text:
For Key And Peele, Biracial Roots Bestow Special Comedic 'Power.'
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele each have a white mother and black father, and a lot of the jokes on their Comedy Central show are about race. Peele tells Fresh Air that their backgrounds allow them to do characters others would feel uncomfortable doing.
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November 20, 2013
Guests: Michael Keegan Key & Jordan Peele
TERRY GROSS, HOST:This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guests are the duo behind the Comedy Central sketch comedy series "Key & Peele," Michael Keegan Key and Jordan Peele. A lot of their comedy is about race. Perhaps because they're biracial, they're perfectly comfortable satirizing white people and African-Americans, as well as everybody else. Key and Peele each have a white mother and black father.
The New Yorker's TV critic Emily Nussbaum described their biracialism as a golden ticket to themes rarely explored on television. Key and Peele met in Chicago when they were part of the improv scene. They worked together on the sketch comedy series "Mad TV." The current season of "Key and Peele" concludes on December 18. It's been renewed for a fourth season.
Let's start with what is probably Key and Peele's most famous sketch, which went viral on the Internet. It introduced the character of Luther, President Obama's anger translator.
JORDAN PEELE: (As President Barack Obama) Good evening, my fellow Americans. Now, before I begin, I just want to say that I know a lot of people out there seem to think that I don't get angry. That's just not true. I get angry a lot. It's just the way I express passion is different from most. So just so there's no more confusion, we've hired Luther here to be my anger translator. Luther?
KEEGEN-MICHAEL KEY: (As Luther) Hi.
PEELE: (As Obama) First off, concerning the recent developments in the Middle Eastern region, I just want to reiterate our unflinching support for all people and their right to a democratic process.
KEY: (As Luther) Hey, all y'all dictators out there, keep messing around and see what happens, just see what happens, watch.
PEELE: (As Obama) Also, to the governments of Iran and North Korea, we once again urge you to discontinue your uranium enrichment program.
KEY: (As Luther) Hey, Mahmoud, Kim Jong, I think I done told both y'all 86 your (bleep), or I'm going to come over there and do it for y'all. Please test me and see what happens.
PEELE: (As Obama) On the domestic front, I just want to say to my critics, I hear your voices, and I'm aware of your concerns.
KEY: (As Luther) So maybe if you can chill the hell out for like a second, then maybe I can focus on some (bleep), you know.
PEELE: (As Obama) That goes for everybody, including members of the Tea Party.
KEY: (As Luther) Oh, don't even get me started on these (bleep) right here.
PEELE: (As Obama) I want to assure you that we will be looking for new compromises with the GOP in the months ahead.
KEY: (As Luther) And you know these (bleep) gonna say no before I even suggest (bleep).
PEELE: (As Obama) Now, I know a lot of folks say that I haven't done a good job at communicating my accomplishments to the public.
KEY: (As Luther) Because y'all (bleep) don't listen.
PEELE: (As Obama) Since being in office, we've created three million new jobs.
KEY: (As Luther) Three million new jobs.
PEELE: (As Obama) We ended the war in Iraq.
KEY: (As Luther) Ended the war, y'all. We ended a war, remember that?
PEELE: (As Obama) These achievements should serve as a reminder that I am on your side.
KEY: (As Luther) I am not a Muslim.
PEELE: (As Obama) And that my intentions as your president are coming from the right place.
KEY: (As Luther) They're coming from Hawaii, which is where I'm from, which is in the United States of America, y'all, OK? This is ridiculous. I have a birth certificate. I have a birth certificate. I have a hot diggity, daggity, (unintelligible) birth certificate you dumb-ass crackers, so...
PEELE: (As Obama) OK, Luther, rope it in.
KEY: (As Luther) Yeah, dial it back, Luther, damn.
GROSS: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, welcome to FRESH AIR. Thank you so much for being here. So let's start with the sketch that we just heard. How did you come up with the idea for the Obama anger translator?
KEY: Well, we were sitting around writing the pilot for the show, actually, in Jordan's apartment, and we were trying to figure out - we knew we wanted to do something with Obama because we actually felt that Obama was kind of responsible for us even getting a show in the first place because there is this biracial person who might, you know, have to ride the divide between two different races.
And we weren't sure exactly how we wanted to do it, but we kind of went through a bunch of ideas, and then we decided - Jordan has a really amazing Obama impersonation.
PEELE: Oh, thank you for saying that.
KEY: And we - and so something that kind of inspired us a little bit was, if you remember Garrett Morris used to say on "Saturday Night Live" when they'd do the Weekend Update...
GROSS: Oh, the hearing impaired thing.
KEY: Yeah, the hearing impaired thing, when he'd scream, you know. You know, President Francisco Franco is still dead, you know, that whole thing.
GROSS: Right, he'd shout it real loud for the hearing impaired, yeah.
KEY: Exactly, right, and I remember Jordan was saying, you know what, something that - what if - here's the thing. We know we're frustrated when a person like Joe Wilson had screamed during that State of the Union address, and he was like - you lie - to the president. And we were like, the president can't react the way millions of Americans right now are going - oh God, he can't say anything, he can't rail at this man, he can't get upset.
What if we had a surrogate who could get upset for him? And that was what - that's how we kind of - that was the embryonic stage of creating Luther, so that he'd have somebody who could translate him when he's having like an internal fit of pique, but could do it externally for him.
PEELE: This was also in the peak of the birther movement and things like that. So there were all these little issues that we felt were going unaddressed by Obama because I think, you know, the way we've described it before is that he couldn't come off like an angry black man, especially early on. So you know, what Luther says kind of is - are things that ring true to us, and we feel like, we felt like it was giving the truth a voice in a lot of ways.
KEY: Right, yeah.
GROSS: So you use some obscenities in your sketches, and you're on Comedy Central, as is "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show." And they bleep those words on their shows. So how come you can say them and they can't?
KEY: Gosh, I feel like we are bleeped.
GROSS: Oh, you know what? I've heard some of it on the Internet, so maybe you're not bleeped on the Internet.
KEY: That's what it is, Terry, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we definitely get bleeped on the air.
GROSS: Oh, because I've heard some of it on TV and then catch up on the Internet. So I bet that's it.
PEELE: There have been a couple of episodes, I know at least one in the first season, where we got a TV-MA rating. So we could get away with saying some things that, you know, we felt like were essential to get the joke.
KEY: Yeah, like sometimes we talked to the network, we're like guys, in this particular episode, can we get a penis dispensation so that we can say this word?
KEY: So we can say that word or this word - it's like - so yeah, they would let us. Every now and again they'd say, well, that's going to be a TV-MA rating on that one. We're like we really feel because of the rhythm of this particular sketch, we need to say that word, or the word's not being used in a prurient context.
You know, you have - it's fun because you have to kind of argue those things, and everybody kind of stands on their own ground and principles as to when you can say it or when you can't say it.
GROSS: So what's the harm if you get a TV-MA rating? I mean, do you expect, like, 11-year-olds to be watching the show anyway?
PEELE: Yeah, I mean, exactly, especially, I mean, because we're, you know, at 10:30. So it's really no harm to us. I think if we had our druthers, we would be unbleeped every episode.
KEY: Yeah, every episode, every sketch, yeah.
PEELE: But, you know, we do find it very interesting. I mean, the network enjoys the edginess of their programming and of our show, but then there's these kind of sometimes feel - you know, what feels like silly guidelines that - of certain words that you can't say. It's such a strange, strange thing when you look at what the boundary of acceptable and not acceptable is on television.
You know, we shoot people in the head in just about every episode, you know.
PEELE: You know, we can't get away with saying certain words. So there definitely seems to be some double standards...
KEY: Yeah, an interesting social double standard in a way, yeah.
GROSS: Jordan, when you met President Obama, which I know you did, did you get some insights into how to perform him?
PEELE: I would say so, yeah. I think I walked out of there a little bit more confident with my impression, and I actually did it for him at one point. He says, you know, I do a pretty good me myself, he said something like that.
PEELE: But, you know, the - he's - he is a close talker. He's a touchy guy. Like he will...
KEY: He is a very tactile individual.
PEELE: He will touch you on the shoulder and, you know, kind of, you know, so that big brother or father figure kind of way. And you really do feel sort of shepherded by him. And he's very funny. So I think I - I think after meeting him I was inclined to turn up the - just the humor of him, that he has a sense of humor. And again, I think that is also something that he, in the beginning of his presidency, he couldn't really explore and couldn't show.
You know, he had to be almost a one-dimensional, stoic leader during that first election.
GROSS: Are you going to bring out the anger translator to talk about Obama's anger at the Obamacare website?
KEY: Well yeah, I think we - that may happen, and we may - we're planning - we're kind of cooking something up right now that's - I don't even know if it's confidential, but we're cooking something up right now to do about the ACA. But otherwise, I think Luther is - I mean, I think Luther is raring to go. He's like who the - I mean, come on. (As Luther) Who doesn't want health care? Go ahead, break your leg then. You know what? Even better. I'm gonna come over there and break your leg for you.
PEELE: (As Obama) All right, Luther.
KEY: (As Luther) And then we'll see - OK, sorry, sir, I apologize sir.
