28, who lives in Riverwest.

Minutes later Bublitz saw a male friend hit in the temple and fall down. Her fiancée told her to run to safety. James Zajackowski, 28, said things suddenly turned chaotic.

"Within 30 seconds to a minute, bottles were flying and people started getting punched. I was in shock. I thought 'Really? Is this really happening?' I was on the ground, people were trying to get into my pockets, I could feel their hands but I held on to my cell phone and my wallet," said Zajackowski, a census worker.

Emily Mowrer, 27, was not hurt but saw her friends beaten and punched and full beer bottles thrown at them. Her boyfriend was punched. She saw Perry lying down with blood on her face, not moving. She called 911 on her cell phone.

"I saw some of my friends on the ground getting beat pretty severely. They got away with one of my friend's bikes. Some people had their wallets stolen," said Mowrer, who owns a house with her boyfriend in Riverwest. "It didn't seem like it was a mugging - it seemed like an attack. Like they weren't after anything - just violence."

Good Lord!

Racial slurs?

Whites were beaten by blacks in totally unprovoked assaults.

"They just said 'Oh, white girl bleeds a lot.'"

These are hate crimes.

Calling Al Sharpton... Calling Jesse Jackson...

Crickets.

The police should not have misled the public as they originally did.

The public deserves to know the truth.

Perry needed three stitches to close a cut above her eye. She said she saw a friend getting kicked and when she walked up to ask what was happening a man punched her in the face.

"I heard laughing as they were beating everybody up. They were eating chips like it was a picnic," said Perry, a restaurant cashier. "All I remember is seeing bright lights (after the punch), then my backpack was gone and blood was spurting out of my head."

A police spokeswoman on Monday said police received no reports of mobs of people committing crimes in the Riverwest area other than the reports of two armed robberies.

At the Tuesday press conference, Flynn attempted to defuse reports that mobs of youth were running through the Riverwest neighborhood attacking citizens. However, he did admit that those responsible for the BP store looting and attacks at Kilbourn Reservoir Park had mob-like characteristics.

"Clearly we had mob-like behavior in the incidents involving the robberies at Reservoir Park as well as the ransacking of the BP station….Certainly we had elements of mob-like behavior that challenged us on July 3," said Flynn.

This wasn't "mob-like behavior." It was mob behavior.

Thugs terrorized innocents. There was a racial element in the attacks.

This is very troubling:

Most of the 11 people who told the Journal Sentinel they were attacked or witnessed the attacks on their friends said that police did not take their complaints seriously. They each said police responded to the scene very quickly and tended to the injured but officers did not take statements from them and told them to leave the area.

"You've got 20 plus people giving eyewitness accounts. I'm very surprised that they said it wasn't a mob," said Mowrer.

Lange said he told a police officer about the beatings but noticed the officer didn't write anything down or note his name. Bublitz tried to tell an officer that her three-speed bicycle had been stolen and that one of her friends was hurt but said the officer told her he was looking for evidence.

"About 20 of us stayed to give statements and make sure everyone was accounted for. The police wouldn't listen to us, they wouldn't take our names or statements. They told us to leave. It was completely infuriating," Bublitz said.

The police want cooperation from the public.

When victims are treated like this by officers, the police aren't doing what's necessary to build a good relationship with the community. They aren't doing their jobs, protecting the public.

I would have been horrified if I or a family member or a friend had been beaten and robbed and the crimes were dismissed by the police.

If the accounts by victims are accurate, the behavior of the police must be considered inexcusable, a dereliction of duty.

There are a number of issues that need to be addressed here.

---The thugs need to be apprehended and punished. At present, they are in control. Order must be restored.

---City officials must reassure the public that they will be protected and this criminal activity will not be tolerated.

---The police need to explain what the attempt to downplay the thugs' crimes was about.

---The police need to explain why they didn't take the victims' complaints seriously.

Here's raw video of Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn's news conference on the chaos, the rash of robberies and beatings, that took place after the July 3rd fireworks.

 

FOX 6 News has posted still photos of people from the Riverwest BP surveillance video here.

Help Milwaukee Police identify the people in these photos taken from gas station surveillance cameras. This gas station was looted by a mob of teenagers on July 3rd in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood. If you see someone you know, police want you to contact them at 414-933-4444. [These are people of interest NOT suspects]

I really hope decent people identify the individuals in these photos and contact police to give them the information they need to bring the thugs involved in the crimes to justice.

More video, from FOX 6 News:

 

 

Did the police try to cover up what happened because city officials didn't want to scare away visitors to Milwaukee?

Was there concern that reports of such random and such extreme lawlessness would hurt Summerfest and other events in the city?

I want to know why the public was kept in the dark about the attacks. It was an utterly irresponsible decision.

Who made the decision to mislead?
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UPDATE: Flynn defends police response to Riverwest beatings

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn dismissed accusations Wednesday that police tried to cover up or minimize the looting of a BP store near Reservoir Park and several beatings associated with robberies in the city's Riverwest neighborhood Sunday.

Police simply weren't fully informed when they responded to media inquiries Monday about the incidents, which led police to deny mob-like activity, he said.

"We were wrong," Flynn told reporters Wednesday. "There were reports that were filed that night… There was not an intent to do anything nefarious… I had the data. I didn't have the details. Nobody had reported it as a separate report."

Flynn said he and others in the department looked Monday at an online log of police activity in the neighborhood near the park. The log indicated there were three robberies but didn't include a mention of the beatings or mob-like behavior.

"Our initial reaction was 'OK, we had a series of robberies. We don't have any reports of mob-like activity.'" Flynn said.

...The full police reports include details about other crimes that happened at the time of the robberies, Flynn said. Once he and others read that information, they passed it along to the media, he said.

"It wasn't an attempt to downplay or minimize or deny the concern about what we ultimately learned," Flynn said.

Police Capt. Patrick Mitchell said Wednesday that police have reports from five victims in the incidents.

Flynn added Wednesday that the first priority for police at the scene of the beating Sunday had not been to make arrests, but to disperse the crowd and tend to victims.

"The priority is moving people along and treating the wounded," he said.

Making arrests would have taken much-needed police officers off the streets and away from the areas where they were needed, he said.

Nearly a dozen readers complained to the Journal Sentinel that officers didn't take reports, or took incomplete reports, from them after beatings. Flynn indicated the officers were outnumbered and didn't have time to get every detail from each person who approached them. He encouraged people who have additional details to contact district 5 at 935-7253.

"It's certainly plausible we missed victims," he said. "We have competing priorities. I'd love to have the details."

Flynn said he understands some victims might have been frustrated, but said officers did take reports of the robberies.

"I understand the frustration of some people who were involved . . . The situation wasn't as smooth and as calm as every victim might have liked," he said in an interview Wednesday on WTMJ-AM (620). "I do know by the end of that evening we made three separate robbery arrests. We did follow proper protocol in terms of having the reports done and the investigation commenced that night."

The chief said more witnesses had come forward since media published photos and video of the looting of the BP station.

OK.

So, Flynn says there wasn't any cover-up, nothing nefarious about the department's initial denial of the "mob" activity.

It was just incompetence apparently.

That's reassuring, isn't it?

Regarding the racial component:

[Flynn] also said it was important to challenge commentary in some blogs and reader comments on news stories that emphasize the race of the victims and suspects.

"We can't allow this activity to divide this community because ultimately, it's this community standing together that will identify these individuals and ultimately bring them to justice."

Facts are facts.

Yesterday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:

Perry was among several who were injured by a mob they said beat and robbed them and threw full beer bottles while making racial taunts. The injured were white; the attackers were African-American.

"The injured were white; the attackers were African-American."

Today, that sentence has been slightly altered:

"The injured people were white; the attackers were African-American, witnesses said."

