foolish beat
The whole Don Imus fiasco kindof irritates me. Political Correctness has officially gone too far.
I don't even like Don Imus, I just can't understand how a group of people who never would listen to him normally (like the women's basketball team in question) would even care what he says.
Woman's basketball team in question, Al Sharpton, and anyone who was on this bandwagon = woman sitting in the front row in this video.
Auggie Smith is a really funny guy would had an absolute brilliant bit on Bob & Tom this morning, and he wrote the following, which I think is spot on.
2007-04-23
15:55
Is it offensive?
A Supreme Court Justice once said “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it, mostly because when I see it, I’m in a theater called the Pink Pussy and there is a man sitting next to me masturbating.” Okay, that settles that. So how do we define offensive speech in general? I’ll tell you how…by the media’s reaction.
Don Imus got in trouble for offending teenage girls, which is normally a pretty tough thing to accomplish. The rinosaurus-like thickness of adolescent girl’s skin, coupled with her keen sense of spotting sarcasm, usually makes her impervious to the razor- sharp barbs of a gifted satirist. Not this time, however. This time, the offender used the one silver-hollow--tip bullet that will pierce a woman’s Teflon shield: he made fun of her hair.
I imagine as the Rutgers’s girls basketball team gathered around the radio for their normal morning ritual of drinking flavored coffee, talking about their periods and of course, listening to the Don Imus show, they were horrified to hear the obviously premeditated attack on their hair care and sexual ethics, which must have been especially hurtful, coming from a man who is such an icon in the college-age black female community. We all know that Don Imus’s two years of hosting TRL were their highest rated ever. Proving once again, that young people always pay attention to old white men in cowboy hats.
I have to admit that at first, I did not realize that this remark was racist. Here’s how dumb I am…I thought nappy-headed meant you needed a hair cut, and ho meant that you were a prostitute. Lucky for me, there are a litany of group’s in America that have declared themselves moral watchdogs, and can tell us, when something is offensive. (PETA, The Anti-Defamation League, Al Sharpton, The Catholic Church, Barbara Streisand, The Organization Aainst Anti-Asian Depictions In The Media, Jesse Jackson, Dr. Laura, NOW, Dr. Phil, The 700 club, and The FCC) All very accurate moral compasses. Well I don’t have to tell you that when one or more of these ethical heavyweights tells me to be outraged, well then, hand me a sign and tell me what entrance to block, because if you don’t find nappy-headed ho to be racially insensitive, then you are obviously, a racist.
I know that there are Imus defenders that say “well why wasn’t Jesse Jackson fired when he said Hymietown.” Well that’s easy morons…he doesn’t have a job. He is far too busy deciding what the rest of us should think and feel, then to show up at an office everyday.
Speaking as someone who makes his living using words, it is very important to know which words are okay and which ones are not. I refer to it as “the do not call me that” list. Ann Coulter and Michael Richards got in trouble for using words that have been on that list for some time. Well we can all add Imus’s “nappy-headed hos”, George Allen’s “macaca”, and Joe Biden’s “clean” to that most sacred of scrolls. So, to my fellow comics, writers, talk-show hosts, DJ's and karaoke singers, when in doubt, just remember, “I can’t define offensive, but if anyone, anywhere finds what you say to be offensive, then it is.”
Glad we got all that cleared up.
I don't even like Don Imus, I just can't understand how a group of people who never would listen to him normally (like the women's basketball team in question) would even care what he says.
Woman's basketball team in question, Al Sharpton, and anyone who was on this bandwagon = woman sitting in the front row in this video.
Auggie Smith is a really funny guy would had an absolute brilliant bit on Bob & Tom this morning, and he wrote the following, which I think is spot on.
2007-04-23
15:55
Is it offensive?
A Supreme Court Justice once said “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it, mostly because when I see it, I’m in a theater called the Pink Pussy and there is a man sitting next to me masturbating.” Okay, that settles that. So how do we define offensive speech in general? I’ll tell you how…by the media’s reaction.
Don Imus got in trouble for offending teenage girls, which is normally a pretty tough thing to accomplish. The rinosaurus-like thickness of adolescent girl’s skin, coupled with her keen sense of spotting sarcasm, usually makes her impervious to the razor- sharp barbs of a gifted satirist. Not this time, however. This time, the offender used the one silver-hollow--tip bullet that will pierce a woman’s Teflon shield: he made fun of her hair.
I imagine as the Rutgers’s girls basketball team gathered around the radio for their normal morning ritual of drinking flavored coffee, talking about their periods and of course, listening to the Don Imus show, they were horrified to hear the obviously premeditated attack on their hair care and sexual ethics, which must have been especially hurtful, coming from a man who is such an icon in the college-age black female community. We all know that Don Imus’s two years of hosting TRL were their highest rated ever. Proving once again, that young people always pay attention to old white men in cowboy hats.
I have to admit that at first, I did not realize that this remark was racist. Here’s how dumb I am…I thought nappy-headed meant you needed a hair cut, and ho meant that you were a prostitute. Lucky for me, there are a litany of group’s in America that have declared themselves moral watchdogs, and can tell us, when something is offensive. (PETA, The Anti-Defamation League, Al Sharpton, The Catholic Church, Barbara Streisand, The Organization Aainst Anti-Asian Depictions In The Media, Jesse Jackson, Dr. Laura, NOW, Dr. Phil, The 700 club, and The FCC) All very accurate moral compasses. Well I don’t have to tell you that when one or more of these ethical heavyweights tells me to be outraged, well then, hand me a sign and tell me what entrance to block, because if you don’t find nappy-headed ho to be racially insensitive, then you are obviously, a racist.
I know that there are Imus defenders that say “well why wasn’t Jesse Jackson fired when he said Hymietown.” Well that’s easy morons…he doesn’t have a job. He is far too busy deciding what the rest of us should think and feel, then to show up at an office everyday.
Speaking as someone who makes his living using words, it is very important to know which words are okay and which ones are not. I refer to it as “the do not call me that” list. Ann Coulter and Michael Richards got in trouble for using words that have been on that list for some time. Well we can all add Imus’s “nappy-headed hos”, George Allen’s “macaca”, and Joe Biden’s “clean” to that most sacred of scrolls. So, to my fellow comics, writers, talk-show hosts, DJ's and karaoke singers, when in doubt, just remember, “I can’t define offensive, but if anyone, anywhere finds what you say to be offensive, then it is.”
Glad we got all that cleared up.