July 2, 2008

yeah...that happened...

yesterday...this idiot...sung the national black anthem to the tune of the national anthem...



(i hesitate to name her, or even give her the exposure she so obviously craves...but i believe everyone has the right to make asses of themself...if that's their inclination...)

some have said...what'ev...here's three reasons why i have a problem with what she did...

one...it's unprofessional...if she had simply asked the mayor's office if she could sing both anthems...i sure they would have approved it...Hickenlooper is a forward thinker...

"Hickenlooper said in a statement: "We were as surprised as anyone that jazz singer René Marie did not sing our national anthem at Tuesday's State of the City ceremony, as our staff had requested. As I listened to her sing, I assumed she would eventually move into the traditional Star Spangled Banner."

but no...instead of asking...or at the very least...informing people of her intention...she made up her mind...and did her own thing...

"I pulled a switcheroonie on them," Marie said later.
She explained that she decided months ago to switch the lyrics because she will no longer sing the national anthem."


and that's fine...as far as that goes...i'm all for public protest...but she was asked to sing the national anthem...if she had no intent to honor that request...she should not have agreed to do it...

two...it's disrespectful...to her audience...to the people who asked her to perform...and mostly...it's disrespectful to the very ideas that allow her the freedom to protest...

"She said that she made the decision after a Russian broadcaster interviewed her and asked her what it was like to be an American.
At that moment, she said, she realized that as an African-American she at times feels like a foreigner in her home country.
"And I was going to correct her," Marie said. "And I realized I didn't feel like an American, and that bothered me a great deal."


fine...then don't take the job...make a public statement as to why you didn't take the job...organize a public protest against the national anthem...whatever...you want to be taken seriously...don't use subterfuge to promote your ideas...have some integrity...act like a responsible adult...

i'll repeat myself for the sake of clarity...freedom requires responsibility...

three...it's counterproductive...this is exactly the kind of bullshit the ignorant and ill informed will point to...as a reason why black folks aren't ready to lead this country...

watch...not only will this be dragged out all week by intellectual midgets on the right...but you can bet the ranch that this will show up in the presidential election...

heck of a job...
Total screw-up. Usually used ironically, to indicate when someone's self-delusion is in direct contradiction to well-known and easily-observed facts.
"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."