So the facts become a little diluted. "Witnesses" claim the attackers were African-American.

The Journal Sentinel is no longer declaring that to be the case.

It should be noted that the racial element wasn't something conjured up by bloggers or commenters on online news articles, at least in the case of the Journal Sentinel.

That media outlet put out the racial information in a very clear manner in yesterday's report. There were no qualifiers.

Victims were white. Attackers were black. Period.

The Journal Sentinel should take responsibility for the information it relays to the public.

Flynn should acknowledge that the media cited the racial component.

(Flynn does admit that JSOnline brought up race in its reporting. Listen to Flynn address the matter, 620 WTMJ.)

I don't understand why stating someone's race divides the community.

There are responsible, law-abiding people and there are thugs.

Their skin color isn't the issue. Public safety is the issue.

However, let's not apply a double standard. If, as victims report, there were racial taunts during the beatings, it's wrong to dismiss that.

It certainly wouldn't be dismissed if the victims were black and the attackers were white.

Let's deal with the reality of the situation and not soften the hard facts.

We have to know the truth to solve the problem.

Hillary on SNL

Saturday Night Live started out with another Democrat debate skit.



Once again, Fred Armisen was Barack Obama and Amy Poehler was Hillary Clinton.

Darrell Hammond did a great Tim Russert and Will Forte played the too well-tanned Brian Williams.

Obama was treated with kid gloves by Russert and Williams. The moderators treated Hillary with hostility. In other words, it was quite true to life.

After the debate concluded, there was an "editorial response."

It was delivered by the real Hillary Clinton. The audience responded with enthusiastic cheers and applause.



Hillary began, "The scenes you just saw were a reenactment, sort of."

She also said, "I simply adore Amy's impression of me."

Hillary was speaking when Amy Poehler walked in. They exchanged compliments on each other's outfits. They were dressed alike.

Hillary told her, "I do want my earrings back."

When Poehler did the Hillary cackle, Hillary said, "Do I really laugh like that?"

Poehler hemmed and hawed.

Hillary said she was happy to be in New York. Naturally, she had the honor of saying, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night."

The politics didn't stop there.

Watch "The Obama Files."



Robert Smigel's cartoon featured Barack Obama. Obama was shown working to keep Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton at a distance. He had Jesse Jackson holed up in a broom closet and sent him off on a mission to Africa. Obama fitted Al Sharpton with a shock dog collar to keep him away.

After Jackson and Sharpton realized that Obama had "bamboozled" them, they plotted to get near Obama's podium by disguising themselves as podiums.

Although they failed and ended up going on Spring Break with Bill Clinton and Chuck Norris, they sold their story to the Wayans brothers. It was made into a movie, Podiums.

Imus Returns

Don Imus returns to radio this morning.

Imus and his new station, WABC-AM, aren't saying much about the format of the new show, although at least one black person will participate regularly, along with longtime news reader Charles McCord.

His premiere will be held at Town Hall in Times Square, where $100 tickets were sold to benefit the Imus Ranch for Kids With Cancer.

Imus' backers believe his comeback will be a successful one. They say he has paid his price for his mistake and learned his lesson.

"I don't have any doubt on his future," said Phil Boyce, WABC-AM program director. "He'll obviously be wiser, smarter and a bit more careful. He's learned from this. I'm not concerned that he'll have a repeat."

Imus' return won't impact me at all.

I did't listen to him before he was canned because of the "nappy-headed hos" controversy and I won't listen now.

Nonetheless, I am somewhat interested in Imus' reemergence.

Rising star among the Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee will be a guest. I suppose he figures that he's far more likely to benefit by the massive exposure he's sure to get by appearing on the debut show than he is to be hurt by associating with the disgraced Imus. Other guests include Dem attack dog James Carville and Levon Helm. The former member of The Band is slated to perform live.

Not everyone eagerly awaits Imus' return to the air.

There have already been some protests.

BOSTON -- A group of black community leaders angry with the decision to bring back Don Imus protested at WTKK-FM's office Friday, three days before the radio host returns to the airways after being fired for making racist and sexist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

"We as black men could not sit idly by while you reinstate an individual (Imus) who has insulted the black community and in particular black women," Sadiki Kambon, the director of The Black Community Information Center at Roxbury Community College said, speaking of the station. "Yes, we cannot stop the Imus return, but can express our anger at your decision, which in the very least is racist in nature."

...Kambon said his group would now would focus on asking companies to pull their advertisements off the station.

These leaders really hold a grudge, don't they?

I don't know how airing Imus' show can be considered racist.

Months ago, he made a really offensive remark. He apologized, profusely. He was fired.

I think he's earned a second chance.

Kambon's group should hold off on pressuring advertisers for the time being and at least wait until Imus makes his first slip up.

To appease those still troubled by the controversial remarks that led to his firing, Imus will have a sidekick aimed to soften the hard feelings.

NEW YORK -- The black sidekick joining shock jock Don Imus on his return to the airwaves today is an Oxford-educated Texas cowgirl whose career has ranged from broadcast journalism to stand-up comedy, sources told The Post.

Karith Foster, a Harlem resident who grew up outside Dallas, was brought on by Imus to ease tension stirred up by his racist comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team, which got him booted in April, sources said.

Foster was raised in upscale Plano, Texas, which she describes on her Web site as having “the ethnic diversity of a Klan rally."

...Despite her Texas roots, “I'm really a Jewish girl from Long Island trapped in this body, which technically makes me a JA-AP [Jewish African-American Princess]," she jokes on her Web site.

“So it's not ‘talk to the hand,' but ‘talk to the manicure.'"

Is Foster serving as his sidekick or as his monitor to keep him in line?

Whatever, WABC has determined that Imus has been rehabilitated and he's ready to reenter society.

I wonder if Al Sharpton agrees.

A More Nuanced Look at the Jena Six

Associated Press writer Todd Lewan offers a fair and balanced report on the Jena Six.

It defuses the emotions fueling the protests of the National Day of Action this past week with facts.

JENA, La. -- It's got all the elements of a Delta blues ballad from the days of Jim Crow: hangman's nooses dangling from a shade tree; a mysterious fire in the night; swift deliberations by a condemning, all-white jury.

And drawn by this story, which evokes the worst of a nightmarish past, they came by the thousands this past week to Jena, La. — to demand justice, to show strength, to beat back the forces of racism as did their parents and grandparents.

But there are many in Jena who say the tale of the "Jena Six" — the black teenagers who were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy for attacking a white classmate at Jena High School last December — is not as simple as all that.

Black and white, they say that in its repeated retelling — enhanced by omissions and alterations of fact — the story has taken on a life of its own. It has transformed a school-yard stomping into an international cause celebre, and those accused of participating in it into what one major Southern daily came to describe as "latter-day Scottsboro Boys."

And they say that while their town's race relations are not unblemished, this is not the cauldron of bigotry that has been depicted.

To Ben Reid, 61, who set down roots in Jena in 1957 and lived here throughout the civil rights era, "this whole thing ain't no downright, racial affair."

Reid, who is black, presently serves on the LaSalle Parish council. He reads the papers. He hears the talk outside of church on Sundays about how the Jena Six business is dividing his hometown down racial lines.

He doesn't buy it.

"You have good people here and bad people here, on both sides. This thing has been blown out of proportion. What we ought to do is sit down and talk this thing out, 'cause once all is said and done and you media folks leave, we're the ones who're going to have to live here."

Todd Lewan explains that the story of the Jena Six is not as black and white as the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and the lib media would have you believe.

Consider:

_The so-called "white tree" at Jena High, often reported to be the domain of only white students, was nothing of the sort, according to teachers and school administrators; students of all races, they say, congregated under it at one time or another.

