Social Science in Action--The Federalist Papers Number 10 on the Right Wing Town Hall Disruptors Against Health Care Reform

I can't stand the unclean, dirtied, foul smelling, cheapily mobilized, populist, easily baited, democratic rabble.

I love teaching the Federalist Papers. I have never apologized for my suspicions and disgust towards mass democracy, and the fact that the ign't, troglodyte mouth breathers have the same number of votes that I do. When I tell my students that I don't believe in democracy as a long term, workable system of government, you can imagine their facial expressions. As I love to repeat as an object lesson, George Bush 2 (aka Little Bush) was not the president we needed, but he was certainly the president the American people deserved.

Democracy in action my friends--and one of the many sources of my disgust.

In watching the nonsense and mayhem that is the Right Wing "protesters" at the town hall meetings on health care reform I am reminded of the wisdom of the framers. Yes, they weren't perfect--God knows that--but they had a great deal of wisdom that we best heed as many of our leaders play the fiddle while Rome burns.

An excerpt from one of our greatest documents. Please read and reflect as we work through our latest political morass:

The Federalist 10
James Madison

The inference to which we are brought is, that the causes of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens. To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed. Let me add that it is the great desideratum by which this form of government can be rescued from the opprobrium under which it has so long labored, and be recommended to the esteem and adoption of mankind.

By what means is this object attainable? Evidently by one of two only. Either the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or the majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression. If the impulse and the opportunity be suffered to coincide, we well know that neither moral nor religious motives can be relied on as an adequate control. They are not found to be such on the injustice and violence of individuals, and lose their efficacy in proportion to the number combined together, that is, in proportion as their efficacy becomes needful.

From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking. Let us examine the points in which it varies from pure democracy, and we shall comprehend both the nature of the cure and the efficacy which it must derive from the Union.

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended.

The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation, it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the purpose. On the other hand, the effect may be inverted. Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people. The question resulting is, whether small or extensive republics are more favorable to the election of proper guardians of the public weal; and it is clearly decided in favor of the latter by two obvious considerations:

In the first place, it is to be remarked that, however small the republic may be, the representatives must be raised to a certain number, in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that, however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number, in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude. Hence, the number of representatives in the two cases not being in proportion to that of the two constituents, and being proportionally greater in the small republic, it follows that, if the proportion of fit characters be not less in the large than in the small republic, the former will present a greater option, and consequently a greater probability of a fit choice.

White Men are Falling Down: Beware the George Sodini Next Door

My mom keeps warning me to be careful about crazy white supremacists. I would always laugh mom off and tell her if I can survive walking around Chicago and New York at all hours of the night, I can manage semi-rural Michigan no problem. After hearing about the murder rampage at the LA Fitness in Pittsburgh, I may have to reconsider her warnings.

Now, given the mainstream media's tendency in these cases, George Sodini's murder of at least 3 women and the wounding of 9 will be treated as an isolated incident. The mainstream press will ring their hands over "how could a normal guy like Sodini go crazy?" Or they will ask, "how could a good, normal American commit such a horrible crime?" As pointed out by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jack and Jill Politics, one can rest assured that Sodini's anger at Barack Obama and black people in general will go unreported. As George Sodini wrote in his online journal:

"Why do this?? To young girls? Just read below. I kept a running log that includes my thoughts and actions, after I saw this project was going to drag on.
November 5, 2008:

Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome. This particular one got so much attention and I was just curious. Not like I give a flying fcuk who won, since this exit plan was already planned. Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man. Good! In light of this I got ideas outside of Obama’s plans for the economy and such. Here it is: Every black man should get a young white girl hoe to hone up on. Kinda a reverse indentured servitude thing. Long ago, many a older white male landowner had a young Negro wench girl for his desires. Bout’ time tables are turned on that shit. Besides, dem young white hoez dig da bruthrs! LOL. More so than they dig the white dudes! Every daddy know when he sends his little girl to college, she be bangin a bruthr real good. I saw it. “Not my little girl”, daddy says! (Yeah right!!) Black dudes have thier choice of best white hoez. You do the math, there are enough young white so all the brothers can each have one for 3 or 6 months or so."

