Speaking of stupid, did Bob Johnson think African-Americans really believe he was referring to Obama’s history as a community organizer? If that was the case he should have just said that. Clinton’s camp need to just lay low for a few days, seems like every time someone from their camp says something, they manage to put their foot in their mouths. But Obama needs to be careful, cause it won’t take much for him to get pulled in and say something crazy himself.

unbelievable—are Bob Johnson and Bill Clinton living on another planet where they believe people have an IQ of 50? It is clear as day what Bob Johnson was referring to. If it was something as innocent as community organizing, why wouldn’t he just say it, rather than hinting at something much bigger and badder.

I have a strong distaste for how the Clintons have handled this entire affair.

Neal Bortz, a talk radio show from Atlanta once said that Hillary Clinton is the most dangerous person in America. I think Mr. Bortz was right. This woman has single handed divided America into Red and Blue States. This woman has destroyed the political careers of some of the best and brightest in America. She has a way of hiring the hit squad to do her evil as we have recently seen her scams on Obama

This house Nigger he is a dumb ass who only cares about keeping his master happy!!!!!!!!

Bob Johnson is just plain stupid! Bob Johnson, Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas are in the same boat. They will do and say anything. They are cowards, cowards cowards, stand up. I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR BOB, and the HILLBILLIES HILLary+BILL=Hillbillies

Bob Johnson is the happiest house n***r I have ever come across. That fool of a billionaire think we are idiots. You insult somebody and when you are caught you try to spin it. Did I say idiot, actually he sounds like mentally retarded

I just lost respect for Hillary. I may have been on the fence before (Hillary vs Obama) but seeing the Clintons side with of all people BOB JOHNSON!..the puppetmaster behind all the degrading gangsta/pimp-o-rama on BET..whose rumored former mistress is now at the helm at BET..is truly disgusting.
What’s that saying show me your friends and I’ll know you who you are.
If the Clintons TRULY cared about what ails Black America they would never side with a lowlife like Johnson..no matter how much he has in the bank. But I guess like Bob they don’t mind exploiting us to get ahead.
Black Female Physician

BFP….i sooooo totally agree with you. Bob Johnson has been proven to be nothing more than the lead coon on the black minstrel network of television. i hate to use such harsh words, but doesn’t it make sense that only time i’ve actually sat and watched a show on BET was when Janet’s newest video premiered on 106 and park? Anyone who knowingly assists in the degradation of the black community will not get my vote….Hillary supporters take that as you wish…

I think it is so unfair to characterize Mrs. Clinton by something that Bob Johnson said. I also think its ignorant to call Bob Johnson anything other than Bob Johnson! You all have been whooped by a political scandal to turn the Clintons against Black people. Its ridiculous! What was the intent of Hillary’s comment about Martin Luther King, Jr. Was it really to denigrate his accomplishments. Would you say the same thing if Obama said it? Its not Hillary Clinton who is playing the race card, its political strategist who know that if the race card is played, it will swing in Obama’s favor… Lets not be so weak that we fall for what the media feeds us!

Your getting on my nerves!

i think it is disingenuous and feculent for a man (Johnson) to say he has a problem with a person history of drug use who made billions of of videos of young black men talkin about killing and drug dealing…just another factor I believe that is leading to the fall of America….<a href=“http://rawdawgb.blogspot.com/2008/01/poor-mr-or-mrs-next-president.html “> poor mr or mrs next president</a>

I have to say as an African American woman that I was deeply appalled at Bob Johnson’s notions at Barack Obama’s character. This man who is running in a race that has been unfair to minorities {race and gender} should be stunned to see another man of color speak so sourly on his honesty. Because that what BJ’s notions were based upon because it took an honest person to admit to his pastimes. Any Obama supporter already knew that he had experimented with recreational drugs before but does that really matter. His intention is not to change the White House into a crack house but to supply healthcare for ALL… to stop the WAR… to stop the ongoing inflation that has been inflicted upon Americans for the past 4 years… Bob Johnson should have chosen his words carefully because it is HIM who has profited from drugs… The videos that constantly plague this channel {BET} have set more African Americans back in the past 10 years than any other channel ever created… Not only has he made his profit and quickly disassociate himself from the constant videos that consists of repeated references of drugs, violence, guns, materialistic junctions… and the degradation of women!!!! I am not saying Bob Johnson can’t rally for his candidate but do not be a hypocrite!!!

