GreasyGuide: Charlotte

Gary “G-Man” Toms: Born in NC, now reppin’ in The NYC

I saw this coming a mile away. Although he managed to capture the attention of a nation starved for leadership and a way out of the social, economic and political morass America now finds itself in, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the luster would begin to fade from Barack Obama’s amor. The round-the-clock scrutiny and vicious attacks launched by the media last week, which is more than likely to continue, has done serious damage to both the candidate and the man. The saddest part is he is being held accountable for the actions of another person that exercised a Constitutional right, whether America likes it or not. Moreover, Obama is feeling the heat because he had the audacity to man-up and not play the prototypical a**hole candidate. With his balls of steel firmly on display, he went before the nation to address an issue that has the potential to become a political powder keg as the November election draws near. That issue is race.

Polls, which I hate, showed that an astounding 80 percent of Americans watched the historic March 18 speech. All eyes were glued to television sets at home, places of business and even the large projection screen in New York City’s Times Square. The situation was eerily reminiscent and frighteningly similar to another period in America when the issue of race took center stage: the O.J. Simpson trial. I soon realized that an enormous television audience wasn’t the only thing these two incidents had in common. As was the case with Simpson, many feel that Barack Obama is innocent of any wrongdoing. They feel Obama should not be held responsible for acts committed by someone else, as others did, particularly in the black community, once Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Furman became part of the “Trial of the Century”.

A third glaring similarity is the relentless media coverage and all out assault from fierce Conservative talk-show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. They rode the h**l out of “The Juice”, and they’re riding Obama like “The Tonight Show’s” Jay Leno rides Harley Davidsons. I’ve sat back and watched them “cherry-pick” information and excerpts from the speech and attempt to have real, honest discussions about race with an assortment of so-called experts, political figures and “local yokels” that call in or email their show. By the way, did I mention these are the same media outlets that are grossly devoid of people of color in their newsrooms and high level positions? My bad! They report that most people in America don’t have a problem with the speech, but three minutes later they start ripping the speech apart and saying, “Well, his preacher said this!” or “His grandmother said that!” Check this out, folks. If the majority of Americans don’t have an issue with the speech, as their precious Zogby and Wall Street Journal polls suggest, then why the f**k is it an issue for their networks? The fact of the matter is an exceptionally bright 10-year old kid could decipher what Obama said and meant in that speech a h**l of a lot better than anyone working at, or appearing on, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, FOX or any other major news, I mean snooze, organization! I’m willing to bet that President Bush, who was no Rhodes Scholar, even got it. This is a man that couldn’t find his way out of a room after a d**n press conference last year!

The Obama speech has become an issue because the media simply wants to bleed it, as well as Obama’s relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for the sake of ratings, controversy and an insatiable need by f****ed up network and cable executives to create an even greater sense of political and social discord in the country. It proved successful with O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, which should’ve been viewed and discussed solely as a murder trial, so why not “simpsonize” Obama by immediately demeaning and denouncing not just the candidate and the man, but the greatest speech in political history. Folks, it takes an “insider” to call out the media. Take it from The G-man; the majority of them are full of s**t, and what they’re doing to Senator Barack Obama is proof positive!