On This Day: MLK Delivers His "I Have a Dream" Speech

On Aug 28th 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream Speech". There's not much for me to say other than, "Take it away Dr. King".

On This Day: Chris Matthews vs. Reince Priebus on Morning Joe

This is the first installment of a periodic series in which I post about events from the past.

One year ago today during a segment of Morning Joe, the hosts and their guests discussed the then-upcoming Republican National Convention and what candidate Mitt Romney could do to turn things around. At about the 2:35 mark of the clip below, the fireworks start when Chris Matthews takes RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to task for what he felt were the GOP's underhanded attacks against President Obama. Chris is like a pitbull because once he gets his teeth in an opponent's ass, he isn't going to let go easily. Because I rarely see Priebus get called on his BS when he's on news programs, it was nice to see him get challenged.  Damn I love live TV!

Lee Daniels: America Is a More Racist Country Since Barack Obama Became President

On Piers Morgan's program last night, Lee Daniels (the director and producer of the hit movie Lee Daniels' The Butler) was a guest along with two of the film's cast members (Lenny Kravitz and Cuba Gooding Jr.). During the segment, Piers asked Lee if America is a more or less racist country since Barack Obama became POTUS. Lee responded by saying that sadly, America is more racist since then. In addition to Lee's remarks, the clip below also contains comments by Lenny and Cuba.



I don't think America has become more racist since Barack Obama became president. Instead, his presidency has caused the racism simmering below the surface to rise to the top. The people harboring racist views already felt this way before Barack Obama was sworn in as POTUS. His presidency has just allowed them an excuse to spread their venom. The same thing happened during the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson trials back in the 1990s. As I've said before, America has come a long way when it comes to race relations. However, events such as the presidency of Barack Obama demonstrate that we still have a lot of work to do.

What are your thoughts on the state of racism since the presidency of Barack Obama?

Sunday Funnies: Cheerios Ad Parody

In June of this year, a Cheerios ad featuring an interracial family generated some controversy. In response to the backlash, comic filmmaker Kenji created the following parody (which has over 1 million views on You Tube).

Megyn Kelly Set to Take the 9 PM Slot On Fox News

According to a UPI.com story, Fox anchor Megyn Kelly will be taking over the 9 pm timeslot on Fox News once she returns from maternity leave this fall. This doesn't come as a big surprise because the powers that be at Fox have been grooming Kelly for prime time for at least a couple of years. With this impending primetime shakeup, my guess is that Sean Hannity's program will move an hour back to 10 pm and Greta Van Susteren (who currently holds the 10 pm slot) may want to brush up her résumé. 

Kelly's move to the 9 pm slot on Fox will be an upgrade over the current occupant and a better complement to The O'Reilly Factor. It's no secret I'm no fan of Sean Hannity, but it's not because he's a conservative. I don't like him because he's habitually dishonest, whiny, and boring. The trifecta of bad broadcasting. Although I've had issues with Kelly, she can be one of the more reasonable voices at Fox (which is like calling Moe the "smart Stooge"). Change can be a good thing and I'm intrigued to see what Kelly does with her upcoming primetime show.

The clip below is from a spring 2013 segment of America Live with Megyn Kelly in which Kelly challenged guests Erick Erickson and Lou Dobbs on their views about women in the workplace.

Media Matters Founder Joins RNC Head In Urging NBC and CNN To Dump Clinton Specials

left to right: Priebus, Clinton, and Brock

On August 5th in a response to announcements late last month by NBC and CNN that they would be producing Hillary Clinton-related specials (a miniseries starring Diane Lane and a feature length documentary, respectively), RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called for both networks to put a halt to these programs. If they didn't, Priebus threatened that the GOP would boycott any 2016 presidential debates hosted by the two networks.

Priebus' letter to CNN

Priebus' letter to NBC

Surprisingly, Media Matters founder David Brock wrote letters to NBC and CNN the next day also requesting they cancel their planned Clinton programs. In addition to the story on Brock's pleas to NBC and CNN, the link below also includes the letters he sent to both networks.

David Brock call on NBC and CNN to cancel their Hillary Clinton specials

Although Priebus and Brock want the same result, their motives differ. Priebus feels that NBC and CNN are in the business of promoting Democrats and the Clinton specials would be a boost to Hillary's bid for the 2016 presidency (assuming she runs). Brock believes that the specials could tarnish the reputations of the news divisions of each network (they are being produced by NBC Entertainment and CNN Films, respectively). Brock's other concerns are the potential criticism the networks could face for failing to provide equal time to all potential candidates and for not adopting the right-wing noise machine's ideological view of Hillary.

I disagree with both Priebus and Brock, although I do think the latter's intentions are sincere. Priebus' criticism of NBC and CNN comes off as whiny, especially since it's no secret that the Republican party has its own network. It also makes the GOP look desperate and scared of a potential presidential run by Hillary Clinton. As for Brock, he shouldn't be aiding the GOP and their accusations of liberal bias. I was glad to see that CNN shows no signs of caving to the demands of Priebus.

Priebus' appearance on the CNN program OutFront with Erin Burnett:



Although Ms. Burnett did a good job overall, she let Priebus off the hook by not asking him about the numerous Fox News hosts and contributors who campaigned for the GOP in 2011-2012. At approx. the 6:20 mark, Ms. Burnett gets ready to ask Priebus a Fox-related question. However, he seemed to anticipate a tough question and cut her off in what appeared to be an effort to run out the clock. Although it's not the one I would have asked, the question about Fox that Ms. Burnett asked near the end was a good one.

Priebus' appearance on Hannity:



Both Priebus and Hannity were in typical form. In their eyes, if you're a member of the news media and not demonizing liberals or giving every break to the GOP, it makes you liberal by definition. Also, they're still blaming the so-called liberal media for the damage the debates did to the GOP brand. So much for the conservative's belief in personal responsibility. Towards the end, Priebus discusses plans for the GOP to select the debate moderators themselves. Priebus' stance against the so-called liberal media no doubt plays well with the GOP base. However, in addition to the aforementioned "whiny" and "desperate", I think Priebus' latest moves make him and the GOP look weak as well.