2 posts tagged “poliltics”
Basket Ball Superstar, Lebron James of The Cleveland Cavaliers, will be appearing on the front cover of vogue’s April issue with Super Model Gisele Bundchen. Famed photographer, Annie Leibovitz, took the photo. James is 1 of 3 men who have appeared on the cover with super models in the 116-year history of the magazine.
The other 2 men who have appeared on the cover with super models were: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford in 1992, and George Clooney who appeared with Gisele Bundchen in 2002.
The difference here is that: the photo of Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen, (unlike the other couples), has created a heated debate, and is fueling controversy.
As a matter of fact, it has stirred up so much controversy, that it was a featured story on “The Today Show”.
I wonder why?
In addition, James is not only 1 of 3 men that appeared on the cover with a super model, but in 116 years, he is the first African American to be featured on the cover with a (White Supermodel).
Here we go again! Talking about a nonexistent problem in America. The one that most people ignore, rather then address:
RACE!
When I first heard the story; without immediate investigation, I knew the controversy was smothered in racial overtones, like a chicken-fried steak with country gravy.
Let’s check the statistics to confirm my intuition.
Richard Gere-Cindy Crawford 1992- No Problem!
George Clooney-Gisele Bundchen 2002-No Problem!
Also in this same April addition are:
Olympic Swimmer, Michael Phelps-Caroline Trentini-No Problem!
Snowboarder, Shaun White-Daria Werbowy-No Problem!
Speed Skater, Apolo Anton Ohno-Doutzen Kroes-No Problem!
Of course, this also is not LeBron James’s first magazine cover appearance.
He is indeed a superstar in many arenas.
Sports Illustrated, 2002-When he was a high school senior-No Problem!
1 of 11 athletes on ESPN’s 10th. Anniversary issue-No Problem
Recently Featured On:
Fortune-No Problem!
Men’s Health-No Problem!
Black Enterprise-No Problem!
Vogue April 2008 Issue: LeBron James-Gisele Bundchen-PROBLEM!
The comments are coming in, and there are not very positive about this picture.
Some commentators say that the photo is perpetuating racial stereotypes. James strikes a gorilla-like pose, baring his teeth, with one hand dribbling a ball and the other around Bundchen’s waist. They say it is a depiction of the movie” King Kong”, in which the ape grabs Fay Wray around her waste and picks her up.
Tamara Walker, age 29, from Philadelphia said:” It conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man”.
Damion Thomas, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland Said: Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening “reinforce the criminalization of black men”.
In my personal opinion as a black male, I would have to say that if the intent was to foster and spread further, the image of the angry, dangerous, criminal black man, I did not see it that way, because I don’t identify with that, and I know that all black males are not like that. I just seen an African American man doing something that no other African American man had done before him.
And if the intention of the magazine’s publishers was to perpetuate this negative stereotype of the black male, then the message was targeted to ignorant white people who are going to think what they want to think about black people anyway, so I don’t think this cover really makes that much of a difference.
We know that the reason for all of the controversy on both black and white people’s part is because he is an African American, and because of the interracial element of the magazine cover.
The problem for some people is just the fact that a black man is on the cover with a white woman.
For some illogical reason, there are some people who believe that they have the right to tell other people who to hang out with, who to talk to, who to have sex with, who to pose with, who to do business with, and also, who to marry and have a family with. This is especially true, once a person reaches a certain level of success and fame. If a man or woman is hooked up with somebody other then somebody from their race, some people feel that these people belong to them, and that this is a violation of their rights.
However, what I have found is: that the people who have these types of attitudes towards these people, are the very people that would have not given these people the time of day, if it were not for their fortune or fame. However, if someone suffering from this malady would like to be healed, all they need to do is, turn the situation around and think! What if someone told me? Who to hang out with, who to talk to, who to have sex with, who to pose with, who to do business with, and also, who to marry and have a family with. Would they live and die, according to someone else’s purpose.
I don’t think so.
For me, I am just happy to see this black man on the cover of vogue, and to see his level of achievement in his professional life. His personal life is his.
But I guess that the most important statements made about the cover were from the people who were on the cover.
Bundchen, (who is the girl friend of New England Patriots Quarterback, Tom Brady), wasn't intimated by James's frame.
"He doesn't really make you feel small, even though he is big," she says in the magazine. "I think my leg is like the size of his shoe."
LeBron James told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer he was pleased with the cover, saying he was “just showing a little emotion.”
“Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way,” James told the paper. “Who cares what anyone says?”
And that’s just fine with me!
Once again, a politician has been discovered to be not what he appeared to be to the voting public.
This is such an acceptable phenomenon in this country, until I often wonder why the public takes so many of these crooks at their word, without investigating or challenging the promises and claims that they make during their election campaigns.
Why do I feel that he has gotten some of what he deserves?
Why do I feel the punishment should definitely fit the crime?
Why do I think that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?
Because anyone who deceives the voting public like he did under the guise of upholding and protecting the voters from crooked politicians and business people, and all illegal activities, and then turns out to be a hypocrite-should be.
It’s not because he made a mistake in judgment. All of us as human beings do that from time to time.
It’s not because he went outside of his marriage and cheated on his wife with a prostitute. He is not the first man to do this, and I am almost 100% sure that he will not be the last, (not that this makes it right).
And it’s not because he broke the law.
It is because of his proud history of unmercifully stoning other human beings who had made the same or similar mistakes, or bad decisions in judgment like he just did.
If it is one thing that I hate, it is those who are so self righteous and judgmental of others who have made mistakes, and who are sincerely sorry for what they have done, and who want to not have the offended forget, but to at least have them practice forgiveness;(and I say practice, because forgiving is a process, and it is not something that will take place overnight for those who have been hurt). I know personally that it is a process, because I myself am still working through years of offenses that I have not yet learned to forgive. And, one more important point: there are a lot of people who commit offences that say that people should forgive and forget. However, this is a statement of what should be, and not a request for the offended to forgive. So if you want forgiveness, it has to be requested.
Even GOD requires that you ask for forgiveness.
But anyway! - The main reason that I feel that he should pay dearly for his offense(s) is because of the many lives that he destroyed, not because he did his job, but because he overdid his job without the human element of mercy for the human being who committed the offense. And I have learned (the hard way), that the only way for a person with no mercy for another human being can learn how that feels, is by showing them no mercy in return.
Hard people can only understand the pain that they inflict upon others when it is inflicted upon them. And guess what? It appears to me that those are the very people who cannot tolerate the same type of pain that they have been inflicting upon others. It’s funny that these same people suffer the most when faced with the punishment that they have been administering to others.
Eliot Spitzer, did not admit to any wrong doing in his initial statement to the public. It suddenly became a private matter, (according to him). However, he proudly made the pain and suffering of those that he prosecuted a matter of public record, and made sure that he displayed his trophies to the public so that they would be awed and amazed by his legal prowess, and his self righteousness
Eliot Spitzer is one among many powerful men who have put their righteousness on display for the public, and who have harshly judged others for being human, and prone to error, and have found themselves in the same positions as those that they were willing to crucify. Some others are: Idaho Senator, Larry Craig, Presidential Candidate, Gary Hart, DC Mayor, Marion Barry, Florida Congressman, Mark Foley, New Jersey Governor, James McGreevey, and President Bill Clinton, (who did not have sex with that woman Monica Lewinsky), and Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, who insisted upon Bill Clinton’s impeachment as a result of his lack of moral judgment, and shortly after his insistence, his own skeletons came out of the closet to haunt him), to name just a few.
It seems to me that those who make the most noise about someone else’s shortcomings are the one’s who have the most sin to hide.
And it is very important to note that politicians are not the only ones who have been found guilty of being immoral, or who have been caught committing illegal acts.
Of particular interest are the “Men, (and woman), Of GOD”, who claim to have a direct connection to GOD that places them far above the common man or woman, and therefore not prone to sin like us mere mortals are: Reverend Jimmie Swagger, Jim Bakker, Tammie Fay Bakker, and now, faith healer Benny Hinn, Georgia megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar, and one of the nation's most prominent women preachers Joyce Meyer are all under investigation by the Senate Committee because of their lavish spending.
You see! - The point that I am making is that: only GOD is perfectly righteous, and that you should be totally suspicious of any other human who claims to be; especially, politicians and preachers.
A brief study of history will validate this viewpoint.
Eliot Spitzer is a prime example of what I am saying now, and what I have been saying for years. Don’t listen to what people say. Watch what they do.
Eliot Spitzer should not expect to receive any lesser punishment then the punishment that he has insisted on inflicting upon others who he proudly prosecuted unmercifully during his career.
It’s the law of the universe. You get back what you put out.
(Only) Around Election Time By: Greg Coleman
A make you think song about our politicians
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