If they were selling cigarettes to kids, you know there would be hell to pay

What do you suppose would happen to some male employee of Verizon Wireless or Universal Music Group if he wandered through Corporate Cubicle Land serenading female employees thus?

I see you windin' n grindin' up on that pole,
I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know, girl

Money in the air as mo feel grab you by your coattail, take you to the motel, hoe sale,
Don't tell, won't tell, baby said I don't talk Dogg but she told on me, oh well,
Take a picture wit me, what the flick gon' do, baby stick to me & ima stick on u,
If you pick me then ima pick on you, d-o-double g and I'm here to put this d*** on you, I'm stuck on p**** n urs is right, wrip riding them poles and them doors is tight and tighter
And ima get me a shot for the end of the night cause p**** is p****, and baby you're p**** for life.

I see you windin' n grindin' up on that pole,
I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know, girl

Shorty I can see you ain't lonely handful of niggas n they all got cheese,
So you looking at me now whats it's gonna be? just another tease far as I can see,
Tryin' to get you up out this club if it means spendin' a couple dubs,
Throwin' bout 30 stacks in the back make it rain like that cause I'm far from a scrub,
U know my pedigree, ex-deala use to move phetamines,
Girl I spend money like it don't mean nuttin' n besides I got a thang for u.

I see you windin' n grindin' up on that pole,
I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know, girl

Mobbin' through club in low pressing I'm sitting in the back in the smokin' section (just smoking),
Birds eye, I got a clear view, you can't see me but I can see you (baby I see u),
It's cool we jet the mood is set,
Your p**** is wet, you rubbing your back and touching your neck,
Your body is movin' you humpin' n jumpin' your t****** is bouncin', you smilin' n grinin' n looking at me.

Girl n while your lookin' at me I'm ready to hit the caddy right up on the patio move the patty to the caddy,
Baby you got a phatty the type I'd like to marry wantin' to just give you everything, that's kinda scary,
'Cause I'm loving the way you shake your ass, bouncin', got me tippin' my glass,
Normally don't get caught up too fast but I got a thang for you.

I see you windin' n grindin' up on that pole,
I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know, girl

I see you windin' n grindin' up on that pole,
I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know
I wanna f*** you, (f*** you) you already know, girl

HE'D GET FIRED for sexual harrassment, you say? I'm sure you're probably correct.

Now watch the video below (and viewers be advised, this is highly vulgar, sexually explicit content) and tell me what would happen if some male employee tried this at the Verizon Wireless or Universal Music Group corporate "holiday" party.

HE'D GET CANNED, you say? Quite possibly get the hell beat out of him . . . before somebody called the cops and he got arrested for sexual assault?

I think you'd -- again -- be correct.

But if the first f'rinstance was a hit hip-hop single and the second f'rinstance was a "dance" onstage -- with a 14-year-old girl, no less -- at a concert in Trinidad, well, that's just show biz. And the soulless little men in the conservative suits at Verizon Wireless and the Universal Music Group won't be letting niggling matters like extreme vulgarity or sexual assualt on a juvenile get in the way of making a buck off the popularity of ex-con R&B star Akon.

From World Net Daily:

Hip-hop superstar Akon is touring the U.S. with the help of major U.S. corporations, including a partnership with Verizon, despite being under investigation for a simulated rape of a 14-year-old preacher's daughter caught on video last month at a concert in Trinidad.

Patrick Manning, prime minister of Trinidad, called for a formal investigation of the explicit April 12 performance at Trinidad's Club Zen, which has since been closed by authorities.

"I have taken very careful notice of this matter and the owner of Zen owes it to the public to take responsibility," said Manning. "I will be interfacing with Zen because that kind of thing should never be allowed to happen in this country."

Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds described the on-stage antics with Danah Alleyne as "lewd." He insists Akon should be prosecuted.

The girl is the daughter of Flaming World Ministry pastor David Alleyne. She came forward, with her father, to apologize for going on stage with the Senegalese-American Akon, saying she regrets attending the concert.

The shocking video has been pulled from the popular video site YouTube, though copies of it can be found on many other Internet sites.

The teen said she was permitted into the club despite being underage. She was part of what was characterized as an impromptu dance competition announced by the singer. The competition featured seven girls. Akon promised a trip to Africa to the winner. After the teen "won" the contest, Akon announced the Africa prize was actually him.

"I got carried away, I started to dance as well, but I never thought it was going to be like that," Danah Alleyne told the Trinidad Express. "I was shocked. My head was hitting the floor.

Other officials in Trinidad have called for Akon to be banned from further public performances on the island.

The video shows Akon throwing Alleyne on the floor like a "rag doll" and simulating violent sex with her in various positions. The crowd cheers the entire ordeal.

Though Akon and his managers have refused comment on the incident, his defenders on the Internet have attacked the girl for her provocative dress and alluring looks.

"This whole hip hop thing is a guise and I don't want any part of it," said the girl later. "I don't want any part of it. Look at what I have to go through with one mistake that I made. My Dad warned me every time and I didn't listen. I am sorry."

She says now her only dancing will be in the dance ministry of her father's church.

(snip)

Besides the controversy in Trinidad, Akon has served jail time for armed robbery and drug sales. But that hasn't stopped him from appearing recently as a guest performer on "American Idol" and receiving corporate support from companies like Verizon.

Earlier this year, Verizon Wireless announced a partnership with him on a marketing campaign to promote mobile music phones and appear in a TV ad currently airing throughout the U.S.

"Akon has emerged as one of the world's most compelling and exciting stars," said John Harrobin, vice president of marketing and new media for Verizon. "His commitment to his artistry and the community enables us to take our partnership with music industry innovators in yet another direction by collaborating on this unique TV advertising campaign."

Recently Akon participated in a Verizon Wireless event celebrating Black History Month coinciding with the launch of a new store in Harlem.

Akon's recording "Konvicted" was near the top of the Billboard album charts for weeks. He's a best-selling performer in more than a dozen countries including the United Kingdom, France, Canada and South Africa.

This is not the first time Akon has been criticized for dirty dancing. In his video for his hit "Snack Dat," Akon hits actress Tara Reid on her behind and then sandwiches her in a sexually provocative way between himself and another man.

Police officers were in the club during the act but did not intervene. Leela Ramdeen, chairwoman of the police service commission, said an investigation into why is under way.

WE ALWAYS SEEM to look for evil in the form of madmen flying jetliners into skyscrapers or, perhaps, unhinged gunmen slaughtering innocents on some unsuspecting campus. Or maybe you're looking for abject evil in the specter of George W. Bush or, alternatively, Hillary Clinton.

Rarely do we look for evil in the faceless corporate executive who'll sell any poison to anybody's kid so that share prices will soar heavenward. We think abject evil is some scary, macabre and twistedly dashing thing. We think the Devil still dresses in a red cape and carries a pitchfork.

I firmly believe in the banality of evil. I believe the Devil carries a BlackBerry.

I believe Satan is pulling overtime at Verizon Wireless and at the Universal Music Group. I believe Satan was physically present in the cheering Trinidadian crowd, the one egging Akon on as he molested a child.

I believe Beelzebub books guests and schedules videos on MTV. And at BET. I believe ol' Screwtape had a hand in slating Akon for a guest shot on American Idol.

I believe the Master of Lies is in charge of a big chunk of American radio. And I believe the Evil One is hiding out in all our hearts, particularly when we look upon his handiwork in the culture all around us -- in the office all around us, in the classroom all around us -- and we stare upon it slackjawed (or worse) and do nothing.

Unlike some other bloggers and commentators, I don't think the New Dark Ages are just down the road.

I think they're here.

Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.