_Two nooses — not three — were found dangling from the tree. Beyond being offensive to blacks, the nooses were cut down because black and white students "were playing with them, pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them," according to a black teacher who witnessed the scene.

_There was no connection between the September noose incident and December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes.

_The three youths accused of hanging the nooses were not suspended for just three days — they were isolated at an alternative school for about a month, and then given an in-school suspension for two weeks.

_The six-member jury that convicted Bell was, indeed, all white. However, only one in 10 people in LaSalle Parish is African American, and though black residents were selected randomly by computer and summoned for jury selection, none showed up.

The protesters and the media have not emphasized these points.

Most townsfolk, [Billy Wayne Fowler, a white school-board member,] says, interpreted the events of last year pretty much the same way — that a small minority of troublemakers, both black and white, got out of hand, and that the responses from authorities weren't always on the mark.

The boys who hung the nooses "probably should have been expelled," Fowler says, and the murder charges brought against the black teenagers were "too harsh, too severe."

Tommy Farris, 27, an oil driller, and his wife, Nikki, 29, a registered nurse, concur — to a point. "Those boys should have expelled," says Nikki, who is white. "It was no innocent prank. I think those boys knew what they were starting by hanging those nooses from a tree."

Tommy, who is black, agrees. But free the Jena Six?

"That's not going to happen," he says, adding that he thinks the black teenagers are being given a fair chance to defend themselves against the charges.

Johnny Wilkinson, 44, a platform officer on an oil rig, and his wife, Karen, a 47-year-old director of nurses at the local hospital, are, like many couples in town, wrestling with that question of fairness.

The noose hanging was wrong, say the Wilkinsons, who are white, and the boys who did it should have been more severely punished.

Still, "They knocked that boy out cold and were stomping on him," Johnny says. "They might have killed him. I believe punishment would have been measured the same way if it had been the opposite way around and six whites had attacked a black kid."

I agree with these residents of Jena. All involved deserve to be held accountable for their actions. They all are entitled to equal and appropriate treatment under the law.

I think it's wrong to distort facts to fit an agenda, and that's what seems to be happening in this case.

The "Free the Jena Six" movement became a circus, a carnival with funhouse mirrors.

That's unfortunate. Such distortions do a disservice to the real racial struggles of the past and the present.

Liberty and justice for all. Not liberty and justice for whites. Not liberty and justice for blacks.

Liberty and justice for all.

Racist, Threatening Signs at UWM

Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be swooping in to Milwaukee soon?

No.

Although there's an obvious racial element to this story, the intended victims are white.

WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE -- Threatening signs left at UW-Milwaukee bus stops have students and administrators concerned.

The signs threaten white, female UWM students saying "if you disrespect a black man on the number 30 bus you will get hurt and killed like Joe Munz." Munz is the UW-Milwaukee student robbed and killed last fall while delivering subs for Jimmy Johns.

UWM Administrator Tom Luljak says the signs were discovered sunday at three bus stops and removed immediately by campus police. He says several campus officers have been assigned to investigate the threats. Luljak tells Fox 6, "We are determined to find out what's behind it. Because in this day and age, certainly post Virginia Tech, we don't take anything lightly that would suggest that there could be a threat against our students."

Campus police are said to have several leads.

I wonder if Michael McGee the elder was spotted in the area.

The flyers sound like his work.

After all, he promised to get "naughty." McGee Jr. is still behind bars. Plus, he was forced to appear in court at his bail hearing yesterday wearing a jailhouse orange jumpsuit rather than civilian clothes.

I do feel sorry for the family and friends of Joe Munz. They've suffered such a horrible loss. For some jerk or jerks to use his name in a threat like this has to add to their pain.



This is certain: If the signs threatened to kill black women rather than white women, the national media would be all over this story.

Local race-baiter Eugene Kane would be drooling. He might be interviewing some imaginary miscreants again and publishing their words.

If black women were targeted, the signs might also be used by thugs as an excuse to pull innocent Milwaukee motorists from their cars and beat them Marcus Chisolm-style.

But since it's white women being threatened, this isn't a really big deal.

The Paris Hilton Technique

Want a "get out of jail free" card?

Warning: This doesn't work for everyone.

You have to be rich and famous.

You have to be spoiled and have a crew of people around you willing to make your problems go away.

And you need to be willing to skip a few meals.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Paris Hilton was let out of jail Thursday morning, days after she began serving what was to have been a 45-day sentence for violating probation, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Hilton must wear a monitoring bracelet and remain at her home for another 40 days, said sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Medical considerations "played a part" in the decision to offer Hilton home confinement for the remainder of her sentence, Whitmore said.

He said privacy rules prohibited him from giving details about the medical issues, but celebrity Web site TMZ.com earlier quoted sources saying Hilton was refusing to eat much of the jail food served her.

I've always considered Paris Hilton to be completely irrelevant, a frivolous goof not to be taken seriously.

She's a nobody who's somebody because our twisted, celebrity-obsessed culture tells us we should be interested in every move of the heiress.

She's made a career out of being...there.

Well, I don't think she's irrelevant anymore. Now, she matters.

I take her release from jail very seriously.

Hilton is the face of flaws in our justice system.

If Scooter Libby doesn't appeal his sentence successfully, perhaps he could turn up his nose at prison food.

Perhaps President Bush could pardon Libby based on human rights concerns.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Don't eat.

Possibly the most terrifying aspect of this is that I agree with Al Sharpton.

I'm scared.

Race-Baiter Sharpton

Al Sharpton a race-baiter?

WHAT???

You're kidding!!!

REALLY????

NEW YORK -- Don Imus' former producer on Friday called Rev. Al Sharpton a "race-baiter" who was looking for attention when he led a campaign to fire the radio host, while Sharpton said Imus and his producer got what they deserved for making a racist, sexist remark on the air.

Bernard McGuirk and Sharpton appeared together for a combative debate on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" show. The producer was fired last month for his part in an exchange on the "Imus in the Morning" program in which the members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team were called "nappy-headed hos."

...McGuirk called Sharpton a "crude ... opportunist, a race-baiter" who campaigned against Imus to help his own career and raise his profile.

While McGuirk acknowledged that "these words did hurt these girls," he added, "until you, Reverend Al, got involved, they probably never would have heard of it. They would have probably never, quote unquote, got scarred for life until you got involved for your own self-serving interests."

Sharpton said he wasn't looking for more attention — "if you have any recollection at all, I had been in the papers all year," he said. He said Imus and McGuirk may have apologized for the remark, but "forgiveness is not the point. The question is the penalty."

"Consumers have the right to say to advertisers, are your standards going to be where people are attacked based on your gender and race?" Sharpton said.

McGuirk countered that Sharpton "terrorized these spineless, thumbsucking executives" into taking Imus off the air. In an earlier appearance on "Hannity & Colmes," he said the executives "were in a fetal position under their desks sucking their thumbs on their BlackBerrys, trying to coordinate their response."

Sharpton responded: "What he is saying is we want to apologize and we want to decide what the penalty is." He said that most people wanted Imus fired, including a minister who arranged Imus' meeting with the Rutgers team, and many NBC employees.

I really don't understand why anyone pays attention to Al Sharpton.

He was discredited so long ago.

We're approaching the 20th anniversary of the Tawana Brawley case, when Sharpton made a national, albeit disgraced, name for himself. Prosecutor Steven Pagones successfully sued Sharpton for slander.

That should have been enough to destroy him, but Sharpton was just beginning to do damage.

After the Crown Heights riot in 1991, which left rabbinical student Yankel Rosenbaum dead, Sharpton didn't attempt to quell tensions. Instead, he incited more.

The man is an anti-Semite.

During the debate, McQuirk challenged Sharpton, "Who elected you the PC police chief? Who elected you to anything?"

Answer: NO ONE.

Sharpton is the pot calling the kettle black.

