How you like him now?

Today marks the 100th day of Michael Steele's term as chairman of the Republican National Committee. And what a blooper reel it's been.

To commemorate the occasion, here's some of the, uh, highlights from Think Progress:



In all honesty, Steele's struggles would be funny if they were not so sad and predictable. If you're at all interested, here's a handful of links detailing some of his problems here, here, here and here.

And with the 100th day upon us, I return to something I wrote the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl:

Republicans and conservatives themselves have been guilty of engaging in the worst kind of affirmative action, often going out of their way to reward marginal candidates with jobs - many times with the hope that they'd fail as proof of their manifest superiority. Folks like Clarence Thomas, Sarah Palin and now Michael Steele serve a peculiar purpose in that regard.

In the words of the late, great Ralph Wiley, who was speaking of Armstrong Williams but could have been talking about anyone in the aforementioned trio:

"And then he said some predictable things against 'affirmative action,' not realizing, probably, that he was the perfect embodiment of it as it should not (emphasis mine)be implemented. He rented his office due to his opinions ... He said all the right things to the privileged and they opened their burgeoning coffers to make sure he was heard."

Certainly he couldn't have been talking about Steele, who didn't pass the Maryland Bar Exam in his only attempt, once compared stem cell research to Nazi experiments during the Holocaust and defended former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s decision to hold a $100,000 fundraiser at a country club that did not allow non-white members, saying that the club’s membership’s policies were “not an issue” because “I don’t play golf"?

So really, what did we expect? And even over the past week, the beat has gone on and on and on.

Think he'll make it another 100 days? Continue Reading »

Tape-riots

Did this happen on purpose?

h/t Awkward Family Photos Continue Reading »

Play-hate

If you didn't catch the E! reality-TV show The Girls Next Door, then you probably don't know that the woman pictured above is former Hugh Hefner girlfriend and model Kendra Wilkinson.

The man she's straddling on that four-wheeler is her fiance, Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett. Quite obviously, he's black and she's white.

I only mention that because ... sigh ... some of the commenters on her blog noticed as well:

Nothing says nasty like a white girl who f”ks nigg3rs. What’s next for you oral sex on pigs? Standing on a street corner sucking C for crack? Seriously, you’re an embarrassment and a disgrace. Tainted nasty meat.

And:

Nigger-loving skank. Pure fucking trash.

And finally, this piece of ... brilliance:

White women who date niggers are plain nasty. They were nasty then, and they are nasty now. I could care less if she asked for my approval but if she’s going to put pictures of her and a chimp on the internet then deal with the commentary.

Niggers are the bottom of the social barrel. They commit violent crimes at several times the level of whites (DOJ stats), more of their males are in prison than in college.

Their culture is garbage hip-hop nastiness that promotes hatred of women (emphasis mine), hatred of education and primal idiocy.

Most women who fuck them are low-class white trash types, perhaps like yourself.

It is my business, it’s everybody’s business. People have to look at that skankiness, have some fucking pride or decency. What’s next sex with dogs in public? Nice. Yes, skank is a ‘compliment’. WTF, shows about your level of idiocy.

Right. Because he's not the idiot.

As my boy G.D. might say ... the irony. It burns.

Post-script: Normally, I refrain from even acknowledging this sort of buffoonery. But I couldn't help myself. And let's be honest ... the posting has been pretty sporadic of late. I need to give you all something to read, don't I? Continue Reading »

Know who you're dealing with, Kobe?

Ron-Ron: The crazy the Houston Rockets have been missing since the halycon days of Vernon "Mad" Maxwell. Come to think of it, both of them have rushed into the stands to punch a fan before.

That memory gets me feeling all warm and tingly about Game 3 in Houston tonight:



What was it C-Bone said in "Tomb of the Boom"?: "Athletes want to be rappers, shawty, trust me." Continue Reading »

Well done

Like me, President Obama orders his hamburger "medium well":



But apparently there's some controversy over at the Internet Food Association about the way Obama prefers his meat prepared:

I should mention that President Obama apparently ordered his burger “medium well.” The heated argument caused by this particular presidential decision on our IFA listserv put that whole “torture” debate to shame.