PEELE: (As Obama) Keep it together.
KEY: (As Luther) People is crazy. People is stupid.
PEELE: (As Obama) People is crazy.
KEY: (As Luther) And I'm gonna say it right now, mostly white people, stupid. Young white men, 26, get your act together.
PEELE: (As Obama) All right, well, let's rope it in. Let's not make it racial. Let's not make anything racial, ever.
GROSS: That's fabulous.
KEY: (As Luther) I apologize, sir. I apologize.
GROSS: My guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, and together they're Key and Peele. They have their own sketch comedy show on Comedy Central. A character you do, Keegan, that I really love is the substitute teacher. And this is a teacher who's taught in an inner-city school for, like, 20 years, and now he's teaching in like a middle-class school that it's like somewhere at approximately 100 percent white.
And I want to play the first of these sketches that you did with the substitute teacher, and then we'll talk about the character some more. But first, just like physically describe how you look in this sketch so we can get an image in our minds.
KEY: Well, I think what you're dealing with is a guy who has a real kind of military persona about him. He's very rigid and a little haggard yet still aggressive. He's got a really - his hairline is really far back. He's been balding probably since his 20s. And he has a very kind of tight - like a - this isn't the - the best way to describe is like a high and tight kind of moustache. So he looks like he might have been in the Army or something or an MP.
And he wears a short-sleeved, drab shirt and like a twill tie and just looks - he just looks all business, like he's ready to rumble.
GROSS: OK, so this is the substitute teacher, performed by my guest Keegan-Michael Key.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey(ph)) All right, listen up, y'all. I'm y'all's substitute teacher, Mr. Garvey. I taught school for 20 years in the inner city, so don't even think about messing with me. Y'all feel me? OK, let's take roll here. Jayquellen(ph)? Where's Jayquellen at? No Jayquellen here?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (As Jacqueline) Do you mean Jacqueline?
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) OK, so that's how it's gonna be. Y'all wanna play. OK, then. I've got my eye on you, Jayquellen. Bellakay(ph)? Where is Bellakay at? There's no Bellakay here today? Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As Blake) My name is Blake.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) Are you out of your damn mind? Blake? What? Do you want to go to war, Bellakay? Because we could go to war.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As character) No, no.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) I'm for real. I'm for real. So you better check yourself.
GROSS: That's really great. And...
KEY: I love it's Bellakey(ph), Bellakay, he's got two different pronunciations.
GROSS: Jordan, do you want to describe how you end the sketch?
PEELE: And then yes, at - I believe Garvey says Jo-Nathan(ph), and then...
KEY: Is it Timothee(ph)?
PEELE: It's Timothee, yes, yes, yes. Maybe at one point it was Jo-Nathan, but...
KEY: It was Jo-Nathan at one point.
PEELE: But yes, he says Timothee, and then, you know, me the first black student we've seen, sort of emerges from behind a white student - Pre-sent. And then it's over.
PEELE: It's a pretty absurd little piece of heightening...
KEY: We went back and forth on pre-sent, too. We're like should he say - is that too silly? Is pre-sent too silly?
PEELE: Nobody says pre-sent.
KEY: Everybody knows - but we just decided to go with it anyway. We had here, heray(ph), heree, pre-sent and just good old-fashioned present.
PEELE: But somehow it works.
KEY: Somehow it works, yeah.
GROSS: So when you were in school, did you have - were there a lot of students in your classes that had names that their parents had obviously creatively made up from scratch?
PEELE: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
PEELE: Keegan's from Detroit, and I'm from New York, and...
KEY: So the answer to that question is yes.
GROSS: What were some of your real favorites, like of the real names?
KEY: There were literally in my neighborhood, there were two kids - now this is kind of an urban legend. Jordan and I both know this legend. Everybody knows this legend in kind of African-American lore. There's always somebody in your neighborhood named Orangejello or Lemonjello. And that's spelled - O-R-A-N-G-E-J-E-L-L-O.
KEY: So, you know, that's - and then...
PEELE: Right, which - I mean, if you really, you know, dig deep into it, you know, especially when talking about African-American culture, it's got, you know, names have such a deep history, you know, just from being - having our names taken away in the first place.
Right, exactly, right.
KEY: Since we were renamed, and, you know, now it feels like, you know, it feels like 80 percent of African-American population have, you know, has - named Washington or Jefferson or some, you know, some president or slave owner's name. And, you know, I almost wonder is this, like, is this part of a way of taking back the principle of naming your - I might be going too far into this, but naming your kids something of your choice.
GROSS: How did you feel about your names, Keegan and Jordan?
PEELE: Oh boy.
KEY: No, I like my name. It's very unique. You know, when I meet other kids in the world named Keegan, and they're usually younger than I am, I'll say hey mom, I met a Keegan today. But you didn't meet a Keegan-Michael. You're the only one in the whole world.
KEY: So my - my little white farmer mom from Northern Illinois, she did the same thing, you know, did the same thing.
PEELE: Yeah, no, I love my name. I mean, I know my mother wanted to name me something possibly biblical, something water-related for some reason. So she went with Jordan.
KEY: Tell Terry your middle name.
PEELE: My middle name is Haworth, H-A-W-O-R-T-H.
KEY: I love it.
PEELE: Which is, yeah, kind of like a comedian butler.
KEY: Rochester, Haworth.
PEELE: But then the other interesting true story about my name is my name was almost going to be Noah, you know, another water-related biblical name. But of course my realized I would have been Noah Peele.
GROSS: Oh gosh. That would have been so funny.
PEELE: Yeah, I mean, that would have been maybe even more amazing stage name.
KEY: It's like a great - that name is like having - that's like Rip Torn.
GROSS: Absolutely, absolutely.
PEELE: Or Red Buttons.
GROSS: Yes.
PEELE: You know, that would be an amazing name.
GROSS: My guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Their sketch comedy show "Key & Peele" is on Comedy Central. More after a break; this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: My guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, and together they're Key and Peele, and they have a sketch comedy show on Comedy Central, which is called "Key & Peele." We were talking about your substitute teacher character, Keegan, and I want to play another sketch with that substitute teacher, the guy who taught in an inner-city school for 20 years and now is in a middle-class, predominately white school teaching as a substitute.
And this sketch is really funny. It's the same group of students as we heard in the one where he's taking attendance, and everybody has an - and he's mispronouncing everybody's names because he's used to unusual names. So this sketch starts with one of the students asking a question to the teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As Aaron) Mr. Garvy?
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) What is it, A-aron?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As Aaron) Some of us need to leave a few minutes early today.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) Oh, oh is that so? And what, pray tell, is the reason for this premature exodus?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As Aaron) Yearbook photos. We have to leave 15 minutes early to meet up with our clubs.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) All right, you know what? That might work with other substitute teachers, but I taught in the inner city for over 20 years. Now y'all want to leave my class early so y'all can go meet up at the club. Ain't none of y'all old enough to go to the damn club, ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As Aaron) Mr. Garvey?
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) Son of a bitch. Did I stut-t-t-t-ter?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As Aaron) Just then? Yes.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) I'm gonna throw you out that damn window. What, Jayquellen?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (As Jacqueline) Mr. Garvey, we're telling the truth. We have clubs at this school. We have clubs for special interests.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) OK, what the hell club are you in, Jayquellen?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (As Jacqueline) Future Leaders of America.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) OK, OK. How would you know if you gonna be a leader in the future? Is there a stargate in your bedroom? Can you travel through time, Jayquellen?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (As Jacqueline) No.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) Then sit the flip down.
GROSS: That's Keegan-Michael Key as a substitute teacher, and Jordan Peele, do you want to explain how you end the sketch?
PEELE: I believe Timothee raises his name, and Mr. Garvey says, you know, he calls on Timothee, you know, what club do you have to go. And Timothee says, you know, I've got to go pick up my daughter.
KEY: (As Mr. Garvey) You're excused.
GROSS: So I'm wondering, Keegan, did you model that on a teacher that you had?
KEY: Actually, he is modeled on a guidance counselor that I had in grade school. And I went to a predominately black grade school, Catholic grade school in Detroit, and so that kind of aggression came from this particular guidance counselor because, you know, we had really fantastic kids at my school and super-smart kids at my school and a lot of kind of roughhouse kids at my school.
And he was - it's that same energy, and Jordan really honed in on this energy when the sketch was being written, which was the one thing that never leaves him is he's always ever-vigilant. He's hyper-vigilant about the misbehaving. And, you know, there's lots of perhaps social underpinnings as to why he believes every student behaves that way, blah, blah, blah.
But yeah, he was based on this one guy who the attitude of him, the tone of him is based on this one guy.
GROSS: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele will be back in the second half of the show. Season three of their Comedy Central series "Key & Peele" concludes December 18. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross back with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Their sketch comedy show, "Key & Peele," is on Comedy Central Wednesday nights. The show is in its third season. Key and Peele are both biracial and often deal with race in their comedy. They each started out doing improv and they worked together as cast members on "Madtv."
You both have white mothers, African-American fathers. Was it ever an issue of like which group you were going to fit into - if you're going to identify with the white students or the black students? Or were there groups within the schools you went to that were multicultural enough that you didn't have to worry about like choosing a team?
KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY: Yeah, for me the, I think the reason I went into theater, ultimately, was because that was one of those multicultural groups. Because you identify with other people that share similar passions to you, so it didn't matter how much melanin was in their skin. It's just: You have a passion for theater, you have a passion for theater and I have a passion for theater. And so you find yourself, that clan is born out of love and passion as opposed to born out of some sense of obligation to belong to a certain group. So for me, that's was - that's kind of - that's what salvaged my life, I think, in high school for the most part.
PEELE: Yeah. It's such a loaded question I think for both of us. But I really do feel like, growing up, you know, I was lucky enough to be in, you know, a great town and great schools that had a certain amount of diversity. And so, you know, this is all, all of this goes into our work. And I think both, you know, like Keegan was saying, I think the reason both of us became actors is because we did, you know, a little, a fair amount of code switching growing up, and still do. You know, we will, if Keegan and I are just hanging out with each other, it's funny, we'll, all of a sudden we will go into a more casual black dialect.
KEY: Yeah. A more urban space, in a way. Yeah.
PEELE: You know, that's kind of our comfort zone with each other when we're making each other laugh. It's, and yeah, I mean it's fascinating. It's fascinating.
GROSS: Keegan, you're adopted.
KEY: Yes. Mm-hmm.
GROSS: You were adopted by a white mother and an African-American father who grew up in Salt Lake City?
KEY: Yes. Mm-hmm.
GROSS: One of the few African-Americans there when he was growing up. What do you know about the racial background of your birth parents? I don't know if you know them at all or know who they are.
KEY: Oh. Oh, yeah, I do. I know my biological mother quite well and we have a wonderful, wonderful relationship. And I, it's the exact same demographic. So my father has passed away. He was African-American, my mother is white. And so I was adopted by a couple that was of a similar dynamic as my biological parents.
GROSS: Interesting. And is that part of the reason why they adopted you, because they were an interracial couple?
KEY: Yeah. It's interesting. At that time, you know, right at the turn of the '70s - the '60s and '70s, was when I was born. So right at that time they were OK with giving this biracial child to a mixed couple, when typically I think 10 years after that it's more typical to have a biracial child - a biracial child of my makeup - go to an African-American couple. But they were a mixed couple, I was a mixed baby, and everybody thought it might be a good match, so that's how that went.
GROSS: So just curious, this is kind of off-topic from your comedy, but what's it like to have a close relationship with the biological mother who put you up for adoption?
KEY: I'd say it's been like, it's been like 16 years of some kind of constant healing, is how I feel about it. Because I, you - like every human, you, you know, Jordan said earlier, we have to categorize ourselves, so you kind of start to build a mythos because I had no information about her. So you have to build a mythos around yourself, and so my mythos included me not being wanted or me being a wretched person, which is just great fertilizer for comedy.
KEY: It's just - it could turn you into an exquisite comedian. Ask Richard Pryor's ghost. So but I didn't have any idea of what my life was and then so I had this kind of sense about who I was. And, of course, my adoptive mother tirelessly worked most of her life to build up my self-esteem. So what happened was finding her started to shed light and destroy my mythos. So for the first year of knowing her, my mom kind of actually literally visited me in Detroit and kind of gave me a tour of my life - where I was conceived, where I was born, where she found out she was pregnant. It was amazing, Terry, and very emotional. But what it did is, you hold precious what you create for yourself in your life that makes you comfortable and everything she was saying was shattering all of that. So, oh my gosh, there is this worthwhile human in the world who somebody did want to keep. And it's a long, very personal story, but, you know, it was - it's been, it's been a really wonderful, revelatory story.
GROSS: Jordan, do you know your father?
PEELE: Good question. I - my father passed away in 1999. I knew him up until about six years old, and that would've been, you know, my going to his place of work once a month, once every couple of months, until he was sort of out of the picture without any real concrete explanation as to why he was out of the picture. Now, you know, I've since learned that, you know, he's got many kids across the country and other countries.
You know, he was definitely a rolling stone, and had kids before me and kids after me. So it was definitely part of his MO to procreate and move on. But yeah, I mean to answer your question, no. Not really.
GROSS: So you hardly knew your father and he was like totally out of your life by the time he was six.
But since you have dark skin, a lot of people just automatically identify you as African-American. But the person who was African-American in your family, your father, was gone and your mother is white. And the part of your extended family that you've been most in touch with is your mother's side, which again is white. So I can imagine a sense of disconnect, of being, you know, externally identified as African-American because of your skin color but at the same time feeling like everybody in, you know, all of your like blood family that you know that's still is in your life is white.
PEELE: Mm-hmm.
GROSS: Not sure what the question is.
PEELE: Yeah.
GROSS: But it just seems like it must be a very disconnected feeling in some ways.
PEELE: Yeah. It's, I mean you really summed it up very well, and that's exactly how I would phrase it. There is these identity questions and, you know, all I can say is I, my mother was very good in that she helped me feel like I was a special person, like I, you know, I didn't need to go any farther than, you know, who I was and what I liked in order to find my identity. But yeah, clearly there has been, you know, a huge imprint that it's made on my personality and my art and my craft.
And I think the most trying part it is, involves how I speak. I think that's always been the part that I felt most insecure about. Is that the...
GROSS: What do you mean?
PEELE: Is that the world has wanted me to speak differently than I speak. You know, I speak like my mom; I speak like, you know, like the whitest white dude; I speak like a Def Comedy Jam comedian doing an impression of a white guy.
PEELE: That's how I've, you know, sort of grown up. And I even remember, you know, when I was a kid that, you know, there was a, you know, every now and then you'd come upon somebody who would sort of question how I spoke, whether or not, you know, I was trying to be something I wasn't. It cannot be a coincidence that I decided to go into this career where my whole purpose is sort of altering the way I speak and experiencing these different characters, and I think maybe sort of proving in my soul that the way someone speaks has, you know, nothing to do with who they are. People have, you know, everybody has different accents, everyone has different affectations, everyone is still human. So yeah, it's - I've always I've been very lucky to have a family who, you know, has welcomed me and not been hung up on anything racial, almost, you know, overlooking the fact that there was a racial difference. But I can honestly say I do feel like I missed out on some lessons from, you know, of what the African-American experience is like growing up. I mean I could've used some advice from my dad of, you know, how to deal with somebody who is accusing you of being shady in a store.
I would have liked to hear those things.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, and together they're "Key & Peele." Their sketch comedy show is on Comedy Central. Let's take a short break here, then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guests are the stars of the Comedy Central sketch comedy show "Key & Peele." My guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
I think before joining the cast of "Madtv," or maybe it was after that, that Jordan, you had auditioned for "Saturday Night Live"?
PEELE: That was, that was actually after. During my last year on "Mad," the year of the writers' strike, and there was an instance where we had a few episodes left of "Madtv," but there was this big question whether we're going to - the show was going to come back at all after the writers' strike, because that strike was, you know, really just, you know, just totally displaced...
KEY: Decimated. Yeah.
PEELE: Yeah. Everything in Hollywood was just turned on its head, and within that timeframe, yeah. I mean Seth Myers is a good buddy of mine and he, this was also during the election - the Obama election. So he called me and he asked me if I had been an Obama impression. I didn't at the time. But, you know, "SNL" had always been a dream of mine. And so, yeah, I worked on the impression for a week and then went out and flew out and I was actually offered a job on the show but I couldn't end up taking it because "Madtv" ended up coming back after the strike. So, you know, there was, you know, basically I had four more episodes in my contract that overlapped and I didn't get to fly home and continue on that show.
GROSS: Was that a great disappointment that you had to turn down "SNL"?
PEELE: Oh yeah, that was a huge disappointment. The big, the most disappointing part, besides the fact that, you know, like I said, that had always been a dream, to be on that show for obvious reasons, but, you know, after spending eight years away from New York, nine years, or whatever it was, I desperately wanted to go back and live with my, you know, friends and my mother and, you know, where my grandmother was, and so I wanted that homecoming very bad. And not being able to was, I think, ultimately served as a huge motivation, you know, to end of doing what I'm doing now - which is, you know, we have our own show, it all kind of worked out for the best, of course. But, yeah, that was the biggest blow in my career.
GROSS: Did both of you do a lot of, you know, characters or impressions when you first auditioned for "Madtv?"
KEY: I did more characters. I mean I had a lot of characters kind of in my bag from Second City.
GROSS: Mm-hmm.
KEY: And so there were some characters that had been incubating at the Second City in Chicago. And so, you know, when you're at Second City, Chicago, kind of the unspoken thing is, is everybody is kind of - you're doing you work and your making your art and you're having a good time and it's really a kind of fertile time in your life. But there's that thing in the back of your head that saying, boy, you know, "SNL" might come calling, or "Madtv" might come calling. And so you're kind of like, I would just catalog characters that I liked performing and that also that audiences seem to enjoy.
GROSS: Jordan, what's some of the characters you developed early on that you could tell us about?
PEELE: I was much more impression-driven in my audition. And one of my impressions was, I did Ja Rule. I did an impression of Ja Rule showing off his crib in "Cribs."
