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Political Correctness Gone Wild by Tim Frady
Perhaps the worst enemy of a free people and democracy around the world
is the evil dark force we all have come to know as political correctness.
The best way to describe political correctness might be to compare it to the
Pharisees from Jesus day who took the Ten Commandments and created tons of
detailed rules and regulations to accompany the Commandments until nobody
could keep all the commandments. The Pharisees had gotten to the point that
walking too far or lifting just about anything was considered wrong if it
was done on the Sabbath day. Pretty much the same thing happened during the
very early days of the United States when George Washington got into trouble
riding his horse on Sunday for important business. In some places back then,
even kissing your wife in public on Sunday could get you put in stockades.
Today it is almost impossible to see America, or other democratic
countries, going to the extreme on religious principles as to be at the same
point as Pharisees so many years ago, but instead of God being the excuse
given to go to extremes with public policy, political correctness has taken
over.
Recently in the UK, the Boomerang channel has agreed, on the original
complaint of only one person, to edit out smoking scenes from Tom and Jerry
cartoons. Popeye better watch out; he's probably next. At one point Cartoon
Network had practically banned Speedy Gonzales cartoons because he might be
offensive to those of Mexican origin, even though in Latin countries, Speedy
was one of the most popular cartoon characters.
With this type of mentality, you can see how our hands are tied when it
comes to security. We know that terrorism is originating primarily from
Middle Eastern countries, so in order to not offend those of Middle Eastern
origin, shakedowns at airports have gone as far as to examine 12 year old
girls, and even Al Gore was patted down once in order to avoid the
appearance of favoritism or racial profiling.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want my kid to smoke, or everyone who looks
like they are from the Middle East to be put in jail or harassed, but a
little common sense would go a long way. Editing classic cartoons is just
stupid, and whether or not Al Gore is your favorite politician, I really
don't think he's going to carry a bomb onto a plane, do you?
Take classic TV shows like F-Troop, which was recently been released on
DVD. It is as family friendly as you can get, but it has been almost
nonexistent on TV stations. Even TVLand has only shown a couple of episodes
here and there in the last few years. Could it be because American Indians
are shown to have a sense of humor? I don't know about you, but just how
interesting would comedy be if only white Americans were allowed to
participate in order to avoid any possible offense to a minority? Having
watched the
F-Troop episodes on DVD myself, I can only say that it's great fun.
Everybody falls, everybody does stupid things, be they Indian or Calvary.
It's comedy. Comedy isn't supposed to be serious.
Will Bewitched be next? It might be offensive to those who claim to be
witches. It's amazing the Dukes of Hazzard has been able to beat the
political correctness net with their confederate flag. Even that ruthless
Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies was radical enough to carry a confederate
flag in defiance of her uppity neighbor Mrs. Drysdale. Will those scenes
have to be edited out? For years censors have tried to keep Bugs Bunny and
the gang from shoving anvils and rocks onto the heads of their fellow
cartoon characters. Remember how boring some of the cartoons got in the
1970's when nobody could hit anybody? How much better would the Superfriends
been if Superman could have actually punched Lex Luthor instead of talking
him to death?
Life is too short to be taken too seriously. Perhaps political
correctness does just the opposite of its intent. After all, I think we can
all get along a lot better if we learn to laugh at one another just a
little. It's hard to hate someone that makes you smile. So let's watch the
F-Troop, Speedy Gonzales, & even Popeye and laugh again. Just tell your kids
not too smoke after the show.
About the Author
F-Troop
at http://www.tvcrazy.net where you can
find out about DVDs, collectibles & trivia for all your favorite classic
television shows.
You can't blame Kurdish terror on Islamic 'fascists'
This week's Kurdish terrorist outrages in Turkey are the last thing
anyone wanted, or even expected. The "war on terror", after all, was
supposed to be about Islamic "fascists" attacking the very roots of
civilization, not a bunch of Kurdish separatists with no apparent
religious agenda attacking the vital tourist industry of a country due to
join the European Union.
