The Audacity of Dope

“I’m riding wit’ him like Obama, cause he don’t gimme drama/
And his bank account say comma, comma, comma”

— Trina, “Always”

ROFLstiltskin.

Thank you Barney.

Bill Maher echoed much of what I’ve been saying for years in a recent blog for the Huffington Post.  Shout to DJ Nphared for sending this over, great stuff.

New Rule: Smart President ≠ Smart Country

New Rule: Just because a country elects a smart president doesn’t make it a smart country. A few weeks ago I was asked by Wolf Blitzer if I thought Sarah Palin could get elected president, and I said I hope not, but I wouldn’t put anything past this stupid country. It was amazing – in the minute or so between my calling America stupid and the end of the Cialis commercial, CNN was flooded with furious emails and the twits hit the fan. And you could tell that these people were really mad because they wrote entirely in CAPITAL LETTERS!!! It’s how they get the blood circulating when the Cialis wears off. Worst of all, Bill O’Reilly refuted my contention that this is a stupid country by calling me a pinhead, which A) proves my point, and B) is really funny coming from a doody-face like him.

Now, the hate mail all seemed to have a running theme: that I may live in a stupid country, but they lived in the greatest country on earth, and that perhaps I should move to another country, like Somalia. Well, the joke’s on them because I happen to have a summer home in Somalia… and no I can’t show you an original copy of my birth certificate because Woody Harrelson spilled bong water on it.

And before I go about demonstrating how, sadly, easy it is to prove the dumbness dragging down our country, let me just say that ignorance has life and death consequences. On the eve of the Iraq War, 69% of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11. Four years later, 34% still did. Or take the health care debate we’re presently having: members of Congress have recessed now so they can go home and “listen to their constituents.” An urge they should resist because their constituents don’t know anything. At a recent town-hall meeting in South Carolina, a man stood up and told his Congressman to “keep your government hands off my Medicare,” which is kind of like driving cross country to protest highways.

I’m the bad guy for saying it’s a stupid country, yet polls show that a majority of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, or explain what the Bill of Rights is. 24% could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. More than two-thirds of Americans don’t know what’s in Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds don’t know what the Food and Drug Administration does. Some of this stuff you should be able to pick up simply by being alive. You know, like the way the Slumdog kid knew about cricket.

Not here. Nearly half of Americans don’t know that states have two senators and more than half can’t name their congressman. And among Republican governors, only 30% got their wife’s name right on the first try.

Sarah Palin says she would never apologize for America. Even though a Gallup poll says 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth. No, they’re not stupid. They’re interplanetary mavericks. A third of Republicans believe Obama is not a citizen, and a third of Democrats believe that George Bush had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, which is an absurd sentence because it contains the words “Bush” and “knowledge.”

People bitch and moan about taxes and spending, but they have no idea what their government spends money on. The average voter thinks foreign aid consumes 24% of our federal budget. It’s actually less than 1%. And don’t even ask about cabinet members: seven in ten think Napolitano is a kind of three-flavored ice cream. And last election, a full one-third of voters forgot why they were in the booth, handed out their pants, and asked, “Do you have these in a relaxed-fit?”

And I haven’t even brought up America’s religious beliefs. But here’s one fun fact you can take away: did you know only about half of Americans are aware that Judaism is an older religion than Christianity? That’s right, half of America looks at books called the Old Testament and the New Testament and cannot figure out which one came first.

And these are the idiots we want to weigh in on the minutia of health care policy? Please, this country is like a college chick after two Long Island Iced Teas: we can be talked into anything, like wars, and we can be talked out of anything, like health care. We should forget town halls, and replace them with study halls. There’s a lot of populist anger directed towards Washington, but you know who concerned citizens should be most angry at? Their fellow citizens. “Inside the beltway” thinking may be wrong, but at least it’s thinking, which is more than you can say for what’s going on outside the beltway.

And if you want to call me an elitist for this, I say thank you. Yes, I want decisions made by an elite group of people who know what they’re talking about. That means Obama budget director Peter Orszag, not Sarah Palin.

Which is the way our founding fathers wanted it. James Madison wrote that “pure democracy” doesn’t work because “there is nothing to check… an obnoxious individual.” Then, in the margins, he doodled a picture of Joe the Plumber.

