In the wake of the Imus affair, MSNBC is airing an all-day discussion on the theme "What's OK to say?" Poet Maya Angelou appeared at 11:05 AM EDT, and in the course of her interview with MSNBC's Peter Alexander, had this exchange:ALEXANDER: Dr. Angelou, you're an author and an artist. I guess the question is, is there a need for more censorship of our media and of our arts, are you comfortable with that? And if that happens, when does it end? What is OK to say?
ANGELOU: Exactly. I agree with that. I think the society decides upon the censorship. Each person censors himself or herself. Do you think, if any of these hip-hoppers, if they said about Mrs. Bush what they say about black women, do you think they would be given a microphone? Do you really think so? So we have to censor ourselves. And then, the society makes that decision.
View video here.
Leave it to Angelou, she who read a poem [YouTube here] at Bill Clinton's first inauguration, to drag partisan politics into it. What we do know is that Don Imus lost his microphone for saying those kind of things about the Rutgers basketball players. Could hip-hoppers say them about Laura Bush? I don't know, but just looking at Michelle Malkin's recent cataloging of rap lyrics, I see that George Bush is fair game [see lyrics from Unk].
I'll venture the name of one woman who would almost certainly be off limits: Ms. Angelou herself. What do you think: could rappers rap Mrs. Bush and keep their gigs?
Update: If the result of a rapper taking on the First Lady remains unknown, Eminem demonstrated in "Without Me," yrics here, that the Second Lady, Lynne Cheney, could be insulted in the most vulgar terms with impunity. H/t Sirius satellite radio host Mike Church.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Yes. Plus prime-time.
April 13, 2007 - 10:52 ET by rbosqueYes. Plus prime-time.
I am a tree
April 13, 2007 - 10:54 ET by Cool ArrowYes, I remember that beautiful poem. GAK!!!
So a Black Panther called Michelle Malkin a Whore last night on Oreilly. But that's ok. He was black and simply offering a term of endearment to her.
Riled,Doesn't that just make
April 13, 2007 - 11:01 ET by msh1973Riled,
Doesn't that just make you want to scream? The double standard is overwhelming. Just because Michelle Malkin speaks her mind and the truth she is called a w###e. Our society is going to heck in a handbasket! I really don't think things will get better, truly I don't.
Black Panther???
April 13, 2007 - 11:08 ET by nicksmith112Black Panther???
Are you referring to openly racist NYC Counsel member Charles Barron??
Shazzam or Shamu or some nonsense
April 13, 2007 - 11:20 ET by Cool ArrowMaybe even Shabazz
I think he's busy digging up the money to send the Duke Psychoslut to school.
I suspect if a rapper called
April 13, 2007 - 11:03 ET by Chris NormanI suspect if a rapper called Laura Bush the names he uses for black women, he'd be given a Grammy. Plus, he'd be asked to score a movie and win an Oscar for Best Song.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
I got sum words for maya
April 13, 2007 - 11:04 ET by misterbillI red ur pomes and they ain't cool,
u must think we is a fool
u is guilty of a crime
nun of ur m--f-- pomes rime
so get ur old butt out of here
i want rappers of good cheer
to tell me all about them hos
and see the pix with no clothes
(words by rappa bill)
God help America--Cosby is right!
Mr. Bill...Great rap! The onl
April 13, 2007 - 11:20 ET by Clear thinkerMr. Bill...
Great rap! The only thing you left out was mention of 'yo momma'.
:-)
The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.
CT My momma--
April 13, 2007 - 11:53 ET by misterbillCT My momma--God rest her soul, would have washed my mouth out with soap, sent me to my room and had me address the issue with Dad, when he got home from work!
Mr. Bill...You were lucky. My
April 13, 2007 - 11:58 ET by Clear thinkerMr. Bill...
You were lucky. My Mom would do the soap thing while beating me half to death. Then I got another from Dad. Ahhhh, the good old days...
The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.
CT - I don't know you, but--
April 13, 2007 - 12:02 ET by misterbillCT - I don't know you, but--I can tell from your posts that you are a decent person and a good American. All praise to your parents. (And to mine.) I wish I was half as good a Dad as mine was.
