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As thrashed out in this thread so far the main difference seems to be aesthetic: who was entertained (or not), and by whom.
Too generous by half. Rush is neither as funny nor as entertaining as SNL.
(Cute and funny always count. If you make people laugh, they might be inclined to overlook the indiscretions that caused them to laugh in the first place.)
As thrashed out in this thread so far the main difference seems to be aesthetic: who was entertained (or not), and by whom.
Racists love Rush's racist caricatures.
While SNL is axiomatically immune from charges of racism, even when milking it for a cheap laugh.
If Rush marketed himself as a "late night comedy skit show" I'm pretty sure he would get away with a lot more. Look at Howard Stern -- he's specifically an entertainer, and basically does what he wants on air. But even HE gets criticized at times, and he's far less of a "serious political commentator" than Rush.
Alternatively, if people looked to SNL for real political dialogue, I'm almost certain they would be lambasted whenever they trotted out stereotypes.
Rush is a decidedly unserious political commentator. Influential, yes.
He's considered one of the leading voices of the Republican party, or at the very least the conservative movement, is he not? His supporters in this forum like to repeatedly state how many people listen to him as a reflection of his influence. He was also the keynote speaker at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference.
He's a very influential broadcaster. Your point?
Wonder if he'll go this year.
My point is that when the Democrats start looking to SNL as a leading voice of their party, then it can be readily attacked for making light of race in the same manner.
Until then, it's a comedy show (a fairly tasteless one at that), and Rush is a serious social commentator.
Would it be acceptable for Rachel Maddow to go on air and start talking in a completely nonsensical redneck voice to mock people from the south? I personally don't feel that having your own talk show is valid pretext to say anything you want under the guise of entertainment. Would it be acceptable for someone like Jon Stewart to go on his show and call for Rush Limbaugh's execution? I mean, after all, he's an "entertainer"... does that give him a free pass to say what he likes with no expectation of reprisal?
What Rush did seems very filthy and xenophobic to me, and his listeners could be influenced by such statements. He has a right to say whatever he wants as per Amendment #1, but I think he should be duly criticized whenever he says something like this. Do you disagree?
Norms of behavior vary between fora. Cable TV abides by its code of politeness because it is dependent on national advertising dollars that don't want their brands besmirched by controversy, and because boorish behavior might impede shows' access to celebrity guests.
Talk radio, on the other hand, attracts small-fry national and regional advertising and celebrity guests of a comparable scale, thus it needn't mind its manners as much.
Does Rush deserve censure? On a daily basis, probably. But does his audience care if he's a bigoted prick? Quite the contrary. So I guess I struggle to see the point of belaboring the issue of his bigotry until he starts exhorting his zombie army to murder Jews or something. It's not like the Chinese Premier gives a -- he has the satisfaction of knowing he owns all of us.
So you see Rush as providing an opening to smear Republicans generally. Interesting.
Saying so over and over again might not be the most persuasive tack. I'm still pretty unsure what you think it accomplishes.
I thought free speech meant that you didn't need any pretext at all to say whatever you want, in whatever guise. Silly me.
Why not? Satire, right?
Just like everyone else Jon Stewart has a free pass to say whatever jackassed thing it pleases him to say, but the audience at large can respond however it wants.
Filthy? In what respect?
Absolutely not. Act the jackass, suffer the flames.
Megadittoes!
In my younger years it was considered comedy,
and many actors or entertainers were noted for
their acts.
Of course that was in the days that we all
considered ourselves as Americans and didn't
worry about hyphenated whatever.
But what do I know. I just try to live here in
peace and harmony while others want to be
offended. I am old, Irish (I guess), proud to
be a native Texan, and think those that want
to be whatever (hyphenated) should return
to you homeland and let the rest of us live in
peace.
And those of you who don't enjoy an ethenic
joke and profess offense at such jokes.....you
are liars. Each and everyone of you.
Do you have some kind of problem with your tab button or are you purposefully making your look like stanzas?
All due respect, but just because you can't conceive of something as being true doesn't make it false. You should tell my ex wife a racist joke sometime if you need empirical evidence.
Also, there has never been a time when Americans haven't segregated themselves (or been segregated) according to their ethnic/national origins. As a descendant of Irish immigrants who weren't allowed to forget their provenance for a minute (until the swarthier, less-anglophone Italians came along), you should know that.
Last edited by admiralsnackbar; 01-24-2011 at 07:33 PM. Reason: misspoke
Oh, my. My what. What are you doing in myDo you have some kind of problem with your tab button or are you purposefully making your look like stanzas?
toilet bowl.
Now I will have to flush twice just to get rid of
of the waste.
He's a bag. What the is that all about. Hilarious thing about it is if someone from another country did that to Americans, he'd go off on a patriotic rant about it
I thought that is what I just said. Oh, well. And whyAll due respect, but just because you can't conceive of something as being true doesn't make it false.
should I tell you ex anything. Obviously you tried and
failed......LOL
TMI.
I have detected no flush mechanism here, and I believe you were already familiar with the hazards when you dipped down into the thread yourself.
It would seem so. The sentimental appeal to the frank bigotry of simpler times is undeniably there. Stuff like Rush's impression of Hu Jintao is practically a dog whistle for it.
I believe you owe Rush a thank you note for giving us all a concrete demonstration of the social respectability and esteem ignorant prejudice still claims in the USA, CH.
Why sugarcoat it?
You must be drunk. It happens
If you were offended with that ^^^ then please don't click this link. Oh heavens no.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full...ned-fetus-lady
BTW, what do you guys think of this?
WH Says Anti-American Song Played During State Dinner Was Not an Insult
Ivories that were tickled last Wednesday night at the White House are, to some conservative media, no laughing matter. At the White House State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao, pianist Lang Lang played, among other ditties, the song “My Motherland.” My Motherland was written for the 1956 Chinese war film “Battle on Shangganling Mountain,” about the Korean War, in which the People’s Republic of China soldiers are the heroes and the bad guys are Americans…White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told ABC News that “any suggestion that this was an insult to the United States is just flat wrong. As Lang Lang has stated before, he plays this song regularly because it is one of his favorite Chinese melodies, which is very widely known and popular in China for its melody. Lang Lang played the song without lyrics or reference to any political themes during the entertainment portion of the State Dinner. He simply stated the song’s le and noted it was well known in China.”
http://nation.foxnews.com/china-stat...was-not-insult
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