Express Yourself

I wasn’t going to note this, but since ol’ Erskine is yapping about it…

Bowles suggests blocking hate talk

CHAPEL HILL - UNC-system President Erskine Bowles wants a commission to determine whether every state university campus in North Carolina should establish a university code that blocks hate speech.

(I’ll save you the money, Erskine: No.)

Bowles' decision came less than a month after four N.C. State University students spray-painted political statements, which many deemed racially inflammatory and threatening, on the Free Expression Tunnel on campus.

(On which tunnel?)

Bowles met Tuesday afternoon with leaders of the state chapter of the NAACP. After the meeting, he declared the graffiti hate speech.

"I find this whole incident to be deplorable," Bowles told reporters. "It hurts, and it hurts deeply."

(Says the white guy. Fucking groveler.)

Bowles saw a photograph of one section of the graffiti for the first time Tuesday.

(How out of touch is this guy, to have only seen it now, three weeks after it went boomeranging around the web?)

The graffiti suggested shooting President-elect Barack Obama in the head. It also used a racial slur.

(SAVE US! Someone used a slur! I bet it was some shit-kicking redneck cracker.)

The Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the state NAACP chapter, said the words frightened students and should have been considered a crime. He insisted such language ought not be protected under the United States Constitution's right to free speech.

(If your students are frightened by words, perhaps they’re not ready to be living on their own. The good reverend wants the use of certain words to be labeled a crime, and I’ll bet that “shit-kicking redneck cracker” doesn’t appear on the list. Damn those meddling Founding Fathers and their pesky Constitution!)

The four NCSU students responsible for the graffiti have apologized. The student who instigated the paintings will attend diversity training and do community service. No criminal charges were brought against the unnamed students.

(Diversity training my lily-white ass. If they were serious about being inclusive, the training wouldn’t be used as punishment; they’d appreciate his differing views. Whenever the Left talks about diversity, they mean only the approved classifications they’ve recognized.)



I was curious as to what constituted “hate” speech, so I looked it up:

“Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.” -Wikipedia

The NC State authorities admit they regularly patrol the Free Expression Tunnel to censor anything they deem to be hate speech. Obviously, given the above definition, they wouldn’t allow anything intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.):





or intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their gender







or intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their nationality:





or intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their sexual orientation:



or intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their occupation:



Obviously, the graffiti against Obama was outside of the norm, which is what must have caused the uproar, because NC State would never allow anything intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence:



or intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race:





It has to be the office itself that is sacrosanct to the NC State thought police. It was surely their belief that the president deserves respect, and would take the same steps for any administration.





You know, whenever the Left starts preaching about diversity and tolerance, then releases their official list of what comprises those things, it always reminds me of Steve Martin explaining exactly what prizes were available in the “Guess Your Weight” booth in that one movie: Anything on this shelf…from the pencils to the ashtrays, which includes the gum, but not the clock radio.

Bunch of jerks.

Spare Some Change?

I woke up this morning thinking everything would be different, and it wasn’t. Have to say…I’m a little disappointed that our president-elect didn’t live up to his rhetoric. I mean, we still have the housing crisis, the banking crisis, the bailout debacle, trillions of dollars in national debt, a runaway recession, too-high gas prices, a two-front war, and reality television. I expected to be greeted by cartoon birds chirping happily and small forest creatures cavorting on the lawn, where I’d have to dig through a mound of rainbow-colored unicorn poop to get to my paper.

Alas.

Something I do wonder about, though: Everyone kept saying this race wasn’t about race. I heard it from the Right and the Left. Constantly. Everyone kept saying it didn’t matter that Obama was black. It totally wasn’t an issue. Really. Honest.

So why is this election being declared “historic” by everyone? If it wasn’t about race, then we just elected another male politician. No big deal.

But this brings up something I want to bitch about. I don’t know who started it, but the tendency to use the phrase “an historic” election/occasion/etc. annoys the shit out of me. We’re not Cockney, people! We pronounce the ‘H’ at the front of that word. That means you use “a”, not “an”. It’s an hour of a history class. No one is going around saying “an” halibut, so quit saying “an” historical whatever.