Until we admit there are things we don’t know, we can’t even start asking the questions to find out. Until we admit that America can make a mistake, we can’t stop the next one. A smart guy named Chesterton once said: “My country, right or wrong is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying… It is like saying ‘My mother, drunk or sober.'” To which most Americans would respond: “Are you calling my mother a drunk?”

If you don’t strive to be elite and hold others to the same standard, I’d prefer not to interact with you.  Sorry.  Peep the definition of “elitism” per Wikipedia:

Elitism is the belief or attitude that those individuals who are considered members of the elite—a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most weight or those who view their own views as so; whose views and/or actions are most likely to be constructive to society as a whole; or whose extraordinary skills, abilities or wisdom render them especially fit to govern.

Annnnnnnd, this is a bad thing?  Harder, better, faster, stronger.  Get right or get left.

The #1 problem in this country is our educational system and it’s downright criminal that we let so many people fall through the cracks.  These morons not only hinder our progression in every aspect of society, but they also send me their rap music on a daily basis.  Shots fired.  Just playin…kinda.

(watch part one in HD on HyphenTV)

J. Moore and I recently got the chance to have one of our favorite artists in the game, the one and only Murs, come through Sound Session and kick it with us.  Back when I used to do college radio down in Los Angeles (KSPC what up!), I used to joke about how many people would call in to request Living Legends music.  Seriously, I’d get one every 15 minutes…it was crazy.  They have such an ill following in Cali (and worldwide), and it’s been great to watch Murs build upon that to take his career and brand to a new level.

When we sat down with him, we talked all about his new Murs For President album, why he decided to sign to a major label, his love for No Limit & Cash Money records from the late 90’s, life on the road, politics, and much more.  Be sure to watch both parts of the interview to see why he’s the most authentic rapper you’ll ever find.

(watch part two in HD on HyphenTV)

If you need the audio for your mp3 player, here you go:

Murs on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?zwmqjo3htnj
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/529083346101e751/ )

If there are any problems with the links or videos, just let me know.  Enjoy!

Us, over the weekend in St. Louis, vs. them:

We win.

Even though this song is about 2 years old (I even put it on Vol. 6 of my old mixtapes, download it!), it’s just as relevant on the day of the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.  What it all boils down to is ridiculously simple.

The policies and beliefs that George Bush and the Republicans put forth the last 8 years have brought this country to its lowest point in any of our lifetimes.  We’re fighting 2 unwinnable wars, witnessing an economic meltdown, feeling the effects of environmental destruction, adding an extra digit on to the National Debt Clock, and leaving millions of children behind in our educational system.  LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL @ anyone who voted for Bush.  I hope you’re proud of what you helped accomplish.  Can anyone honestly take pride in voting for the worst president of all-time?

Don’t make the same mistake again.  John McCain wants to continue Bush’s work, but it’s time for a change.  Watch the debate this evening and vote Obama on November 4th.  “For our kids’ kids.”

Chyea, those A.R.M. boys are on a roll lately.  If you missed Krukid‘s “Swagger Lockdown” voting PSA, download that and then peep M.anifest‘s “Age of Obama” track:

M.anifest – “Age of Obama”

M.anifest drops some great, timely lyrics about Obama and the change we need in this country over an ill beat from Seattle’s own Budo.  Be on the lookout for an A.R.M. mixtape coming soon!

Gotta love that ‘related videos’ feature on YouTube, right?  As long as we’re posting up recent Chris Rock videos, here’s his appearance on Bill Maher’s Real Time after last night’s debate.  He reuses a few of the jokes from Larry King, but there’s still some great new stuff in there.  Chris is always hilarious and on point as well.

Everyone’s asking where Sarah Palin is after this debate (answer: stowed safely away in Area 51), but I want to know where Dave Chappelle is.  I would love to hear his take on all this.

Sarah Silverman has some important (and hilarious) words for her constituency.  Read more at TheGreatSchlep.com.  My granma isn’t Jewish, but she is a 98 year old Swedish woman.  Not exactly Barack’s base, but I’m [Dilla] workin’ on it [/Dilla].

Any questions?  Register here ASAP.