So if....then (Late night vent posting by affiliation)...Thanks Jessup3....

"It just makes you wonder if you look in your closet whether you would find a zoot suit and a top hat."
Clifton Jessup III, after hearing about the Jena 6

Passing your anger and frustration to another person is an incredible thing. I was having a decent day until a call from my co-blogger and a view of the post right below mine. Thats all it took for me to start typing out a post at 12:15 A.M (On a school night!!) thats been in my head for a long long time, and has come to fruition after all this foolishness with OJ. Ready or not, here is my list of So if....then(s)


So If O.J was acquitted by a jury of peers and is still crucified and convicted daily, then can we still think that the Duke Lacrosse players raped that girl even though they were acquited?

So if O.J is still guilty, then why aren't we hearing about how Robert Blake should be in jail (or electrocuted) ?

So if Bill O'Reilly is fair and balanced, then why is everyone else's opinion not?

So is it safe to assume that if Peyton Manning had been fighting Roosters, then he would have experienced the same federal penalties?

So if everything is equal and balanced in the US, and public education is fine even in the inner city, then why are minority test scores lower then there white counterparts? It must be those immigrant genetics...

So if Jemelle Hill and Scoop Jackson always play the race card, then maybe ESPN should sign Jason Whitlock and have him as the establishment counter voice for all the "racist" stuff Scoop and Jemele say...

So if America is the greatest country in the world, then maybe 4 black high school kids should not get attempted murder for a school yard scuffle and blatantly hanging a noose in LA be viewed as a hate crime??

So if Hip Hop is the bane and root of all that is evil in American Society, then it really doesn't make much sense that Columbine, Va Tech, and every other school shooting of the past 20 years was directly linked to hard core rock, does it?

So if a black athlete is arrested for something, then why is it a given that it is guaranteed front page news and a possibly completely biased AP story will passed around the world about them? (See Alson, Rafer; AKA Skip to My Lou) Compare the AP story to the original NY Daily article that it took from.

Downloading good for music??

Sigh...So I broke down and downloaded an advance copy of both Curtis and Graduation. I tried holding out until release day but the snippets I have heard have been to crazy to ignore, so I yielded to temptation. Burned both copies onto discs and then hopped in the car and just started driving. Kanye West's album is absolutely crazy. INSANE. From the opening track to the ending ode to Jay-z (big brother) with some mean soul sampling in between. Possible album of the year ish behind UGK's underground kings. Cool. Popped in Curtis and yawned my way through all the tracks except ayo technology and I get money. It's another 50 cent disc, he just did what he always does. Will it sell? Yeah, it'll go platinum within a week or two. Is it good music? Ehhh, that could be debated. The real point of this note is whether the internet and the abilithy to get music for free weeks in advance is in the big picture a good thing for hip hop and music. I'm sure sales have declined since burning a cd became an everyday thing, but I think it also gives the consumer a powerful tool if they don't want to pay 12 dollars and get garbage. They are now able to grab tracks and listen and see if they like them, and then go buy them. Of course, anyone thats into music has probably abused the privilege of downloading and has many more burned cds then the real thing. After hearing both albums, I'll still be buying kanye and burning a couple more copies of curtis. Still not a really big 50 fan, but he writes good hooks, so why not? Anyways, I want to hear what you all have to say. Would we better off without downloading and burning music? Thoughts on the upcoming 50 vs. Kanye album battle on 9/11?