PEELE: And then on the other, you know, I went all the way to the other side. I did an impression of John Malkovich ordering a pizza, which - in which he does not want any of the extra bells and whistles. I just want a pepperoni pizza, please.
KEY: Hit her with some Morgan.
PEELE: I did Morgan Freeman, of course. Yeah.
PEELE: Yeah. Yeah. I'm Morgan Freeman. I don't remember what the context was, you know, but as sure as the black dots all over my face, I did this impression. Yeah.
PEELE: I was part of this group called Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, where - and that's where I met Seth Meyers, Ike Barinholtz, Jason Sudeikis, some really amazing comedy performers. And we did sketch and improv there, in just a slightly different format than Keegan would've been doing at the Second City. But we had one short - what's called short-form improv game where the audience would shout out impressions, and then they would shout out locations.
And we would literally, just on the spot, whatever impression - celebrity they gave us and location, we would have to become that celebrity in that location. And so I think, in that process, you know, I demystified the art of the impression for myself. And, you know, I think it's something that a lot of people think is magic, but is, you know, just like anything else. You can learn to do it and get better at it.
GROSS: Jordan, since you auditioned for "Saturday Night Live" and actually got hired, but had to turn it down because you were still under contract to "MADtv," I was wondering if you've been following the controversy, the recent controversy about the limited number of African-American comics - specifically, women African-American comics - that have been on the show through the history, there having been only three.
And this came up after Kenan Thompson was interviewed, and he said that he and Jay Pharoah didn't want to do characters in drag anymore. And Kenan Thompson said that it was hard to find African-American women who were ready for "Saturday Night Live." So that's led to a lot of discussion. And I'm wondering if either of you have anything you'd like to say about that.
PEELE: Yeah. I mean, on one hand, I do feel a little bit, you know, bad for Kenan, just knowing how, you know, an interview can go and if, you know, maybe he could've been more prepared for that question. But, you know, I think, you know, for Keegan and I, it - we know so many hilarious African-American women.
And, you know, we're mostly, you know, come up through the sketch and improv scene. Now, there is a - sketch and improv is a world that is dominated by white performers. That is true. But to say that there's not African-American women who are ready is just wrong.
KEY: Yeah. No, yeah.
PEELE: It's just not - it's incorrect. I mean, Nyima Funk.
KEY: Oh, Nyima Funk. Yeah.
PEELE: Amber Ruffin.
KEY: Amber Ruffin, yeah.
PEELE: Claudia Wallace. You know, we really could go on.
KEY: Yeah. I mean, I think I completely agree with what Jordan said. I think you're right. That question might've snuck up on Kenan.
PEELE: Yeah.
KEY: And, also, I think Kenan is in the midst of a - he does a job on a show that has a very specific skill set. I mean, it's a very specific skill set.
PEELE: Mm-hmm.
KEY: And so I think if that's the answer that came out of his mouth, I can understand that answer coming out of his mouth. But, right now, I can think of three women who would murder on "Saturday Night Live," either as writers or performers. And, you know, the...
PEELE: Holly Walker, Liza Dye.
KEY: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's just - there - I would have to say, you know, with all deference to Kenan, I would have to say I definitely know that they are there.
PEELE: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
GROSS: Since we're talking...
PEELE: And of course the...
GROSS: Go ahead.
PEELE: Oh, yeah. And also there's, you know, there is a world - Keegan and my race has really played to our advantage in the improv-sketch world.
KEY: Small pool.
PEELE: It - yeah.
KEY: Small pool.
PEELE: And it's also a bit of a special power. I mean, we can do characters that other people would feel uncomfortable doing. And we can explore the - you know, we can, you know, I mean, just to be quite straightforward: We can play black characters and explore the comedy of black characters.
Now, there's a whole world of characters and impressions that black women can do that other people just, I mean, just on the social level, you know, disregarding the practice and skill that goes into perfecting these things, but just on the social level, people would feel uncomfortable doing. So it's - yeah. They should hire some black women. Not a black woman - some black women.
KEY: Black women. Yeah.
GROSS: Well, since we have been talking about a controversial remark said in the context of an interview, I was wondering if either of you might be willing to say something that would be really controversial that will get us tweeted a lot.
GROSS: Anything?
KEY: What about white men? You know what? White men aren't funny. White men aren't ready to be on "Saturday Night Live."
PEELE: They are not ready.
GROSS: Jordan, can you top that, please?
PEELE: Let's see. I don't know if I can top that. I do not know if I can top that.
KEY: Can't top my nonsensical comment?
GROSS: My guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Their sketch comedy show "Key and Peele" is on Comedy Central. More after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: My guests are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Their sketch comedy series "Key and Peele" is in its third season on Comedy Central. Let me ask you about a sketch that you did that I think actually was kind of controversial on "Key and Peele," and this is, like, a slave auction. And the premise is that you're both on the slave auction block getting sold to the highest bidder.
There's three blocks: block A, block B, block C. And the person on block A keeps getting sold, and at first it's, like, whew. You know, we're glad we're not being sold, because who wants to be owned? Like, we're not property. But then when you keep getting turned down for people who are looking more and more physically unfit...
PEELE: Right.
GROSS: ...who get bought over you, then you start to really feel, like, wait a minute. Why are they passing us over? Like, what's wrong with us? And it's such - it's a very funny, but really, like, odd sketch. And I was wondering if you could talk about coming up with that and about the reactions that you got. And maybe you want to explain it a little better than I did. I'd play it on the radio, except I think without the visuals, it doesn't quite work.
You know what I mean?
PEELE: Right.
GROSS: I think it's like you really need to see it, because there's a lot of voices.
PEELE: Well, there's a couple of things that went into coming up with this sketch. One was the desire to be able to use that powerful visual as a jumping off point, as something that is provocative and something that only Keegan and I could do, that there was nobody else out there that could tackle this and create a sketch about an auction block.
I think part of it is rooted around the idea if you can make something that's offensive to somebody funny, then you have to be able to make something that's offense to another person funny. And so, from that standpoint forward, we then, you know, then the project - you know, once I know I want to make a scene on the auction block, the question comes, OK, so how do you make this universally funny?
How do you make this - how do you prove people wrong, that this is not about laughing at slavery? This is not about laughing at the victims of slavery and what, you know, our ancestors had to go through? And the answer to me was to make it about humanity, to make it about people, to make it about something universal.
And also to point out the fact that Keegan and I, we would never - you know, with this cushy life that we've grown up with in the, you know...
KEY: The late 20th century.
PEELE: ...in the late 20th century, we are not equipped with the physical and emotional fortitude to do what our ancestors did. So, for me, there's a certain amount of respect that I felt like we were observing by putting ourselves in that situation, by not, you know, sort of, quote-unquote, "slaving it up" with our dialect, but kind of just using the way we talk.
And really, that was the project, was if we were in this situation, we would - our vanity would come into play, at a certain point.
GROSS: And, finally, Jordan, did you ever fight and say no, it should be called "Peele and Key" and not "Key and Peele"?
PEELE: No. I don't think there was a fight. There was a discussion about which one sounded better, but, no, there was certainly no fight. I think we can all agree that Jerry Lewis is the star of "Martin and Lewis."
PEELE: I just put that in my mind.
KEY: For the record, Terry, if we had used...
KEY: If we had used our first names...
PEELE: Yeah.
KEY: ...the show would've been called "Jordan and Keegan." If we had used our first names. Yeah.
PEELE: Yeah.
KEY: Yeah.
PEELE: Just for the sound of it.
KEY: Yeah.
PEELE: Yeah. "Peele and Key," eh, I don't...
KEY: I don't even know linguistically what it is, but for some strange reason, I'm partial to "Key and Peele."
PEELE: Now that you're mentioning it, though, I've got to say, you know, this...
KEY: Yeah. Is it starting to ring to your ear a little bit, Jordan?
PEELE: It's starting to sound good.
GROSS: Uh-oh.
PEELE: It's starting to sound good.
KEY: It's interesting. It's not ringing to my ear...
KEY: ...for some reason.
PEELE: It's our favorite fake argument.
KEY: It's our favorite fake argument. Right. Since we don't really have any arguments.
GROSS: It's been so much fun to talk with both of you. Thank you so much.
KEY: Oh, thank you, Terry.
PEELE: You, too. Thank you.
KEY: What an honor.
GROSS: The third season of "Key and Peele" concludes December 18th on Comedy Central. You can watch the slave auction block sketch we were just talking about on our website, freshair.npr.org, where you'll also find a link to the first in their series of sketches about Obama's anger translator.
Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.


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With the possibility that women voters might prove decisive in November's presidential election, each major party is obviously looking for opportunities to argue why its policies are better for women and the opposition's worse. The latest came Friday with the release of the March jobless figures.
The report was a surprise on the downside because the economy added far fewer jobs for the month — 121,000 — than economists had forecast even as the jobless rate declined a tenth of a percentage point to 8.2 percent.
The disappointing number reinforced a vexing trend that has shown up in the Labor Department data for months. During the current recovery, women have failed to regain jobs at anywhere near a rate comparable to men.
