My Requisite Two Pennies Re: The Ahmadinejad Ground Zero ‘Controversy’ (UPDATED)

James Osterberg nicely sums it up:

Btw, apparently there’s some inconsequential gathering (judging by the conspicuous lack of A-list attention) in Jena, LA today. Ok, back to our regularly scheduled manufactured outrage du jour.

Related: There is still time to stand up and be counted; DeWayne Wickman: “‘Jena Six’ case awakens civil rights movement“; Too Sense and Driftglass on the colour of the day. Also, keep checking the Jena Six tags @ All About Race and Slant Truth for updates. Racialicious will have a round-up of Jena protest coverage tomorrow.

Update: Sally Kohn: “Why is it that mainstream white media and white folks in general are so obsessed (once again) with OJ’s guilt but paying little or no attention to the innocence of the Jena Six [mb - until today, at least]?” (h/t Racialicious)

Update 2: House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to hold congressional hearings next week on the Jena Six case: Detroit Free Press.

Update 3: Gannett News Service:

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered a bond hearing for Mychal Bell in the “Jena Six” case.

Bell’s adult conviction for aggravated second-degree battery was overturned Friday.

The appellate court today ordered the hearing for Bell to be held within 72 hours, according Bob Noel of Monroe, one of Bell’s attorneys. Although the conviction was overturned, Bell was still being held at a LaSalle Parish prison.

The order came just hours after thousands of people from across the United States began a series of rallies and marches in support of Bell.

“This is a long way from being over,” Noel said. “We’re waiting to hear back from the court to give us the date. Obviously, we have to have one by Monday.”

Update 4: Susie Mandrak:

I was shocked when a Taser incident involving a white college student was given so much attention this week with so little context: Namely, that minorities are unjustly submitted to indignities and even death for specious reasons all the time, and that they are quite familiar with Taser guns.

It’s not so important when it happens to black people because of the unspoken assumption most white people are still privileged to hold: “They must have done something to deserve it.”

Update 5: - AP:

“It’s not just about Jena, but about inequalities and disparities around the country,” said Stephanie Brown, 26, national youth director for the NAACP, who estimated about 2,000 college students were among the throngs of mostly black protesters who overwhelmed this tiny central Louisiana town.

[...]

Brown said the Jena case resonates with the college-aged crowd because they aren’t much older than the six youths charged. Many of the student protesters had been sharing information about the case through Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking Web sites.

- Brownfemipower follows the women (h/t Racialicious)

- The LA Times: ‘Clinton, Obama toe moderate race line‘

Yup, that headline speaks volumes. On that note, goodnight y’all.

Update 6: And now we get a low-rent riff on the Bill Cosby/Juan Williams ‘bourgeois brotha’ perspective, tailor-made for white folks looking for a dark-skinned proxy to justify continued ostriching.  Bet it’s only a matter of time before Glenn Reynolds (who can’t figure out this complicated Jena 6 stuff) ‘heh, indeeds’ him. Ok, now I’m going to bed.