I think there's more to this than simple preferences.

Several years ago, I went out for dinner in Dallas with a relatively diverse group of friends (I was the only black guy). It was only then, at the tender age of 24, that I discovered asking for my steak to be cooked "well" was a faux pas in certain circles.

They challenged me so much that night about my choice that I actually got a bit defensive. I might have even said something about someone's mama. It was a moment where our cultural differences were never more apparent - if I like my food prepared a certain way, what the hell was the problem?

See, I grew up in a home where my mother knew to cook my steak (she never even bothered asking) until it was charred. In fact, most members of my family didn't want to see any pink in their meat. I never even heard of someone ordering anything "rare."

But that confrontation in Dallas stuck with me. And with the help of a very friendly waitress at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo (home of the free 72 oz. steak!), I have relented a little and started ordering my beef "medium" and "medium well." That's as far as I'm willing to go.

However, when I'm back home in Houston, my mother - as always - never bothers with asking. She just cooks a steak up the way I really like it. And no one is there to judge me. So it occurred to me that maybe Obama was actually putting on a good front at Ray's Hellburger, just like me.

Now if someone really wants to find a problem with Obama's burger order, how about him asking for all that nasty mustard? Blech.

But is it possible that peer pressure can change the way people eat? Or that there's something cultural to the way people prepare their meat?

Just asking questions, folks. Continue Reading »

Deep Thought

The happiest person in major-league baseball today is A-Rod. Continue Reading »

If it's on fool...

Then it's on. And it's on.

Continue Reading »

"The usual cookie cutter"

Or the four Supreme Court justices (out of 110) who have not been white men, according to Chris Matthews.

Obama should probably go with the unconventional choice and pick an old white guy to replace Souter.

Or Harriet Miers. Continue Reading »

Dos mujeres, un camino

I came for Erik Estrada. I stayed for Bibi Gaytan.



In high school, I might have watched "Dos mujeres, un camino" as much as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Really. Sad to say, I didn't pick up much that helped me in my Spanish classes.

In other news, today is Cinco de Mayo. It's a classic celebration of David (the ragtag Mexican army) over Goliath (the nearly unbeatable French army).

More on that and other underdogs later. Continue Reading »

The expanse between us

My blogmate at PostBourgie, universeexpanding, unearthed this gorgeous nugget from poet Rainer Maria Rilke about marriage. Maybe you all have heard or read this before but I thought it was worth sharing:

“The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side- by-side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.”

Continue Reading »

Sweet, sweet science and the real Pacman

Maybe some of you don't know this, but I'm a huge boxing fan. For me, it's somewhere right in between basketball and track and field.

My father bought me a pair of Sugar Ray Leonard-brand gloves when I was about 7, I grew up wanting to be like Iron Mike (in the ring), one of my favorite books is a boxing memoir and a couple years ago, I even tried my hand (hands?) at learning the sweet science.

Those lessons went over about as well as my pre-cal classes did in high school. But I got into tip-top shape and I can easily beat up someone smaller than me.

Unless that person is Manny Pacquiao.

I hate that I missed the Pacquiao-Hatton fight in Vegas on Saturday. But considering that the bout lasted a second shy of two rounds - which comes out to about nine dollars a minute - I guess I'll consider it the appetizer to the main course that all true fight fans are starving for:

On the morning of the fight and at the same MGM Grand venue, Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced that he was retiring from his 16-month retirement. Mr. Mayweather, the former pound-for-pound king, has signed to meet Juan Manuel Marquez -- a superb fighter who had a draw and later lost a controversial split decision to Mr. Pacquiao. After a long monologue about his accomplishments, Mr. Mayweather, who is bigger, at 5 feet 8 inches, than Mr. Pacquiao, sent his oblique message to the Filipino fighter: "A big, great fighter always beats a small, good fighter."

... There can be no doubt that the boxing world is on the march toward a Mayweather Pacquiao Super Bowl-type event.

Pretty much. I'll be setting aside a Grant and some Washingtons right now.

And speaking of second-round knockouts ...

Continue Reading »