Say What You Will...And Pay The Price

Paula Deen, free speech, and appropriate consequences for words we don't like are all on the menu for today's POLITICAL RANT!

 

You know the story. Popular chef Paula Deen used the 'N' word (you know what it is) in a private conversation recently.  For some reason, this became public due to a lawsuit brought against her by a former employee (who is white) of restaurants Deen owns with her brother.  In nanoseconds, the Food Network cancelled her TV show, and some of her many business partners (including Smithfield) denounced her and ended their relationships.

 

She tells us she's not a racist, and based on the context of her use of the word, and her noting that she was raised to believe, and still believes, all God's children are created equal, I believe her.  

 

Her original comments were incredibly stupid.  Obviously, this kind of language is going to be offensive to blacks.  The fact no blacks, apparently, were in earshot is irrelevant, as they could have been. Given her celebrity status, she should have had enough common sense to know this could get out, as it did.  You're a celebrity, you say something like this, there's going to be consequences.

 

However, it seems to me the price she's being forced to pay is over the top.  She apologized for her comments.  Her offensive language, stupid as it was, was part of a private conversation.  I'm not seeing why we can't forgive her, and let her keep her career.  I'm not black. I don't have the frame of reference a black American has concerning how hurtful that word is.  Deen, by her words, apparently had even less of an understanding that I do of how hurtful that word is.  Now, though,  I'm sure she does.  I would hope most Americans, regardless of race, would accept her apology and not seek some kind of punishment for her.  The same comments she made that were so hurtful also made her look like a fool, and damaged her image. That should be enough justice. Being fired from her show, and having her most prominent business partners throw her under the bus shows a lack of courage on the parts of the Food Network and the businesses that dropped her.

 

As I write this, word is getting out that left wing bomb thrower Alec Baldwin is taking flak for anti-gay language he made in a series of "tweets" on the Twitter network. Baldwin, like Deen, has apologized. Unlike Deen, Baldwin's comments were for public consumption.  I wonder  if Capital One, for which he does commercials, will cast him aside.

 

The companies have every right to do what they did to Deen.  She can be seen as a reflection of them. But could they not have disavowed her comments, scolded her in private, and let her continue in their employ?  Surely we're all bright enough to know the owners of these large companies just might not--and probably don't-- use or approve of the "N" word.

 

I hope we're not so over sensitive that we have to destroy celebrities--whether they're celebrity cooks, actors, or politicians--whenever they say something particularly stupid or offensive.

 

I also hope such people keep in mind one of the drawbacks to living a life of fame and (usually false) glory is that they have no privacy. Very little they say that can be used for scandal will stay secret.

 

That's a lesson Paula Deen is learning the hard way.

 

That's my Political Rant for Saturday, June 29, 2013.  Agree with it or live in wrongness.

 

                            --Uncle Steve--

                 --The Geeky Conservative--
Email The Geeky Conservative at geekyconservative@gmail.com

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POLITICAL RANT: Mr. President, Can You Hear Me Now?

 

 

 

 

The Government going through our phone records, Dishonesty in government....and Uncle Steve supporting Obama???? All will be explained in this edition of my POLITICAL RANT!

 

Much has been said of late concerning the revelation that since (at least) 2007, the government has been collecting phone records of all wireless customers of the Verizon phone service. Ironically, conservatives who supported the Patriot Act when Congress passed it, and President George W. Bush signed it into law are now condemning the collection. This includes  Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis) who wrote the provision in question, saying this isn't what was intended. And some (though not many) liberals who screeched like banshees when the Patriot Act became law are fine with this collection.

 

I'm not fine with this at all. But I support it.

 

Maybe.

 

Verizon, we're told, routinely disposes of wireless phone records after a certain amount of time has passed. For this reason--we're told--the government wanted to get all the records before they were destroyed, to study it for possible terrorist plans. The administration claims these records have, indeed foiled at least one terrorist plot. We're also told all that is looked at is who talked to whom and for how long. No conversations were eavesdropped on.

 

If the cost of keeping someone from slitting my throat while I'm asleep and while they're shouting "Allah Is Great!" is to allow the government to know who I talk to on my cheapo cell phone (and yes, I do have Verizon), then I'll live with it (no pun intended). I won't like it, I don't like it, but this is the world we live in. Al-Qaeda is real. There are folks who want to kill us. They are making plans. They are willing to die in the attempt. Obviously, I want the government to be able to protect me and the people I love.

 

The "Maybe" above comes in my lack of faith in the word of this Administration.  We've caught the Attorney General, Eric Holder, in falsehoods regarding his testimony in the 'Fast and Furious' gun scandal. We know we were lied to by our Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.  Or (then) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Or President Obama himself. Or one or both of those ladies, as well as President Obama, was lied to by folks whose names are unknown to us.  Or any number of the just mentioned combinations.  And, of course, we've learned the IRS has been targeting conservative organizations applying for tax-exempt status.  Honesty does not seem to count for much in the Obama White House.

 

One of the first lessons I learned as a child was how important honesty is. The reverse--how crippling a reputation of dishonesty is--was part of that lesson.  Even before last November's election, we were given evidence the President and his team weren't always being truthful. Since the election, they seem to almost revel in deceitful tactics.

 

So, yes, I say I reluctantly support the government's looking at phone records in hunting terrorists...maybe. If I could trust President Obama's word, I would support this measure.

 

But I can't trust his word. I can only hope he was, for once, being honest. I do want him to be successful in keeping us safe from terrorists. And to be fair, he has done a better job than I thought he would. I'm grateful for that.

 

For now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume this is just his having our backs, hunting for terrorists...and not Tea Party meetings or events of that nature.

 

Maybe.

 

That's my Political Rant for Friday, June 7, 2013! Agree with it or live in wrongness.

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