Barack Obama, Clinton, Robert L. Johnson and MLK

After a long week full of racial controversy and raised eyebrows by many, Hillary Clinton re-emerged in the political spotlight with billionaire television mogul Robert L. Johnson by her side.

The founder of Black Entertainment Television justified comments that Clinton had made about Dr. Martin Luther King's dream and his contribution to American civil rights.

Although Clinton and Obama have since tried to move on from the situation, days before MLK Day analysts are still determining who was more damaged by the Clinton/Johnson MLK comments.

Some of the questions being raised amongst political analysts and independent bloggers are:

-Did Robert L. Johnson's comments hurt the Clinton's and actually help Barack Obama?

-Does Robert L. Johnson defending what analysts feel were disparaging comments against someone as honorable as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once again
trigger what members of congress believe when they felt that B.E.T and the thinking of its founder was not a credible or accurate reflection of how black people really live, think and behave or is it not even that serious?

It was all a dream...
Oprah Winfrey who continues to be the most influential person in the media had campaigned for Barack Obama in South Carolina which has a large Black vote.

Referencing Dr. King' s profound speech, "I have a Dream," Winfrey stated that "We don't have to dream the dream anymore we get to vote the dream into reality."

Initially some analysts questioned Winfrey's power to popularize Obama to the point where voters would actually vote for him. Many commentators said Winfrey could turn off some audiences and risked losing ratings. Some analysts believed Obama was too much of an underdog to compete with Clinton's democratic popularity. Back then the race was not heated.

Winfrey, a born leader never follower is non partisan. She told Diane Sawyer that she has voted both republican and democrat depending on the issues. Winfrey strongly denied she supported Obama because of his race and said she supported him because she believed in what he could do to elevate the poor in America.

Oprah is the queen of daytime television followed by Emmy award winner, Ellen DeGeneres who just won The People's Choice for outstanding talk show host. It was critical for candidates to get endorsements from the two hosts because as ratings show they are the most likable and influential women on American television; therefore giving them the power to influence the female vote in the presidential race.

Winfrey has long sustained her television power and continues to attract large audiences by being secure enough within herself to be relatable to others. Oprah's attributes of being caring, intelligent and conflict-free has allowed her the credibility to influence the masses. She is the most respected power player in the media and as CNN has stated is "the voice of women worldwide."

DeGeneres and Winfrey transcend race and cater to an educated demographic of women who think. Winfrey's greatest quality like most respected journalists is that she listens. She absorbs what others have to say building a trusting and consistent relationship amongst women across the world. Oprah didn't say much in South Carolina but she did say "I am not hear to tell you what to think, I am here to ask you to think."

The Iowa primary proved that when allowed to think, women would do just that. Critics were wrong about Winfrey's real power and about Obama's chances. Obama lead Clinton in the women vote. Political analysts later recanted their views and believed that the Oprah factor was a definite and crucial asset for Barack Obama amongst women.

I'm blowin up like you thought I wouldn't....
Obama became the media favorite overnight and it was all about Barack Obama across the world. The Clintons seemed blindsided by the turning point and perhaps felt the hit of the Oprah factor themselves. After losing Iowa, Hillary Clinton focused on what seemed to be an answer to Winfrey's "I have a dream" reference.

Clinton stated that "Dr King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act. It took a president to get it done." Clinton went on to say, "The power of that dream became real in people's lives because we had a president capable of such action." Former president, Bill Clinton added to that by saying "this is the biggest fairytale I've ever seen."

Ironically human beings by nature have always embraced fairy tales. Fairy tales are stories we believe in in our youth because as children we are still innocent optimists who believe that eternal happiness, light, love and utopia does exist. As we grow, we become scarred and tainted by the exposure of the darker aspects of life.

That exposure is the basis of fear, paralyzing us to believe that fear is stronger then love. We then become comfortable masochists and pessimists because it seems safer to be that way. Truthfully even in our pessimism we still yearn to be young so that we can remember how it felt to still believe. That in itself is what draws the media to people like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton when he ran for office.