Mr. Bill...Thanks. I return t
April 13, 2007 - 12:05 ET by Clear thinkerMr. Bill...
Thanks. I return the compliment back at ya!
The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.
Rappers would keep their job
April 13, 2007 - 11:12 ET by GothampcRappers would keep their job if they rapped negatively about Mrs Bush. It's a double standard. They would just say they were speaking truth to power.
Take Kanye West's statement about President Bush: "Bush hates blacks". West is still working, even though it was a direct personal attack based on no evidence whatsoever.
Goes without saying
April 13, 2007 - 11:13 ET by Cool ArrowNotice Angelou didn't address the original question, masogyny of HipHop rappers. She is just fine with her younger generation shouting hate and claiming victim status.
I am a tree
It seems to me that there a
April 13, 2007 - 11:24 ET by CrimsonfistedIt seems to me that there already was a song about the President's mother? Something really nasty? Does anyone else remember that?
WhatAMaroon
liberals
April 13, 2007 - 11:36 ET by iveseenitallLiberals are up to their foreheads in hypocrisy. After what's been said about the Bushs for the past six years, "artists" included, a woman who prides herself on her intelligence can say something as stupid and ignorant as that? It is astounding!
NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal
maya angelou
April 13, 2007 - 11:49 ET by tumbler_2007Maya Angelou is just Al Sharpton with slightly shorter hair. Both consider themselves poets. Both have always been frauds.
But only one uses Dixie Pomad
April 13, 2007 - 14:31 ET by NoMoreClintonsBut only one uses Dixie Pomade.
The other uses "Soul G
April 13, 2007 - 15:59 ET by dabalThe other uses "Soul Glow".
- credit Eddie Murphy. ;-)
Ampul Man
April 14, 2007 - 05:41 ET by ampul manThat's Dixie Peach Pomade, thank you.
"...if they said about Mrs. B
April 13, 2007 - 11:38 ET by Evoke"...if they said about Mrs. Bush what they said about black women, do you think they would be given a microphone?"
short answer: Yes
How about this 'poetry' from my generation by popular hip hop pioneer, 'Too Short', on his 1991 album 'Life Is'(4.5 stars at Amazon)
"Ask your wife, Nancy Reagan, I know she'll spit that game.
Like one night, she came to my house, and gave me a b*** job
She licked my d***, up and down, like it was corn on the cob"
Mind you this is still a very popular entertainer, and mainsteam enough in youth and hiphop culture to be "Punk'd" on MTV's hit series.
evoke-- I posted earlier--
April 13, 2007 - 11:59 ET by misterbillevoke-- I posted earlier--how I have become very angry lately. I am an old man, but if someone sang that about one of my family members, it would be a short time before he was in hell! I remember when Pres. Harry Truman's daughter was insulted by a news reporter--nothing filthy, just a comment about her piano playing- and Harry offered him out. Where are the Harry Truman's gone???
Thank you for the post--I was unaware of this tripe and this tripe-master. I do not watch or listen to rap music.
We have to censor ourselves...
April 13, 2007 - 11:42 ET by Guy Arthur ThomasAngelou says about society dealing with the so-called offenses by rappers that "we have to censor ourselves...society makes that decision". My guess is that the decision society has made is...what else to you expect from blacks and then they go on with their lives. It may seem like a harsh evaluation but obviously Anglos as well as most blacks themselves expect little more from blacks, hence no outrage, offense or censoring.
Shut up and blog! If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal. Go Rudy!
Maya
April 13, 2007 - 11:46 ET by PeterDMaya, Maya, you be wrong
I can rip Laura Bush in my song
No one would notice
And no one would care
Not even if I had some nappy hair
But if I rip Mr. Barack Obama,
Then you be sure I would cry for my mama
Cuz the libs would rip me
And silence my speech
As if a lesson they think they teach
And if I rip New York’s Senator Thighs
You best be sure to hear more sighs
Cuz the libs would rip me
In another battle fought
To open my mind and remove my thought
So Maya, Maya you be wrong
I can rip Laura Bush in my song
Back on guard I go with my hand on my trigger
To fight the libs and protect this wigger.
