Tag Archives: words

Bozell Column: The NAACP Cries Racism

Almost from the moment Barack Obama declared he would run for president in 2007, our enraptured media elite has been accusing anyone who would stand in Obama’s way with racism. The question was never whether Obama was ready to govern the country, but whether the country was ready for the historic awesomeness of Obama. Pity the NAACP. We now have a black president, and they must convince (racist) America that there still exists the need for a national association to advance “colored people” in our society. How to do it? Identify and condemn as “racists” anyone or any group opposed to Barack Obama. Apparently you cannot sincerely oppose a crushing tax burden, a useless “stimulus” bill, ObamaCare, or any other element of his socialist agenda without being tagged as a bigot. In case there was any doubt that the NAACP was carrying water for the White House political machine, Michelle Obama appeared before the NAACP convention and insisted there was still persistent racism in America, and the group’s founders would “urge us to increase our intensity” – to fight for President Obama. The merger is so obvious they could now be called the NAA-DNC. Now the NAACP has found its mojo. It is slandering the Tea Party as “racist.” In an article on CNN.com headlined “The Tea Party Must Police Itself,” NAACP chief Benjamin Jealous smeared the entire movement: “The avowed racist David Duke notes that thousands of Tea Party activists have urged him to run for president. When the Tea Party marches by, Duke thinks it’s his fiesta.” Since when did the NAACP – or anyone else, for that matter– give a hoot what David Duke thinks of anything? On its own website, the NAACP continues to rehash all those unproven allegations that “respected members of the Congressional Black Caucus reported that racial epithets were hurled at them as they passed by aWashington, DC health care protest.” But let’s stop calling them “unproven allegations.” Let’s call them what they are: lies. There is no video evidence that this ever occurred, but the NAACP doesn’t care about the evidence in its kangaroo court. They even repeated that “Representative Emanuel Cleaver was spat upon during the incident.” In the real world, Cleaver quickly walked away from his own story when video footage proved it wasn’t true. The NAACP’s video recounting the “racism” of the Tea Party had plenty of objectionable signs suggesting Obama was a fascist and “It’s 1939 Germany all over again.” Someone needs to research the meaning of the word “racism.” It gets better. The NAACP-endorsed video of purportedly racist signs even includes two shots of Confederate flags and “hateful” messages like “We Need a Christian President” and the sitcom catch phrase “What You Talking About, Willis?” A poster imposing Obama’s face with a Mr. T Mohawk hairdo next to the words “Gimme Yo Change” may be odd, but it’s not racist. It sure sounds like there weren’t many racist signs at Tea Party rallies if that’s all they could muster. But “Bush Lied, Thousands Died” – that’s okay. The bigger problem for the NAACP is that it has its very own racists. Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government website revealed video of a NAACP banquet where U.S. Department of Agriculture appointee Shirley Sherrod talked about how she didn’t want to help a white farmer because he should be helped by “his own kind.” The contempt in her voice, in her face, and in the audience’s laughter is unmistakable. So where are all those news outlets which dutifully covered the NAACP’s attacks on the Tea Party now? The network evening news and morning news shows avoided this racist video entirely on the first day. Nevertheless, the cable news networks picked it up, and within hours, Shirley Sherrod had resigned from the Agriculture Department. Sherrod was clearly furious that her racist remarks were exposed. CNN analyst Roland Martin asserted that Sherrod had to go, because with a political appointment, remarks like this ruin the perception that Sherrod would be fair in distributing government help. Sherrod screamed right back at him that he was “clearly from a different world” than the deeply racist world she lived in. The bottom line is not only that Sherrod needed to go – but that the TV elite must stop ignoring this, and stop pretending that black racism and discriminatory attitudes do not exist. If Obama’s election was supposed to heal our race relations, then the media should put this controversy back on his desk and press him to address it.