Worse, they were perpetrated by Kurds, the West's favorite group in
Iraq, the people whom the outside world moved to protect from Saddam
Hussein, and who did so much to encourage Washington and London to invade
Iraq to remove the dictator. No wonder the US, which has always seen
itself as the natural patron of Turkey, as well as the Kurds, moved so
quickly to appoint a special envoy to keep Turks and Kurds on a
cooperative path.
But it's not that easy. No one really knows just who the group, the
self-proclaimed Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, which carried out the latest
bombings in the tourist centres of Turkey, are. They may be an extremist
splinter group of the main PKK separatists, like the Real IRA, a last
violent expression of men of violence marginalised by the process of
political reconciliation. Or they may be an integral part of a broader PKK
upsurge.
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Macaca And Terror Politics - America Is Headed The Wrong
Way! by James Opiko
"Let's give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real
world of Virginia." -- Sen. George Allen, Republican Presidential hopeful
calling a student of Indian descent a "Monkey" in coded racist language.
Allen then began talking about the "war on terror."
The recent terror arrests in Britain show the need to fight "for our
security in a rational, serious way rather than being bogged down in a war
than is harmful to our security." -- Ned Lamont on the terror arrests in the
U.K. after beating incumbent senior Senator of Connecticut, Joseph
Lieberman.
Ned Lamont's Connecticut victory is a victory for "level headed" America.
George Allen's xenophobic slam is a demonstration of the extremist and
desperate direction that some section of this country is so hell bent on
steering it to...a one hundred year backtrack.
George Allen's apology is pure nonsense for his record of
"accomplishments" speaks volumes. This same man:
1. Led the charge against a holiday for Martin Luther King - a prince of
racial peace.
2. Is a key figure in fueling the rampant anti-immigrant mood in the
country today - kick them ALL out (legal & illegal), they are contaminating
our culture, taking our jobs, raping our women and introducing new diseases
to our beloved motherland.
3. Had been dogged by numerous allegations of racial insensitivity for
years as governor - his record as Governor of the state of Virginia
(1994-1998) reeks of racially intolerant acts.
4. Has a past that includes a vociferous admiration of the Confederate
flag and an office that once displayed a noose.
What more does one need to catalog this man as a die-hard racist?
Senator Allen is not only "foolish" and "mean" as some of his moderate
Republican colleagues have called him but he is just a well-chronicled
racist....period!
Because of his desire to become president in 2008 and due to the
cognizance that an extremist will never be elected president in modern
America, Senator Allen has introduced a half-baked anti-lynching legislation
in the Senate and promised to lead the charge for an official apology for
slavery...desperate political gerrymandering tailored to flaunt an extremist
as a moderate.
The two Republican administrations of George Bush and Dick Cheney are
textbook examples of how not to conduct the affairs of any government. I
have watched this administration bungle and mangle the affairs of this great
nation in the most alarming and reckless manner.
The 9-11 debacle was like a gong going off to mark the inauguration of a
"rotten" era in American politics. This grave event has been milked and
abused by greedy and selfish politicians at all levels of government, the
media, the bigots and the supremacists.
Even the religious sycophants and "Jesus Freaks" such as Pat Roberts of
the 700 Club have not been left out. Some are forecasting a third world war
with quotations from the Bible...to advance their agenda of theft and
deceit.
The Bush administration aided by some sectors of a partisan media has
over the last six or so years outrageously manipulated a relatively
factually ill-informed populace. A TV educated public that is largely
incapable of analyzing news from a non-partisan and logical perspective. A
people held at ransom by a marauding media in pursuit of the almighty
dollar.
The people of the United States have been hoodwinked, cajoled and totally
mesmerized by an administration fueled by "third world like" blood letting.
"Scheduled" Terror alerts have been orchestrated for selfish political gain.
Some exceedingly comical and outrightly ridiculous.
Intolerance, which until this administration came about, was somewhat
subdued and slowly dying its natural death is now above the radar...thanks
to George Bush and Co. Hate groups have been rejuvenated and
re-invented...fueling hatred across the country.
