The Sesame Street Gang Is Political... Who Knew?!

Earlier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama made an appearance on Sesame Street. She showed up to extol the virtues of gardening and healthy eating when out of nowhere, Big Bird comes on the scene and asks her some pointed questions about President Barack Obama. I had no idea that Big Bird was auditioning for a spot on Fox. Does this mean that the "C" in CTW (The Children's Television Workshop) really stands for "conservative"?

Conan's Humorous "Exposé" of The Fox News Channel

During his Wednesday night monologue on The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien took a jab at the Fox News Channel's well-deserved reputation as a right-wing station. He showed a clip of President Barack Obama's ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game as it actually happened and then showed footage of how it was "portrayed" by The Fox News Channel. I hope that even those who take as gospel everything they hear and see on the "fair and balanced" network can laugh at this clip too.

CTFD: The Prez Meets the Chin, Controversy Ensues

History was made Thursday night when President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to appear on The Tonight Show. For the most part, it wasn't the typical chatter that you hear on these types of shows. Some of the topics discussed during the president's interview with Jay Leno were the bonuses paid out to AIG employees, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and changing the "blame game" culture in Washington.

Towards the end of the interview, the tone became lighthearted as President Obama talked about the Final Four, flying on Air Force One, and his bowling skills. It's this last topic that will likely have people talking long after the President leaves the NBC studio in Burbank. After Obama stated that he rolled a 129-point game, Leno congratulated him sarcastically. This led to the president commenting "Like the Special Olympics or something". I cringed because I knew that members of the right would be grinning like the butcher's dog. Reports that the Fox News Channel got a collective woodie when they heard about the president's comments are true. Because Keith Olbermann saw the appearance before it aired, he discussed the incident on his show last night. Shortly thereafter, Obama haters started spewing their venom in the comments attached to the Olbermann clip. Funny, sad and oh so predictable.

Did the president fuck up? Yes. Should it be blown out of proportion? I don't think so. What do you think?

Below is the clip containing President Obama's "Special Olympics" comment:

Texas Lineman Given the Boot After Racist Remarks About Obama

When will idiots learn that things posted on Facebook have the potential to be seen by millions of people? On Wednesday, Texas Longhorns lineman Buck Burnette was kicked off the team after it was learned that he posted a racist remark about President-Elect Barack Obama on his Facebook page. His Facebook page no longer exists, but according to reports, the posting of the following comment led to his dismissal from the team:

"all the hunters gather up, we have a n----- in the whitehouse"

Note: I didn't type out the offensive word that Burnette put on his Facebook page, but you get the point. After Burnette was bounced from the team, he made the following apology:

Clearly I have made a mistake and apologized for it and will pay for it. I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on facebook in the light of the election. Im not racist and apologize for offending you. I grew up on a ranch in a small town where that was a real thing and I need to grow up. I sincerely am sorry for being ignorant in thinking that it would be ok to write that publicly and apologize to you in particular. I have to be more mature than to put the reputation of my team at stake and to spread that kind of hate which I dont even believe in. Once again, I sincerely apologize.

Mmm... yeah. If Burnette had said something in the heat of the moment, I'd be more willing to give him a pass. However, he had plenty of time to ponder whether or not it was a good idea to post this racist remark on his Facebook page. His apology comes off as a weak attempt at damage control. In addition to ending his college football career, Burnette may have also killed any chances he may have had of making it in the NFL.

President-Elect Barack Obama's historic win on Tuesday night (yes all you haters, it was historic whether you want to admit it or not) has many saying that this proves America is not a racist country. Maybe... maybe not. However, the comments by ex-college football player Buck Burnette proves that there are still pockets of racism in this country. Yes, let's celebrate President-Elect Barack Obama's historic victory (there it is again you haters) and work to move The United States in a positive direction, but let's not forget that there are several people in this country who have zero interest in progress.

Barack Obama Makes History

Photo courtesy of the AP

Normally I stay away from politics on this blog. However, I feel that Barack Obama's historic win in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election is worthy of discussion. When it became official that Obama would be the next President of the U.S., I was reminded of something that I hadn't thought of in a few years. My introduction to Obama was when he gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. After listening to him, I said that if an African American has a legitimate shot at becoming President of the U.S., it's him.

One thing that has distressed me over the last several years is the divisiveness of this country. I've been trying to figure out when things started to go wrong. I don't think it can be traced to one particular event, but I would say that a big part of it can be blamed on our involvement in an unpopular war, the feelings by many that the media doesn't fairly represent their political viewpoint, and the venom spewed by some of the media outlets. Unfortunately, this has spilled over into the blogosphere. Over the past few months, some of the things I've read on blogs have taken dishonesty and ugliness to a new level (or should I say depth). Not only that, but on Halloween, a woman in suburban Detroit refused to give candy to Obama supporters or their children! I was like, "lady, are you out of your fuckin' mind?!" Regardless of one's political beliefs, I'd like to think that we are all in agreement that we need to come together and truly be The United States of America. I'm confident that President-Elect Obama will be able to build that bridge.

In keeping with the pop culture angle of my blog, below is a clip from when the then Senator Barack Obama appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show.