Helen Thomas and the Thought Police

MoonHowler

Well, in her case, Helen Thomas, White House reporter for years, put her foot in her mouth.

Ok. While we might not agree with her words, there is something bothering me about the hue and cry over her remarks. For starters, she offered an opinion. She said she felt that Palestine was occupied by Israel. I never heard her utter the word ‘Jews.’ There are an awful lot of people in the world who believe that. Why is Helen Thomas, daughter of Lebanese immigrants, not allowed her opinion? Additionally, she said that those occupying needed to go home. Good grief, that is said every day towards Latinos here in this county.

Helen Thomas is almost 90 years old. She apologized. Many news agencies have said her apologies were not good enough because she didn’t really mean it. This is where the thought police come into play. There is just something about that kind of mind control that bothers me a great deal. Who are we to tell others how to think? While we can be held accountable for what comes out of our mouths, how can anyone hold us accountable for what they think we should think.

On June 4, Helen Thomas issued the following apology:

“I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” (June 4, 2010)

To her credit, Ellen Ratner of Fox News issued the following:

Helen Thomas has apologized. What more do people want?

If I had a dollar for every American who has said something in private about a racial, ethnic, or sexual minority in this county I would be a multimillionaire many times over.

Let’s face it we all have said things — or thought things — about “other” groups of people, things that we would not want to see in print or on video. Anyone who denies it is a liar.

Helen is three months short of ninety and her brain’s filters might not work as well as a forty year old’s. Give her a break.

Ellen Ratner is Washington bureau chief for Talk Radio News Service and a Fox News contributor.

Helen Thomas has resigned. Her resignation was announced around noon. I think the greater tragedy is that a 90 year old woman can’t be allowed to retract her statements, especially a lady of her stature.

She is a very remarkable woman. I can’t image being her age and doing the job she is still doing. Many of us who grew up with Helen Thomas will miss her. The good news is, now she is a free agent, she can also speak freely. I expect she will, knowing Helen Thomas and I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that acerbic tongue.

[disclaimer: This post does not imply agreement with Helen Thomas]

N-word Denial Continues

MoonHowler

N Word Feud 

People like congresswoman Michele Bachman and Andrew Breitbart, ‘proprietor’ of the far right blog site biggovernment.org, just keep digging themselves in deeper and deeper. They need to take a page out of the Bill Clinton book and stop digging. According to Yahoo News:  (highlighting mine)

 

Three Democratic congressmen — all black — say they heard racial slurs as they walked through thousands of angry protesters outside the U.S. Capitol. A white lawmaker says he heard the epithets too. Conservative activists say the lawmakers are lying.

Read More

“Baby Killer” Utterer Randy Neugebauer Turns Himself In

MoonHowler

As anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak attempted to speak on the House floor, a lone voice called out what sounded like ‘Baby Killer.‘  The entire House errupted in muffled whispers over the affrontery.  Gavels were banged and people whispered back and forth over what they thought they heard.  Rep. Stupak had held out his vote for Health Care Reform until President Obama promised to write an executive order stating no public funds were to be used for abortion.   The ‘baby killer’ remark must have smarted.  Again, rudeness. 

Now the shouter has stepped forward and confessed, along with a little equivocation.  It seems that he meant the Health Care Reform legislation was a baby killer, not Stupak.  Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tx)  had the following to say:

Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support. In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase ‘it’s a baby killer’ in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership. While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself.
“I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also apologize to my colleagues for the manner in which I expressed my disappointment about the bill. The House Chamber is a place of decorum and respect. The timing and tone of my comment last night was inappropriate.”

Yea right, Mr. Neugebauer. Let’s have a listen. It’s brief:

We must live in an ‘anything goes’ culture where the rules of civilized society have been abandoned. On the national level, Members of Congress call the the President a liar, call each other names like ‘ Baby Killer.’ Outside, protestors spit, make racial slurs, and threaten with gun signs. At the local level a supervisor thinks its ok to call his constituents names and refer to them as ‘crap.’ There must be some rules of decorum. It’s one thing to speak informally with friends. It’s quite another to make public statements and direct racial slurs at people. The threatening and bullying must stop. And our leaders and entertainers who reach into millions and millions of homes per day must stop aiding, abetting and inciting this kind of behavior.

The New Political Correctness and Rahm Emanuel

MoonHowler

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has come under fire from all corners over his mouth flashing…again. This time it is not over your usual F-bombs, but over the use of the word ‘retarded.’

According to the LA Times:

In an unguarded moment, Emanuel had referred to a group of liberal Democrats as “retarded.” When reports of the remark began circulating, the former Chicago congressman — already famous for his foxhole profanity — moved to express his regret and promised to help leaders of the disabled community sensitize the public on the issue.

Actually, there might have been an expletive in front of the word in question.

