The Daily Punk (March 19, 2008 Edition)

The Daily Punk

March 19, 2008

(DMX Inspired Ignorance is Bliss Edition)

1.  DMX is Ignorant

DMX is interviewed by XXL Magazine and admits that he hasn’t heard of Barack Obama.  He then goes into a giggle fit about the name “Barack” (ignoring the fact that “DMX’s” real name is “Earl”) and says a black President won’t make any difference because the “world is over.”  I gave my take on this here.  The XXL Magazine link is right … oh it’s back there, it slipped out.

2. McCain is Way Ignorant

Hey a rapper has no responsibility to be up on the haps.  A Presidential Candidate?  Yeah, I think he’s got a duty. McCain told reporters that Iran was training al Qaeda fighters and sending them into Iraq.  This is incorrect of course.  Iran is Shiite and Al Qaeda is Sunni and the two groups aren’t exactly “the best of buds”:

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was “common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.”

Wonkette.

3.  Hillary Not Ignorant So Much, Just a Follower

Obama representative Dan Kurtzer spoke to a United Jewish Communities (UJC) Meeting to discuss their positions.  Kurtzer was asked about some past statements made by Barack:

Obama asserted that he needn’t have a “Likud view” — that of Israel’s right-wing party — to be pro-Israel. Kurtzer explained that Obama wanted to see a “plurality of views.” Silence in the room.

Then Hillary’s representative, Ann Lewis, was asked what she thought:

“The role of the president of the United States is to support the decisions that are made by the people of Israel. It is not up to us to pick and choose from among the political parties,” Lewis said.

The audience members applauded.

Great.  The role of the United States President is to rubber stamp whatever the Israeli Government says.  That’s leadership for you.

4.  Audrina of the Hills Ignorantly Thinks She’s Hot; Poses Nude

Lauren’s friend Audrina posed nude in an effort to jump start her “modeling” career.  I’m not really into posting nude photos on here so I’ll give you the fuzzed out miniature version.  Trust me, she’s really not good looking.

Of course I’m giving you the link, calm down little friend.

5.  Kristen Davis Did Some Nude Shots

Kristen Davis of Sex and the City wanted to be cool like the younger kids and have the nude pics so she let her boyfriend take some shots.  “We’re in love,” she exclaimed, “he would never release these to the media!”

Love. Exciting and New. Come aboard. We weren’t actually expecting you but that’s fine.

6.  Crappy Chinese Toilet Practices

You’d think the Chinese would have done a little research on this but, at the newly built Olympic sites, they installed “squat toilets.” If you’ve ever had the pleasure to avail yourself of this particularly nasty device you will cancel your tickets to Beijing now.

See? It’s a hole in the floor. You squat over it. Then you crap. Then you wish you’d stayed at home and watched the Olympics on NBC.

7.  Mel Brooks Collection

I wouldn’t call this ignorant, more ridiculous, but I love Blazing Saddles.  It’s one of the funniest movies ever made. I watched it two weeks ago and it’s still good.

So I saw on my little Amazon widget that today’s special sale item of the day is the Mel Brooks Collection: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History of the World Part I, High Anxiety, Robinhood Men in Tights, Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be, and Twelve Chairs.

It’s on sale today only from $99 to $41.99.

The Mel Brooks Collection

8.  Billy Preston, the “Black Beatle”

I stayed on this random Beatles knowledge thing and found out that the “Black Beatle” from yesterday’s post is named Billy Preston.  His is, if you care, a fascinating story.  Then I decided I had to watch this clip of Billy Preston playing My Sweet Lord, the George’s Harrison 70’s hit (which was actually released by Preston first).

You need to watch this.  For one, it’s an interesting version of a great song.  For two, that dude playing bass is Urkel’s Father.

9.  Huckabee Defends Obama and Jeremiah Wright

Huckabee unexpectedly offers his take on the Jeremiah Wright situation. He’s absolutely right:

[Y]ou can’t hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do.  It’s interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncomfortable with what … Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable, years ago. Many times those were statements lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by pastors like Rev. Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in print, you’d say ‘Well, I didn’t mean to say it quite like that.’

More importantly, he (kind of) defended the anger of Rev. Wright too:

As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say ‘That’s a terrible statement!’ … I grew up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack — and I’m gonna be probably the only conservative in America who’s gonna say something like this, but I’m just tellin’ you — we’ve gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names…

10.  Utterly Un-Ignorant

I’m in a coffee shop.  Two old guys are sitting in front of me, reading the paper, drinking coffee, being old.  They are talking about typical old man stuff: one guy was ranting about “gypsies.”  Another talked about how we was wearing a sweater today in honor of Mr. Rogers’ 80th Birthday.  I mean — POW — old man talk.

Then one mentioned Obama.  I figure, oh here it comes.

“I think Hillary’s an okay gal,” Old Guy One said.

“Yeah she’s alright,” says Old Guy Two.

“But I think that Barack Obama is a real leader, a statesman,” OGO said.

“Yup, he’s just what this Country needs,” OGT replies.

What?!

So I glance up to see what these guys look like.  As promised, one is wearing a goddamned sweater.  The other, however, is facing me so I can check him out more.  He’s bald, he’s got the Gorton Fisherman sailor beard, suspenders.  It’s like he picked up the “Old Man” Halloween costume at Target.

But, affixed to his chest is perhaps the largest “Obama” button I’ve ever seen.

Very cool.