#but like publicly denouncing said celebrity when i actually still really like them is definitely on the list of regrets from that time

[pollenallergie]

ignore everything i said back in late may/early june. i was hypomanic and, consequently, unreasonably angry for most of that time. 👍👍👍

[pinchinschlimbah]

tysm for ur text post about noel... I'm seeing SO many people immediately hating on him and it's exhausting. he's not usually the type of person to speak up about things like this really (at least from what I've seen) so I doubt he's gonna say anything, but his comments on insta are now turned off/limited so its safe to say he knows what's happening and is probably horrified :/

Yes of course! Like I said in my previous post, I think it's incredibly dangerous to start condemning people purely by association and vague connections you've made in your own head without having any actual substantial evidence. I'm not going to assume Noel's current thoughts on the matter as much as I hope that he is indeed horrified, but I do know that it's fairly par for the course to close off public lines of communication and take longer than most would expect to formulate an official statement on something as sensitive as this because to do it right one should be consulting with their lawyers and agents and other knowledgeable people to make sure the statement is as airtight and well-informed as possible without room for further misinterpretation or complicating any possible legal endeavors at play, so it is absolutely not evidence of guilt that he hasn't said anything yet. As much as it would be nice to see him formally denounce Russell and support the victims, I agree with you that it's definitely not guaranteed and we shouldn't be holding our breath since he's generally such an offline and private person with very good reasons for mistrusting the tabloids still looking to demonize him whenever possible, and if he does end up not saying anything there's a million other reasons besides him being complicit as to why he did not speak out. And yeah, people assuming that the comments being turned off means he's definitely hiding something is absurd. First of all I think it's worth noting that most celebrities don't have exclusive access to their social medias and often have whole teams helping them run things because they themselves have better things to do, so it's very possible the comments being shut off wasn't even done or directed by Noel himself. Second, it would be extremely unwise right now for him to start responding off the cuff to random people in the comments just because they demand it. And third, my initial thought when I heard about it was well wouldn't anyone turn the comments off if they were being bombarded with harassment lobbing horrible accusations at them and pressuring them to speak publicly about something before they were ready? But hearing from multiple people that the comments were shut off after Russell's supporters started flooding the posts arguing Russell's innocence makes it make even more sense why the shutoff was done and less evidence of guilt. Also while I'm here something else I wanted to speak on is that since my previous post, a clip from BFQ 2007 has been going viral and reported on by tabloids as ~evidence~ of Noel being involved because rape jokes were being made that involved him, even though the only thing Noel says in the clip is "how dare you, we're not rapists" in response to Jonathan deciding for Lily that she needed to be forcibly kept away from Noel and Russell. (and if I may editorialize for a moment, news sources reported on Lily looking uncomfortable in the clip as a condemnation of Russell and Noel, but personally I think she seems more annoyed that Jonathan has declared this decision for her rather than letting her decide what she felt comfortable with, especially since later in the show she giddily brings up crimping and is clearly somewhat of a Boosh fan.) I hate to pull out the "it was a different time" excuse but I need y'all to remember or understand what things were like back then for context of what was going on there. Me Too hadn't happened yet and actual accusations of sexual misconduct were generally spread in whispers and kept pretty hush hush, it was unusual for such things to be made super public because public blame was much more likely to fall on the accuser than the accused. Since the recent accusations have come out, multiple people close to Russell at the time have gone on record as saying that while they were well aware of the scope of Russell's aggressive sexuality, they had no idea at the time that it was veering into nonconsensual behavior and were horrified to find out.

Rape jokes were, unfortunately, very common at that point, with the word "rape" being used pretty flippantly and not always accurately to how serious of an act the word is meant to convey. The push to eradicate rape jokes from comedy didn't start until several years later, my memory says somewhere around 2010-11? And at the time, "slut" (and similar terms) was one of the worst things you could call someone and promiscuity was highly demonized in popular culture. Again, the concept of "slut shaming" and push to normalize safe and consensual promiscuity didn't come up in popular culture until several years later. So what I see in that clip is Noel and Russell, who were both known for being sluts at that time, being demonized for that behavior (which was well known and well documented in the documentary) with what was meant to be a lighthearted joke that they wouldn't be able to help themselves around Lily, and Noel's internal thought process at that point was most likely something like "Well, I'm a slut who's been demonized for it but I'm not a predator, so I assume the same is true for Russell." I don't believe this clip shows any reasonable guilt or association on Noel's part.

