Thursday, April 05, 2012

President Obama to host screening of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Take that racists!


Courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor:

Since taking office three-plus years ago, President Obama has walked a fine line on race. “I’m the president of the entire United States,” he has said, when asked by black activists and reporters why he’s not doing more to help struggling African-Americans.

But there are times when the nation's first black president “goes there” on race, as when he reacted to the recent killing of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin. “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Mr. Obama memorably said – a comment that sparked fierce debate over whether the president was using the case for political ends. 

On Thursday night, the theme of racial discrimination in America comes to the White House Family Theater, as Obama introduces a screening of the Academy Award-winning film “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in honor of its 50th anniversary. And with the president perhaps cast as “teacher in chief,” the White House has invited schoolchildren from the area to attend. The film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Harper Lee, tells the story of a white Southern lawyer, Atticus Finch, who defends a black man, Tom Robinson, wrongly accused of rape.

 Can I just say how much I love this?

Here we are once again embroiled, it seems, in the same kind of rampant racism that was prevalent before, and during, the Civil Rights movement, and our first African American President has the honor of screening in the White House the film adaption of one of the most important books concerning race relations in our country's history.

Could not be more perfect!

Here take a moment to remind yourself of the brilliance of this incredible movie.

71 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:47 PM

    I have it set to record on USA channel Saturday night. I believe the Presidents remarks from tonight will be included in the broadcast. Also it is digitally remastered so take advantage and record this classic with our great POTUS' intro!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:56 PM

    How does refusing to believe his lies make one a racist? Do liberals own dictionaries? It appears no.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:33 PM

      Bristol,do you ever get off the computer and spend time with little Tripp?

      Delete
    2. Ailsa5:33 PM

      One - just name one lie with proof.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:37 PM

      Please give us some substance here troll. Name one lie please or STFU. Us "fake" Americans really need to rebut you on those "lies" you speak of so often. It's a democracy biatch. Give us the chance. Chicken?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous5:39 PM

      Dear paint chip eater, it's ok to not believe lies, the problem is, mouth breathing RWs don't believe the truth.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous5:49 PM

      You have the weirdest writing style.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous5:55 PM

      You should probably go look for a job instead of trolling this blog. Pathetic.

      Delete
    7. Tessie6:11 PM

      If you excuse this vile shit as "refusing to believe his lies", you're a racist pig.

      http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40104

      Delete
    8. Sally in MI6:31 PM

      Maybe if you could be specific, we could get our dictionaries out and bother with you. As it is, you just look like a Fox plant "he lies." You know, when we talk about Sarah's lies, we pinpoint exactly what she said. The GOP thinks "he lies" gets their point across, to yes, the racists in the party.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous6:50 PM

      You instantly reveal your mindset by the words you use.

      President Obama is president of the entire United States of American, including assholes like you. Deal with it.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous7:03 PM

      Does Bristol ever spend quality time with her 3 BABIES? I M OWNS YOU BRISTOL and WALLOW.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous8:31 PM

      Liberals engage in critical thinking and fact checking unlike you my dear.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous4:58 PM

    So he DOES utilize propaganda to win elections instead of running on ideas to help the country. We intelligent ones know this, as we refuse to close our ears to democratic lies.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:50 PM

      YOU intelligent ones?

      Hilarious!!!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:01 PM

      Your comment makes no sense. Please get an education. Start with reading a book. Maybe "To Kill A Mockingbird?"

      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:10 PM

      Intelligent my ass! How the hell is an intro to a classic movie propaganda you truly dumb ass un-cultured moron?

      Delete
    4. Sally in MI6:40 PM

      What is it you haven't heard regarding ideas to help the country? He had a huge infrastructure project fixing roads and bridges and aging sewer systems. One guess who killed that! ACA helps all of us, even the dim-witted. He has tons of good ideas...but you choose to tune them all out and listen to Hannity's lies about his past or his 'hidden agenda.' Tell you what, I trust President Obama's agenda far more than the right and their effort to return us to 1940 or earlier. I like voting, having control of my fecundity, and having an education. I like that my grand daughter will not be discriminated against because she is female, and that she won't be like her great-grandmother who was pregnant 7 times in 9 years and nearly died with number 6. She got to realize her dream of working when the youngest was 10 and she herself was 40.
      As far as propaganda, you are way off base. If it were the 50th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz they were showing, you'd probably say that he supported fantasy in schools. This movie is one of the most important ever made about southern America, and is NOT propaganda. It's history (oh, wait, the GOP doesn't like history unless all the players are white.)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous6:53 PM

      Troll thinks To Kill a Mockingbird is propaganda. That speaks volumes about Troll.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous6:59 PM

      President Obama has amazing ideas, all you have to do is Google it, you just can't stand the idea that he has been so utterly successful in the face of the most obtuse and ridiculously insane pushback and stick in the mudness of the petulant GOP conservatives.

