Drums in the Global Village

….did a great job on her Green Party Vice Presidential nomination acceptance speech. I look forward to voting for her in future elections.

Way, way back when I thought that one day (today) I’d be a famous pundit, I looked forward to locking horns with right-wingers like Tony Snow. His end-of-show commentaries on “Fox News Sunday” never failed to make my teeth grit and shout obscenities at the screen. I looked forward to him one day attacking me by name, seeing it as a badge of honor.

Cat was born to be White House Press Secretary. He should have been in that role for the whole eight years. Bush would’ve been able to lie better.

While watching coverage of his death, I was sincerely moved by the great love he had for his family. So I wish that family well in its time of grief.

It was great hearing Bob Law’s voice on the radio again. The occasion was a new documentary film he’s narrating.

Enjoyed the recent NPR discussion about it, and Black radio. I agree with the host—the time for Black Activist Commercial Radio might be past, but not necessarily for the same reasons she brought up. Check here for my five-year-old rant on the subject. Here are a couple of great books and two great radio programs on the subject.

…..for winning a “National 2008 Role Model Award” from the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education!

Hazel has always been my hero.

I like “NOVAScienceNOW,” even though I’m not hosting it. Believe me, that’s high praise. It’s clear we’re in the Golden Age of the Magazine—the BROADCAST magazine. I’m happy that I can listen to three national Black(ish) radio newsmagazines in a week, watch the NOVA spinoff show every summer and check out what the brother’s doing on “History Detectives,” but it’s hard to let the dream go of working full-time for a national (Black) general interest magazine. (Aside: It’s really too bad that too many of these broadcast magazines don’t have full-time [or sometimes any!] correspondents.) Soon it’ll be time for the local library to get my Gordon Parks autobiographies, I guess.

Okay. A work of satire. I get it. Confront the enemy directly, blah, blah, blah…….. But boy, some folks are really upset! I got a relative who wants to [CENSORED] The New Yorker building!

The news media pretend it’s hard to tell a deliberate slam from a sham these days. For instance, The Reverend Nutslicer. Does anyone other than me believe Jackson Sr. purposely made his “gaffe” so that white moderates in swing states would be more comfortable voting for Obama in November? Saying what he said while wired to a FOX News microphone? C’mon……..

I mean, how upset could Jackson really be about what Obama said (and repeated last night), since The Good Reverend has said the exact same things for years and years? (I never forgot how, in the 1990s, Jackson Sr., discussing crime in the Black community, publicly talked about how relieved he now was to discover that the person walking down the street at night right behind him was white.) I mean, the fact that his son is going to get Obama’s Senate seat (and didn’t Jesse Jr. set the speed record for responses? ) has nothing to do with allathis, right?

Woo-Woo! Two years and counting!

Thanks again, Saswat!

…..so I’ll leave it to the audience as to whether this episode of “Click & Clack’s As The Wrench Turns,” the new “Car Talk” animated series I saw over the weekend, is borderline racist. I know that if I was from India I’d be getting tired of this kind of thing. And what’s up with every person of color in the garage sounding like they escaped from 1970s network sitcoms?

……for the single greatest radio broadcast I’ve heard yet.

The Fourth of July as “Freedom Of Speech Day!” What a concept!

I couldn’t believe the careful balance of time, place, geography, race, and gender that was attempted for those nine hours of radio—From Paul Robeson to George Carlin to Maurice Bishop to Coretta Scott King to Sam Cooke.

Again, Congrats! I can now officially say I celebrate the Fourth!

P.S. To ‘PFW: If you can, use that day’s broadcast as the main pledge offering from now on!

Was in bed the other night with the love of my life—Rolling Stone magazine —and all I gotta say is this: Boy, it’s clearly good to be the King. RS Publisher Jann Wenner does a puff-piece Q+A, and then commissions a sidebar all about how Obama’s people are impressive because they actually wield power the way power is SUPPOSED to be wielded? I’m for Obama too, but Sheesh! I’m tempted to put this post in the “Advertising” category.