Academics are fond of throwing around the word "intersectionality." If there ever was a case of someone hating both women and people of color (and quite likely gay folks, those who aren't Christian, etc. etc.) Sodini is quite likely it. In his infectious, all encompassing, anger, resentment, and hate, he is most certainly not alone.

With the spate of workplace shootings, the more than 10,000 threats against Barack Obama, and the rise in hate crimes since the 2008 presidential campaign, something is clearly amiss in America. Those more timid souls will highlight how these trends are a function of a failing economy. For them, this has nothing to do with race. Likewise, and for the conservatives in particular, the argument that Beck, Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, and the other members of their rogues gallery of bloviating hate mongers are stoking the fires of racial and political violence will land on deaf ears.

Again, we see the myopia that is whiteness. The link between white male insecurity, the right wing media machine, and these incidents of violence is so utterly clear, yet the privilege of whiteness (as the very definition of what it means to be "normal") has created a blindness that is incapable of acknowledging the obvious sickness that beats in the heart of the American body politic:




The more bold and brave will point out that violent episodes such as the George Sodini rampage have everything to do with race, and with white men in particular feeling that their place in the world has been disrupted. And whoa upon on any person who stands in their way. A storm is coming--and America best get ready.

They Brought a Knife to a Gunfight or Broken Politics and the Weakness of the Democratic Party

Wernor Herzog's Bear chimes in with the last--I hope not--installment in his series on how the hope and change of Obama's election has become mired in petty, dishonest, partisan politics by the Right...a dynamic enabled by the weaknesses of the Left.

@@@@

Today I am writing the last in my series trying to explain how the high hopes of six months ago have led to legislative deadlock and a poisonous political discourse. While I've been bagging a lot on the Right's use of racial politics and its kamikaze strategy, it's time to shine a light on the other side, which has failed miserably to press its advantage. I'm continually amazed that Democrats control a large majority of the house, 60 of the Senate's 100 seats, and have a popular president in the White House, but still can't get progressive legislation passed without having it watered down to the point of destruction, or blocked outright. (I think here specifically of health care and the energy bill. The latter was compromised so much that I think it's less than worthless.)

The contrast with the last presidential administration is telling and informative. As much as I despised George W. Bush, I did have to admire how he managed to push through unpopular and ideologically motivated policies without a smidgen as much opposition as Barack Obama has faced. If you remember, the public was not clamoring for tax cuts for the wealthy in the summer of 2001 (tax cuts which helped eliminate our surplus and create a budget deficit), but Bush got them anyway. Contrast this to our current situation, where a small group of "Blue Dogs" who do not represent the mainstream of the party have hijacked health reform and tried to eliminate the public option, something three quarters of the nation wants! Perhaps more humiliating, some Dems are hedging on whether they will vote for Sotomayor, in some cases the same who approved hardcore conservatives like Alito.


The GOP then as now understood the need for party discipline to get their agenda passed. If the Democrats want health care reform, action on energy, and other important initiatives, they need to whip the troops into shape. The first thing they should do is fire Pelosi and Reid, who have manifestly failed to get the job done. Second, president Obama might want to privately remind Congressional Democrats that he is much more popular than they are, and that many of them were elected on his coattails. During the Bush administration the Democrats finally figured out how to win elections again, but they didn't seem to make plans for how to wield power once they won those elections.

They have done so timidly in ways that do not inspire confidence. This grievous fault extends even to the president, who failed to overturn "don't ask, don't tell" despite the fact that many important voices in the military no longer support it. He and Timothy Geithner have done little to regulate the insane banking practices that got us into this mess. As I mentioned a bit back, they negotiated from a weak position on the stimulus.

