Robot heckler on why he heckled Bill Clinton

[sniffa]

This is why I did it:

The first time I fully realized Bill Clinton was not on the side of racial and social justice was after the “Sister Souljah Moment,” as it has come to be known in political circles. In a mean-spirited move, Clinton tried to demonize a young Black woman named Sister Souljah by taking something she said out of context. (For a fuller understanding of how he twisted her words, read the short book excerpt below.) Clinton did this to ingratiate himself with white upper-middle class swing voters during the 1992 presidential campaign, and he portrayed Sister Souljah as a reckless radical who advocated killing white people. This was patently false, and Bill Clinton knew it, but that didn’t stop him from cynically turning her into a sacrificial lamb that helped save his flagging campaign.

snip

Addressing the political convention of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, Bill Clinton disgustedly laid into her, reducing Souljah’s analysis to, “If Black people kill Black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?”—rather than acknowledging her point about laissez-faire attitudes concerning Black-on-Black violence. Jesse Jackson was hopping mad, but it was political gold for Clinton. Mission Accomplished. In effect, Bill Clinton was telling Blacks that he was happy to seem “down” with their kind by appearing on The Arsenio Hall Show, but if they dared to voice substantive concerns he would dismiss them as mouth-foaming zealots who wanted to kill Whitey.”

For fifteen years I have wanted Bill Clinton to apologize for dissing Sister Souljah while happily accepting the honor of being America’s “first black president,” as novelist Toni Morrison once put it. In my capacity as President of the Iowa Chapter of MR. IFOBCA* (Mad Robots In Favor Of Bill Clinton Apologizing), I vow to continue sending an army of robots to all future Clinton appearances until he apologizes to Sister Souljah.

http://www.mr-ifobca.org/

[Bucky]

1. Are we talking about Terminators or the T-1000s?

The key to successful participation in politics is learning to let the little stuff slide. No one should take that "first black president" shit seriously. It was marketing to the rubes, same as the "Bubba" image of a Yale Law educated Rhodes scholar. The Sister Souljah smackdown was just more posturing, but it was posturing from 15 fucking years ago.

Personally I'd suggest being more worried about the dismantling of the Bill of Rights and the preparations being made to make our Iraqi occupation permanent and beyond control of the democracy. But that's just me.

[MADem]

2. Yep...it's a case of an obtuse fool who cannot see the forest for the trees.

Either that, or this putz takes a check from the RNC on the sly.

[Bucky]

3. Sniffa is a longtime DUer, hardly a RNC stooge.

We disagree quite often, but his loyalty isn't in question and he's neither obtuse nor a putz.

If you're going to be a Democrat, could you please make an effort to embrace diversity a little better?

[MADem]

15. Did you bother to READ his link before you gratuitously lectured me?

Get off your fucking soapbox--I know who sniffa, with his cap L's, is. He's posting an article about a protester, HE isn't the protester.


Unless sniffa has decided to take a job as as professor at U of Iowa, that is, and his name is actually Kenbrew McLeod--which he isn't, and it isn't, he isn't the fellow discussed in the link.

Of course, if you had bothered to actually CLICK, and READ, rather than shoot off your keyboard in such gleeful eagerness to give me a wee slap, you wouldn't be in the position of looking like a presumptive ass right now.

But hey, whatever.

[niyad]

4. ummm, anybody have a link to some reliable source for the sister souljah thing?

I looked at this person's website--typical reichwingnut stuff.

[LoZoccolo]

5. I certainly think that we should look at Sister Soujah's comments in context.

Such as her track "The Hate That Hate Produced", which wasn't some offhand comments made in the course of an interview, but a deliberate artifact she produced.

Souljah was not born to make white people feel comfortable

I am African first, I am Black first

I want what's good for me and for my people first

And if my survival means your total destruction, then so be it

You built this wicked system

They say two wrongs don't make it right

But it damn sure makes it even

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXnlMC0lSc

She seems to be saying something about Jews in the little introduction segment too.