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Bozell Column: The NAACP Cries Racism

Rick Ross On Keeping Number Of Songs On Teflon Don To A Minimum

‘Let’s trim the fat off a little bit and give them some rich street music,’ Ross says of the album, which was released today. By Shaheem Reid Rick Ross Photo: MTV News Rick Ross had a very clear and concise idea of what he wanted to do with his LP Teflon Don . He was inspired in part by some of the all-time classic albums he’s loved throughout his life — Nas’ Illmatic, Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel, Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Each of those albums kept its track listing at fewer than a dozen songs, but every one of those songs was timeless. When he was done recording Teflon several weeks ago, Ross brought the idea of only having 11 songs on his LP to Island/Def Jam Chairman L.A. Reid. “He was like, ‘It’s gotta be the right 11 records if it’s gonna be 11 records,’ ” Ross recalled. “I said, ‘That’s exactly why I’m doing it. It’s only a few artists that for one, would take that chance when it’s common to do 15, 16. We all know that you don’t like the 15, 16, 17. You really like the dope eight or the dope five. Or dope seven.’ I said, ‘Let’s trim the fat off a little bit and give them some rich street music.’ ” Teflon Don was released Tuesday (July 20), but Ross has been getting a plethora of acclaim since it leaked about a week ago. Songs from the LP that surfaced earlier than that, such as “Tears of Joy,” “Aston Martin Music” and “Maybach Music III,” have also been widely embraced. None has been talked about more than his collaboration with Jay-Z, “Free Mason.” Young Hov tackles the rumors of his allegiance to the Illuminati and Satan, authoring a strong candidate for verse of the year. “I know if I’m on a record with Jay-Z, not only are my rhymes gonna be on point, not only is the flow gonna be intact, but the way I say the words … The title of the record, the meaning of the record, is the title big enough for the expectations of this collaboration? A lot of people were like, ‘Wow, that’s what you gonna title the record?’ I’m like, ‘Why not?’ That’s what hip-hop’s about. Let’s get to the point. It’s so much speculation, so many whispers coming out of the sewers. Why not do a record and call it ‘Free Mason’ and we do what we do on it and they’ll know when they hear it. The title may throw them off, but it’s a good thing. They gotta hear it, and when they listen to it, everything that’s running through their minds, it’ll be answered. That was the whole idea when I brought it to [Jay].” Ross traveled with Jay on some dates on the Blueprint 3 tour several months ago and presented Hov with almost the complete package in hopes of securing a collaboration. “I knew the way to get that was to bring him the idea, my verse, everything, the whole picture in front of him,” the Bawse said. “He was listening to my verse. I said one particular word and when he heard the words ‘free mason’ — at that point we hadn’t titled it — but when he heard it … I saw his facial expression, like, ‘Yeah. I been meaning to [address this].’ When I backed the beat up, he came in and he was so direct. ” ‘N—as couldn’t do nothing with me, so they put the devil on me. …’ I felt it because it’s like when you are that great, and you’re so successful, some people just can’t imagine that. It’s reality. It’s real, people! He was straight to the point, like, ‘Damn. That’s what you gotta say to bring me down now? I’m so successful that you almost gotta credit the devil for this success.’ When you think about it, it’s really sad for the people that think that way. So it was like, ‘Wow.’ I was just happy I had the cojones to come with that idea and say ‘This what it is homie.’ Soon as he heard it, he was like, boom, let’s go in. He got straight to the point and did it in the greatest of ways.” Related Artists Rick Ross (Hip-Hop) Jay-Z

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Rick Ross On Keeping Number Of Songs On Teflon Don To A Minimum

