Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Much Ado About Nothing

You've heard about it already, I'm sure. Dan Rather, no friend of Republicans or the right in America on Chris Matthews show, no friend of Republicans...but I digress:



Is there a limit in a nation which supposedly has speech and political expression protected by the First Amendment to what will be proscribed as a racist slur?

Two days ago it was felony charges against two university morons who sprinkled cotton balls on the quadrangle lawn at the University of Missouri. You see cotton balls recall slaves working in the fields of the rebellious South and picking cotton. Can't put cotton in front of an African-American.

Maybe it has been the deep offense of displaying a rope before a minority student because that was the tool of lynch mobs a hundred years ago. Can't have ropes and blacks in the same room.

Watermelon is a fruit and a refreshing treat in the summer. It isn't racist. Fried chicken is a marginally unhealthy American favorite saturated in breading and fat, nothing more. The word "niggardly" means parsimonious or cheap. It isn't a racist slur.

Nothing seems to be too absurd to still be capable of providing racist offense. How about discounting toys which aren't selling as fast as similar models in a different color?

Is Black Barbie Really Worth Less?

Sometimes, as Freud pointed out, a cigar is just a cigar...ooops, inadvertent anti-Clinton joke. Sorry. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Rather quite accurately points out that the President's articulate skills do not translate into observable mangerial competence. To call a failure a failure and to illustrate your language with a metaphor, even a rural one, isn't racist. It is simply accurate.

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