Perhaps this inability to seize the initiative has disheartened to the progressive grass roots, who fought so hard and so well to get president Obama into office but now seem absent. While we have been basking in the afterglow, the other side has gotten even more radical and united than before. The whole Tea Party thing may be an amalgamation of cranks, wing-nuts, Paulistas, and birthers, but it has made a bigger impact than any Left-oriented movement has since the beginning of the war in Iraq (of course, much of this has to do with sponsorship of the teabaggers by Fox News and the conservative media.) We (and I am including myself in this) need to be out in public making sure that health care reform does not merely protect corporate interests, but improves the nation's health and well-being. The other side, which has deep pockets, is already gearing up for its offensive, from TV ads to birther assaults on town hall meetings. This means not only addressing the lies and mistruths used against a public option, but putting the heat on Democrats to actually come through for us.

Here is what it all comes down to: our nation is facing several crises at once, including a financial meltdown, high unemployment, industrial decline, a deteriorating infrastructure, climate change, and two wars. Unlike other times in America's history, when crisis lessened political discord so as to address pressing issues, this time the opposition party has publicly stated that its goal is to destroy the president rather than to save the nation. Their mantra remains "I hope he fails." Just look at how the runaway success of the cash for clunkers program is being interpreted as a failure by Senate Republicans who are trying to block further funding. This is a democracy, so they have all the right in the world to be obnoxious obstructionists, no matter much it distracts us all from addressing our dire circumstances.

Unfortunately, to paraphrase Sean Connery in The Untouchables, the Democrats brought a knife to a gun fight. When Mr. Obama came to office, he made the mistake of thinking his opponents were reasonable people who understood that they had just gotten a major rebuke from the public. Instead, he has been dealing with a group of ideological fanatics who dispute his birth certificate (or worse), going beyond policy to question the very legitimacy of his presidency. You should never argue with a crazy person or negotiate with a fanatic, which is why it is time for the Dems to put on the armor, tie their horses' tails, and go into battle instead of hoping for their opponents to see the light. We voted for you, now please, for the love of God, lead us.

Jay-Z Concert Footage from All Points West--MJ Tribute, Roc Boys, and No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

You know my love of HOVA one of the Elder Gods in hip hop.

This footage has been circulating around these Internets so enjoy.

Roc Boys--



Not the Beastie Boys but more than a fair cover:



Why not? A classic flashback:

Sunday Internets Discovery--What Would You Do If You Opened Your Door and Saw This?

What does the mayor of Blacktown.net have to say about this?



Oh well.

Some laughter to start the day, this rollerskating weekend. So, why not?



From simpler times...but we didn't know that then.

Saturday Internets Discovery Part 1--Black Women Belong Barefoot, Pregnant, and Back in the Kitchen

I will share a long held fantasy. I have always dreamed of coming home and being greeted by the wonderful image of my beautiful Nubian (or ambiguously brown) queen topless and in the kitchen. As I enter my home, my nostrils would be opened by the wondrous smell of fried chicken. And there she would be, topless, not afraid of the spitting grease and lard frying from the iron skillet, making her man a meal fit for a king. You see, making fried chicken with one's breasts exposed is the ultimate mating of the sensual and the culinary--an act of selfless love. I am in good company as the mayor of Blacktown seems to be in agreement with me.

The mayor of blacktown is a national treasure. He reveals hidden truths. The mayor understands the damage which the sagging pants culture has done to black boys. Now, he blesses us with song. Mayor, you are the Paul Robeson of the 21st century.

Chauncey DeVega's World of Ghetto Nerds: The Day Hip Hop Died Again...A Hip Hop Themed Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game is in Development

World of Warcraft now meets crappy "commercial" hip hop. Again, art has long descended into self-parody. For those of you who play WOW, what would the parallel character classes be? Would TI be a mage? Would Gucci Mane be a troll? Is Rick Ross an elf? Are there Elder Gods such as Rakim, Big, Pun, Nas, 'Pac, Jay, Ghostface, Rae and others?

Help me figure this out.

So, the minstrel-hopppers and southcraptastic rappers will now be character classes in a new MMORG...and the semi-literate ign't autotune fans will now be signing up for accounts to play their favorite characters via cellphone--ign'ts don't tend to be on the PC or MAC thing.