Wealth Redistribution Should Start at the Screen Actors Guild

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is conflict with itself. Like all unions, although it’s ostensibly in existence to help the little people, what’s really happening is that prominent members of SAG are making a killing without any real redistribution of their wealth to other members or to society.  The hypocrisy of this is evident when we consider that some of the more prominent members of SAG – actors like George Clooney and actresses like Julia Roberts – are die hard liberals who supported Obama’s campaign of “hope” and “change.” After all, like the CEOs at all those “awful” corporations, the amount of money A-listers like Clooney and Roberts make is many, many times that of the average actor or crew- member working on their films. I can’t help but be bothered by the arrogance of such people who, although making tens of millions of dollars per movie, vote for a man who campaigned on tax increases. In other words, after going on TV talk shows and letting their little hearts bleed about the plight of the poor or the pain of the hungry, they vote for tax increases on average Americans instead of just reaching into their own pockets to correct fixable problems overnight. And SAG as a union is guilty of this. It’s not just Clooney or Roberts. If you want proof, just look at where the whole of Hollywood’s money went during the 2008 election cycle. During that year, “the Motion Picture Production and Distribution industry…gave $14 million in political contributions,” of which “89% went to pro-tax Democrats.”  Again: Why can’t these pompous people just pull out their wallets and leave mine alone?  Of course they show their true colors when asked to bear the tax burden themselves. This was evident last year when New York’s Gov. David Patterson tried “to help close the state’s $7 billion budget deficit by canceling a 35% tax credit for films shot in the Big Apple.” None other than SAG member Alec Baldwin said: “If these tax breaks are not reinstated into the budget, film production in this town is going to collapse, and television is going to collapse and it’s all going to go to California.”  What the former Mr. Basinger has said here is surprisingly logical. Now why can’t he understand that if Obama’s tax hikes are passed, budgets across the country – both municipal and personal – are going to collapse?  The problem is that Baldwin and the rest of the prominent members of the SAG, who only represent a small percentage of overall SAG membership, are out of touch with reality. Therefore, while their esoteric circle of actors and actresses rack in money hand over fist, the little people (whom the SAG is supposed to protect) simply go on doing thankless jobs for a relatively small penance.  And while these Hollywood big shots cry about poverty, hunger, the environment, and a host of other issues, they don’t particularly want to pull out their wallets and write the kind of big checks that could fix the problem. It’s all just so much “blah, blah, blah.” Crossposted at Big Hollywood

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Wealth Redistribution Should Start at the Screen Actors Guild

Zac Efron is "So Proud" of Miley Cyrus

Last month, Miley Cyrus made one of the most confusing, ridiculous comments on record, saying there’s a double standard at work between the negative reaction she receives on stage and the praise heaped upon Zac Efron in movies. However, Miley also showed love for the former High School Musical star, telling Billy Bush: “Zac has a special place in my heart. If it wasn’t creepy and he wasn’t my friend, I would have posters of him on my wall.” After being shown this interview, Efron had the following to say to Access Hollywood about Cyrus: “I’ve known her since she was a little girl. It’s amazing what she’s done. She’s blossomed into this beautiful lady and taking the world by storm. I’m so proud of her.” In other words: Zac is the anti-THG when it comes to Miley Cyrus. As he tours the country in promotion of Charlie St. Cloud , meanwhile, Efron stopped by the Mall of America in Minnesota yesterday. Over 7,000 fans came out to meet and greet this handsome actor. Check out a trio of photos from the event below:

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Zac Efron is "So Proud" of Miley Cyrus

Media Mocks Palin Over ‘Refudiate,’ But Obama Given Pass For Gaffes

George W. Bush’s linguistic difficulties , such as “Is our children learning,” “If the terriers and barrifs are torn down, this economy will grow” and “They misunderestimated me” made him the butt of many a joke back in the day, especially since they used to be played on cable news channels. Yet the current occupant of the White House—not to mention his vice president—does not seem to have found the media’s funnybone. Even Barack Obama’s teleprompter problems never got that kind of coverage, neither did that fact that his speeches are written at two grade levels below Bush. Then there was the time in Februrary, when Obama mispronuncicated “corpsman” as “corpse-man” and the media ignored it, or when he said he had been to 57 states and they excused it, the media has jumped all over Sarah Palin’s invention of the word “refudiate.” The word was coined on Fox News July 14, in response to the proposed Cordoba Center in New York City, a $100 million community center and Mosque three blocks from the World Trade Center site, but developed into a full-blown meme Sunday when she posted to Twitter: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters, doesn’t it stab you in the heart as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.” The Los Angeles Times noted that the tweet was quickly edited to say “refute” instead of “refudiate,” writing “While not correct, ‘refute’ was a step up—it can actually be found in the dictionary.”  “Fergalicious,” “truthiness,” “blatherscythe,” “bloviate,” and “sternutation” can also be found in the dictionary—although one might need the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary for that last one. The merciless mocking of Palin by the mainstream media, which began when John McCain selected to be his running mate in 2008, has led to Keith Olbermann almost constantly calling her an “idiot” and a false item from a blog claiming she thought that Africa is a country. The same media outlets which have suddenly become such ardent defenders of the English language and attacked Palin with verbal vorpal blades, have never cared whenever Obama erred in his oratory, rarely bothering to post it in their blogs like they have done with “refudiate.” Jacob Heilbrun at The Huffington Post wrote “Palin isn’t simply trying to bring down big government, but the English language as well.” Liberals, of course, have never tried to coin new words, they just change the definitions of existing ones.