Bob Johnson did Obama a favor with that dumb ass comment. Obama 08!!

morgana hit it on the button.

Its really disgusting that through all of the extremely rough years black people have seen and all that we’ve gone through under corrupt politicians, Bob Johnson has never used his voice in politics until now. Then he decides to use it against the only real black presidential candidate this country has ever seen. His vote is his own personal choice but he could have lent his support to Clinton without attacking Obama the way that he did. It’s funny, because I hear a lot of black people saying that America isn’t ready for a black president but as this race drags on it gets more clearer to me that it’s some of the blacks who aren’t really ready for a black president.

yeah it seems that the only people who the Obama white supporters worry is black people not voting for Obama lol black people not ready for black president and tell us white people we are not

It think Davey D said everything there needs to be said. I will defer to him on this one.

Why Bob Johnson is an A$$hole & a Hypocrite
by Davey D

Former BET President and founder Bob Johnson is an asshole and hypocrite. Lemme not pull punches, be politically correct, beat around the bushes or try to impress high brow readers who feel I should be less crass and gentler with my words so I can appeal to their sensibilities. It’s 2008 and unfortunately being nice and proper doesn’t quite get the message across, especially when it comes to Bob Johnson and his recent disparaging remarks about presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m referring to Johnson getting on stage to introduce Senator Hillary Clinton at a rally and expressing outrage about Obama’s past. He said; “Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood. I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book.”

It was a cheap shot referencing Obama’s drug use when he was a young man. This was an activity that Obama freely admitted to in his memoirs ‘Dreams from My Father’ and on some level I can see it being fair game, but coming from a guy like Johnson, that’s like former President Bill Clinton giving marital advice to Hallie Berry’s former husband admitted sex addict Eric Benet. I heard Johnson make these remarks and I was like ‘Negroe go back into your cave, please sit down and leave the politics to someone else’.

I keep asking myself, where does Johnson get off slamming Obama about the wrongs of drug use when he piloted one of the largest media institutions [BET] that provided a worldwide platform that for the most part glorified and legitimized the lifestyles of those who not only used drugs but also sold them. In all the years we’ve known of ‘billionaire Bob Johnson we have not seen him get on any stage and diss former drug dealers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Rick Ross or any number of artists whose videos he would routinely play coupled with sit down interviews conducted by fawning hosts who never ever challenged these artists for resurrecting a ‘criminal’ lifestyle in both their songs and videos they supposedly left behind.

The Bob Johnson we know, has never gone out of his way to publicly smash on artists who like Mary J Blige or Fergie who admitted to using drugs in the past and have since gotten their lives together and moved onward and upward. If anything, the former head of BET could be seen publicly praising them while courting them to appear at his award shows or Spring Bling concerts.

Johnson certainly never came out swinging on admitted drug abusing artists like Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Flava Flav or DMX who all had reality shows either on BET or the one of the other stations within the Viacom network where he had influence as a VP.

One would think a guy of Johnson’s new found ‘high moral character’ would’ve been smashing on drug use and drug peddling a long time ago. Could you imagine what sort of shockwaves would’ve been sent around the world if Johnson even as a retired media mogul had spoke out and said; ‘No Bobby! No Whitney! We won’t give them a reality show until those two get themselves healed and free of drugs’? Can you imagine if he insisted the DMX show ‘Soul of a Man’ was centered around him getting over cocaine addiction?