      Your 'intelligence' is suspect...I can see you sticking your fingers in your ears and saying 'na, na, na, NAH, na, na' like the intellectual toddler that you appear to be. You have no interest in hearing anything but what reinforces your little bubble of ignorance.

      Sucks to be you.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous7:00 PM

      You are writing like a Piper type again. HOME-SCHOOLING has deprived you of Knowledge.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous7:00 PM

      Say what?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous8:35 PM

      Bristol,one of your babies is crying and one needs a changing and the other is hungry.Why do you neglect your poor little ones so?

      Delete
    10. Anita Winecooler6:12 PM

      Yes, it's true! Pretty difficult reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" without reading between the lines and seeing why President Obama gets under your skin. Don't give up! Great Book!

      And for the record, "Going Rogue", "America by Heart" and "My life so far" are propaganda.


      Thanks for visiting, I'm sure your clicks count and add to the stats on this blog, compare them to Chin's while you're at it.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:03 PM

    Meanwhile, the Pee'ers get it wrong again (gee I'm getting bored - shooting fish in a barrel and all that) but really Gryph, you should post a weekly or even daily, "find the errors at the Sea o'Pee." Prizes could be an autographed (by you) copy of Game Change, or Joe's book for the poster to find the most.

    Anyway , look how they persist in their militant ignorance:
    John Jones Today 07:39 PM in reply to TAGALONG_DEMOCRAT

    Don't you mean the Arab Spring Egg hunt? He renamed it this year. I added the Arab part.

    TAGALONG_DEMOCRAT Today 07:41 PM in reply to John Jones

    That's right I knew that. Although I got called out on that topic a couple of days ago by someone who said I was wrong, the name wasn't changed but alas I know it to be true.
    =========
    Just clicked over to the White House site:
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:04 PM

    To Kill a Mockingbird is still my favorite movie after seeing it 50 years ago. My kids and grandkids studied it in school. It is something that should be required in the school in the south. This hatred has got to stop.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:07 PM

    This is one of my all time favorite movies.. I grew up in the South... and how sad that it is still relevant so many decades later.. I, too, admire our President. He is one very brave man.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:39 PM

    Why are unbalanced people only attracted to this blog? This is the only blog I read the most outrageous comments. Not surprising, but incredibly interesting. Why the hate and excessive assuming?

    as·sume   [uh-soom] Show IPA verb, -sumed, -sum·ing.
    verb (used with object)
    1.
    to take for granted or without proof

    hate   [heyt] Show IPA verb, hat·ed, hat·ing, noun
    verb (used with object)
    1.
    to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward;

    To remind people what these words mean.

    Choose love or like our teachers told us, ignore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:53 PM

      If you find this blog so disgusting why keep comming back???

      Hee, hee... Whoever this ones sounds like you have already had one too many...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:18 PM

      Well you are not ignoring. So...those teachers didn't get through to you huh? You are hilariously stupid!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:35 PM

      You sound like you're having a mental breakdown. Seriously, step away from your keyboards, delete the bookmark for IM and the google alerts.

      Delete
    4. Irishgirl7:38 PM

      Feck off.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous8:27 PM

      The only "unbalanced" people on this blog are trolls like you.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous8:38 PM

      "Unbalanced"...are you referring to yourself,hon?Poor little ignorant,uninformed,brainwashed snowbilly who can't think for herself,can't enjoy being young,and allows her crazed,controlling mother's warped fundamentalist religious crap to wreck her mind and her youth.

      Delete
    7. Anita Winecooler6:20 PM

      AnonymousApr 5, 2012 06:39 PM
      Why are unbalanced people only attracted to this blog?

