Rants and Raves of a SPPACEY nature.

[Blaze]

[quote="Bigity";p="732132"]Media loves the smell of blood in the water.

I liked it today when Imus asked when Sharpton was going to apologize to the Duke students falsely accused of rape.[/quote]

That WAS genius.

I'm not kidding when I say we're headed for another round of racial riots in this country. And you know why?

Because the majority is getting sick and freaking tired of being PC. I'm 100% for equality in all things, and I think racism is a terrible thing.

But I also want my frigging freedom of speech back.

[gluttony]

Because the majority is getting sick and freaking tired of being PC. I'm 100% for equality in all things, and I think racism is a terrible thing. But I also want my frigging freedom of speech back.

Also, the majority is getting fed up with affirmative action. It seems every group needs a leg-up somewhere these days.

[spikegirl7]

a lot of schools are actually getting rid of affirmative action, a move i heartily approve of. And if the NAACP is making a fuss about it they're being ignored (as they damn well should be).

[Deacon]

That's racist. You're racist. You should lose your job.

[StruckingFuggle]

[quote="The Cid";p="732135"]It's like this: If you live by the sword, I suggest you learn to deal with dying by the sword. If you make a living throwing jokes around that most people would be too "polite" to even think up, then you'd better learn to deal with the angry throngs. Especially if you don't have a very good answer to "who in the Hell do you think you are to be making these jokes?"[/quote]

My answer to that has always been "a human being, an American citizen, and a man with a sense of humor." Which pretty much covers it.

And Cid, I don't think it's like that. If you throw jokes, you should expect jokes to be thrown back, or maybe even insults, but throwing metaphoric or literal stones in return for jokes, or any other sort of angry throng, is a bit much just for some harmless and stupid speech some idiot throws about.

[The Cid]

I disagree. If everyone else is going to stand up and defend Imus' right to say what he said, I'll stand up and defend the right of a lot of people to be angry with that. The first amendment works both ways you know.

You don't say that, you don't admit on 60 Minutes to saying your producer is there to write the "n- jokes," and you don't call prominent athletes ape-like without catching Hell for it. I'm not condoning any physical violence and never even got close to that and you know it. I'm condoning the right of the people Imus offended--and let's face it, likely was trying to offend--to be angry with his routine.

[StruckingFuggle]

You're right, I guess. Actually, mostly right. It's their right to be angry, so long as it doesn't lead to violence, and it's not so bad unless they start trying to get him fired or something.

But they're still overreacting, it's hardly a commesurate reply; and even if they're well within their rights to freak out and overreact, that doesn't mean that it's what they should be doing.

[gluttony]

But they're still overreacting, it's hardly a commesurate reply; and even if they're well within their rights to freak out and overreact, that doesn't mean that it's what they should be doing.

Why shouldn't they? Just because he's a shock jock doesn't mean that people somehow are immune to being offended. There isn't some sort of Certified Asshole card that allows you protection against people being mad at you. That's like simply excusing somebody for being rude by saying "Don't be mad at him, he's just an asshole. Love him the way he is!" Fuck that, he's an asshole.

I don't even think people overreacted. The media overreacted, but that's what the media is there for.

[StruckingFuggle]

Who said anything about loving him? Or even not being offended. Until he does something actually harmful, shut up and be offended in silence, and certainly don't turn it into a fucking media circus.



Also: uhm, the media are people, and even then, it's not just the anchors and the like parroting the stories and the quotes, it's all the people who then use the media to launch their platforms and prattle on and on and on and would, say, ... oh, what the hell is his name? The guy they joked about burying in a tracksuit with his bling on futurama, please shut the hell up and get off the news and the conferences and the talk shows?

I mean, fuck. To all the people beating their chests for whatever camera will focus on them: grow some balls, you thin-skinned attention whore.

[gluttony]

Who said anything about loving him? Or even not being offended. Until he does something actually harmful, shut up and be offended in silence, and certainly don't turn it into a fucking media circus.

Why the fuck should people shut up and be offended in silence, when we have both the right and prerogative to speak against it?

I mean, fuck. To all the people beating their chests for whatever camera will focus on them: grow some balls, you thin-skinned attention whore.

And to all the people offended in silence, I hope you exercise your rights and speak against those that seek to harm you, with either words or weapons. Some societies force you to suffer in silence- we're fortunate enough to have one in which we can freely respond.

