Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: Michael Steele’s Most Cringe-Worthy Comments

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Michael Steele has a tough job. Clearly exploited by Republicans for his assumed appeal to a diverse populace, the RNC Chairman is consistently mocked by both sides of the aisle. With a long history of GOP service, the son of a military man is now on the front lines of the GOP’s image makeover. And it’s ugly out there. His awkward attempt to co-opt “hip-hop slang”—such as referring to Obama’s stimulus plan as “bling bling“—has been embarrassing, if not offensive.

But that’s not to say he lacks any supporters. Even Mike Tyson, who was once married to Steele’s sister, considers him a long-time friend and once offered to literally fight on his behalf. And with some GOP victories in Tuesday’s election—most notably, governorships in Virginia and New Jersey—Steele was feeling himself. Now with chatter of possibly running against Obama in 2012, it’s important to get up to speed with Steele’s most recent nail-on-the-chalkboard moments…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: Rush Limbaugh’s Biggest L’s

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It’s been an embarrassing month for Rush Limbaugh: rejected by the NFL; humiliated for running with a false story about President Obama’s “thesis”; even clowned by Dr. Dre. And I’m sure there’s more to come. Limbaugh’s multi-million dollar ascent is proof that hate-mongering is a lucrative business. As a rapper once said, “f*ck livin’ positive, cause negativity spreads faster” . But with Racist Rush’s profile as high as ever, it’s only a matter of time before his stumbles make him fall off into the world of disregarded crackpots. To get up to speed, here’s some of Limbaugh’s biggest L’s…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: A History of Celebrity Deportation

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In 1996, shortly after Republicans took control of Congress, new draconian immigration laws were enforced that encourage authorities to deport convicted criminals to their native country, even if the individual is a legal resident. The law is xenophobic at its core. In fact, US-born citizens are five times as likely to go to prison than those born elsewhere. But after 9/11, the deportation frenzy intensified. In total, over 700,000 immigrants have been removed from the States since 1997, even for misdemeanor offenses or basic civil immigration violations.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) runs their own detainment facilities, which are often outsourced to private companies who have a financial incentive to keep the beds filled. And while inhumane conditions are rampant, coverage is rarely given due to its low-profile residents. But the recent case of celebrity rapper, Shyne—born in Belize but raised in Brooklyn—has pushed the immigration dilemma to the fore-front of pop-culture dialogue. Shyne isn’t the first celebrity to face threats of deportation. Here’s a brief look back…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: When First Ladies Embarrass Their Spouse

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When seeking public office, there’s always the potential of screw-ups that result in grueling embarrassment for the entire family. It comes with the territory. While I’ve touched on the subject of male politicians who engage in extra-curricular smashing, I’ve yet to explore the other side of the coin: embarrassments by the wife. While few and far between, there is a history of First Ladies— most recently Maria Shriver who was caught talking on her cellphone while driving twice in California this week—who have made their governing husbands blush. Although Shriver is the latest, here’s a few more examples of when first ladies embarrass their politician spouses…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: Michael Moore’s Greatest Clips

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The release of Michael Moore’s controversial new film Capitalism: A Love Story marks the 20th anniversary of his work in muckraker documentary filmmaking. Whether you agree with his beliefs or not, Moore is clearly the king of pop-political exposés, converting hot-button social issues into blockbuster hits that have grossed over $300 million. His personal financial success is often used by critics as signs of his hypocrisy: “How can you be mad at a system that’s made you rich?!” Ah, the contradictions of inequality. So to put Moore’s newest film into perspective, here’s a look back at some of his greatest hits…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: A Closer Look At G20 Protests

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In 2006, the elite members-only economic club decided to expand their group from 8 leaders to 20. Basically, it’s no longer 8 countries that are selling all the records, and the new indie contenders want a seat at the VMAs, so to speak. To date, the G20 has had four meetings and it’s not entirely clear what gets accomplished considering that the globe now faces its worst recession since World War II. Their most recent gathering occurred in Pittsburgh last week and the only concrete results seemed to be: keep an eye on bank bonuses, avoid “protectionism” and have a photo shoot.

Interestingly, they refused to set salary caps on financial players, unlike the NBA. Great. But public anger is growing and spilling into the streets. Despite having various agendas and beliefs, all protesters have one common goal—get attention. Like their bureaucratic targets, it’s also not entirely clear what gets accomplished with these protests, other than a whole lot of confrontation. In case you missed what’s been going down, here’s some clips…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: A History Of Inflammatory UN Speeches

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Anytime you convene the bosses of the world’s nations, there’s gonna be sparks. Whether it was Yasser Arafat supposedly bringing a gun to his debut speech or Slobodan Milosevic referring to the UN Court as a “retarded child“, it’s been a hotbed for hotheads. Clearly the UN has considerable flaws and at times has dropped the ball when it needed to stop genocide or prevent unnecessary wars. But at the end of the day, it’s probably safer to have a body where leaders can try to verbally air out their differences rather than see each other on the battlefield.

However, let’s face it: the UN tends to favor Western nations and its allies. I’m not going to get into the specifics, but it’s not coincidental that when certain world leaders give inflammatory speeches, they tend to be from countries that the West deems suspicious. Alas, a look back…

Politics & Crime John Brown: The 5 Most Racist Attacks On President Obama

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In recent weeks, some of Obama’s opponents – in the legislature, media and the streets – have been escalating their criticism to the point of outright racism. There’s no question that we’re in some of the toughest economic times in memory; and history shows that fiscal distress often incites the ignorant populace to seek out scapegoats. Those leading the hate-mongering flock tend to do so out of career opportunism and a lust for power. While it’s tempting to ignore and brush-off these inflammatory critics as simple “haters”, it’s important to call them out, because rhetoric can lead to violence. I mean, they could tell the people they roll with whatever they want, but you and I know what’s going on. Here’s a rundown of some of the most outlandish fuckery hurled at Mr. 44…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: Glenn Beck’s Craziest Moments

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It’s hard to believe that the psychologically unstable, Glenn Beck, was solely responsible for this week’s resignation of Van “Green Jobs” Jones. It’s because he wasn’t. In actuality, Beck was merely the talking-head propagandist for big oil companies, fearful that Jones might actually succeed at creating jobs with an alternative energy strategy.

But Beck played his position. Smearing progressives to the point of retreat is essentially FOX News’ mission statement. But has Beck transitioned from douche bag to dangerous? Pretty much. Here’s a look at some of his most unhinged moments that have surprisingly impacted Washington…

Politics & Crime Politickin’ With John Brown: When Kidnapped Children Return

When Jaycee Dugard, 29, was reunited with her parents last week after a shocking 18-year long entrapment by the Garrido family, it marked one of the longest known kidnapping disappearances that resulted in a relatively “safe” return. While accusations are intensifying on Mrs. Garrido’s role, it’s clear that Mr. Garrido, 58, is a perma-fried 730 bat-shit-crazy psychopath, who kidnapped an 11-year-old Dugard for twisted sexual abuse. While this horrific crime took on a Buffalo Bill dimension, children across the globe are kidnapped for reasons varying from political struggles to ransom demands to even parental custody battles. Many ordeals end in tragedy, but at times, these abducted kids make it home alive. Here’s a look at some of these cases…