Peace out. Yo.
PeterD - I can only say--
April 13, 2007 - 11:50 ET by misterbillPeterD - I can only say-- yo, yo ,yo!
Maybe us whities ought to start writin and speakin thet way! Can you imagine how quickly we would be off the air or our CDs would be removed from WalMart?
PS Don't forget all the hand gestures, yo,yo,yo!
Mark - I wonder if she mean
April 13, 2007 - 11:47 ET by Dee BunkMark - I wonder if she meant because Laura Bush is so well liked? I didn't see it, but it sounds to me like she is saying that society is complacent when black women are trashed.
And she is right, society is afraid to criticize black people. White women and men would come out strong against a white artist saying something vulgar about Mrs Bush, but I think more white people come out about black rap lyrics then black people. White people are even accused of being racist when they come out against rap lyrics. Basically the rule is white people can't criticize black people for anything unless the black person is a conservative. Actually, black people can't criticize black people either unless the target is a conservative. Bill Cosby isn't a conservative and he got in trouble.
Footnote - I used "Black" rather than African American because Maya did. Hopefully I won't be called a racist.
Dee...You said it all in your
April 13, 2007 - 11:53 ET by bigtimerDee...
You said it all in your post!
Btw...I refuse to say african-american...I will always say black..period, nothing to do with being racist or politically correct...it is just common sense.
Hi BT - and it's just easie
April 13, 2007 - 12:01 ET by Dee BunkHi BT - and it's just easier to say and there is nothing derogatory about it. I'm so tired of people having manufactured outrage.
Common sense seems to be in s
April 14, 2007 - 08:06 ET by NonanonCommon sense seems to be in short supply on the left end of politics.
I have wondered how many of these hyphenated-Americans could actually find America on a map much less the country they place first. I thought if you were born in America you are an American period. But if you hate America, as these do, why even include it in your race ID? Perhaps we could start a fund to purchase one-way tickets for these who put other countries first.
Interesting, Nonanon,In my pl
April 14, 2007 - 08:19 ET by BlondeInteresting, Nonanon,
In my place of employment, all of the immigrants who've gained thier citizenship are proud of the fact that they're American. Not one of them self-identifies as being a hyphenated-American.
Costa Rica, Columbia, England, Trinidad, Jamiaca, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.
Gotta tell you, it makes for some wild pot luck lunches, too!
no one ever seems to mention
April 13, 2007 - 11:54 ET by pmohbuckno one ever seems to mention the lambasting that condi rice and colin powell have suffered over the years from people of their own race ... from what i understand, the term "uncle tom" is just as degrading as "nappy head". the sad thing is that powell and rice should be viewed as icons for the black race.
these hypocrites don't have a leg to stand on ... they get nailed on every issue.
"hymietown" is considered ancient history to jessie jackson, yet he continually invokes the slavery issue as if the Amistad had just pulled into the new york harbor for its afternoon delivery ... pathetic
i don't think this will EVER end
GMTA
April 13, 2007 - 12:08 ET by Cool ArrowI was smack in the middle of trying to say somewhat the same thing.
Angelou is a prefect example
April 13, 2007 - 12:00 ET by Cool ArrowLet the market decide.
Maya Angelou has no marketable skill. She was outed from obscurity by Bill Clinton as a token prop on his inaugural stage. To his way of thinking it beat the hell out of appointing the first (and second) African American Secretary of State. Of course there was that memorable appearance on Oprah. You all watched, didn't you?
And while he was at it, Bill Clinton decided to heap insult on the Black community by appointing Jocelyn Elder as Surgeon General. Does everybody know how to masturbate yet?
poetry??
April 13, 2007 - 12:08 ET by misterbillSweet winds
wafting
lavender scent
in air
gossamer wings
of God's winged
fluttering by
That's enough. Great wasn't it?
Hot Damn that was good
April 13, 2007 - 12:11 ET by Cool ArrowCan you set those words to Stairway to Heaven, Man?
No, not to music--but another
April 13, 2007 - 12:30 ET by misterbillbut another for our previous prez:
Blue dress
stained
Intern pained
thoughts of glory
drifting round
giving this service
intern nervous
many a slip
twixt prez and lip!
