I hope you’re enjoying this week with Whitney.
1992–94: Marriage to Bobby Brown and The Bodyguard
Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy, whom she dated.[96] She then met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. After a three-year courtship, the two were married on July 18, 1992.[97] On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown,[98] her only child, and his fourth. Brown would go on to have several run-ins with the law, including some jail time.[97]
With the commercial success of her albums, movie offers poured in, including offers to work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones, and Spike Lee; but Houston felt the time wasn’t right.[96] Houston’s first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner. Houston played Rachel Marron, a star who is stalked by a crazed fan and hires a bodyguard to protect her. USA Today listed it as one of the 25 most memorable movie moments of the last 25 years in 2007.[99] Houston’s mainstream appeal allowed people to look at the movie color-blind.[100]
Still, controversy arose as some felt the film’s advertising intentionally hid Houston’s face to hide the film’s interracial relationship. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1993, the singer commented that “people know who Whitney Houston is – I’m black. You can’t hide that fact.”[26] Houston received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress. The Washington Post said Houston is “doing nothing more than playing Houston, comes out largely unscathed if that is possible in so cockamamie an undertaking”,[101] and The New York Times commented that she lacked passion with her co-star.[102] Despite the film’s mixed reviews, it was hugely successful at the box office, grossing more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide, making it one of the top 100 grossing films in film history at its time of release, though it is no longer in the top 100 due to rising ticket prices since the time the film was released.[103]
The film’s soundtrack also enjoyed big success. Houston executive produced and contributed six songs for the motion picture’s adjoining soundtrack album. Rolling Stone said it is “nothing more than pleasant, tasteful and urbane”.[104] The soundtrack’s lead single was “I Will Always Love You”, written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1974. Houston’s version of the song was acclaimed by many critics, regarding it as her “signature song” or “iconic performance”. Rolling Stone and USA Today called her rendition “the tour-de-force”.[105][106] The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks, number one on the R&B chart for a then-record-breaking 11 weeks, and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts for five weeks.[107]
The single was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA, making Houston the first woman with a single to reach that level in the RIAA history and becoming the best-selling single by a woman in the US.[108][109][110] The song also became a global success, hitting number-one in almost all countries, and the best-selling single of all time by a female solo artist with 20 million copies sold.[111][112] The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 chart and remained there for 20 non-consecutive weeks, the longest tenure by any album on the chart in the Nielsen SoundScan era, and became one of the fastest selling albums ever.[113] During Christmas week of 1992, the soundtrack sold over a million copies within a week, becoming the first album to achieve that feat under Nielsen SoundScan system.[114][115] With the follow-up singles “I’m Every Woman”, a Chaka Khan cover, and “I Have Nothing” both reaching the top five, Houston became the first woman to ever have three singles in the Top 11 simultaneously.[116][117][118] The album was certified 17× platinum in the US alone,[119] with worldwide sales of 44 million,[120] making The Bodyguard the biggest-selling album by a female act on the list of the world’s Top 10 best-selling albums, topping Shania Twain’s 40 million sold for Come On Over.[121]
Houston won three Grammys for the album in 1994, including two of the Academy’s highest honors, Album of the Year and Record of the Year. In addition, she won a record 8 American Music Awards at that year’s ceremony including the Award of Merit,[122] 11 Billboard Music Awards, 3 Soul Train Music Awards in 1993–94 including Sammy Davis, Jr. Award as Entertainer of the Year,[123] 5 NAACP Image Awards including Entertainer of the Year,[124][125][126] a record 5 World Music Awards,[127] and a BRIT award.[128] Following the success of the project, Houston embarked on another expansive global tour, The Bodyguard World Tour, in 1993–94. Her concerts, movie, and recording grosses made her the third highest earning female entertainer of 1993–94, just behind Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand according to Forbes magazine.[129] Houston placed in the top five of Entertainment Weekly ’s annual “Entertainer of the Year” ranking[130] and was labeled by Premiere magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood.[131]
In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honoring newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela.[132][133] At the end of her world tour, Houston performed three concerts in South Africa to honor President Mandela, playing to over 200,000 people. This would make the singer the first major musician to visit the newly unified and apartheid free nation following Mandela’s winning election.[134] The concert was broadcast live on HBO with funds of the concerts being donated to various charities in South Africa. The event was considered the nation’s “biggest media event since the inauguration of Nelson Mandela”.[135]
“The black Victorians: astonishing portraits unseen for 120 years”
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/sep/15/black-chronicles-ii-victorians-photography-exhibition-rivington-place?CMP=twt_gu
Excerpt from article above:
“That long-lost series of photographs, unseen for 120 years, is the dramatic centrepiece of an illuminating new exhibition called Black Chronicles II.”