It's an embarrassment that Sharpton is considered by many to be a spokesman for the African-American community.

Racism: Abusers, Victims, and Apologies

Racism has been front and center as the nation debated issues of free speech and censorship, exploitation and empowerment, victimhood and responsibility.

There was so much finger-pointing. There were so many accusations, so many apologies, accepted and refused.

As the dust begins to settle a bit from the Don Imus controversy and the total exoneration of the Duke lacrosse players, it should be clear to everyone paying attention that some people have a vested interest in defining America as a racist, hostile place.

They promote victimhood. If you're not white, you're a victim. If you are white, you should feel guilty either for being an oppressor or for sharing the same skin color as the oppressors.

In The Washington Post today, Joe R. Hicks explains how destructive the victimhood mentality is, using Imus and the Duke case to illustrate his point.

Hicks writes:

What remains of the once-proud civil rights movement justifies its existence by contending -- despite widespread progress -- that black people continue to live marginalized and victimized lives. This oft-repeated theme was the base for the ugly stew that was the reaction to Imus's slur, and it was the operating theme for Nifong as he set about attempting to ruin the lives of three innocent men.

...The pattern of racial opportunism was well established by the time Imus offered his unsolicited comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team -- a team that recently competed in the NCAA championship game.

...Predictably -- like vultures awaiting the latest roadkill -- civil rights leaders began to clamor for Imus to be fired. To hell with sorry! The National Association of Black Journalists (I hate to be a pest, but shouldn't a group representing journalists take an objective stance?), along with Jackson, Sharpton and other black figures, turned aside Imus's repeated apologies. Protests were organized nationwide, often in front of CBS and NBC offices, and Imus took the risky step of appearing on Sharpton's radio show to ask forgiveness again, all for naught.

There is something surreal about someone like Imus prostrating himself before the likes of Jackson and Sharpton to save his job. The widespread assumption in corporate America is that these civil rights figures are "leaders" of the nation's black population. In reality, they have assumed this role through self-appointment and self-promotion.

...So, we are confronted with the specter of individuals who have little in the way of moral credibility, and have themselves made bigoted public comments (Jackson called New York "Hymietown" and Sharpton referred to Jews as "diamond merchants"), now presenting themselves as arbiters of public morality and good taste in broadcasting.

...This is more than just a double standard; it is an agenda of racial opportunism that promotes the view that blacks are powerless victims of white racism. In this view, blacks are always in need of government intervention to save them from white hostility.

This is the view that Nifong exploited in his narrow quest for political survival.

...As he prepared to run for reelection as Durham County district attorney last year, his victory was no sure thing. What elevated him from the pack of contenders was his aggressive stand on a developing case that was tailor-made for his purpose. An "exotic dancer" had said that she was raped after performing at a party thrown by members of the Duke lacrosse team. Because she is black and the three young men ultimately charged are white, the case soon became one of "racial justice." That, at least, was the view of the Durham County black community, which Nifong and the civil rights establishment soon exploited.

...[G]uilt for this attempted railroading must also be borne by the "progressive" political elements within the Duke University community who called for a full-speed-ahead prosecution -- damn the evidence.

...This strategy worked; he was reelected.

Hicks concludes that nothing constructive comes from playing the race card.

He believes that "figures such as Jackson and Sharpton, among others of their ilk, are dinosaurs fighting only to maintain a patina of relevance."

As comedian Bill Cosby has observed: "There are people that want you to remain in a hole, and they rejoice in your hopelessness because they have jobs mismanaging you. However, your job is not becoming victims. We have to rise up and fight on all levels to succeed."

Contrast Hicks' call to reject the racial opportunists and their promotion of perpetual victimhood with Eugene Kane's rationalization of the abuse of the three Duke lacrosse players.

Kane writes:

Walter Farrell, former professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has been a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for several years. In a phone conversation last week, he compared the dynamics surrounding the Duke rape case to his memories of Milwaukee.

Farrell, who lives in neighboring Chapel Hill, said he felt the case was an example of both class and race issues in the Durham community coming to a head.

"Blacks have no power (in Durham), similar to what's happening in Milwaukee," he said. "The only thing they do have impact on is elections."

That's important because the local district attorney, Mike Nifong, was the man who filed charges against the lacrosse players. He's also the guy now being accused of being a rogue prosecutor who pandered to the black community in Durham by bringing charges even as questions about the case lingered.

"It was very politicized," said Farrell, who noted Nifong was in the midst of a contested race for district attorney. "When he got the case, he violated a lot of procedures. He didn't turn over all the evidence."

Farrell said Jackson and Sharpton did come to Durham to show support for the accuser, but he placed most of the blame on Nifong.

"The guy went against the political leadership down here," Farrell said. "The legal community was behind his opponent, so he catered to the black vote."

Farrell said the context of the case had been distorted with mishandling by all parties. Although the three players were exonerated, he noted that other nagging issues remained, included reports of athletes using the N-word during the party and a threatening e-mail about the stripper party that had been largely ignored.

Farrell also questioned the swift resolution of the case.

"If the accuser lied under oath to the grand jury, why isn't she being charged?" he said.

Farrell and Kane buy into the blacks as victims mindset.

The rich and powerful whites are guilty of abuse, whether it's a prosecutor bent on winning an election or college guys at fault for having a stripper at a party and allegedly using racial slurs.

The point is this: "Blacks have no power."

Kane even attempts to throw doubt on the players' innocence.

At no time does he suggest that the stripper, Crystal Gail Mangum, bears any personal responsibility whatsoever for falsely crying RAPE.

That's a major omission.

In fact, he blames the students, a classic example of blaming the victim.

...The Duke lacrosse players might be innocent of rape, but a team that throws a party with strippers and sex toys can't be totally absolved of bad behavior or poor decision-making.

In many ways, they put themselves in a bad situation by attending the party.

If Mangum had been raped at the party, would Kane blame her for putting herself in a bad situation by working as a stripper?

No way.

In order of culpability from the powers that be, I think apologies should come from Nifong, the Durham criminal justice system, the media that rushed to judgment and from Duke University itself, which canceled the lacrosse team's season and suspended the players without due process. (A statement from Nifong did include an apology to the three Duke athletes.)

If the accuser's story was suspect from the beginning, that should have been addressed by the initial investigation.

It might feel better for some to blame Jesse and Al - or all black people - because they're still angry about the way Imus blew it. But, like Farrell, I think the most of the blame in the Duke case should be directed at the powerful forces in that community who dictated what happened to the students. And like it or not, questions still remain.

"I still think something happened," Farrell said. "But in the end it got so contaminated, it's hard to tell what the truth is."

There is no question that Nifong is at fault for groundlessly bringing charges of rape against Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans.

Equally groundless is the notion that the stripper Mangum is guiltless, and Sharpton and Jackson have a positive impact on the African American community and the country in general.

Nonetheless, Kane, Farrell, and the proponents of victimhood still want to believe that the three white students were the victimizers rather than the victims of an out of control prosecutor, a lying and possibly mentally ill woman, and a black community eager to assume the role of being helplessly and hopelessly abused by white America.

Tonight on 60 Minutes, North Carolina Attorney General Roy A. Cooper speaks out. Finnerty, Seligmann, and Evans also speak for the first time since all charges against them were dropped.

Cooper blasts Nifong.

He says contradictions in the accuser’s earlier statements clearly indicated that an attack never occurred, but neither Nifong nor his staff challenged her. "We don’t think that any of these tough questions were asked of her," says Cooper. What’s more, says Cooper, the accuser’s story continued to change as his investigators talked to her. "We started out knowing we had a problem…and the way it turned out, it was much worse than we thought." Cooper’s team also thought she was possibly inebriated. "Our investigative team who was to meet her that day believed that she was under the influence of something."