It's a potential political problem for the president which the GOP would like to exploit. Which helps explain a Friday White House forum on "women and the economy," and the president's appearance at same, to highlight policies meant to eventually improve the economic lot of women. Obama said:
"Right now, no issue is more important than restoring economic security for all our families in the wake of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. And that begins with making sure everyone who wants a job has one."
While the president did talk about the uneven progress on the jobs front, his appearance at the forum allowed him to discuss a range of other policies he hopes will give him stronger appeal to women voters than the likely Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.
His litany included his support for pay equity, highlighted by his signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act early in his administration and the Affordable Care Act with requirement that the health insurance plans employers offer include contraception coverage with no out-of-pocket costs to employees.
That many of those who want jobs but can't find them are women was seized on by Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day who said in a statement:
"President Obama and his fellow Democrats love to say they stand for women, but women can no longer stand the Obama economy. Women deserve better, and in November we will hold him accountable."
The problem women are having finding jobs relative to men is particularly baffling for many economists because it doesn't seem to be simply an issue of a rebound in industries where men traditionally predominate, like construction and manufacturing.
Instead, the phenomenon is being observed within industries with large numbers of workers of both genders.
Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor Washington think tank, said that during the depth of the Great Recession when jobs were being lost at a terrifying rate, December 2007 to February 2010, men lost 69 percent of the jobs while women lost 31 percent of them.
Since then, she said, men got 76 percent of the job gains while women have only gotten 24 percent.
"It is catching people's eyes for sure that men are getting a disproportionate number of jobs," Shierholz said. She was quick to add, however, that it shouldn't be forgotten that men took a bigger hit in terms of job loss during the recession, so much so that it was called a "mancession."
Aparna Mathur, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, theorized that there was something of an industry effect at play, with the earliest wave of layoffs hitting sectors with more male workers while layoffs of women lagged behind. Now in the the recovery, the same pattern is at play, she said, with women lagging behind in job gains.
In any event, she said she specific federal policies targeted at women weren't needed. "If we just create the right environment for businesses to start functioning and to start hiring, all of the effects on the women will disappear over time. You will see women being rehired. You will see women getting back into the labor force."
The release of Friday's jobs report, with its continued sobering news about women and jobs, came against a backdrop of what's being called the gender gap.
Issues like the partisan fight over contraception coverage or Planned Parenthood have allowed Democrats to accuse Republicans of a "war on women." Those attacks have, at least according to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll, helped Obama open an 18-point lead on Romney in 12 swing states.
Republicans accuse Obama of cynically using scare tactics.
Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

subset: commoncrawl


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Zimmerman Arrested On Murder Charge In Martin Case; Will Plead Not Guilty
George Zimmerman, who says he killed unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin in self-defense, has been arrested and will face a charge of second-degree murder, says State Attorney Angela Corey, the special prosecutor investigating Martin's death.
Corey said that Zimmerman turned himself in to the authorities Wednesday.
The arrest and charges come more than six weeks after Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Trayvon, an African-American who was 17 when he died. Zimmerman, 28, was not jailed or charged after the Feb. 26 shooting. Since then, the case has become a cause of both outrage and contention.
Update at 9:12 p.m. EDT: Zimmerman has arrived at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford, Fla.
Update at 7:23 p.m. EDT: Zimmerman plans to plead not guilty to murder in the Trayvon Martin shooting, according to his defense attorney, says the AP. Orlando's Local 6 TV station has identified Mark O'Mara as Zimmerman's new lawyer. And after the charges were announced, the station reported O'Mara saying: "I'm expecting a lot of work and hopefully justice in the end."
Local 6 added that O'Mara said that Zimmerman is doing "OK," but that he is also concerned about his future. The attorney said his client was "troubled" by the charges.
Update at 7:07 p.m. EDT: Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, thanked the family's supporters for their compassion in a news conference held after Corey announced the charges. He later said of Zimmerman, "It feels good to know that he's off the street."
Update at 6:45 p.m. EDT: "We simply wanted an arrest," said Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, in reaction to the news. "We wanted nothing more, nothing less. We just wanted an arrest, and we got it."
Update at 6:27 p.m. EDT: Corey said she has spoken with Martin's parents about bringing the murder charge against Zimmerman.
"They now know that charges have been filed," Corey said of Martin's parents. "We're very proud of the job that law enforcement has done."
Asked by reporters about potential sentences that might be sought against Zimmerman, Corey refused to speculate. She would also not clarify his whereabouts, other than to say he is in custody and in Florida. And a location for the trial has not been set.
The charges reportedly carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Our original post continues:
In addition to sparking a national discussion about race, the Trayvon Martin case has also brought new scrutiny to states that have a "stand your ground" law, which expands the circumstances under which people can make a claim of self defense.
The charge of second-degree murder is often made in cases in which prosecutors believe that a killing was intentional, but not premeditated.
On Monday, Corey announced that she would not be taking the case to a grand jury this week — a sign that many interpreted as meaning that Zimmerman would not be facing a charge of first-degree murder. As a state attorney, Corey is an elected official in Florida. She announced the charges in her home district of Jacksonville, which is more than 100 miles north of Sanford.
Zimmerman has not made any public appearances since the shooting; his whereabouts have been the subject of much speculation.
News of Zimmerman's arrest comes one day after his attorneys, Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig, announced that they would no longer be representing him.
As we reported earlier today, Martin's parents said they had not confirmed any new developments as of early Wednesday afternoon.
"I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, justice will be served" in the case, Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, told the AP.
Hours before Corey's announcement, Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued a statement, in which he urged "all Florida citizens to allow our justice system to reach an appropriate conclusion in this case."
And civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke with Martin's parents Wednesday at an event held by his National Action Network group in Washington, D.C., called for their supporters to remain peaceful as the investigation continues.
"We are not in the business of revenge. We are in the business of justice," Sharpton said, reports The Orlando Sentinel. "We must make the justice system work. Otherwise the movement is for nothing. To go outside the justice system is to achieve nothing."
"Trayvon's name must not be tarnished," Sharpton said.


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The foot is made up of 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, and numerous tendons. Complex biomechanics keep all these parts in the right position and moving together. Given these intricacies, it is not surprising that most people will experience some problem with their feet at some time in their lives.
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- Tarsal and metatarsal bones provide the structure for the arch of the foot.
- Bands of ligaments connect and hold all the bones in place.
- A thick layer of fatty tissue under the sole helps absorb the pressure and shock that comes from walking and everyday movements.


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Actor-director Richard Attenborough dies at 90
LONDON >> Acclaimed actor and Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years, has died. He was 90.
The actor's son, Michael Attenborough told the BBC that his father died Sunday. He had been in poor health for some time.
Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement calling Attenborough "one of the greats of cinema."
"His acting in 'Brighton Rock' was brilliant, his directing of 'Gandhi' was stunning," Cameron said.
Attenborough won an Academy Award for best director with "Gandhi" in 1982, only one of many highlights of a distinguished career as actor and director.
With his abundant snow-white hair and beard, Attenborough was one of the most familiar faces on the British arts scene — universally known as "Dickie."
He appeared in a many major Hollywood films, directed a series of movies and was known for his extensive work as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and other humanitarian causes.
As a director, Attenborough made several successful movies, from "Oh What a Lovely War" in 1969 to "Chaplin" and "Shadowlands" in the 1990s. But his greatest success was "Gandhi," a film that was 20 years in the planning and won eight Oscars, including best picture.
The generation that was introduced to Attenborough as an avuncular veteran actor in the 1990s — when he played the failed theme park developer in "Jurassic Park" and Kriss Kringle in a remake of "Miracle on 34th Street" — may not have appreciated his dramatic range.
A small, energetic man with a round face that remained boyish even in old age, he was perfectly cast at the start of his career as the young sailor or airman of British movies during and after World War II.
In his 1942 film debut as a terrified warship's crewman in "In Which We Serve," a 19-year-old Attenborough made a small part into one of the most memorable roles in the movie, which won the Best Picture Oscar.
In 1947, Attenborough gave one of the best performances of his career as the teenage thug Pinkie in "Brighton Rock," the film version of Graham Greene's novel. Attenborough's baby face and air of menace combined to make it one of his most memorable roles.
His youthful appearance nearly cost him the lead role in the original cast of "The Mousetrap," because its author, Agatha Christie, didn't think he looked like a police detective. But he starred with his wife, actress Sheila Sim, when the hit play opened in November 1952 and stayed for 700 performances.
In 1959, Attenborough joined fellow actor Bryan Forbes in film production. "The Angry Silence" in 1960 was their successful debut, with Attenborough playing a strike-breaking factory worker. It was one of the first of the gritty, working-class films that heralded Britain's "new realism" of the 1960s.
Together, Forbes and Attenborough produced "Whistle Down the Wind" in 1961 and "The L-Shaped Room" in 1962. Their last film, 1964's "Seance on a Wet Afternoon," won Attenborough Best Actor awards from the London Film Critics and British Film Academy.
In the meantime, he had appeared as a prisoner of war in 1963's "The Great Escape" — known for its classic ensemble cast, including Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Charles Bronson — and starred in "Guns at Batasi," for which he won another British Film Academy award. In 1967, he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in "The Sand Pebbles."