Sarah Palin, mother of a child with Downs Syndrome, got very indignant and had the following to say:

I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts. Yes, Rahm is known for his caustic, crude references about those with whom he disagrees, but his recent tirade against participants in a strategy session was such a strong slap in many American faces that our president is doing himself a disservice by seeming to condone Rahm’s recent sick and offensive tactic.

The Obama Administration’s Chief of Staff scolded participants, calling them, “F—ing retarded,” according to several participants, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities — and the people who love them — is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking.

A patriot in North Andover, Massachusetts, notified me of Rahm’s “retarded” slam. I join this gentleman, who is the father of a beautiful child born with Down Syndrome, in asking why the Special Olympics, National Down Syndrome Society and other groups condemning Rahm’s degrading scolding have been completely ignored by the White House. No comment from his boss, the president?

SNL, always on top of all things political, did the following skit, mocking Emanuel:


 

 I have to ask, when did ‘retarded’ become a bad word? It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that the word was used without anyone blinking. There were kids in EMR classes (Educable Mentally Retarded). I understand that calling someone ‘retard’ is rude. It always has been. However, saying that the Smiths have a retarded child seems rather harmless to me. Retarded, developmentally delayed, intellectually challenged, all words or phrases which mean that an individual has somewhat diminished intellectual capacity, seem to be words we must tiptoe around. I am not sure what I should say and not say. As long as we are being polite and not cussing and carrying on, why have some of these words become verboten? Who gets to decide what is polite and what isn’t or what is politically correct?

I find it increasingly difficult to keep up with PC. I feel certain I have been unintentionally offensive.

Army Officers Could Face Disciplinary Action over Fort Hood Suspect

MoonHowler

As many as 8 army officers could face disciplinary action for failure to do anything about  Major Hasan who went on a rampage  and killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood last November.  Defense Secretary Gates is expected to turn over findings to the Army for further consideration today.  The officers who could find themselves in trouble were those who supervised Hasan at Walter Reed during his training and who promoted him on down the line.  Those supervisors are being questioned why red flags were not thrown up over this soldier’s competence and behavior. 

According to Yahoo News:

The official said Thursday that a Pentagon inquiry finds fault with five to eight supervisors who knew or should have known about the shortcomings and erratic behavior of Hasan, who’s accused of killing 13 people at the Texas Army base on Nov. 5.

The official described the confidential report on condition of anonymity because it has not been made public.

According to information gathered during the internal Pentagon review and obtained by The Associated Press last week, Hasan’s strident views on Islam became more pronounced as his training progressed. Worries about his competence also grew, yet his superiors continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving through the ranks. That led to his eventual assignment at Fort Hood.

Recent statistics show the Army rarely blocks junior officers from promotion, especially in the medical corps.

 

The Army is not expected to delve into any contacts Major Nisan had with radical Muslim clerics.  That is part of his criminal case.  The Army is simply looking at the case from a supervisory point of view. 

Should 8 people be punished or is this typical behavior of government agencies?  There always seems to be a fall guy or 2.  Were those who supervised Hasan acting in the spirit of army political correctness?  Do governments, local, state, and federal, set a tone where certain behaviors are excused for certain groups of people?  Are different people held to a different standard because of sub-grouping?  Specifically, was Hasan allowed to be incompetent and erratic because he was Muslim?  Do people who ignore behavior from members of a group do so out of sympathy or out of fear of reprisal from the group members or the higher ups?  

Many of our contributors are former feds, military or local government employees.  We want to hear from you.  Feel free to choose an additional moniker if you need to double layer your anonymity.

Update:  From the New York Times:

Pentagon Report on Fort Hood Shooting Details Failures

Calling the military's defenses against threats from within
its ranks outdated and ineffective, Defense Secretary Robert
M. Gates said that the Army mishandled warnings about the
poor performance and radical views of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan,
the military psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a
shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5. Several
officers who supervised Major Hasan during his psychiatric
training in the Washington area may be disciplined, he said.

PC and the Enemy

MoonHowler

Much is being made of PC and the enemy after the Massacre at Fort Hood. Who knew what? And why were the right people not notified of Shooter Hasan’s nefarious activities on the internet? Why didn’t someone report his interaction with patients and colleagues? The answer to these questions has not yet been determined but the powers-that-be have called called for answers. The President wants a preliminary report by November 30. Senator Joe Lieberman has called for a Senate investigation.

Americans are right to ask these questions. We are at war and we are at war with an enemy that is without a nation. There is a good chance that the enemy is everywhere.

Some of us here on Anti have been watching the 10 hour series WWII in HD this week. We were at war with nations–nations that had borders and boundaries. There were nebulous areas, like our internment of Japanese Americans, but that is a shameful story for another day. We have heard the enemy called Japs and Krauts for 10 hours.

