Blackmagic Tirades

sonofbaldwin:

Edward Snowden is being hailed in some quarters as a hero and a whistle-blower. He is neither. He is, rather, a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison.

I am not, quite frankly, moved by our outrage.

There is no reason for us to be outraged. After all, we authorized these intrusions into our privacy, willingly gave up some of our civil liberties so that dubious and unconstitutional laws could be enacted. The events of 9/11 had us so SHOOK (Well, SOME of us were shook; many black Americans were less so given the centuries of terrorism enacted against us in the “land of the free”) that we were glad to give up whatever was necessary to maintain the illusion of safety (and let us be clear: safety is ALWAYS, all ways, an illusion).

And this, of course, is by design. Yes, I am one of those “conspiracy theorists” who believes that the Bush administration, or, more precisely, Dick Cheney and His House of Flying Daggers Known as Halliburton, allowed the events of 9/11 to occur in order to start illegal wars, hand out illegal but lucrative contracts, and make enormous sums of money as illegally as the drug dealers we’re told we’re supposed to despise.

And the icing on that cake was that they were able, with our permission, to utilize our fear and our ignorance to transform the government into something that more closely resembles a dystopian science fiction novel.

Our disappointment only comes now, with the advent of the person we regard as The Magical Negro, whom we believed would undo all of the ridiculous things we permitted under the least intelligent man in the history of the U.S. presidency. Imagine our shock and dismay as we discover that The Magical Negro is not only continuing Two Braincellz’s policies, but supplementing them.

Now we want to be mad. Now we want to get angry. With 9/11 safely folded 12 years into the past (which, for people in the United States, is equal to 120 years), we’re feeling our pootholes and regaining our memories about who we thought we were (no matter how mythical and inaccurate those thoughts always were).

And so I don’t have any fucks to give about Snowden, the NSA, or offended sensibilities. And I don’t think the blame for any of this lies outside of ourselves.

How sheep gonna be mad about the wool being pulled over their eyes?

Why some female fans are unnerved by the creepy lyrics and video for “Blurred Lines.”

I agree that the women in the video are presented merely as props for Robin, Pharell, and T.I. to ogle and…conquer, I suppose, but I don’t see/hear enough evidence in the record to suggest rape. I may be thinking in too literal a context but the record seems to suggest that the man, Robin, suspects the unnamed woman wants to have sex with him but hasn’t said so. Don’t get me wrong, I too am interested in how the male, Robin, proceeds with having these apparently clairvoyant thoughts, but I’ve heard the record a few times (they play it a lot down here), and Robin just seems to be in the planning stage of his approach.

gradientlair:

Beware the privileged repackaging the words/experiences of the oppressed and being applauded for it while the oppressed are ignored, silenced or punished for speaking their lived truths. Further, those who only want to hear the messages of the oppressed from the privileged and call said action…