[The Cid]

First off, the fact that we still refer to any group of FELLOW AMERICAN CITIZENS "they" and act like they NEED an agenda is part of the problem.

I already said I agreed that this is overreaction. What I wanted to illustrate, as I believe I have done, is that pretty much nobody posting in this thread knows quite what it's like to deal with guys like Imus. In other words: it's really easy for a bunch of white people to say all this. But at the end of the day, there's just some stuff that we're not going to understand.

I don't get it either. I didn't get why the media spent more than a fortnight on the Michael Richards incident. Words can be terrible, but they're still just words. Of course, there aren't any such words that can be used against white, gentile, northerner Americans like myself. So maybe that's why I don't get it. Short of some resentment some folks have toward white guys in general, I've never come CLOSE to being on the worst side of racism.

You're right, as the first column I posted here was right, that there are more pressing issues at hand than the words of some idiot shock jock. But I want to make my opinion clear: That does NOT excuse Don Imus from this idiotic, ignorant statement. It does NOT excuse Imus from his 60 minutes interview, or comparing black tennis stars to apes.

[spikegirl7]

although i think that this is blown out of proportion, i support the media's and the people's right to do so. IMO, saying "nappy-headed hos" is not nearly as bad as some of the shit I've seen in some of the Hip-Hop videos. But it's a white guy, so he doesn't have a right to say that.

But if people want to act like this then they can go ahead. They have that right. They just better not come around me saying shit like they are or I'll have to yell at them or slug 'em.

[StruckingFuggle]

I already said I agreed that this is overreaction. What I wanted to illustrate, as I believe I have done, is that pretty much nobody posting in this thread knows quite what it's like to deal with guys like Imus.

*snort* Right, because Imus is worse than someone like, say, Jesse Jackson. or anyone out there demanding reparations from me, or some black dude who wants to call me The Man and automatically distrust anything I say or do in an insulting manner... Please.

Though, huh, I'm not familiar with the 60 minutes interview or the apes thing. I'm not exactly following the whole circus beyond the initial news stories and then what you pick up on The Daily Show or in threads like this where it's impossible to not soak up a bit of it through cultural osmosis.

I agree there's no real excuse for his behavior, but what I don't agree with is that his behavior is excuse for what's followed in its wake.

Posted Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:00 pm:

[quote="spikegirl7";p="732170"]IMO, saying "nappy-headed hos" is not nearly as bad as some of the shit I've seen in some of the Hip-Hop videos. But it's a white guy, so he doesn't have a right to say that.[/quote]

Fuck the what?

Why is it alright for some black dude to say something like that, but NOT alright for Imus to say it? If it's right or wrong to say something like "nappy-headed hos" (oh NOEZ ) in and of itself might be a valid discussion, but what the hell does the speaker's race have to do with determining if it's right or wrong?

[Deacon]

[quote="The Cid";p="732163"]I'll stand up and defend the right of a lot of people to be angry with that.[/quote]
That's odd, because I don't think anyone said they can't be angry about it. So...you're defending it from whom, exactly?

you don't call prominent athletes ape-like without catching Hell for it.

Why not? What if they are ape-like?

[quote="gluttony";p="732165"]Just because he's a shock jock doesn't mean that people somehow are immune to being offended.[/quote]
Thankfully we do not yet have a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing you the right to not be offended. On the other hand, there is a right to free speech. There's no legal requirement to be reasonable, of course, and I believe the reaction to this statement is unreasonable, and the reaction being largely just a display of opportunism by people who have a vested interest in fanning the flames of racially motivated anger, reasonable or (more commonly) otherwise.

The media overreacted, but that's what the media is there for.

Then I disagree as to the purpose of the media.

[gluttony]

Though, huh, I'm not familiar with the 60 minutes interview or the apes thing. I'm not exactly following the whole circus beyond the initial news stories and then what you pick up on The Daily Show or in threads like this where it's impossible to not soak up a bit of it through cultural osmosis.

He has a huge history of making ridiculously racist comments and then swearing that it was a mistake and that he will change his evil ways. Then he'll start making the same comments again. I think the apes thing comes from when he said that Serena/Venus Williams would be better off posing for National Geographic than Playboy.

Edit: Or maybe it was another time he compared black people to apes, for all I know there are countless times he's used the "ape" angle.