I understand the impulse to not want to support anyone who's done anything terrible, but if we're deeming people guilty by association so anyone who's ever worked or been friends with someone who did something bad is also bad just purely by that association with no other hard evidence, soon you'll have boxed yourself into a corner of having nothing that's safe to enjoy or interact with, and that's no way to live. Like I said previously I'm fully ready to jump ship if actual problems directly involving Noel do arise, but for the moment I do believe the panic and vitriol towards him is unjustified and I'll be continuing business as usual until further notice.

[djrelentless]

“A King, A President and Our Future”

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2016 

It's Martin Luther King Weekend and although I am in Canada I still recognize and observe this holiday. From all the club flyers I saw in the past couple of years it seems that what was supposed to be a celebration for this great man had been reduced to excuses for twerk contests and showing up in your best bling. Since I have been in Toronto, it has been interesting to learn that many folks of color here feel that Dr. King's legacy is just African-American History since the majority are of Caribbean decent. And as I look around this year, even though we as Black People have many things to recognize as accomplishments……leading roles in motion pictures like "Creed" and on television shows like "Scandal" and "How To Get Away With Murder"…..Trevor Noah and Larry Wilmore are doing amazing jobs at replacing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert……we should be really proud of the idea "For Us By Us". But as he is closing in on his last year of as president of the United States, Barack Obama has been  dragged through the mud for the past seven years. Actually, because this is an election year we should expect that….especially from the Rethuglicans. But in my opinion Obama has been one of the best presidents that the United States could have ever had. Do I agree with every single thing he has done? Absolutely not! The subject of drones and deportation of Mexicans will definitely be a thorn in his side in history books. But on a whole, this man has been phenomenal with what he has endured and accomplished. I'd like to think Dr. King would have been proud. But between the rhetoric of the Republican candidates hoping to get the nomination and the headlines about Bill Cosby there are plenty who are not pleased with all Black People. And even some people of color are torn on what is going on in the media. Some have said that they think Obama has not done enough for the Black Community and was not black enough in the White House. And these are probably the same Black People who believe that Bill Cosby is innocent….that this is another attempt to bring down one of our pioneers. Many are venting that the black colleges that are denouncing Cosby should return the money he gave them. But I guess this is just like when Michael Jackson was accused of molesting children. I can appreciate and respect him for his accomplishments and contributions to the industry plus our history, but all the evidence points to your guilt and I cannot excuse that. So, do we abandon the achievements and hang them in the public court? I say we do like the lyric in the theme song for the 80s sitcom Facts Of Life….."Take the good, take the bad". Because let's face it….we could not have a show like Black-ish without The Cosby Show. And for those who are criticizing Obama consider that he made history and broke a major color line. For all the young people who have been inspired by his accomplishments we have to consider how that will impact our future and Black Culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-e3ph1H7r4 

I think in the movie "Selma" we got a different perspective of the man we knew as Martin Luther King. He was human with weaknesses like everyone else. Do we respect him less because we heard he had sexual affairs outside of his marriage? Do we label Obama as the worst president because it took him a while to publicly speak about the Black Lives Matters movement? I personally think that the good that these two men have done outweighs any of their shortcomings. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o