Among the new stories the accuser told was a fantastic account of the rape in which she contradicts the account she gave Nifong that led to him dropping rape charges back in December. "She was suspended in mid air and was being assaulted by all three of them in the bathroom," Cooper recalls the accuser saying. "And I’ve been in that bathroom and it was very difficult for me to see how that could have occurred." Cooper’s investigators were shocked by the situation. "A number of them said to me, 'I've never seen anything like this.' It was amazing how she could continue to tell different stories."

...Cooper says he used the word "innocent" to describe the three young men "because it wasn't a situation where it was just insufficient evidence… because what had gone on for so long was a tragedy. It should never have happened."

Why is it that Sharpton and Jackson and Kane and Farrell won't admit the reality that these white students were victimized by race baiting opportunists?

Could it be because they're race baiting opportunists?

It's shameful.

The Irony of Gore

It was over two decades ago when Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President and current global warming guru Al Gore, led the charge to get labels on albums to warn of objectionable content.

In recent days, the Don Imus controversy has sparked debate about the lyrical content of music, particularly rap.

An editorial in today's The Washington Post addresses the decency crisis and the responsibilities of free speech.

WHAT A NERVE radio shock jock Don Imus struck. His denigration last week of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" sparked protests that first cost him his deal with MSNBC and ultimately his perch at CBS Radio. But what Mr. Imus did is a symptom of a larger problem. And it didn't take long for the debate to move from his racist and misogynistic musings to gangsta rap, its artists and the record companies that have helped move hateful words and negative images of women and African Americans into the mainstream. Maybe now those who have been battling this for years will finally be heard.

The right to freely express one's views through art, music, writing and the spoken word is a jewel of American democracy. It is a right we cherish and will defend. But the right to express doesn't mean there is an obligation to consume. Degrading racist and sexist lyrics and images don't have to be celebrated and consumed. That's what led Tipper Gore more than 20 years ago to push for content-warning labels on record albums marketed to children.

When Mrs. Gore led that movement in 1985, it was in reaction to "Purple Rain" by Prince. Today, the lyrics of the songs on that album would seem quaint compared with the raunchy rhymes of rappers like 50 Cent ("P.I.M.P."), DMX ("My Niggas") Lil' Kim ("Shut Up Bitch") and Ludacris ("Ho").

...The common use of racist language and negative images of women, African American women in particular, won't end if those with the power to effect change sit on the sidelines. The late C. Delores Tucker railed against rap's misogyny. The Rev. Calvin Butts of New York used to bulldoze rap CDs on a Harlem street to protest their lyrics and lurid images of black life. And the Rev. Al Sharpton, who led the campaign to fire Mr. Imus, has spoken out repeatedly about this. If anything positive is to come from ending Mr. Imus's 30-plus-year-radio career, the revulsion at his comment will extend to the gangsta-rap artists and their record companies.

The Post tries to appear to be consistent. Even the libs at The Post realize that they cannot simply ignore the "common use of racist language and negative images of women, African American women in particular" that permeates rap while expressing outrage at Imus.

It would be too glaringly hypocritical.

That brings us to Al Gore. He doesn't seem to have a problem with enlisting some rap artists for his LIVE EARTH global warming consciousness-raising concerts. Gore is implicitly endorsing the racism and sexism in their music. A little awkward, isn't it?

I wonder if Tipper knows that Ludacris, one of her targets, is on the bill at Giants Stadium.

Read the lyrics to Ludacris' "Ho."

(WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT.)

[Chorus]
Hooooooooo (Ho)
Youza Hoooooo (Ho)
Youza Hoooooo (Ho)
I said that youza hooooo (Ho)
[Repeat 1x]

[Ludacris]
You doin ho activities
With ho tendencies
Hos are your friends, hoes are your enemies
With ho energy to do whacha do
Blew whacha blew
Screw whacha screw
Yall professional like DJ Clue, pullin on my coat tail
an why do you think you take a ho to a hotel?
Hotel everybody, even the mayor
Reach up in tha sky for tha hozone laya
Come on playa once a ho always
And hos never close they open like hallways
An heres a ho cake for you whole ho crew
an everybody wants some cuz hoes gotta eat too

[chorus x2]

[Ludacris]
Cant turn a ho into a housewife
Hos dont act right
Theres hos on a mission, an hoes on a crackpipe
Hey ho how ya doin, where ya been?
Prolly doin ho stuff cuz there you ho again
Its a ho wide world, that we livin in
feline, feminine, fantastical, women
Not all, just some
You ho who you are
Theres hoes in tha room, theres hoes in tha car
theres hoes on stage, theres hoes by tha bar
hos by near, an hos by far
Ho! (But can i getta ride?!)
NO! (Cmon, nigga why?!)
Cuz youza

[chorus 2x]

[Ludacris]
You gotta run in your pantyhos
Even your daddy knows
that you suckin down chocolate like daddy-o's
You hos are horrible, horrendous
On taxes ya'll writin off hos as dependents
I see tha ho risin
it aint surprisin
its just a hoasis
with ugly chicks faces
but hos dont feel so sad and blue
cuz most of us niggaz is hos too

[chorus x2]

(Ho)
Muthafuckas im so tired of yall niggaz always talkin
bout hos this, hos that, you tha muthafuckin ho nigga
I wasnt no ho last night

(Pimp)
Ho, bring yo ass!

(Ho)
Ok, hold on

Has Tipper loosened up over the years?

Are the concerts going to be adult affairs and not meant to be viewed by children?

I guess it might be necessary to have a warning accompany Gore's LIVE EARTH concerts.

This is not good.

It's possible that Gore's global environmental nightmare message is in danger of being upstaged by racist, sexist, obscene music.

Maybe Al Sharpton will lead the campaign against Gore to clean up his lineup and ditch the offensive rappers. At the very least, he should demand that they perform something positive, something Tipper would enjoy.

The Post should write an editorial sending Gore the same message -- clean up the lineup.

After all, this is just the beginning, right?

Imus: CBS Blinks

OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER!

Don Imus is off the air.

NBC and CBS didn't just give Imus the axe; they put him through the wood chipper.

It didn't take long for both networks to fold under pressure from their liberal brethren.

(Before I continue, I have to qualify my comments.

I think Imus' remark about the women of the Rutgers basketball team was racist, offensive, inappropriate, ugly, wrong, etc. I'm not excusing his behavior in any way. I'm not in Imus' corner.)

Imus was fired for what he said. That's the prerogative of his employers. I have no problem with that.

However, I am uncomfortable with the circus of his dismissal.

This has really been a bizarre episode, a made-for-TV, 24 hour news cycle, runaway train.

From The New York Times:

CBS brought a weeklong confrontation over a racial and sexual insult by the radio host Don Imus to an end yesterday when it canceled the “Imus in the Morning” program, effective immediately.

The move came a day after the cable television network MSNBC, a General Electric unit that has simulcast Mr. Imus’s radio program for the last 10 years, removed the show from its morning lineup. The two moves, taken together, mean that Mr. Imus, who has been broadcasting the program for more than 30 years, no longer has a home on either national radio or television.

It is possible, though, that he could re-emerge on satellite radio.

Mr. Imus received the news at home in a telephone call. Many of his listeners learned of it during the afternoon radio show “Mike and the Mad Dog,” which announced it on WFAN, the CBS-owned New York station that also carried Mr. Imus’s program.

How dramatic!

Imus was at home when the dreaded phone call came.

The Times can do better than that. We need more details.

What was Imus wearing when he heard the news?

The CBS chief executive, Leslie Moonves, met yesterday afternoon with the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, leaders in what became a national movement to remove Mr. Imus from the air in the wake of his comments disparaging members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team. On April 4, Mr. Imus referred on the air to the Rutgers athletes as “nappy-headed hos.”