      Love when they answer their own questions, then go on to show how ignorant they truly are.

      Y'all keep coming back, maybe you'll learn something and someday upgrade to a double-wide with a pea gravel driveway.

      Delete
  8. *picking up big broom from the Beefy thread to sweep out the trash that blew in at...*

    AnonymousApr 5, 2012 05:56 PM...AnonymousApr 5, 2012 05:58 PM
    ___________________________________________________

    Gryphen...thank you for posting this! I just watched on PBS the other night the story on the author Harper Lee...I didn't know that her and Truman Capote were neighbors and the kid in the movie was based on Capote! This movie is as timely today as it was 50 years ago! Good for the President not to worry about the racist...

    *looking at 5:56 and 5:58PM commenters*

    He just continues to do the RIGHT (yeah I said it!) thing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you saw the movie Capote, you would have realized this. Until then, I never knew that they were childhood friends. Lee helped Capote with In Cold Blood. It is said that To Kill a Mockingbird was about Harper Lee's father, based on a real case of the time. Although a fictionalize account, it was very true of the attitude in the south. Too bad that attitude is still in evidence.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous5:46 PM

    Random alert but here's a wakeup call: if anyone here ever runs into Bristol of another family member on the street and react how you react on this blog, everything they probably think about the liberal people as a whole will be justified. Just think about that before you go off on some rant about some rumor that reads like fiction.

    And I LOVE To Kill a Mockingbird, in 6th grade through the next 20 years of my life. My father could be Gregory Peck's twin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:48 PM

      Huh? What are you talking about?
      I get that you think your dad looks like Gregory Peck...good for you, but the rest of your message is a mystery. Why on earth would anyone who reads this blog ever even speak to a Palin if they met them on the street? FYI - I have seen Palin's in PUBLIC. BFD ... THere was nothing to say and besides they were so freaking paranoid about being recognised it was pathetic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:54 PM

      LMAO...I think if we saw the Palins on any street we would ignore them as our President does. We blog cause it is fun and this bunch is blog worthy. If you STFU for at least a fuckin minute we wouldn't talk aboutcha. Kapeesh moron!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:55 PM

      Maybe you should read it again.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous6:56 PM

      Bwahahaha you wish.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous7:39 PM

      Gregory Peck was a lifelong liberal and Democrat.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous8:43 PM

      If I ever happened to "run into" any of them on the street and reacted as I do on this blog,everything I think about them would be justified and proven,because I would challenge their intellect and they would have nothing to say that made the least bit of sense or contained the least bit of knowledge.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous9:07 PM

      I would take photos.


      My father looked like Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
      What can I do? He was a great man.

      Delete
    8. What is the point of a "random alert", you silly dolt? Shouldn't alerts be specific and targeted to the affected population?

      I wish you fools would learn how to hold a dictionary right side up.

      Delete
    9. Anita Winecooler6:35 PM

      Random Alert, Sarah and Bristol would never meet up with me. I don't frequent bowling alleys, gun ranges,massage parlors, and can manage to name what papers I read.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous5:49 PM

    The more they run your name down, the more your price goes up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:56 PM

      (two bit philosophy...perfect for the Palins)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:44 PM

      Well,I guess that would be one way of describing the world's oldest profession,wouldn't it?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:22 AM

      @6:49 - You should be writing greeting cards for a tire company.

      Delete
  11. AnonymousApr 5, 2012 06:49 PM

    The more they run your name down, the more your price goes up.

    ____________________________________________________

    Oh my strange Aunt Betty! Will you finally STFU!!


    This is about "To Kill a Mockingbird" you ignorant hillbilly! Not Beefy and what she charges Gino to stay with her!

    You got the other thread to spew your bullshit Beefalo! Get to it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous6:51 PM

    Gryphen, I love your blog and I'm so frustrated because ever since you switched to this new format it will not allow me "load more" comments. I click, and it just ignores me. It does this on my Mac and on my iPad. I know others have brought this up on other posts. Maybe it works for PCs and not Macs? Can you please, please, please check and see if you can make some adjustment/corrections to the settings that will work for all of us? I would be extremely grateful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:08 PM

      Agreed. I cannot either.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:45 PM

      I've run into this occasionally and I just refresh the page and it works 100% of the time. Also, clearing your browser can be helpful.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:21 AM

      Refreshing on the iPhone & dumping cookies takes a lot of time.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous7:22 PM

    I agree - cannot access 'load more' and know we are missing good commentary! How do you rectify this situation?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous7:28 PM

    I think it wonderful that President Obama is bringing this book and movie to the forefront again. I'm nearing the tender young age of 70 and recall this movie from years ago. Not much has changed really! The USA is still racist and I think it horrible.