In this year of Larry Wilmore's phrase, "The De-Blackening Of The White House", I would like to warn all people of color about what this year has in store. Remember when Mitch McConnell said back in 2009 that the Republican agenda was to block anything that Obama wanted to do in the White House? Well, as you can see they definitely kept their promise. And even though Obama outsmarted their tactics and found ways to make things happen, the Republicans are now blaming him for the very things that they blocked to add to the list of his non-accomplishments. Along the way they tripped up Hillary Clinton with voting against sending the needed arms and supplies to our troops in Benghazi back in 2012. I guess to help damage her image for this election. But I think the most disturbing thing that the Republicans have done over the past seven years is slowly restructuring voting districts to rig the next presidential election. I don't think that they were expecting someone like Donald Trump to come along, but they only have themselves to blame. He preys upon the politically uninformed and the lowest common denominator in socially aware causes.Actually, FOX News is really to blame. It was FOX that created the Tea Party which opened the flood gates for the extremists to come out of the woodwork. They wanted to create an anti-voice to support idiots like Sarah Palin back in 2008. I don't think they could have predicted that a few of the crazies would later end up in the Senate. And in turn, their witch hunt for Obama's birth certificate would give a voice to Trump to begin his platform. But make no mistake…this year the Republicans have every intention of taking back the White House to continue their agenda of tax breaks and deregulations for corporations. Why else would they vote to say that corporations are people. And I know it seems like some Bizarro World concept where people are saying and doing outrageous things and not suffering the consequences….but we have to stand up and stop this train. It's time to get off the crazy train! Republicans are so used to making money and keeping minorities in check that they feel entitled. Remember when Newt Gingrich ran for president back in 2012? He did and said some really outrageous things and an was unapologetic. Sounds like Trump borrowed a page from him for his campaign this year. And perhaps this is why someone like Bernie Sanders is rising in the polls on the Democrat side. I think all the propaganda of the past about socialism being communism is becoming a joke. For all the things that the U.S. has taught its people about the rest of the world is slowly unfolding into a huge lie. We are a country of dreams, but our culture is a hosh-posh of everyone else's. The melting pot has created Hollywood, entertainment and the art of leisure, but it's traditions and values are questionable.So, I beg everyone to start planning for this year's presidential election right now. Stop being distracted by the puppet show of Trump, reality TV and gossip. Start looking closer at what is being said in this election. I'm not telling you who to vote for. I'm just telling you that if you want to vote in this very important election. The future of our the United States depends on who makes it to the polls. Find your districts and what days you are allowed to vote! Yeah….that's right! I said "what days you are allowed to vote". Because the Republicans have done a job on most of the voting districts across the land. If you wait until November you will probably be really surprised by all the road blocks that have been put in place. And even though the Democrats were successful in taking the state of Florida to the Supreme Court about their rezoning of voting districts, that's not gonna happen all over the country. If you were upset about this year's Oscar nominations which excluded most of the black films submitted (I guess our consolation prize is Chris Rock hosting the ceremony), you should have been upset at Obama's last State Of The Union. The disrespect and contempt that the Republicans displayed during his final address was horrible. The anger and resentment that they feel because they didn't think he could even get elected is so pathetic. It has fueled their hatred and the movement of the extremists. This would explain all the politics that surrounds the cops who are getting away with shooting and murdering black people across the U.S. It's the voice that tries to lessen the the message behind Black Lives Matter. And it's the ones who kept their confederate flags up. Dr. King understood that his time was just the beginning and the first steps of our struggle. Obama understood that his presidency was the beginning of opening the possibilities for Black People in the United States. Viola Davis' speech at last year's Emmy Awards was a declaration of how far we have come. Kendrick Lamar's reach with his records, in my opinion, proves that Hip Hop is universal. If Martin were alive today I think he would praise Obama on his work. I think he would encourage our people to start looking within and take responsibility for our future. To quote a line from Jade Elektra's N-word protest song "Scared of Evolution"…."It's time to for us to wake up to the possibility of what we could be."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7MvFcwHuws

[thisdaynews]

The Myth of George Washington’s Post-Presidency

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/the-myth-of-george-washingtons-post-presidency/

The Myth of George Washington’s Post-Presidency

In Obama’s telling, that tradition goes back to George Washington. “After he led the colonies to victory as General Washington, there were no constraints on him … no democratic norms that guided what he should or could do,” Obama explained in a 2018 speech. Washington “could have made himself, potentially, president for life. Instead, he resigned as commander in chief and moved back to his country estate. Six years later, he was elected president, but after two terms, he resigned again and rode off into the sunset.”

That is where Obama ended his history lesson, but that is not how Washington’s life actually ended. The story of America’s first president riding off into the sunset and vacating public life has become so much the stuff of legend that even his successors do not realize that it is only legend.

The reality is quite different: When Washington left the presidency, he didn’t really leave politics. In fact, few former presidents in American history have meddled as much as Washington did.

The lesson for Obama as he considers how much to involve himself in the 2020 race lies not in the path that Washington followed but in the disillusionment that he found.

***

If Washington could have had his wayas he left the presidency in 1797, his final years would have gone much as Obama supposed. To say that Washington at the time had no precedent would not be accurate. He did have one; it was just a few thousand years old: Cincinnatus, the Roman general who saved the republic and then retired to his farm.

Washington said he wished to do the same as he returned to his Mount Vernon estate. “The remainder of my life,” he wrote in a letter during his final days in office, “will be occupied in rural amusements … at Mount Vernon, more than 20 miles from which, after I arrive there, it is not likely I ever shall be.”

