Rantings Of A Mad Rodent

"Drill baby, drill!", you remember that? C'mon, yes you do! It was the rallying cry of the right, lead by that beacon of brilliance, Sarah Palin. Funny, but I can't seem to find any of these people now. It seems like they've wiped their fingerprints off the megaphones, and hid them away. Now these same "Drill baby, drill!" people are crying out in anger over what has happened in Louisiana. The same people who supported the Bush administration (who loosened up the regulations and safety requirements that led to this disaster), big oil companies like BP (whose rig it was), and Halliburton (who was operating the rig at the time of the disaster. Funny that they're always involved, huh?) have now found a way, with the help of the media, to conveniently lay this at the feet of the Obama administration.

At what point are you people willing to look past money and ideology, and do the right thing for once in your miserable lives?! Seriously, there is no other Earth out there people! It ain't like we can screw this one up, and go invade another one like we've done to so many countries. No assholes, this is the only world we have, and it seems as though you morons chose money and party rhetoric over it. When Obama wasn't 100% sure about more drilling, you said that he didn't care about America, and now that he isn't moving fast enough for your tastes, this has somehow become his "Katrina". Really? You same people that cried for corporate freedom and for the government to stay out of corporate affairs, now want the government to clean up BP's mess with taxpayer money. Those same taxpayers that BP gouged to make record breaking quarterly profits just a few years ago.

Now, it's going to be different. See, with Katrina, you people were able to look at the bodies floating in New Orleans, act outraged and turn off the TV and get on with your lives. Not this time, cupcake. No, this time we're all going to be affected. Maybe this time you'll pay attention, but early indications don't look promising. You people are still trying to play party politics, even in the face of our self inflicted doom. We continue to treat Mother Earth like a battered wife, and just like a battered wife, there's going to come a time where she can't take it anymore. Once that happens, your profits, and your political party will not be able to save you, and all that rhetoric, won't mean shit. If it were up to me, I'd fine BP $50 million per day. I bet they'd find a way to stop the leak then. Some people say that that amount would be too much, to them I say BP should look into all of their bank accounts and stock holdings, and "Drill baby, drill!" to come up with the money.

Now that I'm older, a little wiser, and have traveled the world, I've seen and learned a lot of things, and up until now, I thought I had most things figured out. I was wrong. The one thing that continues to puzzle me, is trying to figure out how the "blame game" works. As a bass player (El Pus, India.Arie, Anthony David, Sol Cypher, etc.) and former rapper (Tony MF Rock), I've been a part of an industry that's seen more than its fair share of blame. When groups like N.W.A. and 2 Live Crew were around, they were often blamed for a lot of bad things kids were doing at the time. N.W.A.'s "F**k Tha Police" and Body Count's "Cop Killa" were both blamed for police officers being shot in the 80's and 90's. , I'm pretty sure rampant police brutality had nothing to do with it. "Gangsta rap" was blamed for the rise in gang violence, even though gang violence was already bad before "gangsta rap" was even around. Hell, where do you think "gangsta rap" came from?

When the media first started blaming music for crap happening, people immediately took up the cause. People like Tipper Gore and C. Delores Tucker even made it their personal crusade, and records were required to display warning labels. As for me, I thought, "It's a reach, but I kinda see your point. If an impressionable kid listens to hardcore rap, it may cause him to go out and do some things. Okay.". From then on, the "blame game" was on and poppin'! Then in 1993, the World Trade Center bombing happened, and shortly after that, both CNN and ABC News ran follow up reports on it. They had an "expert" on the panel pointing out the flaws in the terrorists' plan to bring the WTC buildings down. This "expert" said that the only way to bring down a building of that magnitude, was to hit it from the middle and up. In 2001, that's exactly what they did! Oddly enough, nobody blamed those CNN and ABC News reports for "influencing " the terrorists like rap music influences gang members.