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Media Mocks Palin Over ‘Refudiate,’ But Obama Given Pass For Gaffes

Today Show Highlights Sarah Palin’s ‘Refudiate,’ Skipped Biden Gaffe

NBC’s Peter Alexander, on Tuesday’s Today show, mocked Sarah Palin for making up a word, ‘refudiate’ in her tweets about the Ground Zero mosque controversy. However when Joe Biden, the gaffe machine that he can be, made an arguably much more embarrassing mistake back in March, of falsely asserting that the Irish prime minister’s mother was dead, the Today show, as Newsbusters’ Scott Whitlock reported then , ignored it. Alexander, after initially reporting about the former Alaska governor wading into the controversy surrounding the building of a mosque at the Ground Zero site, then poked fun at Palin combining two words: PETER ALEXANDER: The former vice presidential candidate is, herself, coming under fire for both her substance and style. Palin tweeted “Ground Zero mosque supporters, doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours, throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, please refudiate. But, of course, “refudiate” isn’t an actual word, more like a blend of two words with similar meanings: refute and repudiate. Bloggers quickly pounced. “If Republicans can demand that immigrants speak English,” one tweeted “can’t we demand same for Sarah Palin?” For what it’s worth, Palin has refudiated before. CLIP OF PALIN ON FOX NEWS: They have power in their words. They could refudiate what it is, that this group is saying. Alexander, then went on to remind viewers of another Republican who got “creative with words.” ALEXANDER: The former Alaska governor isn’t the first politician to get creative with words. CLIP OF GEORGE W. BUSH: They misunderestimated what our campaign is about. However, back on March 19, Alexander, nor any one else on the Today show, highlighted the following quip from Biden during a St. Patrick’s Day event at the White House: JOE BIDEN SPEAKING ABOUT IRELAND’S PRIME MINISTER: His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she’s- wait- your mom’s still- your mom’s still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul.” The following is the full Alexander segment as it was aired on the July 20 Today show: MATT LAUER: Sarah Palin is wading into the controversy surrounding a proposed mosque near the World Trade Center site. And it’s the language she used on Twitter to express her opinion that’s getting the most attention. NBC’s Peter Alexander is in lower Manhattan. Peter, good morning to you. [On screen headline: “Controversial Comments, Palin Asks Muslims To Reject Ground Zero Mosque”] PETER ALEXANDER: Matt, good morning to you. This is what the battle is all about. A proposed 13-story building to go right here with a gym, an auditorium and a mosque. But as we spin the camera around, let me show you what the problem for many people is. It’s the proximity to what many Americans view as sacred ground, at Ground Zero, just blocks away. Add Sarah Palin to the mix, and it’s a full-blown controversy. She is America’s self-proclaimed “Mama Grizzly” and now Sarah Palin is dipping her paws into another polarizing debate, criticizing a proposal to build a mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York City. Palin tweeted: “Peace-seeking Muslims, please understand Ground Zero mosque is unnecessary provocation; it stabs hearts. Please reject it, in interest of healing.” This latest controversy has unleashed a wave of strong opinions from visitors. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She does not need to be saying anything about anything that’s over here. She doesn’t even live over here. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN#2: It’s her personal opinion. I don’t think she’s speaking for, you know, speaking for New York or for Alaska or for America. I think she is speaking out of her own, her own thoughts and opinions. ALEXANDER: Developers of the planned $100 million community center and mosque had this response. SHARIF EL-GAMAL, PARK 51 DEVELOPER: I wish she would pick up the phone and come down and say hello to us. Where we are today is all about healing. Is all about building bridges. Is all about outreach. Is all about reaching out to the community, to let them know that there is a moderate Muslim, that there is a voice for the moderate Muslim. ALEXANDER: The former vice presidential candidate is, herself, coming under fire for both her substance and style. Palin tweeted “Ground Zero mosque supporters, doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours, throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, please refudiate. But, of course, “refudiate” isn’t an actual word, more like a blend of two words with similar meanings: refute and repudiate. Bloggers quickly pounced. “If Republicans can demand that immigrants speak English,” one tweeted “can’t we demand same for Sarah Palin?” For what it’s worth, Palin has refudiated before. CLIP OF PALIN ON FOX NEWS: They have power in their words. They could refudiate what it is, that this group is saying. ALEXANDER: The former Alaska governor isn’t the first politician to get creative with words. GEORGE W. BUSH: They misunderestimated what our campaign is about. ALEXANDER: As she reminded followers, in yet another tweet, “‘Refudiate, ‘misunderestimate,’ ‘wee-wee’d up.’ English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words, too. Got to celebrate it! And Sarah Palin will have plenty of time to coin some new words going forward Matt. The scheduled groundbreaking of the site is still years away. LAUER: Alright. Peter Alexander in lower Manhattan for us this morning. Peter, thank you very much.