Both CBS and MSNBC had been under pressure from black leaders and women’s groups, then advertisers began abandoning the Imus program and its networks this week, pulling out the financial underpinnings from the show.

In a statement, Mr. Moonves said: “Those who have spoken with us the last few days represent people of good will from all segments of our society — all races, economic groups, men and women alike. In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society.”

He went on to say, “That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision, as have the many e-mails, phone calls and personal discussions we have had with our colleagues across the CBS Corporation and our many other constituencies.”

What the best-dressed disgruntled radio personalities are wearing

Les Moonves really is a joke.

His statement is such a load!

Since when did CBS start caring about "the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society"?

It's been a relatively recent development, like within the last 48 hours.

I don't like the way these network executives are betraying Imus.

They promoted him. They profited from him. They used him to push their on-air personalities.

Same goes for all the elected officials that suddenly have decided that Imus is unfit to be in their presence.

Moonves' comments on the effect of racist language on young people are so hypocritical.

Suddenly, he's developed a social conscience?

I don't think so.

The CBS decision came hours before Mr. Imus and the Rutgers basketball team met at the New Jersey governor’s mansion in Princeton. The Rutgers group at the meeting included some parents, university adminstrators, and the Rev. DeForest Soaries of the First Baptist Church in Somerset, N.J., where the Rutgers head coach, C. Vivian Stringer, is a parishioner.

At 10:50 p.m., after three hours, Mr. Imus left without commenting. The Rutgers group stayed about an hour longer. Ms. Stringer spoke for the group before leaving.

“It was a very productive meeting,” she said. “Players, coaches, parents, administrators, the pastor, and Mr. Imus were able to really dialogue. I’m extremely proud of our 10 young basketball players.”

Asked if Mr. Imus apologized, Ms. Stringer declined to answer. “We’ve said as much as we can say tonight.”

Good grief.

What is this? The Camp David Accords?

Was Jimmy Carter at the meeting? Does anyone know?

Again, Imus said something extremely offensive. He certainly should apologize and be held accountable. If his employers think firing him is a proper response, fine. Whatever.

I just think this incident has ballooned into an absolute farce.

I think it's frightening that NBC and CBS are willing to kowtow to the likes of anti-Semitic Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

When did they become the arbiters of decency?

I'm not too comfortable with Sharpton and Jackson being able to snap their fingers and get networks and their sponsors to buckle.

I'm reminded of all the libs who demonized John Ashcroft as the worst threat to our civil liberties since George III.

Are Sharpton and Jackson guardians of our civil liberties?

I don't see them in that role.

Let me say again, I'm totally against the degrading discourse of Imus.

But, I'm also against punishment meted out unfairly.

Clean up the airwaves. That's fine with me.

Step one would be targeting the radio stations and cable stations that give air time to "artists" that use racist and sexist lyrics in their songs and imagery in their videos.

I know that's been said frequently the past couple of days, but it's a valid point.

If we're taking out the trash, let's take out ALL the trash.

Something else that bothers me about the Imus incident is what some with the Rutgers team are saying.

Thursday, Oprah Winfrey had the team as her guests.

I didn't see the show. That's right. I don't watch Oprah. And I didn't watch or listen to Imus.

I did read this quote from basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer in a report mentioning the team's Oprah appearance:

"Not only did he steal our dreams, he hurt our character of Rutgers University, our state, and all who have been associated," Stringer said on the show.

Really?

Imus stole their dreams?

How can that be?

I honestly don't get it.

I understand how painful his words would have been. They were cruel and degrading and hateful.

I do not accept the premise that Imus did irreparable damage to the players, Rutgers University, the state of New Jersey, and everyone associated.

More than anything else, Imus' racist remark was SELF-destructive.

Time to get a grip.

Sharpton's McCarthyism

Al Sharpton is on a crusade.

He has appointed himself judge and jury of threats to American society. Sharpton is the new arbiter, the ultimate authority.

Since he flexed his muscles and was victorious in getting MSNBC to axe Don Imus, he vows to determine what is suitable for public airing.

It seems that he plans an all-out purge.

From The Jawa Report:

"It is our feeling that this is only the beginning.... We must have a broad discussion on what is permitted and not permitted in terms of the airwaves."

Yesterday, referring to NBC and CBS, Sharpton said, "When you look at the symbols of both stations, tonight the peacock spread its wings correctly. I want to know what the eye in the middle of the CBS emblem is looking at."

This morning he said, "This must be a walk that CBS does now."

I wonder. Is everything cool at ABC? Sharpton isn't just talking about Imus anymore. The struggle is much broader than one offensive old man.

He's just getting started. So many bigots, so little time.

I have to contact Sharpton immediately. There's someone he needs to know about.

There's a racist, anti-Semitic, bilge-spilling, violence-inciting radio talk show host on the air in Milwaukee -- Michael McGee on WNOV-AM (860).

McGee is a former Milwaukee alderman, a community leader. Yes, the man was elected to serve in public office.

McGee's son is a chip off the old block. Michael McGee, Jr. is currently a Milwaukee alderman. In fact, last week McGee the younger won a recall election in a landslide.

Sharpton really needs to listen to McGee, Sr.'s program "Word Warriors."

I must send this Spivak and Bice column to Sharpton.

Less than 24 hours after his son, Ald. Mike McGee, was arrested in a courtroom, accused of threatening his former girlfriend, his father was on the air offering up a smorgasbord of anti-Semitism, threats of violence against the city of Milwaukee and rants about the difficulty of growing up McGee.

What can you say? Like son, like father.

First off, the elder McGee started with a little humor, if you can call it that.

"Look, I have a joke for you - well, not really a joke," said a female caller. "But what (does) July mean?"

"What do July mean?" replied the commander (McGee, Sr.). "The Jews lie."

Caller: "Uh-uh, and what do picnic mean?"

Commander: "Picnic mean, pick a (n-word)."

(This is a reference to a bogus Internet story about the origins of the word picnic.)

Caller: "There you go. Y'all have a good day."

And that was just the warm-up.

The next caller, as did many others, offered words of support to the McGee clan in the wake of the alderman's arrest.

The younger McGee left a Milwaukee County courtroom in handcuffs last week after he was accused of saying to his former girlfriend Kimley Rucker, "If you drive by my house, I'm going to kill your ass." McGee is accused of making the comment after the judge tossed McGee's restraining order against Rucker, who says she is pregnant with his child.

The caller told the elder McGee that she was praying for his family.

"It's not only at the police station," the woman said. "I work at the post office; it's just as bad with this racism. And we need to do something about it because it stinks. It's just like doo-doo - it stinks."

You may wonder how someone like this is able to stay on the air.

Why hasn't someone like Sharpton demanded that McGee be fired?

I don't know.

The remark launched McGee into a tirade reminiscent of his days on the Common Council, when nobody knew just what outrageous comment or threat might come out of his mouth. Remember how, back in 1990, McGee pledged to revive the Black Panther Militia in Milwaukee and threatened organized violence if conditions for blacks in the city did not improve?

On Thursday, he was voicing some more obscure but ominous threats of violence.

"Well, you know, in terms of the McGee family, I'm really tired of them, you know, taking every opportunity they can to slander our family. But, in fact, I feel like sometime my Vietnam syndrome is gonna take over, and I'm gonna go down there and mess up a bunch of 'em. So they better watch out, that's for sure. And that ain't no threat. That's a promise."

Ooh. Scary.

McGee is very much like Al Sharpton, a pot calling the kettle black. Like Sharpton, McGee's methods are as ugly as the ugliness he claims to rail against.

We know that Sharpton isn't held accountable for his lies and slurs. How does McGee manage to get away with his offensive, anti-Semitic rants?

Simple. According to Jerrel Jones, WNOV CEO/president, people like him.