    I love President Obama and will vote for him again. We, in America, need to love and respect each other - all colors and nationalities. We are equal even if the majority of Republicans don't agree!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:12 PM

      A favorite movie for me.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:49 AM

      I agree with you completely. I'm also approaching 70 and I remember when the book was published (a favorite of mine from the library). I also loved the movie.

      I do not understand why some people despise President Obama so much. He was elected with a very clear majority; his skin color did not change mysteriously over night. He has been a magnificent leader for this country and I'll do my very best to see that he remains president for another four years.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  15. I can't load more comments on my iphone.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous8:25 PM

    If you're not confused enough, check out this link which I found in the comments section of Truth-Out.org. Maybe this has been brought up before, if so, sorry. I have no idea what this person went through to write this, but my eyes were crossing and my brain hurt trying to get through it. Kinda like Sarah when she gets into those long essays in TV Guide. http://palinsdirtylittlesecret.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:01 PM

      I've seen that a few times - always with misleading urls. I stopped reading at Whitney Houston = White House. Too funny! Musta been wearing a 10-gallon tin-foil hat.

      Delete
  17. ItSucksToBeBeefalo8:50 PM

    The more these stories aren't about me,the lower my price goes.Please don't kick me out of the stable for being pregnant again,daddy.For I must lead the crusade against Democrats who lie and use words like shit and keep driving my price down.This just sucks.It's sad.Sigh.We holy ones refuse to take our meds,for God wants us to be megalomaniacs and bring back human decency an' shit.Sigh.Help.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I loved the interview with Miss lee when the movie was released.[I read it at American Masters,not the golf one:-)]Reporter: What is going to happen when
    it is shown in the South.
    Miss Lee:I don't know. But I wondered the same thing
    when the book was published. But the publisher said
    not to worry, because nobody can read down there.
    That's something I can believe,I am sure there are still some down there, who 50 years later are still stuck in a time warp:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita Winecooler6:46 PM

      I saw the American Master's show, they've been running it a lot because of the anniversary. The entire back story is beyond amazing. She had moved to new york and was working as a nanny, her boss recognized her talent, and gave her a Christmas Present of one year off with pay. It was the only way they thought she'd accept the money, anyway, she got shot down by over a hundred publishing houses because the topic was "too incendiary"????/

      It's a wonderful documentary worth watching.

      Delete
  19. ThanksABunchJohn10:05 PM

    I am such a fan of both the book (it definitely helped develop my progressive leanings early in life) and the movie (could Peck have been more perfect?) that back when I was a teenager, I fantasized having lots of pets, and the names would be: Harper, Atticus, Jem, Scout, Radley, Finch, and of course Boo. The last pet left is sweet Boo, she is a devoted and cuddly kitty. I haven't used Finch or Jem yet... but I will. And like all the rest, they will be rescues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My family call their dogs after Lord of The Rings characters, we've had an Pippin, Frodo,
      Arwon, Strider and Gimley. So I can relate to you ThanksABunchJohn :-)

      Delete
    2. Not What You Want to Hear3:59 AM

      It's one of my favorite books of all time. I can see why Harper Lee never wrote another...how could she ever top it? It was perfectly written.

      Delete
    3. So sweet!
      :)

      Delete
  20. Anita Winecooler6:57 PM

    I remember being "forced" to read it in high school, and to my amazement, it was the first book I sat and read in one sitting, then went back to during the summer to devour it at my leisure. It was the first book I put on my kindle.
    The movie just blew me away.

    Our President deserves high praise for showing this movie and recommending it, especially now with the right wing nutcases and Treyvon in the headlines. This man is using this as a "teachable moment" as a way to open up a discussion on race in America and the World.

    If it changes one heart, it's worth it, though I doubt seriously, the ones who need the lesson most will or can not read it and comprehend how it's as relevant today as it was when it was written.

    ReplyDelete

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