Scott's Soapbox

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Offensive Or Not? In which Scott solves the questions of the day

1) Arnold Schwarzegger saying that some California Democrats "don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interets, the unions, the trial lawyers...if they don't have the guts, I call them 'girlie men'!"
Some Democrats have complained this is insensitive to women (they are not as strong as men), gays (stereotypically "girlie") , and themselves.

Scott Says: Suck it up! "Girlie Men" is of course from those 90s Saturday Night Live sketches with Phil Hartman and Kevin Nealon as "Hans and Franz" who were going to "pump you up." Arnold was even on the show once as a guest host and interacted with these guys- characters obviously at least influenced by Arnold. Gay people- last week Bush and some Republicans tried to pass an amendment that would not only prohibit you from marrying, but even to form a civil union or any similar contract- that is offensive, Arnold is not. Guys- if you are whining about this, your skirt is too tight. It's a joke, let it go. Seriously, wimpy folks like this are why people think Democrats are weak on defense.

2) Moveon.org (very liberal organization) has petitioned the FTC to make Fox News cease and desist from using the slogan "Fair and Balanced". Why? Because they say it constitutes deceptive advertising given FNC's clear bias. It alleges Fox News' reports are "deliberately and consistently distorted and twisted to promote the Republican Party of the U.S. and an extreme right-wing viewpoint."

Scott Says: So I am idly reading the paper and I come across this and think, you cannot be serious! This is a joke, right? Nope. There it was online right at www.moveon.org/front waiting for me. So I read some of the brief. Basically Fox News is biased. I get that. Everyone who watches gets that. On Brit Hume's show "Special Report" the cited that he has 15 times more conservative guests than progressive ones. Sean Hannity beats up on Alan Colmes like a pinata on their show. Fox News Sunday will often have a panel consisting of Juan Williams getting ganged up on by 4 conservatives with the dreadfully full Chris Wallace smirking on. But suing them for this is like suing a guy who advertises he has the "World's Best Hamburgers" or "The Best BBQ in town." It's just absurd.
This is like suing Al Franken for copyright infringement since he called his book Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Oh, wait a minute, Fox did sue Al? Well, then...screw 'em.

3) Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) compared gays to terrorists as follows (7/14/04): "Isn't that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?" He also said back on 4/7/2003 "I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts." Our permission of this and other "acts outside of traditional heterosexual relationships" will "undermine the fabric of society."

Scott Says: No, homeland security is about protecting our homeland, our resources, our assets, and most of all our people from being attacked and killed. (See 9/11/01, re:planes flying into buildings) So, gays that want to get married = terrorists? Of course, just the other day, I heard a gay guy saying he was going to blow up a bunch of people because he could not get married.

I bet "Tricky Ricky" is just a tiger in the bedroom, don't you? I hope he puts out some sort of guide to "traditional sex acts" so I would never "undermine the fabric of society" by, oh, I don't know...being on the bottom? Having the lights on? Off? Music? Candles? I hope there's illustrations to help me out with this.

4) The bumper sticker being circulated in Kentucky by some Republicans (NOTE: this is not an official GOP or Bush-designed item, however it is available at Jefferson County GOP headquarters) that reads "Kerry is bin Laden's Man/Bush is Mine". Jack Richardson IV, Jefferson County GOP Chairman, defended the sticker saying if I was in bin Laden's shoes, I sure as heck would want Kerry." Also, it "highlights the fact that John Kerry did not support our troops in Iraq with his votes" (the $87 billion dollars).

Scott Says: Wow, is this over the line. This is done by someone who did not even know there was a line to cross. If I had walked past this office myself I would have gone in and ripped the sticker down. Furthermore, was bin Laden in Iraq? Did he escape because 12 U.S. senators voted against a supplemental appropriations bill as a protest against Bush's Iraq policy (or lack thereof)? I wonder if a "Jack Robinson IV is supported by child molesters" sticker would be okay?

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