Are Barack Obama and Clarence Thomas the New Biggie and Tupac?

Objectively, President Obama and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas are two of the "highest ranking" professional black men in the United States. They have much in common, but have barely spoken a word to one other.  The divide between them is puzzling.  This is not to say that all black men should be friends, or all black law school graduates should be friends, because the issue goes much deeper than that.

The question is why don't they get along? It can't be purely because of ideological differences.

Both men were raised by their grandparents and had absent fathers.

Both men went to Ivy League Law schools.  President Obama attended Harvard. Justice Thomas attended Yale.

Both men chose a life of public service  where their annual salaries are nothing compared to what they could have made as corporate attorneys following President Obama's time as Harvard Law Review Editor-in-Chief or Justice Thomas' time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Remember in 2008 when then-Senator Obama said he never would have nominated Clarence Thomas. Except, the Senator expanded upon that statement to tell the world that he did not think Clarence Thomas was smart enough to be a Supreme Court Justice.

During a recent speech, Justice Thomas admitted that he and Obama have hardly spoken a word to each other. It seems their only contact was a handshake at one of the President's inaugurations.  Justice Thomas made another jab at the President, saying that knew the first black president would have to be approved by the liberal elites.

The back and forth comments are sophomoric (pretentious or juvenile). At this point in their careers, both men are essentially professional equals with one sitting in the highest elected office in the United States and the other holding one of the highest positions for a professional jurist. Because Justice Thomas is an Associate Justice, rather than the Chief Justice, he could arguably obtain one higher peg in the Supreme Court Justice ladder. That being said, there is no need for the in-fighting.

These men need to show each other respect.  By that, they don't need to become friends, but they need to be respectful to the offices they both hold. There are ways to respectively criticize and we don't often see examples of such good behavior. President Obama and Clarence Thomas have an opportunity to peacefully co-exist.

Read more here.

Whole Foods Removes Obama Chicken Ad

A Whole Foods in New York used a caricature of President Obama to advertise a one-day sale of whole organic chicken. Although the store removed the sign after receiving complaints that the advertisement was offensive, we still question their judgment.

Unfortunately, Whole Foods is not the first retailer to use a caricature of President Obama to sell chicken. 

A subsidiary of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in China, used the President's likeness to advertise "Obama's Fried Chicken."

Read more here.

Al Sharpton Honors Clint Eastwood's 'Empty Chair' And More At His Annual 'Revvies' Award Show

The Rev. Al is the host of 'Politics Nation with Al Sharpton' on MSNBC. This was the second annual year-end show where The Rev. and his panel gave awards for the high and low points of politics during the year. His panel included Jonathan Capehart, Victoria Defrancesco Soto, Krystal Ball, and Richard Wolffe.

Many of the accolades had ridiculous names such as 'The Empty Chair' and 'Lost Their Shirt' Awards. Also, the panel could barely identify one positive move made by a Republican during 2012, except for Chris Christie's post-Hurricane Sandy photo-op with President Obama - and even that was a back-handed compliment to the Democratic Party. You must take everything the Rev. Al says with a grain of salt as he has a history of stretching the truth. We remember those Tawana Brawley allegations, Rev. But take a look at his list anyway.

2nd Annual 'Revvie' Awards

'The Thriller Award' - Best Political Move - The Obama 2012 Campaign ground game turning out the vote to re-elect Barack Obama

'This Dud's for You' - Worst Political Move - The republican's engineering an aggressive voter suppression campaign

'The Spotlight Award' - Defining Moment of 2012 - Mitt Romney's 47% speech

Best Musical Performance - Governor Chris Christie's duet  with Jimmy Fallon on Bruce Springsteen's Thunder Road. Watch the duet here.

Honorary Best Musical Performance - President Obama's performance of Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together'

'Rising Star of the Year' - Political Powerhouse of 2012 - Latinos, Elizabeth Warren, and Hillary Clinton

'The Empty Chair Award' - Award for Not Showing Up - Donald Trump's continued birther quest

'Lost Their Shirt Award' - Worst Investor of the Year -  Karl Rove's group, American Crossroads, for making a $91 million dollar investment in the 2012  presidential campaign with nothing to show for it.

'Bluebird Pie Award' - Lifetime Achievement Award - Karl Rove, who is obviously Al Sharpton's nemesis. 

Biggest Winner of 2012 - 47% or 99% who showed up to vote and the tenacity of minority group voting coalitions.

Biggest Loser of 2012 - Right wing media who lost the ability to convince people that just because you put something on high rotation doesn't convince people that it is true.

Predictions for 2013 - The Supreme Court addressing key issues, such as marriage rights and gun laws, and states trying to undermine federal law.

Watch clips here and here and here.

The Short List For The TIME Person of the Year

Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State

Marissa Mayer, Yahoo! CEO

Only 2.5 women made the short list for the TIME Person of the Year: Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Yahoo!, Malala Yousafzai, the student activist from Pakistan who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, and Hillary Clinton as half of the Bill and Hillary Clinton nomination. 

What is Bill Clinton doing these days besides roaming around campaigning for other people? Yes, we are purposefully ignoring the many gains achieved by the Clinton Global Initiative. We believe Hillary deserves this nod without the likes of Bill.

The rest of the short list includes: Mohammed Morsi, president of Egypt; Undocumented Americans; President Barack Obama, the 2008 winner; Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple; and the Higgs Boson and Italian physicist Fabiola Giannati.

Read more.