In 1969, Attenborough turned to directing with "Oh What a Lovely War," a lampoon of World War I, which won a Golden Globe award as best English-language foreign film. Three years later, he made "Young Winston," the story of Winston Churchill's early life.
In between, in 1971, he turned in a chilling performance as 1950s mass murderer John Reginald Christie in "10 Rillington Place."
By the mid-1970s, Attenborough had become a director who only occasionally acted. It was said that he took acting jobs to help finance the movies he wanted to direct.
But his return to directing in the 1977 war movie "A Bridge Too Far" was an expensive disaster, despite its cast of international stars. The following year, the heavy-handed 1978 thriller "Magic" was a failure despite the talents of Anthony Hopkins.
"A Chorus Line," Attenborough's 1985 film of the long-running stage musical, also took a critical beating. And, more recently, 1996's "In Love and War," failed to win much critical support.
Attenborough was often thought to be at his best when trying to coax the finest work from actors. "Gandhi" made a star of its little-known leading man Ben Kingsley, and Denzel Washington won an Oscar nomination for 1987's "Cry Freedom."
Debra Winger was nominated for an Oscar and Anthony Hopkins gave one of his best performances in "Shadowlands," a small, subtle film that won Attenborough perhaps his greatest critical praise.
Attenborough, son of a university principal, was born Aug. 29, 1923, into a family with strong liberal views and a tradition of volunteer work for humanitarian concerns.
One of his younger brothers is naturalist David Attenborough, whose nature documentaries have reached audiences around the world.
Richard Attenborough was a tireless defender of the British film industry. His artistic and humanitarian efforts were rewarded with several international prizes, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize in 1983.
He was knighted in 1976, and 17 years later received a life peerage, becoming Baron Attenborough of Richmond upon Thames.
His later years were marked by a horrendous personal tragedy when he lost his daughter Jane and granddaughter in the tsunami that hit Thailand the day after Christmas in 2004.
The heart-broken Attenborough said he was never able to celebrate the Christmas holidays after that.
He had been in frail health since a fall at his house in 2008, and spent his last years in a nursing home with his wife.
He is survived by his wife, their son and a daughter.
Associate Press Writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.


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Republican politician John St. John complied this series of correspondence on temperance and prohibition issues from letters received while governor of Kansas from 1879-1882. The correspondence includes letters supporting and opposing the prohibition of liquor, petitions of civic organizations, newspaper articles, and various other forms. St. John persuaded the Kansas Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment for prohibition that voters approved in 1880. In 1881, the legislature passed the Prohibitory Law making Kansas the first state to prohibit alcohol under its constitution. The national Prohibition Party nominated St. John for President of the United States in 1884. A transcription of this collection is not yet available. This collection includes all prohibition correspondence from boxes 19-24 of the John St. John Governor's Papers. An inventory of the entire St. John collection is included as a link below.
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: January 1879-December 1882
Item Number: 216777
Call Number: Governor's Office, St. John, Correspondence Received-Subject File, Box 19-24
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 216777
Business and Industry - Retail - Liquor
Collections - State Archives - Governor's Records - St. John, John Pierce
Community Life - Clubs and organizations - Reform/Advocacy - Kansas State Temperance Union
Community Life - Clubs and organizations - Reform/Advocacy - National Temperance Society
Community Life - Clubs and organizations - Reform/Advocacy - Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Date - 1870s - 1879
Date - 1880s - 1880
Date - 1880s - 1881
Date - 1880s - 1882
Government and Politics - Crime and Punishment - Crime - Alcohol
Government and Politics - Crime and Punishment - Vice - Alcohol use
Government and Politics - Political Parties - Prohibition
Government and Politics - Reform and Protest - Prohibition and temperance
Government and Politics - State Government - Governors - St. John, John Pierce
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - Notable Kansans - St. John, John Pierce, 1833-1916
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Thematic Time Period - Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890
Thematic Time Period - Industrialization and the National Economy, 1870 - 1920
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters


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What a weird year. And I can't believe it's already a whole decade into the 2000's? I am not prepared for this! I enjoy the easiness in knowing if someone was born in the 60's, they are now in their 40's; 50's then 50's, and so on! But now everyone is old! You're old! I'm old! I hate it! Go away!
Anyway, my 2009 resolutions were:
- Read more. Okay, I actually did start to read way more.
- Learn how to sew. Nope.
- Get better at replying to emails (heh..heh..) Let's see...1400 unread...hm, yeah, NO.
- Practice guitar more often. Actually yes.
- Keep a journal of everything. Actually yes! Though I haven't written in my diary for a month now, and didn't even start keeping it until September. Hm.
- Stop procrastinating. Um.
- Stop procrastinating. Not really.
- Stop procrastinating. SHUT UP I GET IT OKAY.
And I'm not going to reflect on 2009 because you DON'T LOOK BACK, MAN.
No but really, I don't have much to say! It was weird and exciting and definitely a milestone year. Bat Mitzvah, first Fashion Week, Pop, Tokyo, the beginning of what is-so far-my favorite year of middle school.. most of all I'm really happy because of all the awesome friends I have been incredibly lucky to meet. And I'm lucky because I have awesome readers who email me with links to cool shoes and Youtube videos.
Any more reflecting and I'll have my brain in knots. This year was a good kind of weird and thank you for enjoying it with me.
Happy new year!


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Maine same-sex couples marry in first hours of law
Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 29, 2012
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Arriving in a limo, Donna Galluzzo and Lisa Gorney had all the trappings of a traditional wedding: Rings, flowers, wedding vows, an entourage and a friend to officiate.
With tears in their eyes, they were among the first gay couples to exchange wedding vows early Saturday morning after Maine's same-sex marriage law went into effect at midnight.
"We're paving the way for people to go after us. I think it's just amazing. It's freeing. It's what's right," an emotionally drained Gorney said after their ceremony in front of City Hall.
After waiting years and seeing marriage rights nearly awarded and then retracted, gay couples in Maine's largest city didn't have to wait a moment longer than necessary to wed, with licenses issued at the stroke of midnight as the law went into effect.
Steven Bridges and Michael Snell were the first in line, and they received cheers from more than 200 people waiting outside after they wed in the clerk's office.
"It's historic. We've waited our entire lives for this," said Bridges, a retail manager, who's been in a relationship with the Snell, a massage therapist, for nine years. Bridges, 42, and Snell, 53, wore lavender and purple carnations on black T-shirts with the words "Love is love."
Voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington state approved gay marriage in November, making them the first states to do so by popular vote. Gay marriage already was legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia, but those laws were either enacted by lawmakers or through court rulings.
In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage signed off on the certified election results on Nov. 29, so the new law was to go into effect 30 days from that date. The law already is in effect in Washington state; Maryland's takes effect on Tuesday, the first day of 2013.
Nobody knew exactly how many couples would be rushing to get their marriage licenses early Saturday in Maine. Falmouth joined Portland in opening at midnight. Other communities including Bangor, Brunswick and Augusta planned to hold special Saturday hours.
In Portland, the mood was festive with the crowd cheering and horns sounding at midnight as Bridges and Snell began filling out paperwork in the clerk's office in Portland City Hall. There were free carnation boutonnieres and cupcakes, and a jazz trio played.
Outside, the raucous group that gathered in front of the building cheered Bridges and Snell as if they were rock stars and broke into the Beatles' "All You Need is Love."
Fourteen couples received marriage licenses, and five of them married on the spot, a city spokeswoman said. Many of those who received their marriage license were middle-aged, and some said they never envisioned a day when gay couples could wed just like straight couples.
"I came out years ago and the only thing we wanted was to not get beaten up," said Steven Jones, 50, who married his partner, Jamous Lizotte, on his 35th birthday.
Not everyone was getting married right away.
Suzanne Blackburn and Joanie Kunian, of Portland, were among those in line to get their license at midnight, but they planned to have their marriage ceremony later. One of their grandchildren wanted them to get married on Valentine's Day.
"I don't think that we dared to dream too big until we had the governor's signature," Blackburn said. "That's why it's so important, because it feels real."
Bridges and Snell already considered themselves married because they'd held a commitment ceremony attended by friends and family six years ago. Nonetheless, they thought it was important to make it official under state law, as Snell's two daughters watched.
Katie and Carolyn Snell, the daughters, said the ceremony made formal what they knew all along to be true about the couple.
"It's just a piece of paper," said Katie Snell. "Their love has been there, their commitment has been there, all along. It's the last step to make it a true official marriage because everything else has been there from the start."


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[Note: TIME had spelled the president's surname as "Morsy" based on his Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Southern California; his advisers in Cairo say the preferred spelling is now Morsi. Protocol required President Morsi to answer questions from TIME editors and reporters in his native Arabic, the official language of Egypt. Instead, as a courtesy to his guests, he spoke for most of the hour in English, which he last spoke regularly three decades ago.]
TIME: You're on the world stage now.
