Bloomberg’s subprime mortgage story subpar
Just a few things on my mind:
No holds Barred: If Attorney General William Barr feels, as he has said, that President Trump’s incessant tweets get in the way of him doing his job, maybe it’s best for Barr to resign. At least 2,000 or more federal prosecutors have urged him to do so. There seems to be an overarching conflict for Barr: whether he is working for the American people or the president. His public consternation with the president’s tweets do not camouflage his tactics. He should think about joining the president’s legal team. It might be a better fit.
Fueling the fire: There’s no doubt in my mind that Harvey Weinstein is a sick pervert. But there were many women who willingly stoked the flames. These enablers, like the woman who cried rape but later joined him in a three-way sex act, need to be called out because they made it that much more difficult for those who were actually assaulted by this fiend. They empowered Weinstein to feel he could do anything he wanted to any woman without regard to consequences. Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno said it best: “In their story, they have created a universe that strips adult women of common sense, autonomy and responsibility,” she said. “In their universe, women are not responsible for the parties they attend, the men they flirt with, the choices they make to further their own careers, the hotel room invitations, the plane tickets they accept, the jobs they ask for help to obtain.” Weinstein needs to be put away, no doubt, but there are many who by their actions, or inactions, allowed this monster’s debauchery to go unchecked.
In the Dogg House: Speaking of two wrongs not making a right — that was verbatim Snoop Dogg’s pathetic apology to CBS anchor Gayle King after he called her out by name and threatened to “come get you” because she dared to do her job. To be fair, I found questions about the rape allegations against the late Kobe Bryant not a legitimate part of Kobe’s legacy in the interview between King and WNBA star Lisa Leslie. But I totally felt Snoop’s response and his half-hearted apology disingenuous at best. I suggest King might want to get a restraining order.
Snoop, 50 Cent and the other “giants among men” who piled on King have a horrible track record with women. Who could forget 50’s public trashing of Vivica A. Fox. But in King’s case, their followers racked up death threats against her. I never liked Snoop’s pimp and street guy schtick. It plays to the worst stereotyping of black men. Clean up your act Snoop. It ain’t cute or funny.
Bloomberg hits and misses: I was just beginning to like Mike Bloomberg — maybe it was those commercials with President Obama that hark back to the days of civility in public discourse, or his “Mike Will Get it Done” spots that support women’s reproductive rights, or the one that features the extraordinary Geoffrey Canada of the acclaimed Harlem Children’s Zone. I forgave Bloomberg for his ill-advised stop-and-frisk edict. After all, New York was not the only city to adopt this policy, publicly or otherwise. Boston did the same thing after the murder of Carol DiMaiti Stuart and the lie that the murder was perpetrated by a black man — when in fact, it was her husband, Charles.
Every black man in every city in America knows they are always subject to being stopped and frisked for just being black. But Bloomberg’s assertion that the subprime mortgage debacle was a result of banks trying to atone to black and brown people for decades of redlining? News flash Mike: Check the facts. It was all about the banks and mortgage companies making money off the backs of the most vulnerable.
Here’s a little shade for Emily’s List, which bragged recently about rolling the dice with Bloomberg, by essentially overlooking widespread allegations of his company’s disparate treatment of women. Bloomberg reciprocated or atoned (pick one) by quadrupling Emily’s donations and donations to other women’s groups. That’s not a bad thing. But unfortunately Emily’s List has yet to increase their financial support for diversity — a longtime issue with them among women of color.
I think everyone in the public eye should own both their successes and shortfalls.