As one of the comments on the story so wonderfully summed up:

"Lemme guess how this game runs... you earn fame by either performing a typical crappy backtracked rap concert, make a mixtape of rapping over ripped off radio beats or supermanning Dat Ho'... and earn money to buy 30 bathroom mansions, expensive brand Clothes made in sweatshops, fuel eating SUV's, Diamond Chains gathered from sierra leone and show them off as achievements!... sounds fun!. Im expecting an item mall element as well... ill be surprised if you can rap off in pvp, since most of todays commercial rappers dodge radio freestyles/rap battles just to keep their endorsements intact in the likely case they mess up through their tacky 'skill'."

Courtesy of Gamespot:

T.I. Headlining Hip-hop Themed MMORG

Incarcerated hip-hop star first act to sign onto Platinum Life, a new free-to-play multiplatform massively multiplayer game which will incorporate role-playing and rhythm elements.

On May 26, hip-hop artist T.I. began serving a 366-day prison sentence for federal weapons charges. But being behind bars isn't stopping the Atlanta-based rapper from expanding into new media--games, specifically. This morning, Austin, Texas-based independent developer Heatwave Interactive announced it is working on a hip-hop massively multiplayer game starring the rapper, born Clifford Harris Jr.

Called Platinum Life, the microtransactions-based title will take standard free-to-play role-playing game mechanics and adapt them to a hip-hop music-scene setting. Players will take the role of an aspiring musician who must earn "fame," the game's version of experience points. This is accomplished primarily by playing shows in the game, where players will perform existing hip-hop hits by engaging in Guitar Hero-like, pattern-matching rhythm minigames and more traditional RPG actions.

Platinum Life will also incorporate other RPG elements, such as non-player characters. NPCs can also be used as back-up musicians or DJs during shows, although Heatwave CEO Anthony Castoro, a former Ultima Online developer, said that players will be encouraged to form their own groups. These groups will be able to take advantage of a certain level of music-creation tools, but will act more like a party in a traditional RPG, using spell-like special abilities to move the virtual crowd.

Performing more and more successful shows will put players on the path to follow an in-game "icon"--a real-life musician who offers a career path for players to emulate. T.I. will be the first such icon, with Castoro saying the game will feature "around a dozen" major real-life musicians as icons, whom players can eventually open up for at major venues. These icons will also determine character classes, which will include rappers, R&B singers, DJs, and other musicians.

As a player becomes more famous, the size of his NPC entourage will increase--as will the "drama" the NPCs in said entourage creates. This drama system will task the player with missions, such as helping out an entourage member who is in a troubled relationship or in trouble with the law.

Speaking of legal troubles, Castoro was emphatic that Platinum Life would not be as violent as other hip-hop themed games, such as Def Jam Icon or 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand. Though players can get into scuffles with rival crews, there won't be any shooting or killing. However, the game's open-world setting will allow for some Grand Theft Auto-style gameplay, with the paparazzi hounding players much like the police did in GTAIV.

Heatwave is aiming to release Platinum Life on the PC and other undefined platforms in 2011 or 2012. However, the company will begin building up to the final game's launch with a series of social media initiatives, the first two of which are expected to arrive this fall.

My Personal Happiness Pill of the Day: Is Justin Barrett One Dumb White Man or What?--or Racist Boston Cop Gets Called Out Over Derogatory Email

Oh well, so much for the vaunted predictive power of civil service exams.

Once more, I love honest racists--dishonest racists not so much.

As Marcus Aurelius said, "Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts."

From CNN:

Boston Officer's Apparent Racial Slur May Get Him Fired

A Boston police officer who sent a mass e-mail referring to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. as a "banana-eating jungle monkey" has apologized, saying he's not a racist.

Officer Justin Barrett told a Boston television station on Wednesday night that he was sorry for the e-mail.

"I regret that I used such words," Barrett told CNN affiliate WCVB-TV. "I have so many friends of every type of culture and race you can name. I am not a racist."

Barrett was placed on administrative leave after the e-mail surfaced, and he might lose his job as a result.

Barrett, 36, who is also an active member of the National Guard, sent off a fiery e-mail to some fellow Guard members -- as well as The Boston Globe -- in which he vented about a July 22 Globe column about Gates' controversial arrest.

