Image via Wikipedia
I’m a pretty big fan of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, mostly because his choice of house band, The Roots, was a stroke of genius. I am a huge fan of their message of social consciousness, and ?uestlove’s musical repertoire is second to none. So, when my Twitter TL started going a little crazy this morning over one of the band’s snarky walk-on songs for Rep. Michele Bachmann last night, I was ready to have a good laugh before starting my day. That is, until I heard the name of the song.
Do not adjust your screens. That’s the title. I’m still so offended that I actually thought about censoring it, and if you look in my archives you’ll know I’m not a big fan of censorship. However, I thought it important for you to see it so you’ll know why I am so pissed.
I do not agree with almost any of Rep. Bachmann’s politics. She has never given me one real reason to consider her as my candidate for the office of President of the United States. I do not agree with some of the statements she has made regarding President Obama. I think it’s safe to say, even though I have yet to decide on any candidate for 2012, I won’t be voting for her. I’m not a fan.
However, she is running a serious campaign to become our nation’s next president. In addition to being a current member of Congress, she is an attorney, a wife, and a mother of five. She has a right to her opinions, and she has a right to express them, as long as she does it in a way that is respectful. And if The Roots believe she has been anything less than respectful, does that make it okay to degrade her practically to her face?
Of course not. And let’s put it out there — they never would have played that song for one of the male GOP candidates. It’s sexism at its very worst. This is a low blow. There’s no way that I can consider myself a womanist of any caliber and not speak against this. Whether or not she would be supportive of a person like me is not the issue. The issue is that The Roots chose to think of a song like Lying Ass Bitch as political commentary. Why not play Wake Up Everybody?
I’m interested to see how this is going to play out in the media. I equate this to a verbal assault, and I think that it should be handled accordingly. But in all honesty, I think Michele Bachmann’s best comeback would be to sit beside Seth Meyers on SNL and do a version of Queen Latifah’s U-N-I-T-Y.
Who you callin a bitch?
I Am LaMonique. 
I think that just as she is entitled to her opinions, so are they. If that is how they feel about her then oh well. No one (generally) gets locked up or severely reprimanded for being disrespectful because if that was the case then a whole lot of people would be in trouble. We can’t say that everyone is entitled to free speech and entitled to their own opinion and then get in an uproar because that opinion included a degrading word. And they wouldn’t have played that song for a male GOP because BITCH is the term used for females. Make no mistake that I wouldn’t have done that if it were me and while I believe it was in poor taste, a lot of what people do is in poor taste but they still have that right.
They are definitely entitled to their opinions. They are still a very relevant band in their own right. If they had written a song about her that said the same thing (the one they played is by Fishbone) that was on their cd, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. If they had said it at one of their concerts, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. That’s their show to express themselves how they choose, and I don’t have to agree. But, you can’t be upset that someone is not respecting the office of the President of the United States and then disrespect the office yourself. It’s hypocritical. They can hate her all they want, but to do that knowing that to her this is work (ie, a campaign stop) is disrespectful to the office she is seeking. Moreover, this is not their show. Jimmy Fallon is the host, and the fact that he felt the need to apologize says that he wasn’t comfortable with it. Also, when they are in that venue, The Roots are acting as employees of NBC, whose journalists and broadcasters have to conduct (supposedly) impartial interviews and debates on daytime, primetime, and late night television. As employees of NBC, they went too far. Journalism 101.