Barack Obama. Seriously – how much pressure is this country putting on him right now? He is being treated like the Messiah, and when he can’t deliver, because it’s not humanly possible TO deliver, just THINK of the backlash. And I’m not saying this to bash him in any way, because I WANT him to succeed. We need him to. But there is no way that any person can live up to the amount of hype that has been created about him. People are expecting him to cure the world, like yesterday. No pressure, though, Barack.
Now then. On to more important matters – namely, what in God’s name is this hat? If not for the winter coat, I might have guessed that it was to call attention away from her enormous breastular area. But clearly, that isn’t the case here. Aretha is wearing this hat on purpose, in front of perhaps the largest crowd in the history of crowds. And I submit to you that bows, on ANY accessory or item of clothing, is inappropriate at Aretha Franklin’s age.
I saw that hat and IMMEDIATELY thought, this MUST be mocked today. I was just about to email you the pic, when I thought I’d check here first. I should have never doubted you’d be on top of this one!
Sorry, Mock. Gotta disagree on the hat. I honestly felt like she could’ve been standing next to MLK himself back in the day in that thing. Total throwback & I loved it!
If you knew a little about black culture you would understand the hat…visit a black church once and you will see tons of em
C’mon I see the same hat in all the department stores.
I think ppl are hopeful that Obama will steer us on a better path but realize the mess isn’t going to be cleaned up in a year. He has set goals and projected timelines though and that shows determination and committment. Count me among the hopeful.
Oh, Aretha is never one to be conservative!! In fact, charcoal grey is about as demure as I have ever seen The Queen of Soul! She rocks!!
I think it would have been a nice pillbox hat without the gaudy bow. Woulda looked great with the jacket and very classy.
I love the hat! I think it is almost as fabulous as she is. Plus, you know what they say about accessories? They should be proportionate to a woman’s size. A large woman needs large accessories.
The bad news for Obama is that expectations are laughable. The good news is that if the economy improves, most everyone (of every ilk) will be happy for a while.
Yep, I wouldn’t wanna be him right now, WAY too much pressure (& think of all the people against him salivating awaiting for the very first small “mistake”)…
I’m so sorry, but despite my love for Aretha the first thing I thought was so non-PC I can’t even mention it here. I can definitely agree with the throw back to the time of Martin Luther King, Jr. comment by Baby Luv. Is that really what black women wear to church?! Where is the modern woman?
As for Obama, I’m a conservative and although I didn’t vote him into office, I can only have the best hopes for him. Certainly, it is a great day when America can say it doesn’t matter what race you are–you, too, can become President. Another step forward would be if a woman was elected to such a high place of power like so many other countries.
Ms. Sarah – What in the HELL does a hat have to do with understanding the black culture? I used to play piano for a southern Methodist church (that had both black and white people, as we actually DO go to church together, in case you didn’t know), and I saw both white and black women wearing some ugly hats. Ugly hats have absolutely nothing to do with race. My white grandmother used to wear some really tacky ones that resembled old bird nests, actually. Mockarena doesn’t need to “learn about black culture” because she thinks a hat is ugly.
For chrissake, give it a rest already.
Oh, and Sarafimm, I agree with you on the woman thing. I think it’s fabulous that we’ve overcome a racial barrier with this election; now if we women could only make more than 80 cents to a man’s dollar…it’s 2009, and THAT has got to change. Maybe in 2012, huh? One can hope.
Sarah – are you for real??
Get off your high horse once in a while. Just because a large group of people do one thing in particular, doesn’t make it unmockable. Take emo kids for example, even though it’s nearly an entire generation, you’ll probably make fun of one or two of them once in a while. You are ridiculous.
Any way you look at it, the hat was a complete distraction. I’m not saying she shouldn’t wear it if that’s what damn well felt like doing. BUT – the bow is just wee bit large, compared to say, her entire face.
Clearly I have no understanding of the “black culture” because I also don’t understand this outfit: http://www.themockdock.com/2007/12/02/aretha-franklin-is-a-crybaby/
Sarah – would I also be able to find that in a black church? Just checking.
I heard about this hat on NPR before I saw it on the Mock Dock. The radio hosts described it as a three pointed star hat. They must have been looking at Aretha from a GREAT distance away to think her bow was a star.
I bet that hat cost a lot of money.
I’m so proud of myself. Just stayed out of it this time. But I was close, SOOOOOoooooooo close.
I knew the minute I saw this awful hat that Mock would be talking about it. I even told my husband, “I need to check Mockdock tomorrow!”
The Hat: Like everyone, I thought “oh****lookathat”, but then I thought: she’s signalling, in a huge crowd, WHO she is and WHERE she is; it’s a flag (she’s adding video to her audio).