[Blue-Jay]

6. Screw that guy. He's not a real robot.

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. He's a RINO!

[sniffa]

13. ..

:rofl:

[Occam Bandage]

7. Here's the full context. She deserved everything Clinton said about her.

Q: But even the people themselves who were perpetrating that
violence, did they think it was wise? Was that wise, reasoned
action?

A: Yeah, it was wise. I mean, if black people kill black
people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? You
understand what I'm saying? In other words, white people, this
government, and that mayor were well aware of the fact that black
people were dying every day in Los Angeles under gang violence.
So if you're a gang member and you would normally be killing
somebody, why not kill a white person? Do you think that
somebody thinks that white people are better, or above and beyond
dying, when they would kill their own kind?

Q: I'm just asking what's the wisdom in it? What's the sense
in it?

A: It's rebellion, it's revenge. You ever heard of Hammurabi's
Code? Eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? It's revenge. I
mean, that seems so simple. I don't even understand why anybody
ask me that question. You take something from me, I take
something from you. You cut me, I cut you. You shoot me, I shoot
you. You kill my mother, I kill your mother.

Q: And the individuals don't matter?

A: What individuals? If you killed my mother, that mattered to
me. That's why I killed yours. How could the individuals not
matter? You mean the WHITE individuals, do they matter? Not if
the black ones don't. Absolutely not. Why would they? If my
child dies, your child dies. If my house burns down, your house
burns down. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That's what
they believe.

http://linguistlist.org/issues/3/3-512.html

[rockymountaindem]

10. That's pretty twisted n/t

[aikoaiko]

11. thank you for injecting some reality in this thread.

Kembrew McLeod, Iowa Chapter President of MR. IFOBCA* (a.k.a. Mad Robots In Favor Of Bill Clinton Apologizing) is an attention seeking gadfly.

[tularetom]

8. Clinton has turned into kind of a pompous ass, but

fifteen years is a long goddamn time to hold a grudge and plan something like this.

[MonkeyFunk]

9. This 'bot needs to get a life

If a 15-year old comment still gets under his metal.

[Perry Logan]

14. But why a robot costume? Is there some symbolism there I'm missing?

[MADem]

16. Attention-seeking behavior....

This twit has been hanging on to this shit for fifteen years? Clinton is retired, a senior citizen, and that was a LONG time ago. He's probably working some kind of "mindless robots" (as in BushBots, HillBots--the usual childish invective tossed by small, tired minds) theme. I would think he'd get himself a bit of a life:

Kembrew McLeod, Iowa Chapter President of MR. IFOBCA* (a.k.a. Mad Robots In Favor Of Bill Clinton Apologizing)
...The professor, Kembrew McLeod, stood on a chair and screamed several statements, including: “Robots of the world want you to apologize.”

The audience erupted into loud boos.

McLeod, before security officers could reach him, tossed hundreds of cards into the audience of about 400 people in protest of statements the former president made in 1992 of Sister Souljah, a member of the musical group Public Enemy.

“I like to talk in a way that, you know, will draw attention to these serious issues,” McLeod said after the event. “And maybe the way that I draw attention to them is an absurd way but it was the only way that I could draw attention to the particular issue of Sister Souljah, which is an issue that’s been swept under the carpet.”...McLeod is an associate professor in the department of communication studies. He said he has tenure. He was not arrested.


Gee, why do I think he wouldn't be pulling that crap WITHOUT that precious tenure? And why do I think there's a board somewhere who is regretting that tenure vote? I suppose this kind of bullshit is easier than, say, getting published!

I find it terribly disheartening that a professor in the COMMUNICATIONS Department uses the "You know" phrase to express himself when he's given a shot to be quoted about this pathetic little stunt. He could have iced the cake if he'd ONLY put the Valley-Girls-esque "Like" in front of it.

"Is Our Chirren Learnin'?" indeed!