In the 90's and in the early part of this decade, we witnessed a rash of school shootings, and the media was quick to blame some forms of metal music, just as they had when 2 kids committed suicide after listening to a Black Sabbath tune. In most of the cases, the kids doing the shooting had been bullied, but instead of blaming that or the school administrators for not doing their jobs, blaming the music made more sense. When Bill O'Reilly took to the airwaves to called abortion doctor, George Tiller, a murderer, Tiller was gunned down soon afterwards. Did anyone blame Fox News or O'Reilly? He was simply called a "person who was passionate about his beliefs". Uh, yeah, okay. Maybe if Bill had said what he said with a "gangsta rap" track playing in the background, he'd have gotten his share of blame.

I thought I knew how the "blame game" worked. If video games like Grand Theft Auto can be blamed for the rise in vicious crimes among teens, then surely people like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh can be blamed for the rise in domestic terrorist plots, right? No? Hmm. Okay, then how about this; "Mind of a Lunatic" by the Geto Boyz was responsible for a few women getting raped and beaten, right? Yeah? Okay, I got that part. And Glenn Beck is responsible for helping to increase the division between blacks and whites, right? No? Really, why not? Is it because it wasn't done to music? CNN did story today pointing out all of the incorrect things done by the guy who failed to detonate a car bomb in Times Square. If they next guy, remembering what he learned watching that report, is successful, would CNN be as culpable as they made Marilyn Manson for the Columbine shootings? No? Okay, help me out here. I'm really having trouble trying to figure this "blame game" thing out.

The other day, my nephew was telling me about Chris Brown going on a local station and literally begging for his records to be played, and for fans to help save his career. Then he told me that Brown is also on the verge of being dropped from his label, because of poor sales. This kid has done everything that was asked of him, and people still won't give him a second chance. I'm not particularly a fan of Chris' and I'm totally against what he did, but I do wonder when is he going to get his second chance? I guess Americans are selective about who they give their second chances to, and I found the way that black radio dee jays have treated him to be the most shameful and hypocritical.

The 2 that treated him the worst were Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey. Hell, these 2 clowns wanted to actually fight Chris Brown for hitting Rhianna. Oddly enough, I don't seem to recall them wanting to fight Mike Tyson for hitting Robin Givens, but I digress. These 2, and many other dee jays will not play Brown's songs, but they still play R. Kelly songs. Tom Joyner asked Kelly to remix his theme song and was yucking it up with him on air, while the Steve Harvey show promoted his current tour. Warren Ballentine called Brown a coward, but uses R. Kelly's music as the intro to his show. I guess to them, it's cool to have sex with and urinate in a 14 year old girl's mouth on camera, but hitting a woman for hitting you first is somehow crossing their continuously moving line.

I heard many black people say, "Man, what R. Kelly did was sick, but '12 Play' is my jam! I'll still bump his music.", but after the Chris Brown story broke, I heard the same people say, "I'll never listen to his music again!". Really? You wanna know how pathetic it got in the R. Kelly case? I heard MANY black women blaming the 14 year old girl! Hell, the NAACP even nominated him for an Image Award! We all showed up with the mentality of an angry mob to defend Michael Jackson against molestation charges, and now that same mob is showing up to lynch Chris Brown. I guess we black folks don't care about children as much as we do pretty women.

A lot of these black holier than thou morning show hosts and their listeners frequently hoped for the end of Brown's career. Keep in mind, these are the same black people that like to whine about white folks not giving Michael Vick a second chance. The next time a black celebrity gets in trouble and pays his debt to society, and you black radio personalities start whining about "the man" not giving him a second chance, think about the second chance you gave Chris Brown. How in the hell can we black people complain about the "white man" not giving us a second chance, when we won't even give our own a second chance? Jus' sayin'.

Ah, cringe moments! You know those moments that you take to look at an old photo from high school or the club, and cringe at the sight of your bad perm or ridiculous outfit? Yeah, we've all been there, but at worst, it was only a source of laughter and not shame. Being in my 40's, an old Polariod picture from the 70's and 80's is about the only thing people my age have to worry about, unlike today's kids. Considering today's technology, young people would gladly trade with us!

