Superville Review

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Amiri Baraka's poetically hard line riff on society at large begins with these foreshadowing lines:

Something in the way of things
Something that will quit and won't start
Something you know but can't stand
Can't know get along with
Like death

Well, I don't know if Baraka's lines were a shot over the bow of modern day media and their coverage of the world, but they do fit that demographic, as well as the people who watch it.

The people who watch what is passing these days for media coverage are the something that will quit and won't start. These somethings and somebodies have quit looking for informative journalism and won't start on a path to demanding better from their media coverage by refusing to engage in the rumor mills that news coverage has become. When ESPN dedicates headlines to Alex Rodriguez and his wife's pending divorce request we know things done got too far gone; especially after the man tied all-time great Mickey Mantle's 536 home runs. The something that the somebodies know and can't stand is that they trade in a he-said, she-said brand of retro-gossip that harken back to days of high school soap operas brought to us by alienation, wistfulness, confusion and desires for popularity. The can't know/get along with like death is the idea that rummaging through time on the wings of minding other folks personal business is a waste of time. It is a type of mental death for meaningful knowledge.

Now, if A-Rod were a politician or pastor sworn to uphold certain standards maybe this coverage would be more worthy. Some would say taking vows before the Lord counts as a sworn upholding of God's law. That might be true, but that's before God and the family of that man and wife. Whether A-Rod is cheating on his wife is between God, him, his wife and their families. Not a public looking for a thrill to shock the doldrums out of their own existence. The sad thing is that for whatever A-Rod's faults might have been in his marriage, there is no proof that he was carrying on an affair with the Material Girl. There is no proof she is seeking a divorce from Guy Ritchie, her movie director husband. There is no evidence that Cynthia Rodriguez was doing anything other than taking advantage of a friend's offer of refuge during a crisis which is what Lenny Kravitz has publicly stated that he offered. But because "professional" photographers (see paparazzi)are allowed to tail folks around town and country based on their bank account or celebrity, and they snap pictures, and send stories down the grapevine, some that, at times, are whisperings from the Public Relations reps of the stars themselves, citizens are at risk for innuendo, lies or secrets being revealed. Does anybody in the media care that any of the above mentioned people have children? Probably not. That's not the "story." But is the state of A-Rod's marriage truly news?

I am lifelong Yankee fan. I would rather hear why A-Rod's general manager, Brian Cashman, has not been able to pull together a pitching staff that is consistent or why many of A-Rod's teammates' bats have gone soft. Professional athletes have long been known to carouse. All of them? No. A lot them? Yeah. But during the more archaic times in national media coverage, BI (Before Internet) and B24 (Before 24 hour cable news cycles) this information was kept between the athletes, teammates, beat writers and no one else. It was off the field and, therefore, irrelevant to the story of the game.

Now the media has made everything on the record and much of it seems to be no more than simple junior high mischief; and the viewing public eats it up and gets a glut of fast news that gets imaginations fat, but leaves intellects painfully malnourished. And there is wonderment in some quarters of America in regard to how the red, white and blue is ceding financial power to China after decades of financial dominance on the world stage. Well, Americans don't have time to think about these types of issues. A-Rod is sleeping around and his wife wants a divorce. Cue up the violins and soap detergent ads here. To quote Toni Morrison's classic character Sula Peace, "harrumph!" There's something in the way of things indeed.

Labels: A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, Cynthia Rodriguez, ESPN, Lenny Kravitz, Media Coverage

Image by B.D. Tyre

Kevin Merida of the Washingtonpost.com has written an article that speaks to the dirty little secret that the media and Barack Obama's campaign itself has shied away from discussing in depth. Racism against Obama's candidacy.

The media has talked about race in relation to polls and constituencies, but the hidden details of campaign workers on the ground, the mean spiritedness, racial epithets and threats of violence have not been covered until now. Veteran New York Times columnist Bob Herbert recently blasted Hillary Clinton's casting of "hard working" white Americans and what it was truly a code for: that Obama could not win the Presidency. Maybe Mrs. Clinton is more in tune with her supporters than anyone realized up to now.

Small town white America as depicted in a "It's a Wonderful Life" and Norman Rockwell paintings has always been a myth to those outside of its supposed quaint and familial environs. How does hatred, ignorance and lack of thought amongst some small town and rural Americans related to God or family values? They are not and that is apparent to anyone with clear vision. Unfortunately, for America her constituents with the least clouded of vision appears to be the so called working class. During the Vietnam war protests of the late '60's protesters were told to "Love it or leave it..." Well, it seems the time has come that that statement can be turned around on those so called patriots for whom America means white America above any and all else.

Beset with jobs that have disappeared across borders and continents, rising fuel and food costs and families depleted from the fatality of war in Iraq, small town America is in the throes of pain; both in pocket and spirit. It has been reported that this is Clinton's base and the base of the Democratic party. It has also been reported that many of these people make less than $50,000 a year and have not attended college. No study has been made public as to how many have even completed high school. With so many challenges to their very survival, one would think, that in concern of self-interest, no white voter in these regions could afford to discount any Presidential candidate out-of-hand. Obama, to be sure, has suffered through the circus show that Reverend Wright made himself at the National Press Club. However, his fate was sealed long before Reverend Wright emerged into the media spotlight. His blackness ensured a segment of Americans would not consider a vote for him.

This fact speaks to a lack of self-respect or self-worth on the part of these narrow minded, hard-workers. If one considered themselves valuable they could not discount any candidate who might present them with a plan that would help them transcend their circumstances; help that any American deserves from their government. Flag pins and pledges of allegiance and the willingness to believe internet lies that have been countlessly refuted by Obama and his campaign staffers lead these people to the same sorry state they find themselves in. Nowhere. It is possible that America's eroding public education system is haunting us with a segment of the United States that does not think clearly, does not think logically or with any eye toward their own possible betterment. It seems the only way their lives can be made better is by the same white candidates that have helped put them into the very circumstances that steals away a way of life that they used to count on. A job, a salary that could feed their families and benefits that would serve them into old age.

The fact that Obama could be the President to turn these things around means little to some of small town and rural America. And it feels troubling to think that the people associated with these negative and self-defeating attitudes must still be accounted for during the remainder of the primary season and the coming general election in November. However, here's the shout for those of open mindedness. Obama has managed to commandeer the lead in states won, pledged delegates, popular vote and now super delegates without the support of this blatant and blasphemous minority. To be sure, Obama will need to address and spend face time with those small town and rural Americans who are active and open minded in their own self-interest and willing to hear if Obama is a candidate that can help them. But for the narrow minded populace an Obama victory in November is a very real possibility and an old statement applies for those who will be hard pressed to stomach America's first black President.

Love it or leave it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24588813/

Labels: Barack Obama, Democratic Primary, Economic Recession, Hillary Clinton Supporters, Kevin Merida, Media Coverage, MSNBC, Reverend Wright, Small Town America, Washinton Post, White Voters