Imagine the shockwaves if Johnson said; “Hell no Jigga we ain’t supporting your album ‘American Gangster’ cause you highlighting the sordid lifestyle of heroin dealers like Frank Lucas and we are against that type of behavior?”

Could you imagine if Johnson found his nuts when at the helm of BET and shut down any and all videos from artists who had ‘dirty pasts’ that they were trying to exploit?

Sadly the Bob Johnson we know, has seemingly had no problem in making billions from highlighting the drug dealing, drug using lifestyle. Adding to this disappointment is the fact that this proud African American billionaire did things like remove programming that would make us question and shun such questionable behavior. It was on Johnson’s watch that BET got rid of great award winning shows like Teen Summit.

It was on Johnson’s watch that we saw incredible commentators like Tavis Smiley and Ed Gordon disappear.

It was on Johnson’s watch we saw the BET nightly news shrink and then became a non existent. These shows were shut down in spite the objections ranging from scholars like Dr. Cornel West to the 8 major Black fraternities and sororities to more recently church groups leading the Enough is Enough campaign. It was on Johnson’s watch that many in the community were up in arms protesting BET when they had that Step-N-Fetcher like cartoon called Cita’s World. Y’all remember that one right?

As I’m penning this article, I’m vividly recalling Johnson arrogantly responding to critics on a widely televised ‘townhall’ where he was confronted for firing Tavis Smiley, Johnson said that BET stands for ‘Black Entertainment’ and he is in the business to entertain the masses and that he was not obligated to provide news programming. Who knows, maybe Johnson was trying to be ‘entertaining’ when he made is divisive remarks about Obama.

How is it that Johnson found the courage to stand up against Obama but was mealy mouthed against the artists with questionable pasts that he highlighted on his network who in turn became the face and MIS-perception of all African Americans to the rest of the world? Many of us who are not celebrities and have traveled overseas know the pain we’ve endured of having to explain to fascinated yet misguided individuals in far off lands that we are nothing like the characters and depicted in the videos shown on BET? I know I’ve had my share of conversations where I had to put things in proper context in places ranging from Barcelona to Scotland to Beirut where BET specifically was cited as the referencing point.

Instead, of being a champion for our people who could use his resources and influence to change widely held, worldwide misperceptions and stereotypes of us, he opted to become something more foul then any drug dealer. He became a propagandist of the worse kind. Instead of hustlin’ crack, Johnson hustled Black pathologies, distorted images and misinformation under the banner of Black culture which has resulted in many believing we are part and parcel to the unchallenged buffoonery he allowed highlighted.

Instead of celebrating Obama for overcoming the odds including the scorch of drugs to possibly become the next president of the United States, this ‘negroe’ Bob Johnson wants to act like a lap dog for Hillary Clinton and bash on him all while being a media drug peddler of sorts who is in a big way responsible for normalizing drug culture.

And please don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying Obama is not above criticism. I have lots of critiques that I can launch at him. For the record, I am not the biggest Obama fan. He gives great speeches and has lots of charisma There’s no deny the energy he brings to mainstream political discussion, but from where I sit his politics don’t go quite go far enough. I want Obama to be the type of politician to have been on the ground front and center leading the masses when we went to protest in Jena. Instead all I got was a prèss release.

I want Obama to have been the politician who is bold and assertive and uncompromising to the point that he would speak out on behalf of the SF8 or the Puerto Rican activists who are being jammed up by the Feds. I want Obama to be the type of guy who is smashing hard on police brutality and this current wave of gentrification. I want Brack to have been present in New Orleans when they were demolishing all that public housing. However, when I argue with my colleagues like writers Adisa Banjoko or Eric K Arnold, our spirited debates center around Obama’s position on issues.

Even the big debate between rap stars Rhymefest (Obama supporter) and Lupe Fiasco (Hillary supporter) has centered around the politics of the candidates. Nobody is brow beating Obama for having used drugs in the past. The Obama we know and see today is clean, smart and razor sharp and we don’t see him coddling and being a big enabler to drug culture the way that billionaire Bob Johnson has been over all those years. He made his billions by pimping drug culture on his network to the fullest.