The Left has been reveling in the tears of the Republicans all day, and that’s fine. They’ve been choking on their rage for eight years, so they need the catharsis. The Republicans are predicting all sorts of horrific consequences, but honestly, you probably could have made the same predictions if McCain had won. There is no difference between the parties any more. I’m sure we’ll see the Left blaming Bush’s policies for anything that goes wrong in the Obama administration the next four years, just like the Right blamed Clinton’s policies for all of the crap that happened on Bush’s watch. It’s human nature to take credit for all of the good stuff, and find a scapegoat for all of the mistakes.

One particular piece of change I do expect immediately is the cessation of anyone claiming that the white man is holding them back. We’ve have just proven that that is not the case. I also expect Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to have to go out and get real jobs now, which is why, I suspect, Jesse was really crying last night.

Denis Leary Can Keep His Money

Having a child with autism presents a number of challenges, and requires certain compromises and adjustments. You know the worst thing about it, though? Having Jenny McCarthy as your self-appointed spokeslut.

When Denis Leary recently opined:

"There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks . . . to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a shit what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you - yer kid is NOT autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both.",

the former Playmate and serious actress had this to say:

“Whoo! First of all, let me tell you, the autism community has received probably 10,000 emails [saying] ‘Go kill him!’ ‘Go yell at him!’”

Where is this community, Jen? I didn’t get an e-mail. And I certainly didn’t send one in to any central autism depot asking that you be sicced on Leary like some sort of attack stripper. Unwad your panties, put them back on, and go the fuck home. Most of us immediately recognized that the real target of his comments are the parents that lack the energy or foresight to discipline their little horrorshows, so use the autism label like a Get out of social ostracism free! card. Just because some mom at the playground tells me her kid is autistic doesn’t obligate me to treat her words as holy writ. I don’t automatically assume she took him to a specialist for an evaluation. She may know deep down that she’s a crappy parent and just doesn’t want to be called on it.

Leary claimed the standard “out of context” defense, which was probably a safe bet, and has since issued two apologies, which I think was a huge mistake. Other people’s feelings are not his responsibility. According to a recent news blurb, the advocacy group Autism United has graciously accepted his apologies, and has cancelled a planned boycott of his book. But wait…there’s a catch: Leary is expected to either delete the “offending” chapter or donate part of his proceeds to charity. I wonder if there’s any sort of charity for autistics that might want a slice of that. Fucking scavengers. I am so sick of people thinking they’re entitled to someone else’s money because they got their feelings hurt.

The spokesman for Autism United, Mark Anthony Ramirez, said that he was happy to accept Leary’s apology (thank you so fucking much, Ramirez), but figured “his claim that his comments were taken out of context is a veiled attempt to elicit more sales.” Or he may have felt that his comments were actually taken out of context, you idiot.

Ramirez goes on to say "As a parent of a child with autism, I feel he owes the autism community the money he is making for using what has quickly become an epidemic in our country as a cheap ploy to sell his book. He should donate a portion of his sales to assist children with autism."

How about this, Ramirez: As a parent of a child with autism, I feel Leary is entitled to keep every fucking dime he makes off of his book. You think he’s being mean? Write your own damned book. Having an autistic kid doesn’t entitle you to anything. Take care of your kid and ignore what other people say. That is…if your kid really does have autism.

See, I know my cub doesn’t have an agenda. He’s not working the system or taking advantage of the sympathy of strangers. He’s three. And if he starts to throw a fit while we’re out in public, I take him back to the car so no one else has to ride it out with us. I’ve left many a hot dinner behind so Mrs. Cat and Kitten (and the other patrons) could eat in peace. I even keep a book in the car to pass the time after Cub calms down so the rest of the family doesn’t feel obligated to bolt down their dinner to come relieve me. I could explain it to everyone in the restaurant and expect them to put up with it, but why? What does that do except annoy people? I think that’s how you can tell the fakers from the rest: they don’t act to improve the situation.

Look…all kids are different, and most kids are weird, but so-called “Autis” are differently weird. You just have to learn your child’s rhythms and patterns, and work within the framework they give you. One thing you learn real fast with an autistic child is to keep a sense of humor, because they will try your patience. They’re like every other child that way, just more intense about it. I saw a t-shirt that I think nicely sums up the proper parental attitude:

Autism rocks! And flaps, and spins, and hoots, and…