REASON #501 WHY I WON'T ATTEND THE SOTBU ANYMORE

I like to know if you're going to pimp me. Hat tip to Big Man at Raving Black Lunatic for this post:

Y'all know this weekend in New Orleans they had this little thing called the State of the Black Union hosted by Tavis Smiley.

Smiley invited several black "leaders" and politicians to discuss topics of interest regarding the black community. Regular citizens were invited to attend for free to rub shoulders with the elite and make sure the crowd looked good on C-Span.

Only it turns out the event wasn't really free.

Now, there wasn't actually an admission fee. But, every attendee had to register online to get into the New Orleans Convention Center. And that, as they say, was the catch.

See, Tavis, being the wily business man that he is, required prospective attendees to fill out extensive questionnaires to register. Not only did these surveys ask for individuals' addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, but they also required much more detailed information.

Attendees had to list how many times they ate out every week, which restaurants they ate at, how much money they made, which auto insurance company they used and a host of other questions that clearly delineated their income levels and spending habits. In fact, if a prospective attendee left any question blank, they were promptly told they couldn't register.

Now, some of you may wonder how this qualifies as an admission fee. Well, as a friend of mine explained it to me, those surveys were likely converted into detailed mailing lists that Tavis either provided free to his sponsors (lovely companies like McDonalds, Allstate and Wal-Mart) or sold to other interested parties looking to tap into the black market. In fact, Tavis most likely kept some of the info for himself in order to better market his next self-help book or video for the black community. After all, there was some fine print that said that if you signed up all your info became property of Mr. Covenant to do with as he wished.

According to my friend, just for the names and addresses alone Tavis could get $5-$10 a head. Considering there were thousands of folks at the conference, that's no chump change. But, the real money is in selling specially culled lists to those individuals looking to get the best bang for their marketing buck.

If you're State Farm looking to attract new customer, you ask for all the individuals who use another insurance company and make sure they get a nice call from a telemarketer at dinner time. Or, say you're a credit card company look for some new suckers, I mean customers, now you know who loves to shop and how much money they make. Whether by selling part of the list or the whole thing, Tavis has an opportunity to make a pretty penny off those individuals who were looking for enlightenment on the state of the black community.

Now, I don't know about y'all, but I find it funny that the same man who was quick to call Obama out for taking black people for granted or trying use our votes to win the election without addressing our issues is pimping out black people to the highest bidder. There is something a tad bit unseemly about a man who pretends to be putting on an event for the edification of black folks when he's really trying to assemble a valuable mailing list on the cheap.

You know, Smiley and several elected officials spent a lot of time complaining that their Negro bona fides had come under attack because they supported Clinton instead of Obama. They noted that it was ridiculous for black people to expect each other to think and act in lockstep.

They were right about that.

But, they missed the point that black folks weren't mad at them for thinking differently, they were mad at them for co-signing the despicable racist tactics of Hillary's campaign. They were mad at them for being willing to sell out our community for funding for their pet projects. See, black people have far too much experience at being used not to be able to pick a hustler out of the crowd, and the only thing we hate more than a hustler is a hustler who tells us he's bilking us for our own good.

So, the next time Tavis decides to climb his ass up on his mangy, knock-kneed high horse I want everybody to know that all his grand talk about being a caretaker of black interests is bullshit.

He done already sold us out.

From the Christian Progressive Liberal:

I've attended three of the SOTBU's and can verify that when you register to attend, while it is free admission, you have to supply all that information in responding to the questions the registration form asks - otherwise the computer will not accept your registration and you can't get in to the event.

I've often wondered why that was. Now it appears Mr. Smiley is not above collecting marketing information on his people and selling it to the highest bidder.

You want our money for goods and services, and you still want to diss us while taking our hard-earned cash, facilitated by Smiley and the SOTBU. Bootstrapping for fun and profit.

The irony is, if Tavis hadn't decided to engage in hateration of Barack Obama, we probably wouldn't have looked at his methods, or his motives for hosting this event every year, but because he decided to tote water for Obama's race-baiting opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton, Tavis Smiley succeeded in getting Black America to do something he probably wishes we wouldn't.

He is facilitating the very demand of accountability from us that he's demanding from Obama. If you're not willing to be held equally accountable, Tavis, fold up your traveling minstrel show and go home. We're watching you now, bro, and it's not pretty to find out you're not above using the very people you claim to love by gathering marketing information about us and selling it to those who want our money, but don't honor and respect us. No amount of Wal-Mart showboating with an African-American History Exhibit for the next five years will clean up the slime or stench that leaves behind.