President Mohamed Morsi: (In English) The world stage is very difficult. It's not easy to be on the world stage. The world is now much more difficult than it was during your revolution. It's even more difficult. The world. More complicated, complex, difficult. It's a spaghetti-like structure. It's mixed up. So we need to somehow take things, easily, so we can go together, the whole world — peacefully, peacefully, hopefully, all kinds of peace. I think you know that in general people like to say that we should keep peace by all means. I'm not talking about peace by its traditional meaning. Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of living together, socially, culturally, not only militarily.
(MORE: Should Mohamed Morsi be TIME's Person of the Year?)
(Switching to Arabic) Thank you for your interest… a good bridge between Egypt and the U.S.
(In English) By the U.S., I mean the American people more than the authorities, politicians, etc. But the American people as I know are quite friendly, they are civilized, they have struggled, and they have given a lot of their country, to the world. It's a different climate as we see from here but I think the media now have made things very close… [i.e., made the world a smaller place] and people are a small village, getting together.
Winds are blowing here and there and people are busy with their lifestyles but I think they are looking to see a better situation in the world during President Obama's second [term], which is more relaxed. I want to make use of this myself, to have a very strong bridge between us, between the Middle East, Middle Eastern people, and east and west, and certain balance. So people can live feeling really that they are living peacefully, that they are settled and well established in their countries. That they are really doing the best at gaining what they expect, to live in peace, to feel democracy, freedom.
People here haven't experienced any sort of that for more than 30 years — more. Decades living under very suppressive regime, very dictatorial… quite [distant] from the suffering. People felt they were not included in the equation of politics. You know, I've been suffering myself. I have seen East and West, here and there, studying history and seeing what's going on, besides engineering of course. [Note: Morsi has a 1982 Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Southern California.] I have learned a lot from being here and there, especially in the United States, living with the people in the states, and the university, and industry, and the markets and the shops.
Of course the media then wasn't as strong as it is now, but I [would wake up] to Good Morning America every day, Barbara Walters and her great programs. And of course,Walter Cronkite… And I haven't forgot … the captives in Iran [during the Carter presidency]…. [And the day he left office] they released the captives, who had been held for more than a year. That was a big struggle and debate going on.
Things have been going on in a certain way between East and West, and also the South. The people in the South have also been suffering a lot from being put out of the international equation. Now we want to bring the people into international affairs, so they feel that they are living in their countries, they are free, they say, they move, they produce, they work, they gain, they lose, whatever. This is very important. This is a new period, I think, not only for Egypt or the people of the Arab Spring, but I think for the whole world. To reconsider what has been done wrong in the past and see how can we make it correct, as much as we can. It takes time. So speed is low, acceleration is high. Somehow we're pushing in all directions, trying to say to the people of the world, and convince the governments and the leaders that we should live at peace.
Conflict does not lead to stability in the world. Cooperation, how can we do that? It's a struggle. It's a very, very difficult struggle. To have a new culture, international culture, respecting individual countries and people's cultures, their local ones, but can we have an international culture? Can we do that? A culture of cooperation, a culture of stopping war, bloodshed. Culture of real peaceful means of trade, militant actions to defend, not to attack, of using power in civilian applications, more than in militant applications. How can we do that? I think we can. It has been done earlier really, two or three centuries, back. But things have been done in certain way. Two world wars, more than 50 million killed…
I don't like people in my country to say, "The United States is against us," because I know the American people are different from these positions that have been taken for a long time — double standards — and you know what's going on in the world. But now I think I'm starting a new era, based on balanced, mutual benefits relationship which should be respected from all sides. Africa. The Arab world. The Islamic world. European Union, Russia and China. There is a very, very big strong difficult competition.
That's why I say It's not as easy as it was. I still remember, there was a saying in the United States, when the people say we are a nation of all nations. This is an expressive expression. It tells something [in a] very short, concentrated [way]. It says: we can live together. I think the States has been successful at this to a great extent. But internationally there are other things. The evaluation says different things.
So how can we do this? Economics now are not balanced in the world. Raw materials are one part, technology and products — very advanced scientific applications — are in the other side. Taking the raw materials, producing it, selling it back, there is a very big difference in price, keep the poor poorer, make the rich richer. We want to make some sort of balance in economics, not only in politics. They are related of course. And I think socially, we cannot be identical, never. Culturally, we cannot be identical.
We can cooperate, we can integrate. As much as we can. How can we do that? I think leaders in the world have a great responsibility in this. Human beings can live together.
I remember a movie. Which one? Planet of the Apes. The old version, not the new one. There is new one. Which is different. Not so good. It's not expressing the reality as it was the first one. But at the end, I still remember, this is the conclusion: When the big monkey, he was head of the supreme court I think — in the movie! — and there was a big scientist working for him, cleaning things, has been chained there. And it was the planet of the apes after the destructive act of a big war, and atomic bombs and whatever in the movie. And the scientists was asking him to do something, this was 30 years ago: "Don't forget you are a monkey." He tells him, "Don't ask me about this dirty work." What did the big ape, the monkey say? He said, "You're human, you did it [to] yourself." That's the conclusion. Can we do something better for ourselves?
I saw it 30 years ago. That is the role of the art. This is the very important role of art. Gone with the Wind has been treating social problems. Five in Hell. That was the Arabic title. Five Americans working behind German lines and they were using primitive military devices. I think it was Charles Bronson or something like that. My hard disk still carries a few things!
(PHOTOS: Thousands in Cairo Protest Morsi's Decree)
What was it like to deal with president Obama during the Gaza cease-fire?
President Obama has been very helpful, very helpful. And I can say really that his deeds coincide with his intentions. We've been talking together about the cease-fire, that's very important, then we can talk about differences between Palestinians and Israelis. It's not easy. It's very difficult. Both sides are talking about differences. We want them to talk about similarities…. We are now doing this job as much as we can.
If we can succeed with 60-70% I consider this a big success. If we go forward, this area of the world will be better as far as peace is concerned. The stability of this area, Egypt and surroundings, is very important. That's why we have a big challenge in Egypt. We have forces that try to drag back. This is no doubt. And also you can see that in Tunisia. You can see that in Libya. You can see that seriously in Syria, dragging situations back to whatever it was is a [goal]. We're fighting [for this goal], not the people. And this area should have its opportunity to develop. The price of development is much, much cheaper than war. People are looking strongly to see better situations, better lives for their children, grandchildren, for their area.
It takes time. It's a bottleneck. A bottleneck takes years. In the States it has taken years and blood, for a long time, not a short time. And Abraham Lincoln was considered a milestone, telling the people how to get together after the war, how can we see our country in a better situation. [He'd] been given a chance, and I think he succeeded to a great extent. But suffering has created after it stability. Or insisting on stability when the suffering is more than after the birth, people will realize that they should stick with what they have achieved.
So when the world is looking to itself to see what's going on, I think they're now realizing, people in the world are realizing that freedom is better than dictatorship. Democracy is better for the whole world. if there is a spot where you have dictatorship, where people are not free, people are not satisfied, they do not find food and shelter, they are under the poverty level, this is a dangerous spot for the whole world, because those people will move, and they will move to different places. They will be carrying bad feelings towards others. They may behave badly. They may behave wrongly. So how can we assure development for Africa, for the Middle East, for countries in this area? Egyptians are ready. We have resources. We have potential. We have very unique distinguished [population], so to speak. We are ready. We are in the road. We are trying to push and go. It's not easy. The momentum that is needed for this pushing should be very high.
Our ship has been somehow put on the sand, not on the water, so we have to drag it forward, not backward, to real clean water. It's not easy. To keep good relationship with the world, to help development, to make integration between development and international affairs and investment and economics, to spread over the good intentions and acts, also. To have mutual and balanced relationships with others. To take hatred from the hearts that has been built up. People have been seeing all the time: bloodshed in Palestine and different places, Iraq and Afghanistan, now in Yemen, Libya. They feel bad. [Trials that divide] North and South, East and West, Darfur, whatever. [Instability] in the Gulf. Threatening Iran and its role in international politics and the world. The fight around the fields of oils. These all are things that are mixed up together, that needs stronger leadership, with a vision… who should take the lead and act.
It's time [for] action. Principles are agreed upon. But application of the principles? No one can debate about the principles. Everyone talks about peace, everyone talks about development, everyone talks about independence of different countries. The United Nations was built in 1947. Before that was the League of Nations. But actually, on the ground, the action is weak. I think we are more than 190 states. Now the Palestinians are trying to have a foot on the ground. And we help them. That doesn't mean they will be capable to [stage] attacks on others. I don't think they have this capability. The maximum they have is to resist, is to say what [do] we have to lose?
(MORE: Egypt's Morsi: Has He Started Something He Can't Finish?)
Is the Muslim Brotherhood in fact a democratic organization?
By definition, yes. It's a big yes, sure. This stems from belief, Islamic belief, freedom for everyone, freedom of belief, freedom of expressing their opinions, equality, stability, human rights. ERA. It's not only in America. Equal Rights Amendment. Everyone. This is a belief, this is coming from our belief: democracy, equal chance. But also responsibility. Law, constitution.
Egypt is an ancient country; it's an ancient state also. The constitution in Egypt is quite old. 1923. [The] first one. And we move toward more stable positions. We cannot get stable unless we have freedom, democracy, rights for everyone, equal rights, equal rights for men and women, for Muslim, Christians, for whoever is carrying any opinion The common thing, the base line, the reference is, the nationality, the citizenship–Egyptian, that's all. And the law is for everyone.