Yet even as Washington rode around his farms, his mind traveled back to politics. The newspapers he pored over could not satisfy his need to be in the know. He badgered members of his final Cabinet, all of whom had retained their posts in the new administration, to send updates that pushed the boundaries of confidentiality.

The topics that dominated the news in the late 1790s echo today. There was a deepening division between political parties. There was a foreign power (France) that had meddled (unsuccessfully) in the most recent presidential election on behalf of the Democratic-Republican Party, which had formed in opposition to the administrations of Washington and his successor John Adams. There were new forms of partisan media and, with them, cries of fake news and calls for regulation.

No threat concerned former President Washington more than the foreign policy crisis that brought the country to arms in 1798. For those following the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump’s impeachment, the broad outlines of the so-called XYZ Affair are familiar: the executive of the world’s mightiest military power (then France) sought personal benefit in exchange for granting a formal reception to the representatives of a fledgling republic (then the United States). The Americans called France’s preconditions bribery and refused to pay.

With French privateers preying on American ships, the United States prepared for war. Alexander Hamilton, who had served as an aide to Washington during the Revolutionary War, believed that President John Adams was not up to the challenge of overseeing the creation of a new army and began floating Washington’s name for command.

Barely a year had passed since Washington had left office with “a determination not to intermeddle in any public matter.” In letters, he worried what people would say if he violated that pledge. Would they “denounce” his return as “a restless act, evincive of discontent in retirement”?If so, they would not have been completely wrong. With a speed that surprised no one more than himself, Washington decided that he could not “remain an idle spectator” when what lay in peril was “everything sacred and dear to freemen.”

Far from fearing Washington’s return, Adams encouraged it—at least initially. So enthusiastic was Adams that he appointed his predecessor commander in chief of the armies of the United States without pausing to ponder why the Constitution specifically assigns that title to the president—and without knowing what Washington’s terms of acceptance might be.

As it turned out, Washington had some conditions. He would not take active command of the new army except in the event of an invasion and wanted to select the other general officers— including his second-in-command, who would serve as the head in his absence. For this position, Washington chose the one officer he had specifically heard Adams did not want: Hamilton.

Adams distrusted Hamilton and privately feared he more resembled a Caesar than a Cincinnatus. But publicly, Adams could not afford a falling out with Washington, who made it known he would resign if he did not get his way. Adams had no choice but to give way. Had he not, Adams later explained to a friend, Hamilton would have received command of the army directly from Washington, who “would have been chosen president at the next election.”

The evidence suggests that Adams was right to worry: As Adams embraced an opportunity for new negotiations that ensured a full-scale war with France never happened, influential people in communication with his own Cabinet secretaries plotted ways to replace him by persuading Washington to stand for office in the coming election of 1800. Much as Washington tried to stop all talk of the idea, his friends still found reason to fantasize.

While leaving office often creates the public perception of lifting modern presidents above politics, the private letters Washington sent reveal that he had descended deeper than ever. He began openly describing himself as a member of a political party (the Federalists), involved himself in congressional electioneering in a way he never would have as president, and supported the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts, which the government used to imprison the sort of journalists who had attacked his character while in office.

Matters reached such a point that Washington had ceased all communication with three of the most prominent Democratic-Republican leaders: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, who went on to become America’s third, fourth and fifth presidents, respectively. Just hearing a report of a speech that Madison had given in favor of Monroe’s election to the Virginia governorship sent Washington into a rage on the evening of December 13, 1799.

Whether a retiree so easily roused could have sat on the sidelines as Republicans ran away with the next presidential election defies definitive answer because Washington died the next night.

***

None of this history shouldreduce the world’s respect for Washington. Surrendering power is not easy and in the story of Washington’s last years lies a reminder of the temptations former presidents face: However far they agree to venture back on to the public stage, there will always be calls for them to go further and resume the leading role—to be the “indispensable man.”

One person who no longer deemed himself indispensable during the final months of his life was Washington himself. The friends begging him to seek the presidency in 1800 believed he could straddle a partisan divide that no other candidate could. He disagreed. “The line between parties,” he wrote, had become “so clearly drawn” that even he could not rise above it.

Those despairing words point to the paradox of the post-presidency today: The stature that comes from rising above politics collapses as soon as one descends back into it. What gives former presidents the perception of power is also what leaves them, in effect, powerless.

Why, then, do Americans cling to the fantasy of former presidents rescuing the republic? Perhaps the answer lies in the circular nature of the Cincinnatus story so central to the country’s founding: Only by riding out of retirement can the hero be celebrated for riding back into it.

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