http://autograph-abp.co.uk/images/made/TMC024_copy_280_395_80_s.jpg
Eleanor Xiniwe, The African Choir, 1891-93. London Stereoscopic Company. Courtesy of © Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Great job Mr President!!
PBO to GOP HOUSE= PASS A BILL!
Where’s that gif of PBO kicking open the door? LOL
GOP heads exploding…
President Obama is announcing his Immigration Action.
*Hollaring*!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/535567281485795329
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/535484217472212992/photo/1
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/535555889101815808/photo/1
Ethnic cleansing? Who’s getting cleansed? Descendants of western European invaders?
OUCH, this ought to leave a mark! LOL
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/535557548808896513/photo/1
I’m just gonna say it..
MUTHAPHUCKA, PLEASE
…………………………….
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/535457112839946241/photo/1
Rand Paul is already a legend in his own mind. The rest of us aren’t all that impressed.
This young girl is made of the right stuff. God bless this child.
https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/535150577286524928
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/535521634258399232
NO CAN’TS TO GIVE. I JUST.CAN’T.
another gif
http://collectionofawesome.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/tumblr_mrphp50vna1qdlh1io1_400.gif
bwa ha ha ha ha
BWA HA HA HA
White students dress as cops beating ‘Mexicans’: ‘This is the beginning of rape season’
20 NOV 2014 AT 11:06 ET
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating racial threats against Latino students that began on Halloween night and recently escalated to warnings about “the beginning of our rape season.”
University of Chicago junior Vincente Perez told WMAQ that the threatening behavior began on Halloween night when he saw white students participating in a mock beating of students who were dressed as Mexican stereotypes. Photos of the incident were later uploaded to Facebook.
“The pictures not only involved the individuals in the costumes but also kind of made light of police brutality,” Perez recalled.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/U-of-C-Feds-Investigate-After-Threat-Posted-in-Facebook-Hack-283292241.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_CHBrand
Some theories from POU about Bill Cosby:
Town
Conspiracy theory #2:
It’s been said in recent years that The Cosby Show helped white people feel comfortable with the idea of a black president, in that it showed black folks with high educations, speaking well, in affluent housing, 2 parent household etc.
Cosby was set to reprise this. The establishment doesn’t want a repeat of Barack Obama…we can’t have a new generation of people thinking this is possible.
So, let’s get rid of Bill Cosby because there are so many other black people willing to trash other blacks instead of backtracking and showing blacks in a good light.
http://pragmaticobotsunite.com/thursday-open-thread-african-american-winemakers-ii/#comment-1703737187
JB20005
Now tell me if I’m being too conspiracy-minded here.
Is Bill Cosby collateral damage in the white power establishment’s impotent rage at their inability to get President Obama’s scalp for the past 6-years?
Seeing them all turn on him in unison like snakes, makes me think there’s more at work here than a Hannibal Buress stand up routine.
http://pragmaticobotsunite.com/thursday-open-thread-african-american-winemakers-ii/#comment-1703630072
Town>
This is my conspiracy theory…
Cosby was planning a new Cosby series which would likely show blacks in a positive light. The dominant society had been paying Bill Cosby to slam blacks in a negative light. They couldn’t cancel his show “for no reason” so they paid this little known Hannibal Comic money to bring up the widely known rape allegations…where it was conveniently taped and distributed. Then women from 45 years ago are being paid to tell how Cosby raped them. (Note: Janice Dickinson said she’ll tell her story if she gets paid. I have no doubt ET paid her).
NOW they can cancel the Cosby series that will portray black people in a positive light without blowback as well as cancel showings of the Cosby Show which showed a black 2 parent affluent family in a positive light.
If Cosby had stuck to touring the country slamming black people and had decided not to recreate the Cosby Show (which shows black people in a positive light) none of this would be occuring.