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Today Show Highlights Sarah Palin’s ‘Refudiate,’ Skipped Biden Gaffe

The-Dream Says He Attempted Suicide When Marriage Unraveled

‘I am human, and people fall in and out of love all the time,’ singer/songwriter says. By Jocelyn Vena The-Dream and Christina Milian in 2009 Photo: Todd Williamson/ Getty Images After announcing their split earlier this week, The-Dream wrote an open letter to his fans about his separation from wife Christina Milian . The pair, who were just married in September , reportedly parted ways late last year but didn’t formally announce it until long after the birth of their daughter, Violet, in March . In the statement titled “In My Own Words,” posted on his website , he wrote, “First I want to thank God for the trials of life, without them we can’t know purpose!” While the letter is long, The-Dream said he wouldn’t address the reasons for the split in the statement. “It’s easy to say that it’s because of another woman or a new relationship but truthfully, IT’S NOT,” said the singer/songwriter, who is rumored to have been unfaithful to Milian. “I take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for misleading everyone into thinking everything was fine and okay when we knew problems existed for awhile! I wanted to speak up but we decided it wasn’t for anyone to know. I would NEVER intentionally hurt a soul and everyone around me knows that!” he continued. “There was so much going on in me and Christina’s personal world that I tried to deal with it as delicately as I could and tried to regain my footing. Instead of being direct in order not to cause even more hurt or hurt someone’s feelings, I carried the weight in secret!” The-Dream says in the statement that he even attempted suicide over the breakup of his marriage. “This is not to justify anything, it’s true emotion! It’s a real thing that involves real people!” he wrote. “I’ve cried about this for months, after interviews, after prayer and I’ve tried to take my own life at a point because of the failure that was looming.” He goes on to defend himself, writing, “I am human, and people fall in and out of love all the time. … This is Life. Nothing’s promised or perfect, neither am I. … I’m sorry for the embarrassment to everyone involved!” He finishes the by quoting his mother and signing his given name, Terius Nash. “But I was reminded by my MOTHER that I am not ‘Superman’ and it’s okay to lose sometimes,” he wrote. “This too shall pass! And everything will be fine!” What do you think of The-Dream’s letter? Tell us in the comments! Related Photos Before They Got Hitched: The-Dream & Christina Milian Related Artists The-Dream Christina Milian

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The-Dream Says He Attempted Suicide When Marriage Unraveled

TV Bites: Mentally Prepare Yourself For the Undercover Karaoke Reality Series

Also in this morning’s TV Bites: Sean Combs’ ex-employee gets a reality show… the Family Guy “abortion episode” comes out of hiding… and Donald Trump fires his latest Celebrity Apprentice conquest.

