Everyone knows that, as the world's most important blog, Framed has a hard and fast policy of staying away from partisan politics. It would just be too easy for our persuasive, well-reasoned voice to upset the applecart of democracy, so we try to keep above the political fray.
In the past few weeks, though, we've been surprised that the hip-hop artist Common has been at the center of a sociopolitical controversy of some importance. It seems he was invited to a poetry reading at the White House by Michelle Obama, which enraged some of our most important deep-thinkers. It was all about Common's belief that Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a police officer in 1977, was falsely accused. Common has also criticized former President George W. Bush about some war or another.
Television person Sean Hannity characterized Common as being "pro-cop killer," while inveterate newspaper and magazine reader Sarah Palin said "the judgment is just so lacking of class and decency and all that's good about America with an invite like this."
Well, once "all that's good about America"--which is mostly Framed, let's face it!--was brought into it, we had no choice but to respond by putting the besieged artist in our blog this week. Our video is 2007's "Drivin' Me Wild," which features the great British songstress Lily Allen. We're trying to determine if Ms. Allen is also a scary black thug who threatens us all; we'll get back to you on that next week.
Enjoy!
1 - Time to read "New This Week" again?
2 - "Well, it was all the chicken you could eat."
3- "'Yeah, I've won two Grammys, too,' he says. 'And a Nobel Peace Prize,' he says. 'And I'm the president, too,' he says."
4 - "Then he's like, 'Wanna see my Kenyan birth certificate?'"
5 - "Why, that ant just turned a drop of water into a drop of wine! Who could he be?"
6 - "Little did we suspect that Mars is just like Detroit!"
7 - "She said it was her version of the Fortress of Solitude, but it's really just a bunch of walls."
8 - "March! That was a good month!"
9 - "...and that's just the way it's going to be. Any questions? Not you, bottle."
10 - "The Green Goblin must be near! My common sense is tingling!"
11 - "Yes, I like being in the tabloids. Please follow me around and take my picture many times."
12 - "That's the last time I get in a car with Biden. Of course I'm 'clean and articulate.' The nerve!"