This is also a message to GOP BlackChick, Stacey Dash, Don Lemon and other blacks who make their money slamming black folks…if you backtrack and say something positive for black people we will destroy you too.
EDIT: This does not mean that Bill Cosby is innocent of raping people, he most likely is guilty…that’s how they have something to hold over him.
http://pragmaticobotsunite.com/thursday-open-thread-african-american-winemakers-ii/#comment-1703458171
inside my head. I was thinking the same thing this morning. And if you listen and observe the media and print, the images of the big, black, boogie men are strategically placed with the lede. The whole idea behind these schemes is to TEAR DOWN BLACK MEN
PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“And if you listen and observe the media and print, the images of the big, black, boogie men are strategically placed with the lede”
Yup!!!
GOVCHRIS1988>
Thank GOD, I thought I was the only one. Look, I always knew that Bill Cosby was a smug ass from the get go. That being said, I enjoyed his work as a comedian and sitcom star. Something just doesn’t smell right to me. I mean, everyone stated a comedian by the name of Hannibal Burress, who I have never heard of, (Not a knock on him or anything, he may be a great comedian as well but really, who heard of this guy before all of this?) said this in a set that was recorded and uploaded onto youtube and all of a sudden, THIS is the catalyst to all of this?
We know that with his appearances on late night and tv talk shows recently, that he was going for what Betty White did a couple of years back with her comedy specials and that television show on NBC.He was trying for another career resurgence and I think he has pissed someone in the upper echelons of media off, which is why you have all these women coming out saying that they were sexually molested by Cosby. I mean, come on Carolyn Ferigno? You mean to tell me that Lou’s big ass wouldn’t go to Cosby’s house and beat the shit out of him if that happened? That Bill Cosby, BLACK Philadelphia born Bill Cosby, whose only really successful films had Sidney Portier in them, was the only negro in Hollywood at the time that they wanted to sell by any means necessary to the public. Who since the 1960’s in America, apparently raped WHITE WOMEN, who then told that he raped them and nothing happened besides some payoffs? It just doesn’t smell right.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that Cosby has had affairs and sexual dalliances. I am just not sold on everything else yet. It just feels too contrived to be assumed to be an organic uprising. Someone is behind this.
http://pragmaticobotsunite.com/thursday-open-thread-african-american-winemakers-ii/#comment-1703414102
“It just feels too contrived to be assumed to be an organic uprising. Someone is behind this.”
Sums up what I was thinking when I read about this. Why now?
It does feel like he crossed some people – or refused to play along any longer with some of the white ones who brung him. There’s something to be said about most of the favored/hand-picked ones like Cosby, who for so long didn’t understand that as successful as they’ve let you become, they’ll also try to destroy you if at anytime you fail to do their bidding, or simply because they feel like it – or think you’ve gotten too big for your britches. I look at some of the wealthiest black people, and realize that even with all their wealth, most are still unable to speak up. It’s not simply about losing favor, or drying up their money source. They are in truth hostages who in return for their wealth and place in society, have given up their truth, voice. There’s a reason some of equal or more talent were passed over. They refused to be held hostage. They refused to be owned. They paid the price by not having the sustained professional success they might otherwise have had. Jesse Williams the only solid voice out there today who remains unafraid to stake his Hollywood career to speak his truth comes to mind. The Kevin Hart will do well to take heed of what’s become of Bill Cosby. They’ll make you and they can and will as easily destroy you.
p.s: For what it’s worth, I’ve always placed a huge stock on how a man treats his wife. A cheat is not only untrustworthy, but lacks discipline – be it at work or at home, and that’s all we need to know about the character of the man. There’s very little a man who cheats on his wife can do to earn my respect or trust, be it personally or professionally. Bill Cosby cheated on his wife often. Once was enough. The minute I found out, he lost my respect and trust all those years long ago. That it takes a witch-hunt spurred by accusations by several white women accusing him of rape, to understand that he was never that good guy in the first place, is pretty pathetic. This witch-hunt has very little to do with the despicable act of rape, or the supposed “victims” some of whom are so morally bankrupt and knowingly had dalliances with a married man – or actively sought to wrangle a place in a married man’s life outside of his wife. This is really about pay back, or taking a defiant former beneficiary down by the same people who helped make him.
this is scary
https://twitter.com/arapaho415/status/535414012012277760/photo/1
Where are the cars? Buried?
