Blog Heap of Links for the day 12 May 2011

Kill each other over money and white boys for fun. That line, in case anyone missed it in a previous column on the topic, comes from rapper Common's song "Don't Come My Way." It is a blatantly racist sentiment and incites violence. Another of his lyrics—this one from the song "The Bitch in Yoo"—spells America with three k's ("amerikkka") and is too heavily peppered with profanity and iterations of the b-word to reprint. So much for the lunkheaded liberal efforts to excuse the man's opus as "socially conscious" or to dismiss objections to it as a manufactured controversy. Inviting a progenitor of hate speech to the White House is an affront on all things American. It is every bit as misguided as it would have been for the president—who is half-white, after all—to invite a white supremacist to the East Room to recite selections from his collected "verse." [H/T to Patti http://hillbuzz.org/2011/05/12/thursday-open-thread-may-12-2011/#IDComme...

It is likely Obama met Common at the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ were both men were members.

In an afternoon session, first lady Michelle Obama had welcomed various poets to the White House poetry event, but notably ignored the rapper, whose stage-name is Common. ... Common was introduced at the evening session without any reference to the conservatives' derision of his poetry or to some police advocates' dismay.... [CONSERVATIVES? SOME POLICE?] The president could not easily walk away from the rapper for fear of offending vital supporters in the African-American community, and he could not afford to fully embrace the rapper at this evening's event because that endorsement risks the president's effort to portray himself as a post-racial healer of social divisions....

The White House on Wednesday defended the decision to invite the hip-hop artist Common to a celebration of poetry hosted by President Obama and his wife, Michelle, saying they disavow some of the rapper's controversial lyrics but accusing critics of blowing the issue out of proportion. "He's spoken very forcefully out against violent and misogynist lyrics," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters... Common celebrated a former Black Panther who was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper... also has called for former President George W. Bush to be burned...

[Jones editorial cartoon with classroom, "Foreign Policy" on the chalkboard, Obama as child with all A+'s, Bush with D-, and teacher saying "You must have cheated off George!!!" Seriously! Not just stupid but about as lame as political cartoons get. Oh, hey, Bush got better grades in college than John Kerry. Obama got... oh, that's right, we don't know what Obama got. F-, Cartoonist Jones!]

Graduate communications student Benjamin Haas had earlier been given permission by the school to burn the flag. But because he lacked a local burn permit, he agreed instead to read a statement in an area of the university known as free speech alley. As Haas read the statement, a crowd around him erupted into cheers and jeers, many shouting "Go to hell, hippie, go to hell." "You had a lot of people on both sides of the debate getting into a lot of fights," said James Haralson, manager of Tiger TV, the university television station. "The students started yelling obscenities at him. People started throwing bottles at him."

MUNICH (Reuters) - A German court convicted John Demjanjuk on Thursday for his role in the killing of 28,000 Jews in the Sobibor Nazi death camp, then set the 91-year-old free because of his age. ... Stephan J. Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Reuters that the verdict was "not revenge but the execution of justice, even 65 years later." Victims' groups said the main point for them was the guilty verdict and they refrained from criticizing the decision to set Demjanjuk free.

San Francisco. It's poised to become the first U.S. city to restrict delivery of Yellow Pages business directories. The Board of Supervisors cast a 10-1 first vote on Tuesday to ban unrequested home and business delivery of the hefty telephone directories. There will be a second reading and final vote next week. The idea is to protect the environment, fight neighborhood blight and help the economy. And advocates say the Internet makes the directories unnecessary. [EVERYONE has Internet, riiight? Riiiight. Broadband, too, of course.]

You know the moment when you realize that fine, accomplished brother is with a White woman? Let's call it "the wince." Three-time Grammy Award-winning artist, writer, actress, philanthropist, mother and all-around Renaissance woman, Jill Scott gets to the root of our feelings on the matter in the April issue of ESSENCE... [It's only racism if Whate Fokes do it, huhh.]

When liberal investor George Soros gave $1.8 million to National Public Radio , it became part of the firestorm of controversy that jeopardized NPR's federal funding. But that gift only hints at the widespread influence the controversial billionaire has on the mainstream media. Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets — including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC. Prominent journalists like ABC's Christiane Amanpour and former Washington Post editor and now Vice President Len Downie serve on boards of operations that take Soros cash. This despite the Society of Professional Journalists' ethical code stating: "avoid all conflicts real or perceived." [Journalists have a code of ethics? Who knew?]

The notebook, which was described by one official as a "professional journal," detailed al Qaeda doctrine, potential targets and how to carry out attacks against them. U.S. intelligence analysts conducted a handwriting analysis of the journal and believe it was personally written by bin Laden, who another official described as a "meticulous note-taker."

The first member of Congress to view [photos] ... was Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe. [Said] "They are gruesome, of course, because it was taken right after the incident..." bin Laden was in his underwear at the time of his death.

He says witnesses say Davis and a passenger in his car were yelling before the victim was hit and as he was being dragged. Holland says his department is still trying to figure out exactly what led up to the incident. He says there is a group of so-called "Juggalos" in Bartlesville, known to wear this type of makeup, but Holland says he hasn't encountered violence among the group. "Juggalos" are self-proclaimed fans of the band "Insane Clown Posse," and are known to wear makeup to show their allegiance to the band.

A Bartlesville man was sent to the hospital Tuesday night after a car driven by a man wearing black and white face paint struck him and dragged him for 100 feet before fleeing the scene, according to police. Police later arrested 20-year-old Andrew Joseph Davis, the alleged driver, on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and a felony count of hit and run. ... One neighbor reportedly said the two occupants in the car were yelling "Woop! Woop!" during the incident.

Not for Cain is the dialect of programmed candidates controlled by Republican Party hacks or "up-and-coming political stars." As was obvious during the debate, Cain does not require handlers and consultants. No political consultant would ever tell a candidate to answer a question, to which he cannot truly give an informed answer, as Cain did on a question of national security, "I don't know all the facts." Few, if any, would encourage a candidate to endorse Benjamin Netanyahu's view on the ultimate aims of the jihadists. Cain speaks with total self-confidence born of ability and achievement, not the unearned laurels of sycophants. Cain speaks blunt truths about how far we have fallen from our charters and the necessity to restore them and revere them again. As he recently told Neil Cavuto when refusing to walk back comments about a ban on Muslims in a Cain administration, he only wants "true patriots" around him, committed and dedicated to the Constitution, the Declaration, and the laws of this country. What else matters? [Mindful H/T to HillBuzz for the link.]