Shame on you, Tavis, for not considering our intelligence above that of your corporate masters. You've sold out in the worst possible way, and you're not qualified to call out anyone on anything you're not willing to be called out on yourself.

It might be time for you to fold up your tent and go home with this traveling minstrel show, while opening the doors for someone else to host this forum and get things done. The days of shucking and jiving are over and we can't afford you anymore.

MARYLAND HAS A NEW CONGRESSWOMAN

HOW DO YOU SPELL "UMEMPLOYED"
A-L-B-E-R-T W-Y-N-N


Congratulations to Donna Edwards in MD-04. Fat Albert Wynn will now be unemployed as of January 20, 2009, when Ms. Edwards takes her seat as the Freshman Congresswoman from Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties. Makes a Political Junkie like me very proud to have had a hand in Mr. Wynn's exit from Capitol Hill.

Second, there is no reason why Hillary Clinton should be demanding that MSNBC's David Shuster and Keith Olbermann apologize for the "pimping" comment he made about Chelsea Clinton, when no one called out Andrew Cuomo on his "shuck and jive" comment regarding Barack Obama. Obama, who has swept the Chesapeake Primary and has the Borg Queen reeling this icy morning.

And, the Rude Pundit agrees with me. Particularly with this comment:

That means that she leapt at Shuster's remark as a way of keeping sympathy for her and her family in the news, a distraction from Obama's primary/caucus sweep this weekend. She used this Chelsea situation as a way to kick start some desperately needed fundraising.

And that, motherfuckers, is pretty much the definition of pimping.

'Nuff said.

THE RUDE PUNDIT SEZ....

In an interesting conversation with his mama, no less. Since he doesn't link, I'm pasting his chat with his mama, here. I apologize for the "Rudeness" in advance, but I think you'll get what he's trying to say, and imagine ourselves in similar conversations with our parents. Enjoy.

A Conversation That Bodes Ill For the Coming Contest: A Play:
Characters:
The Rude Pundit - a wanton blogger
The Rude Mom - an AARP member who previously voted for Clinton, Gore, and Kerry. And, once upon a time, JFK

Setting: The Rude Pundit is home at Casa de Rude, in the midst of a phone call with the Rude Mom.

Time: Last night, prior to an evening of vodka and Ukrainian karaoke that would make the Rude Pundit wake up late, thus delaying his bloggery for the day.

Rude Pundit: So you're voting in the primary.

Rude Mom: I think we'll be out of town.

RP: You know your primary actually matters this year.

RM: Oh, no, it doesn't.

RP: (After a moment of incoherent sputtering) Are you voting for Obama or Clinton?

RM: I really like John McCain.

RP: (After comically loud sputtering) Wait, McCain? Why the fuck would you vote for McCain?

RM: (Who has learned to ignore RP's little Tourette's-like outbursts) I like him. He's always seemed like a fair man. He's a moderate Republican, not like the others.

RP: (Secretly knowing the answer is "Lieberman") But why do you support him?

RM: I just said. He's very fair.

RP: So you want the war to continue.

RM: No, of course not.

RP: If you vote for McCain, that's what you're voting for. You're saying you want the war to keep going as it is.

RM: The war is not the only issue.

RP: Um, if you want to get anything else done in this country, ya gotta stop the war. The war is the only issue.

RM: No, it isn't.

RP: So you're pro-life.

RM: Of course not. Don't be silly.

RP: So that means you're pro-choice.

RM: (Realizing that, if they were in the same room, she would be slapping the shit out of RP) Yes.

RP: You know McCain wants to put judges on the Supreme Court that'll overturn Roe v. Wade. Motherfucker's pro-life.

RM: Oh, he's not really. He's just been saying that since 2000 to try to get the conservatives to vote for him.

RP: No, he's pro-life.

RM: But he supports stem cell research.

RP: Yeah, but he's pro-life.

RM: Look, I don't know right now. I just like him. I admire him.

RP: What about Obama?

RM: I don't like him. I don't like some of the things he said at the debates.

RP: What do you mean?

RM: He was just arrogant. I didn't like him.

RP: You mean he was an uppity nigger?

RM: (Almost audibly rolling her eyes) Stop it.

RP: No, I mean, what didn't you like?

RM: Didn't he get his home half price from someone in the mafia?

RP: I don't think that's the story.

RM: That's what they said at one of the debates.

RP: Have you heard him give a speech?

RM: He's wonderful. Very inspiring.

RP: What about Clinton?

RM: Oh, no, I don't like her. I could never vote for her.

RP: I can't believe you're seriously thinking about McCain.

RM: I don't know yet. What difference does it make?

/