LOL This is how our drive way looked last winter!
Mofo, please
………….
Hunter Walker ✔ @hunterw
Follow
My favorite line of Jim Webb’s epic 14 minute 2016 launch video: “Walk into some of our inner cities if you dare” http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-webb-launches-2016-exploratory-committe-2014-11 …
12:29 AM – 20 Nov 2014
https://twitter.com/metaquest/status/535237629428903937/photo/1
The Univision Strategy
by BooMan
Thu Nov 20th, 2014 at 10:05:37 AM EST
Much of what the Obama administration does is lost even on their most ardent progressive supporters. That’s because people who don’t speak Spanish don’t have much occasion to watch Univision. Programming on the network routinely outperforms at least some of the English-speaking networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC). When the president announces his immigration reforms, the traditional networks won’t be covering it, but Univision will. And the timing of the address seems specifically designed to capture the maximum possible Latino audience.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2014/11/20/10537/540#14
On paper
Republican leader left a trail
By Dennis Myers
dennism@newsreview.com
This article was published on 11.20.14.
Nevada Assembly speaker-designate Ira Hansen would be one of the most controversial speakers in Nevada history.
……………………..
Race
Hansen has said he keeps a Confederate battle flag on the wall where he writes his columns. “I fly it proudly in honor and in memory of a great cause and my brave ancestors who fought for that cause,” he wrote.
Hansen tends to use the term “Negro” and often does not capitalize it. In one column, he described Washoe Republican Sen. Maurice Washington (whom he supported) as black but in the same column called President Obama (whom he opposes) a “negro”—lower case.
Hansen has repeated, legitimately, the well known stories about Martin Luther King’s plagiarism as a student, using them to try to discredit his later work. On several occasions, including in King Day columns, Hansen has also cited as factual rumors about King’s private life about which nothing reliable is known, particularly given the efforts of the FBI to plant misinformation about King with journalists. Hansen provided nothing like chapter and verse to prove King’s private life unsuitable, relying on the notion that it is something we all “know.”
Hansen wrote, “King’s private life was trashy at best. … King Jr. is as low as it gets, a hypocrite, a liar, a phony, and a fraud.” He opposed an effort to name a Paradise Park community center for King on the grounds African-Americans had begun rejecting him in favor of Louis Farrakhan, a black trend that has not been recorded elsewhere. (Hansen offered local African-American businessperson Luther Mack as an alternative name for the center.)
Hansen has written, “According to a recent Harvard study, Nevada ranks near the bottom in graduating blacks and Hispanics, and the usual crowd of soothsayers blame it on the old tired argument of ’racism’.” We were unable to find any record of a single community spokesperson in the time frame of the 2004 Harvard study who blamed the findings on racism, nor did Hansen quote any.
In an attack on public education and teacher unions, Hansen wrote, “The Democratic coalition would split asunder if the NAACP & co. actually promoted what black Americans truly desire—educational choice. The shrewd and calculating [black] ’leaders’ are willing to sacrifice the children of their own race to gratify their lust for power and position. The relationship of Negroes and Democrats is truly a master-slave relationship, with the benevolent master knowing what’s best for his simple minded darkies. For American blacks, being denied choice and forced to attend the failing and inferior government school system is a form of involuntary servitude. Let’s call it what it truly is—educational slavery.”
http://www.newsreview.com/reno/on-paper/content?oid=15531962
this makes no sense
………….
Bank Robbery Suspect Who Fatally Shot Himself During Chase Was Former Atlanta Police Lieutenant
Police said Dodd was a former lieutenant with the Atlanta police and was visiting Matteson from Georgia
Wednesday, Nov 19, 2014 • Updated at 4:05 PM CST
A man suspected of robbing a bank Friday morning and leading police on a car chase through the south suburbs before fatally shooting himself has been identified as a former lieutenant with the Atlanta Police Department.
Maurice Chester Dodd, 44, died of a gunshot wound to the head and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A police officer was making a village deposit at the BMO Harris Bank branch at 4940 W. 211th in Matteson about 11 a.m. on Nov. 14 when he made eye contact with a man carrying a wad of cash as he walked away from the counter, according to a statement from Matteson police.