People nowadays would not think of calling a Japanese person a Jap (or nip or any of the other pejorative names American servicemen had for the enemy). We wouldn’t call a German a Kraut. Or would we? My relatives who were alive during WWII sure would still do it. So would many people I know who were of the ‘greatest generation.’

So are these people wrong? Are they politically incorrect? Is it wrong to have a slang nick name for an enemy in times of war? And once the war is over, when do we have to stop calling them by these nick names? Is it something special that those of the generation get to do? Is it okay as long as the last veteran of the era lives? I thought of that as I heard the old veterans talk of their service. I don’t know the right answer. Other opinions?

No Official State Song

MoonHowler

Virginia has no official state song.  It has a Virginia Official Song Emeritus.  Ok.  So what’s the problem?  No one would be caught singing the  Virginia Official Song Emeritus, Carry Me Back to Old Virginny, written by an African American man named James Allen Bland who was born in 1854 in New York. 
 

Some history:

James “Jimmy” Allen Bland was born on October 22, 1854 in Flushing, Long Island, New York. When he was 12 and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he saw an old black man playing a banjo and singing spirituals. He fell in love with the banjo and tried to make one using bailing wire for strings. This didn’t work very well and, besides, a big kid took it and broke it into pieces. Jimmy’s father bought him a real banjo for $8.00 and Jimmy taught himself to play… very well.

Later, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where Jimmy finished high school and enrolled in Howard University. He was so talented and had become so proficient with the banjo that he was entertaining professionally at private parties and in hotels and restaurants from the time he was 14.

At Howard University, he met a young lady named Mannie Friend. On a trip with Mannie to her birthplace in Tidewater, Virginia, Alan Bland composed “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny”. Sitting on the banks of the James River, Mannie wrote the words down on paper while Jimmy played and sang to her.

 

Read More

Supreme Court refuses to hear Redskins’ naming case

MoonHowler

 

 The Supreme Court  has refused to hear a case brought by Native American activists regarding the use of the trademark name Redskins for the Washington-based football team. This case involved a long running dispute over the name that is several decades old. The activists claim:

“[T]he Washington Redskins’ team name is so offensive that it does not deserve trademark protection.”

The decison, which happened without comments, lets stand the lower court decision that the complaintants let the case go too long before bringing suit. The Washington Redskins have been named as such since 1937 when the name was changed from the Boston Braves, when the team moved south.

According to the Washington Post:

The lawsuit was filed in 1992, when seven activists challenged a Redskins trademark issued in 1967. They won seven years later in a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which said the name could be interpreted as offensive to Native Americans. The case is Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc.

Trademark law prohibits registration of a name that “may disparage . . . persons, living or dead, . . . or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.”

The team appealed to federal court.

Judges at the district and circuit levels said the activists’ trademark cancellation claim was barred by the doctrine of laches, which serves as a defense against claims that should have been made long ago.

The activists argued that disparaging trademarks can be challenged at any time, citing a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. The decision was written by then-judgeSamuel A. Alito Jr., who now sits on the Supreme Court.

Apparently the rest of the world disagrees with the activists. There will always be someone who doesn’t like a team name or mascot. This seems like a frivolous lawsuit to me, especially when a team name is held in high esteem.

“Murdered by Muslim Terrorists” or Nothing

MoonHowler

James Gadiel
James Gadiel
Eight years ago James Gadiel was killed in the World Trade Center.  He worked on the 103 floor of Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services firm that was so devastated on 9-11.   Cantor Fitzgerald occupied floosrs 101-105 of the WTC which was 2-6 floors above the impact zone.  Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees, all of the employees in the offices at the time of the attacks.  In fact, Cantor Fitzgerald lost more people than any other company or agency on 9-11.

Peter Gadiel, James’ father, wants everyone in their hometown of Kent, Connecticut, to remember his son James.  And his hometown wants to memorialize James. However, the town coucil has rejected Peter’s wording.  He wants the memorial to read that his son was ‘murdered by Muslim terrorists.’  Some members of the town council object to the language and feel it is inflammatory and might alienate Muslim familes.

 

According to Peter Gadiel:

“It isn’t just overlooked, it’s suppressed,” Gadiel said. “It’s simply wrong to imply that people just died. The buildings didn’t just collapse, they didn’t just fall down — they were attacked by people with a specific identity, a specific purpose.”
 

Conversely:

Town officials call the phrase too controversial for a small town memorial, and they recently voted against erecting the plaque if Gadiel insists on the language.

“We perceive ourselves as a very warm, loving town,” said Ruth Epstein, a Kent selectman and one of two town leaders to vote the plaque down. “To disparage any one ethnic group is just against everything that we stand for here.”