The reason I'm writing this, is because after seeing a few young women posing for very graphic pictures, I began to wonder, "How is the going to go over when they get into their 30's and 40's?". I don't think that our young people TRULY realize that what's on the internet, STAYS on the internet. That threesome you allowed yourself to be filmed participating in and uploaded, ain't going nowhere, but that topless photo grandma took back in the 60's is probably long gone by now. I have a friend who took nude pictures for his girlfriend in high school in the 80's. He's at a Fortune 500 company now, because his prospective employee couldn't do a "search" for him on the internet. Conversely, we've all heard the story of the young man who didn't get the job, because someone in Human Resources found racy pictures that he'd upload to a page that he'd deleted YEARS earlier. Again, what's on the internet, STAYS on the internet!

It's cool to have fun and get "caught up" in the moment, as long as you don't get "caught up". I guarantee you, having someone see a picture of me from the 70's in bell bottoms, won't be nearly as bad as a prospective mate seeing a picture of you in college taking on 3 guys at once! You can burn a picture and trash a VHS tape, and know that it's destroyed. But when you hit that "delete" button, that doesn't mean that it's gone, it just means that YOU don't have it anymore. It's still there, and it WILL show up at the least opportune time. Guys, the next time you plop your privates out to take a picture for an "adult" forum, or you girls decide to "take it off" for the digital camera, realize that the young you will get a pass, but the old you will be paying for it. Think about it.

When you see Americans finishing last in worldwide polls that measure matters of common sense and intelligence, do you ever wonder how? I mean, we have some very brilliant people in this country, so how come we keep coming in last in these studies? I use to wonder that, but in the last 9 years, that little mystery kinda cleared itself up.

We have greedy ass old people wrecking town hall meetings trying to stop this "government run health care", even though they get Medicare and Medicaid. They're also saying that they don't want any socialist programs, even though they're receiving social security, a program that was modeled after a German socialist program. Why are they protesting against something that they already get themselve? Good question. We also have people against Obama's healthcare plan, just because they were told to. Nevermind the fact that most of these people are without health insurance. One ignorant ass lady said, "My deductable is $5000, and I don't want Obama messing that up." What?!! Obama even look directly into the camera and said, "If you like your current plan, you get to keep it.". What were the responses of the scared stupid Americans? "He's trying to take away my plan!". Can't you just smell the brilliance?

We had parents who were so mad that Obama's speech to school kids would be broadcast to students, that threatened to pull their kids out of school. You know, the usual "Eat your veggies and stay in school" line Presidents say to school kids? But now it seems that scared white people have been convinced that this speech is going to be a "brainwashing session". Even whole school districts were refusing to show it. Are you fucking kidding me?! You honest think that the President would get on camera and try to tell kids some shit that even you frightened ass racist parents don't understand? Don't you find it funny, that the parents who are concerned that their kids are going to be brainwashed, have been brainwashed themselves? "They've awakened a sleeping giant!", huh? Oddly enough, that "giant" was sleeping peacefully when the country was being run into the ground by the Bush administration.

Osama bin Laden and 11 other men from Saudi Arabia, with support from the Taliban in Afghanistan, attacked us on 9/11. We invaded Iraq. To this day, there are seemingly intelligent adults who still think that Sadam Hussain was behind the 9/11 attacks, even though there is concrete proof that he wasn't. Those who mentioned this fact, were called traitors and anti American by the stupid scared Americans. France saw through the rouse, and refused to participate. The stupid scared Americans responded by renaming french fries "freedom fries". We were so scared and stupid, that we willingly gave up our constitutional rights. Americans like to play the "founding fathers" card, when they want to justify doing something evil like the Patriot Act, but somehow, Ben Franklin's quote: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety", doesn't seem to get mentioned. Wrong founding father I suppose. I guess they meant the one who said it was okay for them to wipe their collective asses with the Constitution.