A teller, who had fallen to the ground and begun hyperventilating, told the officer the suspect had robbed the bank, police said.
The suspect took off in a 2003 Nissan, leading police on a high-speed chase from westbound U.S. 30 to northbound I-57, then eastbound on I-80 before pulling a U-turn to head south in the wrong lanes of I-57, police said.
The robber then exited onto eastbound Vollmer Road, and, as he passed Cicero Avenue, an officer saw him put a handgun to the right side of his head, the statement said.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Bank-Robbery-Suspect-Who-Fatally-Shot-Himself-During-Chase-Was-Former-Atlanta-Police-Lieutenant-283254121.html#ixzz3JddmjgXh
Follow us: @nbcchicago on Twitter | nbcchicago on Facebook
Ted Cruz Goes There By Accusing Obama of Being An Angry and Defiant Black Man
By: Sarah Jones more from Sarah Jones
Wednesday, November, 19th, 2014, 3:47 pm
In an attempt to game the ref prior to President Obama’s expected immigration reform announcement Thursday (tomorrow), Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) accused, “It is lawless. It is unconstitutional. He is defiant and angry at the American people.”
The Republican shutdown king from Texas, dubbed a “wacko bird” by Republican Senator John McCain, took to the pages of Politico Magazine on Wednesday in an effort to demonize President Obama’s actions on immigration reform before he even announced them.
While Cruz is highly educated, he runs a good game playing obtuse. And thus we get passages like:
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/11/19/shutdown-wacko-bird-ted-cruz-accuses-obama-defiant-angry-american-people.html
GOP eyes the courts to push back against Obama
11/20/14 11:24 AM—UPDATED 11/20/14 11:26 AM
By Steve Benen
Republicans at least say they see President Obama’s executive actions as unconstitutional, prompting chatter about shutdown, impeachment, dysfunction, and perhaps even politically motivated violence.
But as a rule, it’s not up to lawmakers and governors to decide which actions are permissible under the Constitution. We have a whole separate branch of government established for just this purpose. Perhaps Republicans can avail themselves of the judiciary?
Well, maybe. Here’s Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) yesterday:
Republican governors on Wednesday tore into President Barack Obama’s plan to issue an executive order extending new legal protections to millions of undocumented immigrants, with Texas Gov. Rick Perry saying there’s “probably a very real possibility” that the state of Texas will sue the federal government over it.
And Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), yesterday:
Several governors threatened legal action to block the measure. “I would go to the courts,” said Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. “This is illegal.”
And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), yesterday:
“We should take him to court,” Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Truman was taken to court in Youngstown Steel, and I think we should take him to court.”
And House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), last week:
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is considering expanding a proposed federal lawsuit over President Obama’s executive orders to include action on immigration. Filing a separate lawsuit over the president’s authority to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation is another option that gained traction Thursday during talks among party leaders.
And what’s wrong with this? Actually, nothing.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-eyes-the-courts-push-back-against-obama
GOP senator warns of ‘anarchy’ and ‘violence’
11/20/14 09:05 AM
By Steve Benen
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appeared on msnbc yesterday, and when host Alex Wagner asked what kind of advice he’d give his party’s leaders in Congress, Steele offered some sound advice. “The first would be, ‘Get a grip,’” he said.
Steele’s comments came to mind after reading this report published last night by USA Today.
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn warns there could be not only a political firestorm but acts of civil disobedience and even violence in reaction to President Obama’s executive order on immigration Thursday.
“The country’s going to go nuts, because they’re going to see it as a move outside the authority of the president, and it’s going to be a very serious situation,” Coburn said on Capital Download. “You’re going to see – hopefully not – but you could see instances of anarchy. … You could see violence.”
The far-right senator went on to say, “Here’s how people think: Well, if the law doesn’t apply to the president … then why should it apply to me?”
It’s hard to know what to make of such an odd perspective. If Coburn is correct, why weren’t there similar outbursts of anarchy and violence when Presidents Reagan and Bush took very similar executive actions? If the masses are so deeply concerned about separation of powers and the often-ambiguous lines surrounding executive authority, wouldn’t we have seen instances of pandemonium before?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-senator-warns-anarchy-and-violence
https://twitter.com/HuffingtonPost/status/535448763507441664
RIP Mile Nichols, and blessings to Diane Sawyer.