Epstein noted that other Sept. 11 memorials, like the one at the Pentagon, don’t mention Muslim terrorists, and she said she does not want to alienate any members of her small and close-knit community.

“We have at least one Muslim family living here with children and it — it would be just awful to have them see something like that,” Epstein told Fox News.

So far, the matter is unresolved. Peter Gadiel refuses to back down. The town official refuse to back down. Meanwhile, the memorial to James does not exist. Gadiel feels that removing the word ‘Muslim’ is not being truthful. He harbors ill feelings because:

“Muslims have to acknowledge that it was their co-religionists who committed this act in their name,” he said. “I am offended that unlike so many others, they refuse to acknowledge that it was their people who did this.”

Full Story at Fox News

The Worst Taste Costume Award

MoonHowler

 

 

 

A Southern California Immigrant Rights group has asked Target to remove this costume from their shelves, stating that the ‘illegal alien’ costume is offensive to immigrants. Duh, ya think? Can’t imagine why anyone can’t take a joke. [sarcasm alert]

In the first place, many immigrants, as they learn English, take exception to the term ‘alien’ because of the outer space implication. The orange jump suit and ‘green card’ just add a few more layers to the degree of offensiveness.

According to Forbes Magazine:

Target spokesman Joshua Thomas says the company is removing the costume from the site after receiving several complaints.

He says the store never intended to sell the outfit but included it in its online offerings by mistake.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, says she wrote an e-mail to the Minneapolis-based retailer Friday calling the costume “distasteful, mean-spirited, and ignorant of social stigmas and current debate on immigration reform.”

 

[UPDATE:  This costume has been pulled from Toys R Us and from Target.  However, it is still for sale at Amazon.com. 

A petition asking the stores to pull the costume maybe be signed here:  http://bit.ly/23IuZT]

 

Finally, It’s Over!

MoonHowler

 

David Letterman has fully apologized to Sarah Palin and her daughters.  For the past several days, the country has been consumed with the ‘knocked up by A-Rod’ bad Letterman joke.  Did Sarah Palin fail to notice the snipes and tasteless jokes last fall?  Why is she so outraged now?  The jokes really weren’t any less crude and Letterman was hardly the most frequent offender.

At any rate, here it is–the long awaited Letterman apology:

“I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception,” he said. “And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. . . . So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke.”

 

 

I suppose for the next few days the cable news shows and others who have been getting so much press off of this bad joke can now analyze the apology.  One has to question why, after all the jokes of questionable taste, did Sarah Palin chose now to protest? 

According to the Washington Post:

Through mid-March, Leno had made 15 jokes about the Palin daughter’s pregnancy, Stewart had told four on “The Daily Show,” and Letterman checked in with eight, according to an analysis of late-night humor by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisan research organization affiliated with George Mason University.

Perhaps there is more to this than just a mother bear defending her cubs.  What do contributors think.

Full Story: Washington Post, June 16. 2009

 

Salute To Lori Piestewa

MoonHowler

Flag and Feathers

Three days into the Invasion of Iraq, in the wee hours before dawn, Lori Ann Piestewa (py-ESS-tuh-wah) knew something was wrong. The convoy had taken a wrong turn. They were not in the desert but just outside the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. An ambush ensued. Eleven soldiers were killed and 9 wounded. Several, including Lori’s best friend, Jessica Lynch, were taken POW. Lori Piestewa was one who was killed. She was not only the first woman killed in the Iraqi War, but she was the first Native American woman killed in the Iraqi War.

Lori, a Hopi Indian, was born and raised in Tuba City, AZ which is in the Navajo Nation. Like many young Native Americans, Lori had been in the JR ROTC program during high school and after graduation, married, had 2 children, divorced, moved back home and then joined the military.

On March 23, 2007, The Lady Warrior was honored by the renaming of Squaw Peak near Phoenix, to Piestewa Peak. To think it took the death of the brave young Native American woman to get rid of the term ‘squaw’ when referring to a landmark is unconscionable. The highway that passes near the mountain peak was also named in her honor—Piestewa Freeway.

There has been much discussion on this blog of political correctness and the use of certain terms. I often think we gag ourselves over political correctness. Then again, 2007—Squaw Peak—how inappropriate—how insulting to women—Native women. Why should someone have to die to have the crap stopped? Is political correctness just good manners?

I went to Tuba City fairly shortly after Lori’s death, as a silent pilgrimage to a brave woman. Tuba City is worn. Like many Native American towns, it is rife with poverty and unemployment. The townspeople stared at my traveling companion and me. We do not look Indian. I am certain they wondered why we were there. I didn’t bother them. I just wanted to pay my silent respects to the Native Lady Warrior. Ray Powell does it with more class:

To learn more

To learn even more


To donate:

Lori Piestewa Memorial Fund
Wells Fargo
2625 N. 4th St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86004