The biggest challenge that all of us as African Americans have is because Johnson had made some significant economic accomplishments he led many into believing what he was doing as the head of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like BET was building upon past freedom struggles waged by the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers and others.

The sad irony to all this is that if King and X were still alive waging battles against oppression, they would probably be excluded from the day to day banter of BET. We barely see or hear about these past leaders on the station today. What was the last in-depth discussion you saw or heard on BET under Johnson’s reign about King beyond I have a Dream speech? What’s the last insightful story you saw on Malcolm X?

If you listened to Dr. King’s thoughts on media then you know one thing, that BET and the foolishness its put out in the name of our people would’ve been in stark opposition to where King stood in terms of using media as a tool to uplift and inform the community. Like I said Martin and Malcolm would never be on BET aside from a few documentary clips and sound bites if they were around today. If you don’t believe me and think this is far fetched lets take a short trip down memory lane.

Those of us who are old enough to recall, when BET first came out it held a lot of promise and became a source of pride. It promised to fill the void and become a much needed answer to MTV which started out refusing to air videos from Black artists. Eventually Michael Jackson, Run DMC and later Yo MTV Raps knocked down some of those doors, but BET started off promising to be our uncompromised mouthpiece.

I recall in the late 80s as the cable industry expanded, BET was not included on many of the cable systems and there were spirited campaigns to get them on. It was young 20 something year old activists who were then part of what I would call the Public Enemy/ Afrocentric generation that took to heart some of the promises made by Bob Johnson who at that time called upon people to stand up for BET and demand it be included as a cable channel. BET’s exclusion from local cable systems was seen as yet another example of how prevalent racism was in this country. Many of us were coming out of the tailspin of the crack era and as Hip Hop’s Golden Age kicked in many eagerly sought to fight the power. Getting BET on cable was one such fight.

Here in the Bay Area it was rap activists like artist Chill E.B. who worked tirelessly, organizing letter writing campaigns and call ins to get BET on cable systems outside of Oakland in neighboring cities like Concord, Fremont and other areas it was absent. I recall doing radio shows and even having someone from BET (it may have even been Johnson himself, I have to check my tape archives) come on the air to talk about the importance of all of us pulling together to help insure that BET got a fair shot. I recall giving out phone numbers to the offending cable outlets and encouraging listeners to stand up for BET. Years later many of the activists who spearheaded the fight to get BET on cable for the masses to see can’t get on BET themselves to share and inform viewers of on going struggles in our community. For example, I know Chill EB who is a war vet and has spoken out against the war and has even done songs and videos about the topic never has been invited to sit on the 106 & Park couch.

It’s ironic that Obama who at 40 something would’ve been part of that Public Enemy/ Afrocentric generation that initially rallied for causes like getting BET on cable systems now finds himself being criticized by a guy like Bob Johnson. How quickly they turn. But I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. Shiesty people rarely change their stripes.

My boy and fellow writer, Jelani Cobb raised an important question in his recent article on this topic for the Washington Post which was; ‘What were the Clintons thinking when they got Johnson to stomp for them? She might as well gotten Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch or his employee Bill O’Reilly to stomp for her. Her picking Johnson is like me running for office and getting a gestapo like guy like Rudy Giuliani to stomp on my behalf-its not a good look and brings into question Senator Clinton’s clear lapse in judgement. All she had to do was look at the number of protests launched against BET in the past few years for their degrading images of women. That should’ve been a clear enough message. In other words if Hillary thinks so little of Black people that she went and dug up a cat likes Bob Johnson then I’m gonna have to close the book on her and bounce the other way and roll with Obama, Cynthia McKinney, Jared Ball or Dennis Kucinich-anyone but her.

Bob Johnson is a certified idiot.

And props to Davy D, your piece is very insightful!