..."McGee's program - it keeps us in the game," Jones said of the small radio station that targets the black community. "As long as he stays legal, I don't really have a problem."

Jones said the ethnic slurs and threats uttered by McGee should not be voiced on air. "Absolutely not, absolutely not," he said.

..."My job is audience. He's got a lot of people who like him."

McGee may keep WNOV in the game, but don't standards of decency matter?

Is it always all about money?

I guess.

Anyway, if Sharpton is SINCERELY concerned about the level of discourse on the airwaves in this country, he must scrutinize McGee's radio show.

He won't.

We appear to be entering a new era, the era of Sharptonism.


Let the witch hunt begin.

The Duke Lacrosse Case: NEVERMIND

Crystal Gail Mangum (Photo/Drudge)

I am so glad that Drudge slapped this photo on his site. For over a year, we've seen the faces of the alleged rapists. Now, it's time to see the face of the accuser.

I want Al Sharpton to get Mike Nifong and Crystal Gail Mangum to come on his radio program. I want Sharpton to browbeat Nifong and Mangum, insist that they issue apologies. After he does, I want Sharpton to insist that apologies aren't enough.

I want Jesse Jackson to stage a protest.

I want Matt Lauer to grill Nifong and Mangum on the Today show.

I want Julian Bond to demand that Nifong never practice law again and that charges be brought against Mangum.

Yesterday, from ABC News:

The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will announce that he is dismissing all charges against three Duke Lacrosse players, ABC News has learned from sources close to the case.

The three players, Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty, were facing charges of first degree kidnapping and first degree forcible sexual offense. The charges stem from an off-campus party on the night of March 13, 2006.

...Special prosecutors from the Attorney General's office took over the case after Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong recused himself in January, citing charges of unethical conduct filed against him by the North Carolina Bar. Since then, Jim Coman and Mary Winstead have examined the case from scratch, interviewing key witnesses and working through reams of evidence.

The reasons that will be cited for the dismissal are not yet known, though the case has been riddled with criticism and colored by controversy since its early months.

...On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General confirmed to ABC News that his office had completed its investigation into the Duke lacrosse case. A press conference on the outcome of their inquiry is widely expected sometime this week, though members of that office have not yet revealed a date and time.

The press conference was this afternoon.

Read details.

Do you think that Reade Seligmann, David Evans, and Collin Finnerty deserve an apology?

I do.

A lot of people need to apologize to them and their families.

Mike Nifong, Duke University, the "88" Duke University professors, and all the race-baiting idiots that convicted these young men and declared them guilty before their cases went to trial should apologize.

Oh, yes. And Crystal Gail Mangum, the woman who accused them of RAPE. She should apologize.

Think of what Seligmann, Evans, and Finnerty have been through.

Think of how Nifong exploited them, dragging their good names through the mud, for personal political gain.

Think of how Mangum lied.

It's truly sickening.

Let's get some perspective.

The nation has obsessed over the Imus thing and the horror that the Rutgers team endured. The outrage over Imus' remarks has reached a boiling point.

What about the horror that the Duke lacrosse team endured?

Will similar media attention be given to the Duke case and the travesty of justice?

Nifong didn't just blurt out a racial slur. He made a conscious calculation to bring rape charges against Seligmann, Evans, and Finnerty. RAPE!

And Mangum chose to lie and cry "RAPE." Thankfully, she's not a good liar.

Now what?

I don't think "sorry" is going to cut it.

An apology is inadequate in this case.

This makes the magnitude of the Imus uproar seem a bit silly, particularly since Imus has been spewing garbage with impunity FOR YEARS and he's been propped up by lib media personalities and lib politicians FOR YEARS.

If you're looking for something to be outraged about, get outraged over the abuse of the legal system by a prosecutor run amok, a woman with a warped conscience, and the exploitation of innocent citizens.
_____________________________

VINDICATED

"There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a blistering assessment of Durham County District Mike Nifong's handling of the case.

North Carolina's top prosecutor dropped all charges Wednesday against the three former Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party, saying the athletes were innocent victims of a "tragic rush to accuse" by an overreaching district attorney.

"There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a damning assessment of Durham County District Mike Nifong's handling of the sensational, racially charged case. "In the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly."

Cooper, who took over the case in January after Nifong was charged with ethics violations that could get him disbarred, said his own investigation "led us to the conclusion that no attack occurred."

"I think a lot of people owe a lot of apologies to a lot of people," Cooper said in a news conference held before dozens of reporters in the press room at the arena where Raleigh's NHL team plays.

This kills me:

At an often-bitter, I-told-you-so news conference with the three young men and their families, defense attorney Joe Cheshire accused the media of portraying the athletes as criminals, and said: "We're angry, very angry. But we're very relieved."

OF COURSE THEY'RE BITTER AND ANGRY.

WHO WOULDN'T BE?

It's pretty slimy of the reporter, Aaron Beard, to take that jab at the victims.

I guess Beard can't handle the fact that "I-told-you-so" remarks were in order. He apparently has problems with the realities of false accusations of RAPE and prosecutorial abuse.

Insincerity: The Imus Suspension

Radio talk-show host Don Imus speaks with Rev. Al Sharpton (not pictured) during Sharpton's radio show, in New York, April 9, 2007. (REUTERS/Chip East)

The lib media are so weird.

What's the big story right now? Don Imus.

Iran, Iraq, Election 2008 -- those stories are taking a backseat to the morning talk show host.

The Imus controversy is being promoted like it's the latest reality show.

In the grand scheme of things, who cares about Don Imus?

I don't.

In the minute scheme of things, I don't care about him.

I don't listen to his show, but I know he stepped over the line and used a racial slur.

Imus made his remark the day after the Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, lost the NCAA women's championship game to Tennessee. He was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk and said "that's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos ..."

"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.

In my opinion, what he said was highly objectionable.

It's a popular opinion, shared by many.

On Monday, Imus apologized for his racist remark, was browbeaten by Al Sharpton,and received a two week suspension starting next Monday.

OK. Whatever.

Enough already.

This is Entertainment Tonight, People magazine stuff. Taken at face value, it's not a major story. Imus is receiving a ridiculously disproportionate amount of attention.

NEW YORK -- Don Imus' morning talk show will be suspended from CBS Radio and MSNBC for two weeks following protests about his reference to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos," both networks said Monday.

MSNBC, which telecasts the radio show, said Imus' expressions of regret and embarrassment, coupled with his stated dedication to changing the show's discourse, made it believe suspension was the appropriate response.

"Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word," the network said.

The suspension begins next Monday.

Imus, who has made a career of cranky insults in the morning, was fighting for his job following the joke that by his own admission went "way too far." He continued to apologize Monday, both on his show and on a syndicated radio program hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is among several black leaders demanding his ouster.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said that Imus' suspensions would not halt the protests.

"This is a two-week cooling off period," Jackson said. "It does not challenge the character of the show, its political impact, or the impact that these comments have had on our society."

Imus could be in real danger if the outcry causes advertisers to shy away from him, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio. The National Organization for Women is also seeking Imus' ouster.

...Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP board of directors, said it is "past time his employers took him off the air."

Imus was mostly contrite in his appearance with Sharpton, although the activist did not change his opinion that Imus should lose his job. At one point Imus seemed incredulous at Sharpton's suggestion that he might walk away from the incident unscathed.

"Unscathed?" Imus said. "How do you think I'm unscathed by this? Don't you think I'm humiliated?"

I'm not defending Imus.

I can't boycott him because I'm not one of the few that make up his insignificant audience. The guy is not entertaining. He's annoying.

If Imus got the axe, I wouldn't consider it a loss. I wouldn't know the difference.

All the usual suspects are lining up to condemn Imus -- Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Julian Bond.