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TV Bites: Mentally Prepare Yourself For the Undercover Karaoke Reality Series

Your Turn: Summarize Michael Bay’s 3D Hansel and Gretel in 10 Words or Less

A lot of Web commentators will no doubt spin entire hypothetical stories, subplots and other random determinations from Monday night’s press release confirming Hansel and Gretel , a 3D adaptation of the Grimms’ forest-bound fairy tale to be co-produced by Michael Bay. But I think this calls for a more enlightening, interactive approach. In other words: You tell everyone else what to expect — and do it in 10 words or less.

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Your Turn: Summarize Michael Bay’s 3D Hansel and Gretel in 10 Words or Less

Morning Joe Libs Sweep Sherrod, Voter Intimidation Under Carpet: Let’s Not ‘Scratch A Sore’

It’s pretty hard—even for media liberals—to defend a guy in paramilitary duds swinging a billy club outside a polling site, or a government official bragging about having declined to do everything in her power to help someone because of the white color of his skin.  So on today’s Morning Joe, Margaret Carlson, Norah O’Donnell and Mike Barnicle were obliged to engage in a modicum of hand-wringing over the incidents.  But once having discharged that duty, the trio set about doing what libs do best: finding ways to minimize the matters and excuse the MSM’s failure to cover them. To be sure, Carlson did call the statement by the USDA official “hateful” and said one should be “ashamed.” And Norah O’Donnell and Mike Barnicle agreed with Joe Scarborough that the MSM can fairly be criticized for undercovering these stories. But then the three started their excuse-a-thon: Carlson: “I mean, there’s more [racism] on one side [whites] then the other,” though that didn’t change the fact that what Sherrod did was wrong. O’Donnell: On this [Sherrod] particular case, while this egregious in my mind, it is an isolated, we believe, incident.  There’s no suggestion that the USDA is doing this as a systematic problem.  So I worry that in a climate that there have now been, that there is an effort to pile up a lot of these racially-charged stories , that concern me about things, that we’re, you know, setting up these black versus white stories in this country, that these instances are, because, are trying to create some kind of narrative about where we are in this country.  And that makes me nervous.  Do you know what I’m trying to say?  Do you know what I’m trying to say?   Barnicle: Out there, in this big large universe beyond television, that people are more obsessed with other issues like their jobs and their incomes than they are with what someone said in March working for the Department of Agriculture. After agreeing that if the polling site intimidators would, if white, have been immediately arrested and that there would have been more media coverage, Barnicle continued . . . BARNICLE: At this point, the incessant coverage of it, with all of the questions, it’s like scratching a sore.  That’s all it’s doing. It’s pulling a scab. As Joe Scarborough observed: “But who’s covered it? Fox has covered it, but even the Washington Post said nobody else has covered it.” After Scarborough accused the MSM of ignoring the stories, Carlson had the last word. CARLSON: Maybe not ignored.  I mean, there’s so many stories that slip by and go through the cracks , you don’t know . . . They did prosecute the guy who was holding the billy club at an almost all-black precinct.  So, intimidating white voters at an all-black precinct?  would you go to another precinct where there might be more [abruptly ends at hard commercial break]. Let’s summarize the libs’ arguments:  The media shouldn’t make too much of all this. The Sherrod thing was an isolated case. Covering these stories is just going to stir up bad feelings.  And anyhow, the stories aren’t that important, compared to the economy.  And, hey, lots of stories slip through the media cracks: these just happened to be two of them. And you know, the voter intimidation was really pretty harmless.   All of which goes to prove a point that Scarborough made: with media liberals who think like this, were the racial tables turned, these stories would have been the subject of 28-part front page series.

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Morning Joe Libs Sweep Sherrod, Voter Intimidation Under Carpet: Let’s Not ‘Scratch A Sore’