Gates, a top African-American scholar, was arrested on July 16 and accused of disorderly conduct after police responded to a report of a possible burglary at his Cambridge home. The charge later was dropped. The incident sparked a debate about racial profiling and police procedures.

Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham supported Gates' actions, asking readers, "Would you stand for this kind of treatment, in your own home, by a police officer who by now clearly has no right to be there?"

In Barrett's e-mail, which was posted on a Boston television station's Web site, he declared that if he had "been the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC (oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray) deserving of his belligerent non-compliance."

Barrett used the "jungle monkey" phrase four times, three times referring to Gates and once referring to Abraham's writing as "jungle monkey gibberish."

He also declared that he was "not a racist but I am prejudice [sic] towards people who are stupid and pretend to stand up and preach for something they say is freedom but it is merely attention because you do not get enough of it in your little fear-dwelling circle of on-the-bandwagon followers."

Barrett's comments were taken out of context, said his attorney, Peter Marano.

"Officer Barrett did not call professor Gates a jungle monkey or malign him racially," Marano said. "He said his behavior was like that of one. It was a characterization of the actions of that man."

According to a statement from Boston police, Commissioner Edward Davis took action immediately on learning of Barrett's remarks, stripping the officer of his gun and badge.

Barrett is "on administrative leave, pending the outcome of a termination hearing."

CNN has been unable to reach Barrett for comment.

Davis wants Barrett, a two-year member of the Boston police, fired, a source close to the investigation said. But he will continue to be paid while on leave, and no date has been set for his termination hearing.

From Happiness to Discontent--How Did We Stray So Far From the Hope and Glory of November 2008?

This negro is getting tired and is in need of some backup. I have lots to do in my few weeks before moving back to Chicago. And I have had a burst of productivity that has left my batteries a little low. It seems all cylinders were firing after my 2 Greyhound bus rides in one week. A word from the wise, take your inspiration when it comes.

In short, I am leaning on friends at this point. My White in America Part 2 entry is coming soon, but I wanted to share another guest post in the meantime.

From our friend and frequent commenter Werner Herzog's Bear (and please go to his site as it is on point and deserves a great deal more attention) I bring you the following.

Broken Politics Part One: What We Should Have Learned

Recent political events in the public sphere and in my private life have made me more depressed about living in this country than I've been at any point since the 2004 election. In the first place, politicians seem just as unresponsive to pressing needs as they've always been. For example, about three quarters of Americans would like a public option as part of health care reform, yet a group of conservative Democrats have set out to block such a thing in the name of "moderation" and "bi-partisanship." Secondly, voices of extremism and hatred have been getting plenty of mainsteam airing, just witness Lou Dobbs giving credence to the birthers last week. Third, the opposition party has decided to make its agenda one giant kamikaze agenda, seeing health reform as a chance to "sink" president Obama rather than making any serious attempts to fix a broken system that is a national embarassment. (This is in line with our former president's claim that those without insurance could merely go to an emergency room.) Just six months after America witnessed the most attended and perhaps most joyous inauguration in history, the man who seemed to embody the desire for change and reform is being abandoned by members of his own party and pilloried daily by the right wing noise machine.

This series of posts is an attempt to figure out how this happened. Today, I think we should take a step back and remember last year's election. In the glow of the inauguration, many in the media claimed that it represented some kind of symbolic end to racism in America, or that it would begin a more civil phase in our politics. As I said at the time, and cannot be denied now, this was wishful thinking of the most fatuous sort.

The seeds of the extremist response in many corners of the Right to Barack Obama's administration were sewn during the election. During the last months the conservative Id ran rampant. Anybody remember the vile shouts coming out of the mouths of crowds at Sarah Palin's rallies? Or her asking the question "who is the real Barack Obama?" Or Palin's tendency to talk of herself and her supporters denizens of "real America"? Or how about Michelle Bachmann calling Obama "anti-American?" And this doesn't even touch on the fact that the birther bullshit was already flying fast and thick, helping to elevate Jerome Corsi's book of lies and falsehoods to the top of the best seller list. The template for the current Right-wing hatred of Barack Obama was already set by last October.