Of course she would be off li
April 13, 2007 - 12:11 ET by bigtimerOf course she would be off limits herself..Dr. Angelou being an ex-madam herself...but heck she is a perfect leftists dream.
Over-rated, always has been, just the same as Rev.'s Jackson and Sharpton.
They are all used and promoted for the powers to be in the socialist party...have been for years...
Votes votes votes..and you need us, we will protect you and keep you in the nanny state.
I have been tickled to see a back-lash coming from all of this Imus being fired for words he used...especially with blacks other than Shapton/Jackson and such...Lou Dobbs had a segment on his show yesterday that was fantastic IMO all three were blacks and there was no screaming and yelling ect...I really enjoyed the profound discourse and dialogue...the three guests were Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star, Carol Swain Vanderbilt (sp?) U., and Brian Monroe NABJ..who has helped with the uproar of all of this Imus stuff from the beginning.
Call me Madam
April 13, 2007 - 12:19 ET by Cool ArrowJust because she was a madam don't make her a whore.
She did, however go out of her way to turn children to whoredom. Quite likely Bill Clinton discovered her in her whorehouse. The poetry of the sign was beautiful:
"Liquor in the front - Poker in the rear"
.."a POET...??? ya rig
April 13, 2007 - 12:24 ET by Rackie.."a POET...??? ya right.... ever read her crap?... she and Rosie O musta have gone to the same poet school.
You may remember her most famous poem
April 13, 2007 - 12:31 ET by Cool ArrowThere once was a ho from Nantucket.
Who slurped Rosie O from a bucket
ain;t gonna touch that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 13, 2007 - 12:58 ET by misterbillain;t gonna touch that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
misterb...Oh... but how tempt
April 15, 2007 - 22:25 ET by bigtimermisterb...
Oh... but how tempting it is!
I have a couple, but the last line has... well you know....
LMAO!
guess she thinks it's just fi
April 13, 2007 - 12:30 ET by jwm45guess she thinks it's just fine for Belafonte to insult Rice and Powell?
Maher ...
April 13, 2007 - 12:44 ET by Dave PierreBill Maher is not a rapper, but he once compared Laura Bush to "Hitler's dog." Maher still has his microphone.
NewsBusters, 9/26/05: "HBO's Bill Maher: Laura Bush Is Like 'Hitler's Dog'"
Laura Bush has been getting n
April 13, 2007 - 16:33 ET by Del DolemonteLaura Bush has been getting nastily trashed by the Left for years. Many of her detractors still try to get traction out of a traffic accident she was involved in over 40 years ago. Do a Google search on "Laura Bush traffic accident" and see what floats up from the sewer!
Here's an example-the original URL no longer exists (it was called "childbutcher.com") but it was saved for the ages here. Notice how the howler monkey who wrote this crap calls her by her married name, even though she was only a teenager when the accident happened.
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=68044
"unique headlight configuration proves
It was no “accident!”
Laura Welch Bush, driving east on Farm Road 868, was approaching the only highway in town on a clear night with a bright moon. She lived only a couple of miles away and had been through this particular intersection hundreds of times in the years her family had lived in Midland, Texas. On her left Laura Bush could see her boyfriend’s car approaching the intersection for the entire time he turned off of Solomon Lane, where he lived, and onto the highway. She knew it was her boyfriend’s car driving south, because of the unique headlight configuration of his 1962 Corvair Sedan. Laura Bush knew her boyfriend, she knew his home, and she knew his car--the headlights are low slung and a full 9-inches narrower than any other car on the road. The entire profile of the car is small and easy to distinguish anytime, day or night.
Michael Dutton Douglas, 17, had driven only half a mile before America’s Black Widow of the Night deliberately ran the stop sign at high speed, striking the small car with such ferocity that her boyfriend was ejected from the car and into the dirt. Laura Bush, “America’s First Murderess of the Land,” had literally ripped a hole in her boyfriend’s neck. Michael lay there for eight minutes staring at Laura and her once loving arms, while Laura stared back wondering, “Is the head dead yet?” “No child left behind,” unless it is Michael Dutton Douglas gasping in the dirt. To date, there has never been an adjudication of this wanton murder, even though there is no Statute of Limitations on murder. Laura and her girlfriend had conspired to murder Michael Dutton Douglas and been laying-in-wait for his car.