CNN Senior political analyst Bill Schneider pointed out that a fairytale is a story about defying the odds and overcoming the worst of circumstances. We are all drawn to that. Analysts and bloggers both white and black felt the Clintons sounded out of character. Schneider said it was a bit unusual for a former president to come across in that manner. For both Hillary and Bill Clinton who have a proven history of black support it did seem out of character.

Even conservative audiences were taken aback by the Clinton's remarks and felt that Dr. King was a leader who had a track record that should not be questioned by any means. Many found the comments to be simply odd because it diminished the role Dr. King played in the civil rights struggle giving LBJ more credit.

And If you don't know now you know....
Dr Martin Luther King risked his life trying to revolutionize how we live today. He was a father and husband who was viciously assassinated leading the struggle that caused many people of all colors to lose their lives. The images of the civil rights struggle are very prolific, profound and still difficult to watch. Those images resonate in the minds of those that lived it because it wasn't that long ago.

They were church bombing that cut short the lives of innocent young children waiting to bloom. There were horrific lynchings that left the flesh of black men hanging onto limbs. They are people both white and black that were brutalized and murdered during a struggle that defined the world. They were riots and beatings that played out like something foreign to a democratic society. Children, men, women blacks and whites died so that everybody in America could have the same opportunity to succeed.

Dr. King's philosophy of equality is not just part of American history. It transcended to become a worldwide blueprint for basic civil rights and equality. It influenced the basis of the Africa for the Africans movement. Africa's independence against decolonization borrowed elements from Dr. King's theories. Dr. King's philosophy is inspirational in Asia were there is a long history of discrimination against the Chinese who have historically been considered second class to the Japanese.

Activists utilize Dr. King's message in India that has a prevalent caste system in which darker complected Indians are considered inferior to lighter complicated Indians. This is also the case in Slovenia, Europe where gypsies who are not as fair as other Slavs and Europeans are treated inferior to other Europeans in schools and in the work force.

In Australia, Aborigine leader often quote King's message as they continue to struggle for equality in their own country. Dr. King's message is present today in both Africa and Asia as activists use his philosophy to try and abolish the history of patrilineal societies where women do not having equal rights to men and are viewed as subordinate to men.

Naturally, Clinton's comments enraged some people and left others very uncomfortable. Some conservatives and many liberal were a little bewildered including senator John Edwards.

"I'm gonna say I was troubled recently to see a suggestion that real change came not through the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, but through a Washington politician," Edwards said. "I fundamentally disagree with that. Those who believe that real change starts with Washington politicians have been in Washington too long and are living in a fairy tale."

Robert Johnson on the other hand defended Hillary Clinton's position on Dr. King's involvement by stating, "Dr. King had led a moral crusade, but such crusades have to be written into law." He aggressively defended Clinton as a Civil Rights activist and insisted it was wrong to assume thats the Clintons "who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that, I won't say what he was doing, that he said it in his book."

... Up close and personal with Robin Leach...?
Billionaire, Robert Johnson who is black had the opportunity to become the founder of the network known as Black Entertainment Television along with his ex-wife Sheila Johnson who is campaigning on behalf of Obama.

The mogul has long stated that he founded the network because there was a void in the accurate depiction of black life on television. He felt that black people did not have a sound voice or accurate visual presentations of themselves in television and catered the entire network to Black people. From music, sports and entertainment B.E.T was perceived to be the image of black life.

Ironically House telecommunication and Internet subcommittee chair; Ed Markey criticized Johnson for what he felt had become a derogatory and insulting inaccurate display of black lives on the network. He along with others in congress felt that the channel was actually damaging and degrading to black people and how they are perceived across the world .

During the Committee hearing, Markey stated that "He had hoped for high-minded content when BET launched, but it has instead programmed to the lowest common denominator." Markey said that "he was pleased to read of new programming at BET, but the channel had a long way to go."