The commander-in-chief. 1) I think lots of people *realise* that they’re on an emotional high and that expectations are unrealistic. 2) I guess that Obama will make us all go “no****?!” when he actually does what he said he would, and fairly reasonably. (Check out his cabinet already.) He seems such a bright guy who means well, and just that may yield such a change from the previous bunch, who thought is was enough to be “clever”. In sum, he may (easily?) exceed our* jaded expectations.
*I’m a Canuck, but still.
Smart censoring software. F*ck.
Anonymous, above, was me. The cookie got burned, I guess.
P.S. Mockarena, for later, when you’ve enslaved a webnerd to help out technically: it seems the cookie thing that remembers each reader when he comes back to the comments section directly from your site, that cookie thing doesn’t work after a comment has been posted; a new set of boxes (various id requests) appears instead.
When you have the benefit of a technie, perhaps the cookie thing could be made to apply *also* after a comment has been posted.
I am a total conservative, and I’m not an Obama fan. I just hope and pray that he does his job well, and that he doesn’t screw us over. This is one time I will happily say that I was wrong. I’m a conservative that Doesn’t want him to mess up!
Bob, what happened? It’s not like you to be so quiet, and not get involved!!
By the way, I’m sooooo sick of stupid celebrities commenting on the inauguration. Since when are they in touch with reality?
As for Aretha, I think my only question about her attire is “why gray?” She would stand out a whole lot more in a vibrant color, instead of the giant bow. Bad fashion sense aside, the woman has amazing pipes!
Yeah Punky I bet some were waiting but I thought I would see who else responded first. Sometimes it’s fun to just watch. I didn’t think it would take long. Heh,Heh
Now that I am no longer a site owner and have no obligation to be nice to readers anymore…..
Sarah – time out. Do you not see how YOU are the one creating stereotypes? I’m pretty certain you are the ONLY person who read this post and turned it into something racial. Don’t you see? You are exhibiting the exact prejudice you impute to others. Look back at any comment you have posted on this site. Every single one is a ridiculous attempt to somehow accuse others of being intolerant, ignorant, insensitive, ad nauseam. The only common denominator in all of these idiotic arguments is you. For godsakes, THE HAT IS UGLY. That is ALL. You are exhausting.
P.S. I am TOTALLY giving Buckeye Bob a virtual high-five right now.
That bow would make a gorgeous tie-back for a curtain!
Back at ya Bunny
Bunny, good use of impute. Grammar-geek high five!
Its pretty funny how seriously you all take me. Before I posted I told my boyfriend I what I was going to say, and said I couldn’t wait to see how worked up you all got. Well played, I must say. Some of the things I have said I stand by, there have been times when others have agreed. Other times though, I have truly turned this into a joke and you guys fall for it every single time. Thanks for the amusement
I was at the Inauguration (I was back by the base of the Washington Monument, but I was there). The minute Ms. Aretha appeared on the Jumbotron a woman in the crowd said “OOooohhh, she’s got a ‘Going to Church’ hat on. Unbelievable experience. We were freezing to death, but we had a ball.
Dam Bunny tell us how you really feel ha ha!..your’e right..that was an ugly ass hat!..and given the awsomeness of the moment, I did not really like her peformance either.
I watched the inauguration with a large group of people and the biggest debate of the day was over this hat. We all agreed the rhinestones are ugly, but, in my book, Miss Aretha is cool enough to get away with anything. Much how you feel about Posh, I imagine.
On a separate note: Sarah, there is plenty of prejudice and ignorance to fight without picking battles where they don’t exist. It makes it harder to combat actual bias when people get inured to ever present cries of racism from the PC Police. You’ve certainly made some important points in the past, but nobody wants to listen to someone who is always calling them names. Of course, I’m assuming your goal is education and change. If you just want to rile people up, then keep going. Just a thought.
Sara you I think you were wrong on the hat, but don’t ever let anybody back you down-I don’t care how many people are against you..as my man Clint Eastwoos said ” when your’e backed up in a corner with no way out you get mean! Mad Dog Mean!!!” ha ha ha…
Honestly it got to the point where I really didn’t care anymore, this is just a blog with people I will never know or meet. I am in a field where racial tolerance and cultural competence are of utmost importance. In my life, I am all about educating people and keeping an open mind, and not being the pc police, which to be perfectly honest, can annoy me as well. But when there has been REAL racism on this site (Like when buckeye bob commented on the overweight black female security guards picture saying he wondered how she got that job, implying the only way was by affirmative action) they don’t actually care or see it, so I decided to just have a little fun with it. Mock, if you will
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=876404
Just sayin.