We have had big violations. So what the Muslim Brotherhood has all the time trying to have settled is an institutional, constitutional state, so if we have the opportunity, I think It's for the benefit of the Egyptians, the benefit of everyone in Egypt, Christians and Muslims and the benefit to the Muslim Brotherhood and others is to have an institutional, constitutional state.
(Switching to Arabic) I'm very keen on having true freedom of expression. True freedom of faith. And free practice of religious faith. I am keen and I will always be keen on exchange [transfer] of power. I'm an elected president. My chief responsibility is to maintain the national ship to go through this transitional period. This is not easy. Egyptians are determined to [move] forward within the path of freedom and democracy, and this is what I see. Justice and social justice. Development with its comprehensive overall meaning. Human development. Industrial productive development. Scholarly research. Political development. International relations balanced with all different parties, East and West. We are keen in Egypt and I am personally keen right now on maintaining freedom, democracy, justice and social justice. The MB do not say anything different from that.
Last week's decree created a lot of controversy. If you had it to do over again, would you handle it differently? Revise it?
(In English) Oh no, I don't see the situation this way. What I can see now is the Egyptians are free. They are raising their voices when they are opposing the president, and when they are opposing what's going on. And this is very important. It's their right to express, and to raise their voices and express their feelings and attitudes. But It's my responsibility, I see things more than they do. I think you have seen the most recent opinion surveys. I think more than 80, around 90% of the people in Egypt are — according to these opinion measures — they are with what I have done. It's not against the people, It's with the people, coincides with the benefits. There is some difference between what's happening now in expressing the opinions of the people and what happened in January 2011 [during the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak]. There is now some violence that we haven't seen before, which constitutes something bad going on.
This is my responsibility, but in general the expression is okay. But there is some violence. Also there is some relation shared between these violent acts and some symbols of the previous regime. I think you and I — I have more information — but you can feel that there is something like this in this matter.
I'm not worried. I'm concerned. And I'm sure Egyptians will pass through this. We're learning. We're learning how to be free. We haven't seen this before. We're learning how to debate. How to differ. How to be majority and minority. It's not minority but majority and opposition. We don't have a parliament now. That's too bad. We don't have a constitution now. That [situation is] urging us, pushing people, to finish this but in some sort of stable climate and situation so people can go and vote on the constitution. We want to finish it.
…I'm president of all of [the people], to see what's going on on our borders, to see what's going on in the south, to see what's going on in the Mediterranean Sea, to see what's going on in Sinai, to see what's going on in Tahrir, to see what's going on in different places. This is a big responsibility now. It's a challenge. And It's not threatening but It's important. I have to look into it and see how can we can manage to pass through this bottleneck. It's a long bottleneck, it has been for two years or more. It may take some time more. But I am sure we will be moving toward having a constitution. This is very important. If we had a constitution, then all of what I have said or done last week, will stop [he wipes his hands].
(MORE: After the Power-Play in Egypt: Morsy and the Islamists Vs. Everyone Else)
We will have a constitution, which represents the people well. Now we don't have a parliament, so I am responsible [he raises a finger in the air] for issuing laws, which is a big responsibility, serious one. I don't like to use it unless I do have to. If I don't, if I am not obligated, then I don't like to use it. We are moving, slowly, [with] difficultly, but also successfully. So when we see people expressing themselves, [in] large numbers, good. This is a positive sign. But violence is not. So whoever is trying and doesn't observe the benefit of the majority of the people and trying to rock the boat, then it's the responsibility of the president, of the government to see what's going on. Rocking the boat is not to the benefit of anyone. To the contrary It's against.
We have a situation, a delicate one. We're moving, we're learning. We have freedom, a new climate, a new environment. People are free. They're expressing. They're moving. No one is stopping them but violence is not allowed, shouldn't be allowed. It's against the law. It's against the benefit of the people. If we keep telling things peacefully this is good. This is one of the advantages of the Egyptian revolution. Blood in a minimum level, and It's still like this.
We guard [the people]. We're looking. We measure. We see. We allow the people to move. They are free. But the responsibility is to have them safe, to guard them. To give them the opportunity to express but without violence on the borders of Meydane Tahrir. [Tahrir Square] It started before even I issued the constitutional [decree]; it has started for more than eight days or something. It's some sort of … misunderstanding from a few. But it's okay. It will pass. It will go, and I think it will be registered as a good spot in our movement in history in the last two years. I think we had big things like this several times. And during the presidential election you see what was happening. It was a great big unusual conflict between old powers and the new acts of the revolution.
It's a first experiment, it's a first experience for us in our history. So what do you expect? Things to go very smooth? No. It has to be a rough, at least. Not violent, but rough. So, we have enough patience. Hopefully, quickly we'll pass quickly to the constitution. It will be as I understand from the constitution committee, a month or something. I say two months. I give them some time to have a social and society debate around the articles, about 230 articles, they are differing around about 15 of them. It takes some time. They're doing their best. I'm trying to make conversations with all political parties, as much as we can. The church, other blocs.
So Egypt is moving. We have a new Egypt now. A civil state, not theocratic, not militant. A real civil constitutional state, that is going. There is some resistance. There are difficulties, obstacles, many things we can see, but it's moving. Egyptians will succeed, Inshallah.
This year, 2012, was a big year, a lot happened. Many hail you as a statesman, others warn you're a new pharaoh.
New pharaoh? [Laughs from the gut.] Can I be? I've been suffering, I've been suffering, personally!
(Switching to Arabic) Political work for me started a very long time ago. 1986. I was nominated for parliamentary elections in 1995 and these elections were false. Then I was nominated in the year 2000 for parliamentary elections, and I became a member of parliament 2000-2005. And I was also nominated for 2005 and again the elections were forged. I have been responsible for political work at the Muslim Brotherhood for ten years. I come from within Egyptian society. I know the entire society, the people and what they suffer from. I originally come from [Sharkia] governate, east Cairo, but I'm a graduate from Cairo University. And I received my Ph.D. from the US.
I went to prison, [he touches his tie] and I was the chair of the materials department at university when I went to prison. The reason why I went to prison is that I was defending the judiciary and Egyptian judges. I know perfectly what it means to have separation between the three powers, executive power, legislative power and the judiciary. This is the main concept about a state based on institutions. The people are the original source of power. The president represents the executive power, and the president is elected by the people. And I'm keen that the people would have complete freedom of elections, and I'm keen on exchange [transfer] of power through free elections. I went all over the world, whether in the U.S., in Europe or the East, and I know how things are run. I know about technology, about research, scientific applications, culture, civilization, differences between nations of the world, the nature of history. And I'm a scholar of Islamic… (Switches back to English) I'm not a scholar, I'm talking about Islam. I know what Islam is, really. I know what Islam is, the meaning of comprehensive Islam, the meaning of peaceful acts and how Islam can be applied in the life of people. The misinterpretation of some of the Islamic figures also is not appropriate. I know what's the real target and meaning and applications of Islam. I've been performing , practicing it for a long time, in my life, in society, in the parliament and now for how many months I've been in the presidential [palace]? It's five months. Not 30 years [the length of Mubarak's rule]. It's five months.
It's not two years, not 30 years, It's five months. It's five months after a big destruction, corruption, bad deeds. People have always been marginalized. I've been part of the revolution. And from the Muslim Brotherhood I was in charge of the action in Tahrir square, representing the Muslim Brotherhood during the revolution. Things are clear and I'm very happy to have you in this visit. Final question?
I hope, when we have a constitution, what I have issued will stop immediately, and l have others sharing this with you, we'll have a parliament, we'll have elections. So It's two months.
Is there enough of a buy-in from the society at large on the constitution?
They will vote on it. Now they are sharing their opinions in a committee, a legal committee, elected on. When they finish, then I will take it and put it in debate in society for two weeks or something, then people will vote. It's their complete responsibility. I can say my opinion.
But what about the political environment around it? Don't events of the last week indicate a society pulling part rather than coming together around it?
No, It's not pulling apart. It's not pulling apart. It's a majority and opposition. I can see it very clear. But the opposition is not like it was before. They have the right, they do what they say. If you have 25% or 30% opposition, that's a big number. We have [a population of] 90 million.
So expressing, as I said, peacefully expressing opposition is very healthy. It's very important. But not violently. That's what's different. And violence is related to, as I said, the old regime, some way or another. They try to stop, to drag.
2012 is the best year for the Egyptians in their lives, in their history. We've had the first presidential real elections, in our history. It was not easy. It's not easy now. We're suffering, but always a new birth is not easy, especially if it's the birth of a nation. And a big nation like this, an ancient one, a strong one, and it has very deep roots in history. We have scientist, we have politicians, we have opposition, we have farmers, we have scholars, we have children, It's…it's an infinite variety.
It's not easy to lead it now, but It's okay. We are capable of doing it. Inshallah we'll do it successfully, peacefully. To us and to the whole region and to the whole world. We came with a mission of peace. We are not against individuals or countries or states, we wan to live in peace with others, but real peace, comprehensive peace.


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