RIP Mike Nichols
https://twitter.com/Independent/status/535457506622193665
the racist lid has been blown off PANDORA’s box. Just pure unadulterated hate. It will eventually eat these folks alive, one can only hope
https://twitter.com/Salon/status/535460738362785792
This fool needs to file his retirement papers and never leave his porch again.
Looky here, folks!
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/535425158732058624
WTF does this mean?
Uber’s Privacy Practices Questioned by Senator Franken
By Mike Isaac
November 19, 2014 8:12 pm
The relationship between the media and Uber has been strained as of late. It is not going so well on Capitol Hill, either.
Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, sent a scathing letter to the ride-sharing start-up on Wednesday evening, publicly questioning how Uber treats the location and ride history of its passengers.
In the letter, which was addressed to Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, Senator Franken asked how the company uses the data it collects on the many passengers who use the service on a daily basis, and which of the company’s employees are allowed to view such sensitive information.
“The reports suggest a troubling disregard for customers’ privacy, including the need to protect their sensitive geolocation data,” Senator Franken wrote.
The letter comes just days after a senior Uber executive detailed a plan to conduct “opposition research” on journalists who cover the company in a negative light. The Uber employee, Emil Michael, made the comments in a private dinner hosted by Uber last week. BuzzFeed News first reported Mr. Michael’s comments.
Mr. Michael is the main target of the letter which, among other things, asked Mr. Kalanick if he has disciplined any Uber employees who may have violated the privacy rights of users. Senator Franken also asks what happens to user data that is shared with third-party companies, and to the data of people who have chosen to leave the service.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/senator-questions-uber-on-privacy-practices/?smid=tw-nytimesbits&_r=0
I have criticisms of Booker, but Keystone is not one of them.
……….
Leave Cory Booker Aloooone!
by BooMan
Thu Nov 20th, 2014 at 07:45:20 AM EST
I think Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey befuddles political commentators because he doesn’t neatly fit into preconceived boxes. He can’t be buttonholed as a “liberal” or a “black” politician, nor can he even be called a typical Garden State pol. Perhaps Emma Green was correct when she wrote that Silicon Valley loves him because he speaks their language and “what the tech world wants will just make sense to him.”
It certainly matters that Mark Zuckerberg donated a $100 million to Newark schools while Booker was serving as that city’s mayor, and when Zuckerberg’s political action committee advocates on behalf of the Keystone XL pipeline I think we can assume that Booker will at least give them a hearing. It could be that these kind of connections help explain why Booker was one of the last Democratic senators to take a position on the pipeline, although it should also be remembered that he ultimately chose not to support the bill before the Senate.
It’s easy to forget that the Keystone XL pipeline divides the left on more than just corporate vs. environmental lines. Many unions urged passage of the bill, which helps explain why several Mid-Atlantic politicians with close ties to labor voted to authorize the project. In the Philadelphia area, the Democratic machine is embodied by Rep. Bob Brady (Philly) and Rep. Donald Norcross (Camden), both of whom voted for the bill in the House. They were joined by labor-friendly Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey. New Jersey Democrats tend to be liberal on social issues but also very responsive to both labor and the financial industry, which made the vote on Keystone XL something more than a no-brainer. If you accept that unions are a crucial and indispensable component of the Progressive Movement, the proper “progressive” position on the vote wasn’t as clear as you might like to believe, particularly because the unions were not united.
The debate in Congress was about more than whether or not the pipeline should be built. It was also about whether Congress should be in the business of bypassing the State Department and approving projects without regard for the impact research or the public comments. You could personally support the project and still vote against the bill on grounds of congressional overreach. Several senators explained their opposition in exactly this way, and for once it wasn’t necessarily just ass-covering spin.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2014/11/20/72851/602
Heritage vetoes Republican ‘rescission’ plan
11/19/14 04:53 PM
By Steve Benen
Traditionally, Congress has remained quite calm after previous presidents took executive actions on immigration policy. This Congress intends to go in a different, more hair-on-fire direction.
But which direction, exactly? GOP lawmakers can’t fully agree amongst themselves, at least not yet, on whether to shut down the government (again), impeach a Democratic president (again), refuse to govern (again), or generally just throw an elaborate partisan tantrum for a while. Some combination therein remains a distinct possibility.