Since "soccer moms" was already taken, Pres. Bush came up with "NASCAR dads", and now you have unemployed white men with no jobs or health insurance thinking they're Republicans! Then there was fight to put copies of the Ten Commandments in every government building. The proponents said that this country was built on the Ten Commandments, they just never mentioned that they broke every last one of them to build it! Americans specialize in short memories and stupidity.

And now we have the latest attraction in the main ring, the Tea Baggers and the Sarah Palin fanclub. Cue up the music and pass the cotton candy.

First of all, I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous 2010. Being that it is a new year, I've been thinking about making some changes. I'm sure you've seen every wannabe, hanger on, and Z list celebrity acknowledging me in their tweets, Facebook posts, and mixtapes. Yes, I am "hater". They seem to be obsessed with me, because they all give me shout outs, but I never acknowledge them. I was hoping that they'd have blown up, and become huge, thus making my "hating" productive, but sadly, such was not the case. I'm sure I'm not the only one that says to himself, "Who the hell are you?!", everytime someone says, "This goes out to all my haters!".

I've decided that I can't do the "hate" thing anymore. It's not personal, mind you. It's not you, it's me. Well, actually, it is you. You guys are no more famous than the guy that hands me my Chik Fil A chicken biscuit in the morning. You've only "made it" in your own minds, and I feel that I've wasted a whole year's worth of good, quality hate. It's not totally your fault, I'm partly to blame as well. I should've used my "hate" on people like Anthony David, India.Arie, or even Chris Bosh, but since they were already doing their thang, I decided to get in on the ground floor, and attach my "hate" to some unknowns. It seems like you benefited from this relationship more than I did. You got to shout me out every chance you got, and in return, all I got was, "Who?!", every time I mentioned you. So, I'm gonna move on. We could still be cool, and one day, hopefully you'll earn my "hate". Until then, could you please refrain from putting my name in your posts, tweets, and mixtapes until you've done something that won't make people say,"Who is this again?" ? Thank you, and buh bye.

You know, I'm always amused when I hear women say that they don't make men like their grandfathers and fathers anymore. They're quick to point out the decreased quality of today's men. So, you're telling me that over the last few decades, the overall quality of men have decreased, while the overall quality of women has increased? Riiiight. You can't possibly believe that. Do you know how your mothers and grandmothers got men like your fathers and grandfathers? Maybe your grandfather was a better breed of suitor, because he was courting a better breed of woman.

Think about it, women want a man to be the type of men that their grandfathers and fathers were, but they aren't willing to be the type of women that their grandmothers and mothers were. When my wife and I got together, we had nothing! All we had were our kids and each other. We built from the ground up. We had no car, dead end jobs, and my wife was working her way through college. I walked 2 1/2 miles to the nearest train station to catch the 5am train to get to work every morning. We used to have to take the bus to go grocery shopping, and we had to wear backpacks, so that we'd have somewhere to put the bags that we couldn't carry in our hands. We hung in there, and now our lives are significantly better. Again, she stayed while we built from the ground up! Find me atleast ONE woman that's willing to do that today? Don't worry, I'll wait. Most women today don't wanna build, they want what's been built! I told my 16 year old, that I felt sorry for him, and he asked why, and I said, "Because you'll NEVER find woman even half as good as your mother.".

When women learned the story of how President Obama courted Michelle, they started wondering if they were missing out on their Barack, and all I could do was laugh. I wanted to tell them that they weren't missing out on their Barack, because they weren't Michelles. Michelle stuck by a man with a law degree from Harvard, who chose to do community service. Today's women wouldn't have done that. They'd have gotten pissed that he wasn't pulling down figures at some law firm, nagged him endlessly, cheated on him, and ultimately left him. You know why? Because they don't make women like Michelle Obama or my wife anymore.

Now before you guys hit me with the "Not all women are like that!" emails, keep in mind that you women don't make those distinctions when talking about us men. I know all women aren't like that, I just wonder if you women know that all men aren't like that.