Chris Matthews Goes Off on RNC Chairman
Elongated Thoughts: The TV host angrily called out racially coded attacks on Obama.
(The Root) -- This morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, made an appearance to promote the Republican National Convention.
MSNBC host Chris Matthews was also on set.
This little exchange went down.
Twitter exploded. I screamed in my house. I realized that I hadn't seen anyone go directly at such a high-ranking official of the Republican Party. While the rest of the Morning Joe team sat by and tried to calm Matthews down, many of us at home felt a catharsis. Finally! Someone was bringing these issues to Priebus' face.
I've spoken numerous times on this blog about the blatant racialized language that's come from the GOP, but it often feels as if I'm screaming into the void. Until mainstream news media take up the battle over the language of the campaigns and their relation to people of color, it won't change. As problematic as Matthews has been in the past and probably will continue to be -- on this day I raise my glass and toast the only person on that set who had the decency to speak up.
Cheers, Chris Matthews. And yes, I do drink at 8 o'clock in the morning. Have you been reading this blog? Things are crazy, son.
Elon James White is a writer and satirist and host of the award-winning video and radio series This Week in Blackness. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.
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Democrats Mock Romney's 'Do-Over'
Elongated Thoughts: The "Etch A Sketch candidate" seeks to reimagine himself at the GOP convention.
(The Root) -- The GOP convention will soon kick off. Apparently the Democrats wanted to take advantage of what it represents.
Enter the Do-Over.
I have only one response to that.
Elon James White is a writer and satirist and host of the award-winning video and radio series This Week in Blackness. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.
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This Week in Blackness 2.0: Romney, Birther Jokes and 'Other'
Elongated Thoughts: When the presumptive Republican nominee jokes about Obama's legitimacy as president, what are we supposed to think?
(The Root) -- On Friday, Aug. 24, Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican candidate, decided to spice up his stump speech with an off-the-cuff joke.
A birther joke.
I decided to weigh in on the subject in the latest episode of This Week in Blackness.
Elon James White is a writer and satirist and host of the award-winning video and radio series This Week in Blackness. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
There's No Such Thing as an Abortion Extremist
Elongated Thoughts: A new op-ed makes claims about Barack Obama that can't possibly be true.
(The Root) -- National Review Editor Rich Lowry has penned an op-ed at Politico titled "Barack Obama the Abortion Extremist." The headline jumped out of me because of its hyperbolic nature. An abortion extremist?
What the heck is an abortion extremist? According to Lowry:
From a strictly down-the-middle, neutral perspective, if one side of a debate is "extreme," the opposite and countervailing side is equally "extreme." It would never even occur to the media to apply this standard to abortion. Under the guise of upholding abortion rights, Barack Obama could favor denying legal protection to babies after they are born and the press wouldn't bat an eyelash.
Wait -- what?
This definition of "extreme" -- and the preceding argument -- doesn't quite come together. In the discussion on a woman's right to choose, there are those who want to take away that right, to force women to deal with pregnancies no matter what their circumstances. Then there are those who want to force women to have abortions, to create government rules that dictate that all women must have abortions if certain criteria -- decided by the government -- are met.
Wait -- no one actually wants to do the latter. Abortion extremists don't exist. To attempt to create an equivalency between people who think a woman should carry her rapist's baby and those who think a woman should have a choice whether she carries her rapist's baby is preposterous.
You may believe that life begins at conception, but once you desire and attempt to create legislation on those beliefs -- to dictate the actions a woman takes with her doctor -- you're extreme. The left side of this argument simply doesn't have an equal and opposite position. Obama's stance on what is life or when it begins doesn't have any bearing on his final position.
Let a woman choose.
Elon James White is a writer and satirist and host of the award-winning video and radio series This Week in Blackness. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.
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'This Week in Blackness' 2.0: Poll Taxes Are Real
Elongated Thoughts: Information is key as we fight the GOP-led voter suppression campaign.
(The Root) -- We all have to play our part in educating the community about the GOP-led voter-suppression campaign. With so much justified fear and well-meaning but problematic misinformation out there, we have to actively try to inform.
Today I relaunched my award-winning Web series This Week in Blackness. In this political atmosphere, this was the only thing that could kick things off. Check it out.
Elon James White is a writer and satirist and host of the award-winning video and radio series This Week in Blackness. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