INDICT LAURA BUSH!
A premeditated, child torture butcher--who perpetrated her act during the commission of two other crimes--should not be permitted unsupervised access to the President of the United States.
CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT
THE LIES OF LAURA BUSH
Laura Bush has spent a lifetime lying about deliberately murdering her boyfriend with malice aforethought.
Laura’s Litany of Lies #1: Laura Bush for years insisted that she was not driving. No, Laura, we have the police report.
Laura’s Litany of Lies #2: Laura Bush said that it was raining and slick. No, Laura, the weather was dry and clear. We have the police report.
Laura’s Litany of Lies #3: Laura Bush said that her boyfriend was riding in an open jeep. No, Laura, it was a 1962 Corvair Sedan. We have the police report.
Laura’s Litany of Lies #4: Laura Bush said that Michael Douglas was not her boyfriend. No, Laura, the District Attorney said that Michael Dutton Douglas was your boyfriend when he released the police report!
Laura’s Litany of Lies #5: Laura Bush said that she did not know who her murder victim was until she got to the hospital. Michael Dutton Douglas’ father was following his car and was on the scene seconds after the “accident.” Laura Bush knew her boyfriend, she knew her boyfriend’s car, and she knew his father.
Laura’s Litany of Lies #6: Laura Bush said that she was sorry. While she did stay home from school for several weeks, it certainly hasn’t kept her from any of the class reunions! Was it murdering her boyfriend, or claiming to be sorry, that made her The Perfect Wife?
HEARD IN MIDLAND
“Laura Bush thought that she was pregnant by her boyfriend Michael Dutton Douglas. When she told him, instead of agreeing to marry her, Douglas had instead broken up with her.” Perhaps she mulled over murder after reading this article in the local paper
Laura Bush, Midland’s Emissary of Death, had the means, the opportunity, AND the motive! "
Del...WOW!That was great!I to
April 13, 2007 - 16:48 ET by bigtimerDel...
WOW!
That was great!
I too have heard the looney left for years now calling in to the Washington Journal on C-Span with this insane tripe..these people are really past any semblance of real humans....they are nuts!
Talk about grasping at straws!
"Honest....those ain't MY glo
April 13, 2007 - 19:07 ET by rx4music"Honest....those ain't MY gloves...See? They don't even fit!"
- O.J. Simpson
"I used to be disgusted, but now, I try to be amused..."- E. Costello
(edited to add: Some wack jobs will say ANYthing to see if it will stick no matter how vile.)
I have heard/read here and
April 13, 2007 - 21:14 ET by John in CAI have heard/read here and there things about Laura Bush, and pretty much discounted all of them. I have never heard this piece of drivel.
In the main body: Michael lay there for eight minutes staring at Laura and her once
loving arms, while Laura stared back wondering, “Is the head dead yet?
Lie #5: Michael Dutton Douglas’ father was following his car and was on the scene seconds after the “accident.
Hmm, wonder how the rabid reporter can resolve that little discrepancy?
Give a Democrat Party free America a chance!
They'd win multiple Grammys-
April 13, 2007 - 13:06 ET by Dad GummitThey'd win multiple Grammys- just like the Ditzy Chicks.
"Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
I don't know if Maya is the b
April 13, 2007 - 14:18 ET by ratso ferrariI don't know if Maya is the black Helen Thomas or the reincarnation of Moms Mabley?
neither
April 13, 2007 - 14:26 ET by Cool ArrowThere is no documented proof that Moms Mabley or Helen Thomas are whores in the real sense of the term. Angelou is a different story.
There is, however, an anthropological resemblance among them.
Doctor?
April 15, 2007 - 22:10 ET by ricksanderHow often do you hear high school drop outs insist they are called Doctor for honorary degrees?
rick,That too also cracked me
April 15, 2007 - 22:31 ET by bigtimerrick,
That too also cracked me up, I forgot to put that in my post somewhere above the other day.
Right you are!