Marker's statements questioned the credibility of the network as a whole and intimated that Johnson had strayed far away from his original vision and was capitalizing on the media's obsession to depict black culture in an inaccurate negative light.

Johnson was angered by Markey's stand and fired back by stating that Markey's views was "a vivid example of why it was necessary to keep the government out of free and creative expression." This is a stand that CNN founder Ted Turner has long voiced.

Johnson's very public comments and endorsement of the Clinton's make some analyst wonder what his position really is. In the past Johnson hasn't always sided with the Clinton's. Although he has contributed to both the Clinton and Obama campaign Johnson also served on President George Bush's committee of privatizing social security. .

Some were also confused by the fact that Johnson brought up Obama's use of a controlled substance when Clinton adviser, Bill Shaheen was fired for similar remarks. Shaheen had implied that democrats should be careful about backing Obama because of his past use of a controlled substance

The fact that Obama never hid this fact and was the one who wrote about it in his biography weakened Johnson's position to analysts. Many analysts quoted psychologists when they showed that there is a David & Goliath syndrome when you attack and judge someone by hitting below the belt or in the abscence of facts. This theory always works against the attacker and in return they are then attacked by the masses. It is always the attacker who has more to lose and usually does.

Most can not counteract that it is a great disservice to society when the desire of being perceived as a role model is greater then the act of simply being one. By illustrating his own mishaps and not pretending to be perfect hadn't Obama already accounted for the mistakes he made during his youth?

Washigton radio talk show host, Joe Madison feels that as in most cases, Robert Johnson's actions and attempted slam against Obama have now caused many such as himself to analyze everything that is wrong with the network he founded.

"He can endorse Clinton without cutting Obama considering what B.E.T has become," said Madison.

The entire situation has become an uncomfortable one for everyone involved and not involved. The democrats now would like everyone to move on from the issue but the issue still raises many questions. Do Robert Johnson's comments help the Clintons or does it do more damage? Does it actually help Barack Obama or hurt Barack Obama? They are some analysts and bloggers who see Johnson's involvement with the Clintons as the Clinton's way of "race baiting."

Longtime Clinton supporter, Tambra Rogers who is black says, "I've always loved Hillary and voted for the Clintons but I have a change in heart after this whole MLK and Bob Johnson fiasco. Bob Johnson may have found B.E.T but if it wasn't for the blood Dr. King had to shed he wouldn't even have been allowed to own a t.v station."

They are others who agree with Johnson and will say that he as the person who founded B.E.T opened many doors for black people himself. Some feel that Johnson changed mainstream media that once ignored black issues and black music and should not be questioned at all.

Many continue to support the Clintons based on their track record with black voters. They are prominent member of the black community like Magic Johnson and others who have been very supportive of the Clintons over the years and still are.

There are others who feel slighted that both Obama and Clinton assume the black vote is a unified democratic vote when it seems both Johnson and Winfrey have been non partisan in the past. Therefore that would mean there are black people who are non or bi-partisan and could simply just vote republican.

We won't know the effect of the Clinton/Johnson/MLK controversy until after all the primaries. As people die due to an inadequate health care system and as students drop out of school to begin a life filled with struggle and possible poverty should the democratic race really be focused on race at all? Some of these questions will be raised at the upcoming Democratic Debate hosted by CNN and The Black Caucus.

Get your facts straight...
What hasn't been said through this Clinton/Johnson/ MLK situation is this fact: The only people who are in a role to pass and enact bills are the President and the Senate. Dr. King was neither of the two. Neither was Gandhi, Mother Theresa or Che Guevara but each had a point of view about inequality and the socio-economic structures of people in society. Their actions allowed lawmakers to change how we all live. Education is a very powerful tool because it allows us to know our history.

For those who want to learn about Dr. King's involvement in the civil rights struggle, CNN has a future special entitled, Martin Luther King Jr: Words that changed a nation. The Woodruff library has allowed CNN to access their collection of documents and artifacts owned by Dr. King. The special explores these document piece by piece so we can all be clear about our history and the opportunities we all have because of a man that shaped the world we live in.