Chamblee54

This content was published October 8, 2024. … The Message is a new book by Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates. The publishing game requires TPC to promote his book, which he is doing with gusto. It turns out this literary product is critical of Israel. Some things you are not allowed to say out loud.
One noteworthy appearance was on CBS Mornings. Tony Dokoupil gave TPC a rude greeting: “I have to say … the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.” Later, Mr. Dokoupil inadvertently says something many of Israel’s neighbors might agree with: “Why does any of Israel exist? What a horrific place, committing horrific acts on a daily basis.”
Part of the problem is the high profile TPC has enjoyed as an anti-racist celebrity. Over the last few years, many “woke” people have heaped praise on the man. At the same time, more than a few people were annoyed with TPC. Saagar Enjeti had some strong comments about TPC on Breaking Points recently. What the star-making machine builds up, the star-making machine tears down.
Chamblee54 has written about TPC several times. one two three In a video about the six-letter word, TPC asserts “When you’re white in this country, you’re taught that everything belongs to you. You think you have a right to everything.”
The progressive movement in America has fought against racism, inequality, injustice, etc, for a long time. If you can look past the hypocrisy and vulgar noise, you can see some value in these efforts. Unfortunately, Israel violates many of these values in its dealings with Palestinians. This contradiction is difficult for the left to deal with.
TPC is saying things that make progressives nervous. Israel treats Palestinians horribly. The hypocrisy of the platitude spouting left is on display. Shooting the messenger is always an option.

This content was published October 12, 2024. … Today is October 12, 2024, 371 days after October 7, 2023. This week, the major point of discussion is The Message, (TM) a book by Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates. Why is a book more important than the hostages, the Palestinian/Lebanese suffering, etc, etc? TM bashing is an excellent distraction from the life/death issues here.
There are three quotes in my weekly notes. The concept here is a Saturday morning brain drop, centered around these quotes. If you want to know more, Google is there. Sometimes. Many internet gateways appear to have a pro-Israel bias. Google, for example, has an office in Tel Aviv. “Being in Israel, for lunch the Googlers can choose from three amazing restaurants, for non-kosher, kosher dairy and kosher meat.”
“Why does any of Israel exist? What a horrific place, committing horrific acts on a daily basis.” This out-of-context quote says what many people are feeling now. @tonydokoupil was interrogating TPC, on a book tour visit to CBS Mornings. Author interviews are usually boring events, and get little notice. Mr. Dokoupil, for some reason, decided to make a stink about TM, which was critical of Israel’s conduct in the West Bank.
I don’t know how major publishing works. A book is written. The process of getting from the author to the public takes time. It is not uncommon for something to have been written for a year before the book tour. It is highly probable that TM was written well before 10/7. The Israel portion of TM is about the West Bank, not Gaza. Now, the haters are making an issue about TM not mentioning 10/7. You should never let a good talking point go to waste, even if it is basically irrelevant. TM was not intended as a comprehensive history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Full Disclosure. I have not read TM, despite the best efforts of CBS Mornings. What I say here is based on what I have heard. I imagine that many more people will read TM as a result of this media event, and the twitterstorm that followed. If TM had come out, and received polite comments on tv shows, it would be forgotten by now. Hasbara® has given TM truckloads of attention. Of course, when you talk about TM, you don’t talk about the starving human shields children in Gaza, or the murdered human shields children in Lebanon. It is more fun to talk about how TPC is not giving context, about Gaza, when he writes about the suffering human shields population of the West Bank.
“Exactly a year ago, when thousands of Hamas militants crossed Israel’s border … I knew little about Israel and had no opinion about the long running conflict there.” Konstantin Vadimovich Kisin/Константин Вадимович Кисин is a youtuber. He put out a video last week, Why I’m Off the Fence About Israel’s War. The quote above is the first thing he said. I have had many arguments over Israel over the last 45 years. It must be nice to only hear Hasbara® now.
The KVK video is an exercise in logic abuse. He tries to explain apples by talking about bananas. KVK compares 10/7 to a Mexican attack on America’s southern border. Now, if terroristas were planning to storm El Paso … looking for Kinky Friedman’s anal sphinctor … American forces would know all about it, and kill everybody before they got their feet wet. Many people wonder why Israel allowed Hamas to get past their wall, but that is another subject.
”I believe the logic of this is impenetrable.” KVK inserts this bizarre comment, before going on a strawman safari. KVK offers four “justifications” for 10/7, and “debunks” them. You will have to watch the video to see what I mean. Never mind that not everyone uses these arguments. Never mind that they are not intended to “justify” 10/7, but rather to denounce the wholesale slaughter of Palestinians/Lebanese women and children. Never mind that many of the 10/7 casualties were killed by @IDF. The “Hannibal Directive” was not mentioned in any of last week’s noise.
That’s enough for one post. Like TM, this is one man’s perspective, not an context encyclopedia. If you want to hear more, you know where to look. … Big Media (BM) continues to have a symbiotic relationship with TPC. After the recent death of Charles James Kirk, TPC got a lot of attention for a spat with Ezra Klein. … The tragedy in Gaza continues, after a brief ceasefire. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Marion Post Wolcott took the social media picture in November 1939. In the Mississippi Delta. There is an ever-increasing number of Chinese grocerymen and merchants. Leland, Mississippi.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah

When we last checked in on @nhannahjones, she was at the center of a national hissy fit about tenure. This is not usually a hot button issue, but people enjoy controversy. In the few weeks since then, there have been some developments.

“Nikole Hannah-Jones will not join UNC-Chapel Hill faculty without tenure” This was the day before the chamblee54 piece. “In their letter, Hannah-Jones’s legal team argues information was withheld from her when she signed her fixed-term contract with the school.”

“Deadline set for lawsuit in Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure controversy” “On Thursday, attorneys … sent a letter to Charles Marshall, the school’s vice chancellor and general counsel. The letter laid out Hannah-Jones’ case and demanded UNC-Chapel Hill make good on what they said was its initial offer of a tenured position for Hannah-Jones … “We intend to bring litigation to vindicate Ms. Hannah-Jones’ rights under federal and state law. This letter is to demand that UNC take immediate action to remedy its conduct to avoid suit by making an unconditional offer to Ms. Hannah-Jones of a tenured appointment as full professor no later than June 4, 2021.”

If you want to make a bad situation worse, have your attorney give an ultimatum. This correspondent is not a lawyer, and was not privy to the negotiations. Is mentioning tenure during contract negotiations a valid reason to break the contract? The dispute went back and forth for a few weeks, and was the occasion for much recreational outrage.

UNC trustees grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of The 1619 Project, after weeks of criticism The journalist celebrated on twitter. There were some hints she would not take the job.

Nikole Hannah-Jones chooses to teach at Howard over UNC-Chapel Hill Ms. Hannah-Jones went on “CBS This Morning” to announce her decision. She said, regarding the initial offer, “I accepted it.” As for why she was denied tenure: “It’s pretty clear that my tenure was not taken up because of political opposition, because of discriminatory views against my viewpoint, and, I believe, my race and my gender.” Ms. Hannah-Jones’s hair was less orange than it was in the graduation gown picture.

This feature will not discuss whether she should have received tenure, or the reasons for this denial. These issues have been discussed, at obnoxious length, elsewhere. Nor will it discuss the shady behavior of the “Slanderous & nasty-minded mulattress.” (When researching this post, a copy was made of the NHJ twitter profile. It included “Knight Chair @unchussman.” The profile has since been updated. NHJ is known for “revising” her twitter account.)

The issue today is fulfilling your contractual obligations. Her legal team admits “Since signing the fixed-term contract, Ms. Hannah-Jones has …” The time to DEMAND tenure is before you sign a five year contract. Given the ethical issues with The 1619 Project, this should not be surprising. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. More #1619Gate episodes are available: 092229 052321 011922 012222 This is a repost. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025