As ugly as Imus' remarks were, I don't think Jackson, Sharpton, Bond, and other hypocrites should be casting stones.

Jackson and Sharpton are anti-Semites.

Where does anti-Semite Jackson get off leading protests against Imus?


The Rev. Jesse Jackson leads a protest outside Chicago's NBC Studios Monday, April 9, 2007, calling for the firing of radio talk show host Don Imus for his offensive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Time for another Jackson boycott, I guess. Nevermind that Jesse Jackson, moral leader, called Jews "Hymie" and New York City "Hymie-town."

And Al Sharpton, another moral leader, referred to Jews as "diamond merchants."

Recall this incident:

In 1991, Sharpton turned the death of a black child in a traffic accident in Brooklyn, involving a Hasidic Jew, into a racial incident. Sharpton led 400 protesters through the Jewish section of Crown Heights. There were four nights of rock- and bottle-throwing, and a young Talmudic scholar was surrounded by a mob shouting, "Kill the Jew," and was stabbed to death.

In spite of Sharpton inciting riots and spewing hateful rhetoric, he took a holier-than-thou stance on his radio show when he publicly flogged Imus.

Read the transcript here.

Sharpton is demanding that Imus resign.

And what did Sharpton do after his anti-Semitic outbursts? Instead of begging forgiveness, he ran for the Dem nomination for president!


Rev. Al Sharpton listens to a caller on his radio show as he and radio personality Don Imus appear face-to-face on the program, in New York Monday April 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)


Apparently, the "reverend" Jackson and the "reverend" Sharpton only believe in forgiveness for themselves.

Like Sharpton, Julian Bond wants Imus canned. What a hypocrite! The chairman of the NAACP is an absolute disgrace.

Here's a sampling of a few of his choice comments:

Civil rights activist and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a blistering partisan speech at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina last night, equating the Republican Party with the Nazi Party and characterizing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, as tokens.

"The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side," he charged.

Calling President Bush a liar, Bond told the audience at the historically black institution that this White House's lies are more serious than the lies of his predecessor's because Clinton's lies didn't kill people.

...He referred to former Attorney General John Ashcroft as J. Edgar Ashcroft. He compared Bush's judicial nominees to the Taliban.

...In July 2001, Bond said, "[Bush] has selected nominees from the Taliban wing of American politics, appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing, and chosen Cabinet officials whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection."

Bond can't claim any moral high ground.

This whole thing has become a joke, a media circus. Someone call in Judge Larry Seidlin. At this point, he's about all that's missing from the Imus saga.

I think everyone involved is exploiting the matter.

It's like a contrived event, a staged publicity stunt by media whores.

Imus, Jackson, Sharpton, and Bond are all getting exactly what they want -- attention.

MSNBC may get a bump, temporarily of course, from all the press.

Imus' apology tour is just goofy. The posturing by his critics is embarrassing.

What's missing from all the professed outrage and Imus' repeated apologies is sincerity.

I believe that Imus truly regrets his statement and I believe that people were genuinely offended.

So apologize and move on.

If you don't want to support Imus, then turn him off. Don't listen to CBS radio. Don't watch MSNBC. Don't watch NBC, either.

During primetime on Monday, NBC was hoping to capitalize on the controversy du jour by plugging an EXCLUSIVE Today show interview with Imus scheduled for Tuesday morning.

How many exclusive interviews is Imus planning on doing?

It's ridiculous.

When I think of all the horrible, slanderous things that come out of Rosie O'Donnell's mouth, I wonder why people don't demand that she be fired.

Perhaps the people that are offended by O'Donnell's daily stupidity are able to deal with her vitriol by taking a different approach to make her stop.

They seem to understand how to use the TV remote.
_____________________________

After seeing Imus with Matt Lauer and Al Sharpton on Today this morning, I'm convinced that all parties involved are milking this for personal profit.

The double standard at play, Imus' offensive remarks compared to Sharpton's drivel, is so glaring that the debate between the two men over the matter has no credibility.

The Imus remark has snowballed into this huge deal.

While it's valid to debate standards of decency on the air waves, this story has spun out of control.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Al Roker says it's time for Imus to go.

The strikingly hypocritical Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board, defender of racist radio personality Michael McGee, Sr., says the same thing -- time for the curtain to come down on Imus.

Spivak and Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel give a taste of some of the most flat-out racist, anti-Semitic, violent bilge on the air.

Every so often, you just have to turn on ex-Ald. Michael McGee's "Word Warriors" radio show on WNOV-AM (860) to hear what the self-proclaimed commander is spewing.

Thursday morning was one of those days.

Less than 24 hours after his son, Ald. Mike McGee, was arrested in a courtroom, accused of threatening his former girlfriend, his father was on the air offering up a smorgasbord of anti-Semitism, threats of violence against the city of Milwaukee and rants about the difficulty of growing up McGee.

...First off, the elder McGee started with a little humor, if you can call it that.

"Look, I have a joke for you - well, not really a joke," said a female caller. "But what (does) July mean?"

"What do July mean?" replied the commander. "The Jews lie."

Caller: "Uh-uh, and what do picnic mean?"

Commander: "Picnic mean, pick a (n-word)."

(This is a reference to a bogus Internet story about the origins of the word picnic.)

Caller: "There you go. Y'all have a good day."

Again, I want to make it clear that I'm not defending Imus' offensive remark.

It's also clear that the way this entire incident is playing out is drowning in hypocrisy.

There's a lot of shame to go around. Many apologies, for past and present sins, are in order.
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Michael Richards at the Trough

Kramer: It's a Festivus miracle.


Life is good for Michael Richards.

Seinfeld was on the air for nine seasons.

I wonder how many people, even regular viewers of the show, knew the name of the actor who played "Kramer."

My guess is relatively few.

It took an out of control racist rant and a massive PR effort to get his real name plastered everywhere, but Richards now has an identity beyond "Kramer."

Richards continues to feed at the publicity trough.

He's not a has-been anymore, condemned to spend eternity in a "Kramer" limbo.

He's joined the ranks of the infamous and bizarre. And he didn't have to go on The View while drunk or go without underwear and willingly submit to crotch photographs.

Don't you think it's weird that our society rewards people for behaving badly?

I do.

The Kramer, I mean Richards, saga continues:

LOS ANGELES -- Michael Richards will apologize in person to the four black men he targeted in a tirade of racial slurs during a recent comedy club performance.

A retired judge will mediate the meeting and determine whether he should take any other action to resolve the matter, Richards' spokesman and an attorney for the men said Friday.

A cash settlement could be part of the resolution, said Howard J. Rubenstein, who represents Richards.

"My client Michael hopes to put it behind him," Rubenstein said.

A time and place for the meeting has not been set.

Rubenstein complimented attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the four comedy club patrons, for recommending the meeting.

Allred said Richards should meet with her clients "to hear the pain that he inflicted on them and to apologize to them."

What is with this "retired judge" stuff?

I don't get it.

Why must the judge be retired?

What is that about?

From the first that I heard of Allred's plan to have a meeting before a retire judge, I've thought it was crazy.

If Allred and her clients want to file suit, then they should file suit in a court of law.

This "Judge Judy"-type route seems like such a stunt.

A friend of mine predicts that the intent is to tape the proceedings and sell it.

It's possible.

While I think the four "damaged" men are shaking down Kramer, I mean Richards, it seems to me that everyone involved seem to be enjoying themselves.

Everyone wins.

Jesse Jackson gets what he lives for -- media attention.

Al Sharpton gets the same -- media attention.

Gloria Allred gets what she loves -- media attention.

Michael Richards gets what he's after -- media attention.

Kyle Doss, Frank McBride, and the other two victims may get what they want -- money.

And to top it off -- Sales of Seinfeld Season 7 are through the roof.

America -- The Land of Opportunity.