On Immigration, Hate and "Macacaism"
Politicians are running amok taking sides on this issue to position their
selfish selves for the forthcoming November elections. Some like Colorado's
Tom Tancredo have even forged "coalitions" with the most dastardly and
virulently predatory hate groups in this country. Newscasters like Lou Dobbs
of CNN, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reily of FOX NEWS among many, are skillfully
using their privileged positions in these media organizations to hammer in
and stir salt into the open wounds of hatred, unremittingly using fear and
misinformation which have instigated horrible hate crimes against
immigrants, especially Latinos.
Tattooed Skinheads and the Ku Klux Klansmen wielding pistols and hi-tech
rifles are running around the country vomiting hateful
rhetoric...proclaiming imminent war on the "invaders," poisoning the minds
of well-meaning citizens.
Reminiscent of the slavery days, Hispanics are being portrayed as "lower
forms of life"...it is not too long ago that this was said of blacks and
earlier immigrants.
Commentators and Journalists have mindlessly manipulated news items on
immigration, repeatedly narrating the most desperate and extreme talking
points, in order to inflate their rankings in the Nielsen sweepstakes, a
crucial yard stick in generating ad revenues.
Racism in America is on the upsurge and the predatory and ferrety
instincts of the bigoted in this country are as sharp as ever. Racism never
went away as we all know; we beat it down into a hiding hole, now the
intolerant half of this nation is using the "illegal immigration issue" to
rear their ugly heads out of their foxholes.
One issue stands clear - no one want's terrorists in this land and the
majority favor an orderly immigration itinerary, but a despicable few have
cashed in on this issue repeatedly to transport their agenda of hate and
intolerance.
Because of the reckless war policies instituted by the Bush
administration, fewer Americans want to join the military, resulting in
missed recruiting quotas ...now being filled with hate-filled recruits.
It has been widely reported that white supremacists have infiltrated the
military forces because admission standards have had to be lowered due to
low recruit turnouts, ostensibly to defend the "homeland" from "foreign
invaders."
"Cazamigrantes" (A conglomeration of hate filled immigrant hunters) like
the "Minute Men" are on the march and "chapters" are spreading like wild
fire across the country igniting more hate.
These in my humble opinion are future "Home Grown Terrorists." The
military training they take delivery of today will be used against their
"targets of hate" in the future, and they hate almost anything and anybody.
How frightening!
The War in Iraq
In his recent statement, Mr. Lamont elucidates five critical
observations:
1. With a force of 132,000 troops and a cost of $8 billion per month, we
are currently refereeing a civil war in Iraq with no signs of progress and
no credible exit strategy.
2. Our force readiness to face another threat elsewhere in the world has
been diminished because of our preoccupation with Iraq.
3. Both anger at America around the world and the number of terrorists
seeking to do us harm have increased. We are not stronger and safer because
of Iraq; just the opposite is unfortunately true.
4. Potential attacks like the one that appears to have been foiled today
are clear and present dangers. Al-Qaeda continues to have operational
capacity to threaten air traffic around the world, including into and out of
the United States.
5. We need to focus on our security, on apprehending Osama bin Laden and
other terrorist leaders and on building a credible, effective foreign policy
with our allies.
Osama bin Laden has not been caught, yet Vice President Dick Cheney
continues to daydream about "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq, a country
that for all practical purposes is in the middle of a brutal civil war, a
civil war emanating from politics of greed and deceit...sinister agendas
that have absolutely nothing to do with Osama bin Laden and the war on
terror. Meanwhile a hapless Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and an
irritating and arrogant Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continue to strut
around like castrated peacocks.
Sure, Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but what did this have to do
with the 9-11? Shouldn't all efforts have been invested in Afghanistan where
Osama bin Laden still perches, taunting America to "pee-pee" fits!
The American people need to wake up
America is a great nation, a nation that must learn from what it endured
in the past. A nation that must review its bloody racial history and not
repeat the same mistakes. A nation that must vet incompetence when electing
leaders of high office, for you voted in "third world" incompetence in 2000
and again in 2004.
"The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more
wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of
annihilation," -- Martin Luther King Jr. said.
I sincerely hope that America will recuperate and survive the immense
moral and emotional damage that has been inflicted upon it over the last six
years.
I rest my case.
About the Author
James opiko writes for
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