Yesterday, however, Republicans seemed to be warming up to a tactic called “rescission.” Long-time readers may recall that the tactic came up a year ago, but Roll Call reported on how it would apply this time around.
A new option emerged on Tuesday: passing an omnibus in December and later, after President Barack Obama issues his executive action on immigration, rescinding funding for the specific federal programs being used to implement the order.
House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., pitched the idea at a closed-door GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning…. Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a senior GOP appropriator, said under the approach being discussed, Congress would enact a 12-bill omnibus in December and later, in the new Congress when both chambers are controlled by Republicans, pass a separate bill that would rescind funding for certain programs.
The details would obviously need to be worked out, but some GOP lawmakers see this as a way to thread a needle. Instead of a shutdown, Republicans would agree to keep the government’s lights on, but the legislation would cut spending, retroactively, for the parts of government President Obama would use to implement his immigration policy.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/heritage-vetoes-republican-rescission-plan
Chris Rock talks differences between white, black fame
by theGrio | November 19, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Chris Rock talked with CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose regarding the differences between black and white Hollywood fame.
Rock explained, “Being famous as a black guy is a little different than being famous as a white guy. Tom Hanks is an amazing actor, but Denzel Washington is a god to his people.”
Rock explained further by saying, “[Black people] feel [Denzel’s] highs and lows more than white people. If Tom Hanks does a bad movie, there’s gonna be another good movie by somebody white next week. If Denzel does a bad movie, I might not see a good black movie for a year. I am really left out here hanging.”
Rock also joked during the interview that, “No one says ‘Hey, Tom Cruise! Stay white! Don’t forget your whiteness! Come back and visit white people! What-chu doin’ for white people, Tom Cruise?!”
Rock discussed the topic with Rose because in his upcoming film, Top Five, which he directs and stars in, “he wanted to do a movie about black fame.”
The actor and comedian feels that in the movie he’s “found a tone that works,” explaining that in the past he tried to emulate other comedians like Adam Sandler or Eddie Murphy, since “men always get their fashion sense from whatever friend gets laid the most.”
http://thegrio.com/2014/11/19/chris-rock-black-fame/
Happy Birthday to Ride or Die Joe!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone.
I’m totally enjoying Whitney Houston this week.
It’s just stunning to read the reviews for her movie the Body Guard and her music.
Even back in the day, those critics tried to trash her God-given talent.
HA! Whitney left a legacy unmatched, HER VOICE, the voice of an ANGEL.
LONG LIVE WHTINEY!
Good morning!
Loving Whitney this week. Oh the BodyGuard! Kevin Costner! Uh Uh!
To think that President Obama once thought of Senator Coburn as a reasonable republican, and even a friend. Coburn has shown himself to be the worst of the worst. A revoltingly evil and craven man. With zero redeeming qualities. Not even a battle with cancer has softened the guy’s heart or made him more honest or compassionate. What a shame indeed!!!
Oy!! Thank God for Joaquin Castro. He sure did a much better job of articulating and forcefully defending President Obama’s decision to proceed with the E.A on Immigration. Did an infinitely better job than Jennifer Palmieri. There are times I truly wonder if these Clintonites embedded in the President’s administration aren’t really saboteurs. Ms Palmieri isn’t terribly impressive or convincing for being the Director of. Communications for the White House. She couldn’t even confidently make a cogent argument for why after a year of indulging the republicans, the President is going ahead as promised to use his legal authority to provide interim relief while waiting for permanent legislative action from congress. She’s the Communications Director for crying out loud!! She’s responsible for strategizing, developing, delivering and marketing a sound and easy to grasp interpretation of the President’s message to every strata of the public.
There are times I truly wonder if these Clintonites embedded in the President’s administration aren’t really saboteurs.
Say it over and over and over again.
These CLINTONITE SABOTUERS are only showing us and the President how lackadasical their work ethics and support are.to America.
It’s PERSONAL for these CRETINS, always has been. They are selfish, self-aggrandizing, petty, bickering, and sophomoric.
Great catch. Holding out for what she thinks will be the next administration. Not worth a damn.
Loving Whitney this week!
Well, they say you should keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. I always thought that was why Hillary was offered the SOS position. Same might be said of the Clintonites but there are just too many of them still around, in my opinion.
Beautiful woman Whitney. Gone too soon. RIP.
Good morning!!