Beyond the rhetoric employed in the election, the electoral results themselves helped create a more extremist party. The moderate Republicans of the Midwest and New England went down to defeat, while the more conservative ones from the South and Great Plains stuck around. Furthermore, the fact that the Republican base was more willing to support the erratic, inexperienced, scandal plagued, willfully ignorant and palpably incompetent Sarah Palin rather than John McCain, one of the most respected men in Washington, should have told us that things were about to get crazy.

As a Washington Post article from the post-election period ominously pointed out, Barack Obama was a hated man in large swaths of the United States even before he took office. It is undeniable that his race has been a factor in the fervence and nature of the attacks against him, just witness the birther crap (which would not have been used against a white man) and the histrionic response to his offhand comments about the Henry Louis Gates arrest. Those of us on the Left can certainly blame the Right for appealing to bigotry, but we should look in the mirror and remind ourselves that you should never lower your guard in a fight, especially against a crazy opponent who fights dirty.

More to Love is Quite Frankly, More to Love or Where are the Big Sistas on Fox Television's Newest Reality Dating Show?

Black folks can't have anything can we?

First they stole rock and roll. Then they took hair weaves...for the uninformed, hair weaves are now called "hair extensions." In the ultimate and final insult, "mainstream" i.e. White America has stolen black people's love of big beautiful women (well not just black folks as our Latino brothers call the thick sisters "gorditas") with the new reality dating show More to Love.

I love a good freak show. This fondness for the bizarre explains my unending appreciation of fat babies on Maury Povich, "the treeman" on the Discovery Network (what a poor, sad soul he is), Sober House, Intervention and Dr. Phil. More to Love is quite frankly more of the same--a bunch of sad, unhappy, mostly lonely and miserable people looking for love on network television.




It was also entertaining, almost too much so as I felt dirty watching a bunch of bbw's describe in sad detail the exploits (or lack thereof) of their dating lives. Please preempt your rush to judgment. I love women. I love them short, tall, thin, and thick. As the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of race mixing, my ministry is dedicated to the holy truth that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Our mantra is simple: sometimes you want a petite cut of filet mignon; at other times you want some sushi; and then there are those moments when you want a Big Mac. The trick is to find the right meal at the right time.

But, one must be mindful of the trigonometry and physics of lovemaking across the body size divide because it is indeed true that sometimes even a 747 looks small landing inside the Grand Canyon (for a handy guide on negotiating this practical challenge see one of my favorite books).

Self-congratulatory moment: How can you not love that Tom Arnold/HHH/Oscar Wilde inspired turn of phrase?

The joy of More to Love is that the bachelor, a self-described "big teddy bear," only has one type of meal to choose from. The sadness of More to Love is going to be the sheer desperation of these poor women as they throw themselves at him. Too bad, because if these big beautiful women simply came over to the dark side they would never lack for attention again.

Some thoughts for those of you who watched the show.

1. Where are the big sistas? We have magazines like King and leading sex goddesses such as Buffy the Body but Fox can't find one thick, voluptuous black woman--not the 2 ambiguously brown folks they featured on last night's debut--to feature as contestants? Black folks are overachievers in the arms race that is an appreciation of the donkey booty. How, as innovators in the field, can Fox justify excluding us from More to Love?

2. Wasn't the woman who explained that she has only had 3 dates in her life, and none went past the first meeting, just pathetic? Was I the only one thinking that the dates don't get past step one because she probably sleeps with dude immediately after meeting him?

3. Now, some of the women were just big, as in not sexy big (trust me there is a difference). While others were tall and Amazonian, traits that to my eye are damn attractive and desirable. Are they simply unable to find men who would kill to bed their own personal Wonder Woman, or is it that these women have internalized a size zero beauty standard and therefore have no self-confidence?

4. I wonder what the viewing demographics are going to be for this show? I bet Fox is going to see a huge spike in viewership among black and Hispanic men between the ages of 18-80.

5. Ready for a little self-indulgence? I am.