Monday, April 09, 2007

Freedom of Speech

We really don't have freedom of speech in this country. Although you may not be legally punished for the words you speak, you are socially and economically punished and judged by phonies who hold a solid perch on the moral high ground.
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Black activists like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson are the worse offenders. They can call New York "Hymietown" and stand by while Black rappers call each other "Niggers" in the most egregious fashion. But if a white guy like Don Imus makes an offhanded remark in a humorous nature, he is roundly condemned.
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Something said in humor is just that... you may not like the humor, it may be bad and in poor taste, but if it can be defined as humorous, the speaker gets a pass. Until, Sharpton passes judgement on the host of Black entertainers who freely use the "Nigger" phrase, he holds no credibility.
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Can't we be free to make our own judgement of a person's use of speech?
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Anybody who took Imus' characterization of the Rutger's women's basketball team as "Nappy Headed Hoes" seriously is the offender, and Imus holds no guilt for the acceptance of an off-handed remark as valid. What kind of idiot would buy into that phrase for a college women's basketball team as having any vestige of truth? That's the genesis of humor in such an outrageous statement.
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I don't need Al Sharpton to tell me that Imus's remark holds no credibility. If Imus continues to say stupid things, I have the choice to refuse to listen to him. Sharpton has every right to disagree, and absolutely no right to have Imus silenced.
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Imus made a bad joke. Sharpton insults all of us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Amen. It is a cottage industry, taking offense, or finding offense and clamoring for silence. If he got the silence he asked for, Al would be back to pimpin' the same hos that Imus was holding up as a humorous stereotype juxtaposed against world class athletes. What is worse, an off color comment or a deliberate attempt to ruin a man's name and profession ? - I refer to the Tawana Brawley incident. Alton H. Maddox, C. Vernon Mason joined Sharpton in support of Brawley's claims of being assaulted and raped in a racillay motivated incident by 6 white men, some of them cops. A grand jury was convened; after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley lied about being assaulted by the police. Sharpton, Maddox and Mason were later successfully sued for statements made in connection with the case, and ordered to pay $345,000 in damages. All three falsely accused the case prosecutor, Steven Pagones, as being among those who abducted and raped Brawley. The jury found Sharpton liable for making seven defamatory statements about Pagones, Maddox for two and Mason for one.

Sharption has not paid a penny. The other two jokers were disbarred.