1115.org

On Tuesday I pointed to Color of Change’s 600,000 strong petition to Fox News demanding that they stop their racist smears of Barack Obama. I was a bit dismissive of their choice to have Nas deliver the petition, and it still seems like an odd choice. But rather than push back and point to Nas’ lyrics, Fox News just decided to not accept the petition and pretend that the whole thing never happened. In light of that, Nasty Nas is actually not a bad spokesman (insert ‘he speaks so well’ joke here):

Apparently they’re all going to be on the Colbert Report tonight where Falafel Bill’s alter ego will accept the petition.

Anyway, listening to Nas talk about Obama in reverential tones of course reminded me of DMX’s (rather divergent) views on the man. And speaking of Nas and DMX at the same time, it would be the height of irresponsibility to not mention the fact that they starred together in the finest cinematic achievement in the history of moving pictures, Belly.

Odd that in 1998, Nas’ star was on the wane while DMX seemed to be destined to rule the game for years. Fast forward to present day and Nas is firmly lodged (nullus?) in the all-time top five list, and DMX has been reduced to impersonating random dudes to avoid emergency room bills:

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Tuesday a grand jury has charged DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, with one count of theft and one count of taking someone else’s identity.

Authorities say the 37-year-old Simmons went to Scottsdale’s Mayo Clinic in April and told staff his name was “Troy Jones” and received care with the intent of not paying.

I imagine that unless someone gets Earl/DMX/Troy into rehab pretty soon, he’s not going to make his 40th birthday. Maybe then Belly will find it’s audience…