“Some of the things I have said I stand by, there have been times when others have agreed”…..quote from Sarah.
And at what point do you decide that it’s something that you’ll stand by as opposed to something that we will “fall for” (to your delight and amusement, of course)?
Well clearly its not something I will back down on solely because of your disagreement, if that was the case I never would have backed what I said. The only reason I said that others agreed is because it wasn’t just me being “the only common denominator” in the argument.
It’s not a question of backing down. You implied that you stand by your statements sometimes, and other times you have “turned this into a joke” for your own amusement. That would be a commonly used child’s ploy of pleading “just a joke” after taking a position that is indefensible.
You may not be the “only common denominator” on this site, but you are most assuredly the “least common denominator”
Well this is the only time I have said what I said was a joke, and it was. It is true that many churchgoing black women wear those hats, but my way of saying it was joking because I know people know me as the one that goes to race. Every other time I haven’t back tracked on what I said, and stood by it when nearly everyone protested. Sorry, but this is the only example you have. And generally when someone jokes, they don’t give you a heads up beforehand. I actually didn’t fully expect people to take me as seriously as they did, as I know how people view me on here.
Forget what “culture” claims … that hat is For-Shizzle … Snoop Do double G just calls that Ugggggly …
This could go down in history as my favorite Sarah-inspired blogfight of all time.
Sarah – I didn’t think you’d ever resort to saying something totally in keeping with all of your past comments, and then playing the old, “HA – you guys fell for it!” card. HILARIOUS!! My three year old hasn’t perfected that game quite yet, but I’m sure in a few months he’ll catch up to you.
My biggest reward, dear dear Sarah, is that even after leaving in a big fat huff a few months ago, you keep on coming back. And I genuinely appreciate that. I mean, look at all the comments you inspire!
Give your boyfriend a big kiss from the Mock Dock. He deserves that and SO much more.
Wow, 40 comments over an enormous, hideously ugly, self-righteous ego. I mean hat.
Hey lets be honest, its amusing for us all. You guys complain about how crazy I am, I complain about whatever I am ranting about, and I manage to unite people in their fight against me! I truly have no hard feelings, and actually have a very close conservative friend that I go at it with all the time. Him and I are both pretty hard headed, but in the end its all in fun. I am sure you guys don’t take commenting strangers on a blog any more seriously than I do, which is what makes it fun.
Where do you work sarah? Just curious…And perhaps if I knew alittle about white culture I would understand tights and pink cars…forget church- HEEEEEEEEEELLO Walmart!
)
BTW- perhaps I am not fashion forward, but I didn’t even really notice her hat. Matching is challenging enough for me, so I guess she did okay in my book.
I am going to school for Human Services (social work), and am doing my internship at a neighborhood center in a low income neighborhood doing the elementary afterschool program and starting to facilitate adult programming at the center.
Apparently I don’t frequent themockdock nearly enough, because I missed this whole mess yesterday.
Unfortunately Sarah, it sounds like you are calling conservatives racist, but I am going to presume you mean intolerant, naive, ignorant, or something equally demeaning but not as judgmental and stereotypical as racist, because that, my blog friend, is extremely offensive. I think maybe you should consider choosing your words more carefully because “I am all about educating people and keeping an open mind”. You have generalized conservatives in such a manner that many commenters on here feel unable to communicate with you in an intelligent manner because you feel the need to push buttons, which in all reality, don’t need to be pushed. Shock and awe isn’t necessary, that’s what mackarena is here for.
Somehow, I have managed to be a conservative AND find it necessary to help others in order to facilitate change in my community. Our thoughts do not differ there. The difference is, I don’t think the government should mandate it, or fund it. I think people should have the initiative to do what they can on their own. And those individuals who can not find it with in themselves to look for alternatives and seek out help from those around them and community organizations will suffer. Laziness will never pay off, and that is a trait that certainly is not racist. Seeing as how I was a Sociology major, am getting my MSW, a non-profit employee, a crisis hotline and referal service counselor, a volunteer for a local non-profit promoting early education for less fortunate families, and a member of a community service fraternity, I know a little bit about human services myself, and the need for people to help each other and ignore prejudice. But you certainly don’t hear me flapping my gums about it around here.
Seeing your post now, I could see where sarcasm could be present, but because of how you have presented yourself in the past, flying off the handle is a reasonable response, since you seem take yourself so seriously.
Maybe if you lighten up with your comments, others will lighten up when corresponding with you.
Love it elizabeth. I am not a conservative, yet I still feel like it is rather irritating to take the blog where it was certainly not headed. It is kinda like being poked in the eye…from behind. Just kinda sucks.
)