President Obama's Parenting Advice to Jay-Z Did Not Include Advice to Stop Using the B-word

During an interview with Cleveland's Z107.9, President Obama commented on his relationship with Jay-Z and Beyonce. 

President Obama gave Jay-Z some fatherly advice because they both have young daughters. The President encouraged the new father to take an active role in the life of his daughter. He told Z107.9, "I made sure that Jay-Z was helping Beyonce out [with the baby], and not leaving it all with Beyonce and the mother-in-law."

Read more.

But the President failed to encourage Jay-Z to refrain from referring to women as the b-word. After the birth of Jay-Z's daughter, Blue Ivy, a fake began to circulate online where it seemed Jay-Z vowed to stop using the b-word out of respect for his new daughter and all women. However, Jay-Z addressed the poem and declared his intent to keep degrading women.

SBW was not impressed with his response and penned an open letter to Jay-Z imploring him to honor his daughter with a change in vocabulary.

Read SBW 's open letter to Jay-Z.

Obama Campaign Takes Down "Vote like your lady parts depend on it" Tumblr Image

The Obama campaign's Tumblr page had a graphic with the text: "Vote like your lady parts depend on it." The image was reblogged from vennstiel, another Tumblr user, who added: "because they kinda do."

The Campaign told Buzzfeed Shift, "We have a review process for our online content and this piece did not go through our regular review. When it was discovered, it was taken down."

According the the Obama campaign's Tumblr page, readers can submit pictures and video they want to share, and the campaign approves the graphics before they are posted to the site. The "Lady Parts" image was removed after complaints.

Read more at The Weekly Standard.

"Obama Boyz" Gang Member Charged in St. Louis Shooting Spree

A member of the "Obama Boyz" gang was charged after a recent shooting spree in St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately, America's 44th President is the ironic namesake behind such low level thuggery that injured at least three individuals.

This is a sad day for the youth of America.

Instead of the first African American President inspiring young adults to go to college, or law school, write a novel, or become an active parent to their children, these individuals formed a gang and at least one member was charged with ten felony counts of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and firing shots from a vehicle.

St. Louis Today has the full story. Click here to read more.

20 Other Black Actors Who Could Play President Obama in a Biopic - Other Than Rapper Drake

So apparently Canadian mega-rapper and Lil Wayne protégé, Drake, wants to play President Barack Obama.

"I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama's life soon because I could play him. That's the goal." Drake also claims to be studying Obama's voice inflections and practicing impersonating him. "I want to do something for my culture...[for] the younger people who are still in tune with everything going on," saying that he is currently writing with colleagues. 

[Something for the young people?  Why not better music?  It's catchy but it's certainly not bringing the culture forward.]


Here are 20 other Black actors besides Drake who could play President Obama.  

We're not saying that graduating from high school or refraining from use of the N-word in iambic pentameter are prerequisites - but it might help. Playing "Wheelchair Jimmy" is good experience but perhaps a little more experience might be necessary before taking on the task of playing the Commander-in-Chief.]

Not that these actors look like Obama but they definitely have a bit more experience exercising their acting chops. 

Here they are in no particular order: 

1. Hill Harper 
[He even graduated from Harvard Law with Barack Obama.]


 


2. Dulé Hill 
[Hill already has experience playing a role in the White House.]


 

3. Nate Parker
[We've all seen his oratory abilities in The Great Debaters.]


 

4. Will Smith 
[He has the 'Obama ears' as well as the acting versatility to authenticate the role.]


 

5. Derek Luke   
[Luke has a flair for the dramatic while still having comedic timing, just like Obama.]





6. Adrian Lester 
[He may be British, but Lester tackled the role of a young Democratic staffer in Primary Colors.]


  


7.Terrence Howard
[Although, if the reports are accurate and his violent, wife-beating tendencies are true, he will be the first off this list.  Yes, sir.]


  


8. Chiwetel Ejiofor 
[Another Brit, who can play any role with ease.  Fans alike have suggested that he'd be a great first Black James Bond.  We think he'd be a great Commander-in-Chief too.]


 

9. Columbus Short
[He was excellent in movies like Cadillac Records and we're sure he could pull off the POTUS role without a hitch.] 



  


10. Morris Chestnut
[His booming voice would be superb in addressing the nation.]



  


11. Anthony Mackie   
[This award-winning Broadway pro and Julliard graduate, would be an excellent POTUS.]





12. Laz Alonso  
[This former Merrill Lynch investment bank would have the credentials to deal with a bailout, if only on the silver screen.]



  


13.  Mehcad Brooks
[Brooks won't need to do much training to film the basketball scenes.  Plus, he has a lovely speaking voice.]





14.  Jesse Williams
[As a graduate of Temple University with a degree in African American Studies and Film & Media Arts, Williams certainly has the academic credits under his name to portray the role.]


 


15. Michael B. Jordan
[Although too young to play Barry now, he will be quite a contender in a few years.] 



 


16. Shemar Moore 
[He has the look and a diverse number of roles on his CV.]






17. David Oyelowo
[He was the first Black actor to play an English king in a major production of Shakespeare.  We think this qualifies him as being capable of playing the first Black president.  And, we hear he was good in Red Tails too.





18. Idris Elba 
[He already has experience in fatherly roles.]





19. Mekhi Phifer
[His role in The Tuskegee Airmen says it all.]





20. Jamie Foxx
[This chameleon can pretty much play any role.  Oh yeah, and we guess the Oscar counts for a lot too.]