Let me say right off the bat, of course he believes the shit he was saying. Of course he's a racist. That's been shown again and again by statements he's made in the past. And this bimbo maybe half black maybe half Latina no one is really sure girlfriend who is being sued by his wife for a couple of million dollars (let's not forget that's the real reason all of this came out) knew those were his feelings and lead him into this conversation. She probably posted the photos of Magic Johnson and Matt Kemp in order to goad him into this fight.
Which she tape recorded. Secretly.
Many Americans have been numbed to the idea that someone has to be operating a machine in order for you to see and hear what is going on. They believe reality shows magically have video and audio to show what the cast of Survivor is doing. I got news for you folks, the couples on Naked and Alone might be the former but certainly not the later. Someone is there with a camera. Another with a boom mike. Another with a clipboard and a stopwatch. Hell there's probably a catering truck just out of view. The point is that it is a deliberate act that records the so called reality of what you see on TV.
So we get to the question of how it is possible that a private conversation in a private home between consenting adults was recorded and made public fodder. Somebody had to have recorded it. Somebody had to have "leaked" it to TMZ. We are debating in the country right how far the NSA or CIA or FBI can invade our privacy and record our conversations. I don't think they should be able to without a judge signing off on a search warrant. And if the government can't do it then private parties, even private parties that are party to the conversation (that's you Richard Nixon), should not be able to do it. I don't care what such a recording would prove or not prove.
This is an age of instant and total openness about everything in our lives. Even if you're not on Facebook, a friend takes a picture you happen to be in and the world knows what your drunk face is. Michael Philips takes a puff off a joint and the whole world knows. One of those English princes pulls his pants down in Vegas and the whole world knows. Your doctor makes an inappropriate comment and the whole world knows. The concept of privacy is under attack and this episode is just another sortie in that battle.
The girlfriend knew the conversation was being recorded, either because she herself was recording it or because she had someone recording it. Was it to show the world what a horrible person her boyfriend was? Only in the sense that she was out for material gain. Forget for a moment that she slept with a guy 50 years her senior in order to get a million dollar condo, a Bentley, and other baubles. Round here we have a name for women who screw men for material gain and it's not Meg Whitman. Let's get to what her half of the conversation contained or more to the point didn't contain. You're so outraged at what he said? Where was her indignant stamp of the foot and hearty "If those are your feelings I'm out of here"? I'll tell you where it was --- in the million dollar condo and the Bentley and the other baubles.
And speaking of whores, it's pretty apparent that Sterling had no problem expressing similar feelings to any of his business associates. I don't know about his real estate business, but I do know that he has owned the Clippers since 1981. That's over 30 years. Twice a year the league holds owners meetings. That's at least 60 times that the other owners in the league sat down with this slime. And you want me to believe that in all those times he never once expressed a similar sentiment? That his racism was reserved for his home only? Just like I don't believe Penn State didn't know about John Sandusky's extracurricular activities, I don't believe that these astute business titans of the NBA didn't know what kind of a jerk Sterling was. But they didn't say anything cause it might have hurt their bottom line.
When we get down to it, the bottom line is what this is all about. The whore, er, I mean girlfriend made the recording as evidence in the lawsuit she was named in by Sterling's wife (and by extension we have to assume Sterling). Maybe evidence isn't the right word. Maybe the word is extortion. Extortion as in "dismiss this suit or I go public with this". At the very least, the phrase would be "poisoning the jury pool". The NBA is wringing it's hands and keening over how they didn't know. They've gone into damage control, which is really spin control, because unlike the sponsors who are abandoning the Clipper ship, they can't go anywhere. They are stuck with him. They can't force him to sell his franchise.
Nor should they.
Freedom of thought means you have a right to think whatever you want. I might not agree with what you think, but I'm not going to stop you from thinking it. In fact I'll defend your right to think it. You want to believe that some people are inferior to others I'll actually agree with you on that. I believe though that their inferiority doesn't have anything to do with the color of their skin. It has to do with the content of their character. I'll tell you who I think is inferior to me. The owner, the girlfriend, people who believe reality TV is real, the business associates who never said a word and anyone who is acting all surprised that a rich white billionaire who lives in the bubble of his own mendacity would think such things.
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