• Michael Eric Dyson, author of April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Death and How It Changed America, discusses King’s legacy forty years after his death.
• Air America host Randi Rhodes has been suspended for calling Hillary Clinton a “whore.” What was she thinking?
• The infamous “pregnant man” appeared on Oprah today. Alan recaps the unusual interview.
Michael Dyson was an interesting and illuminating guest and I’d like to hear more from him and others on the topic of the “black experience.”
I agree 100% with Phil. Alan, you were wrong to try to defend Ferrero’s condescending, racist comments. You were also waaaaaaaaay too defensive. I don’t approve of Rhode’s comments, but you kept going on and on about it so much. You said you don’t think Rhodes’ should be fired but I think think deep down you wish AAR would indeed fire her. I think she should be suspended and that’s all. I am also wondering how RFK Jr., AAR’s only host that supports Hillary (like you do, Alan) will react to this.
Youre a bit defensive on your girl Hillary because you know she aint gonna make it. Defending Ferraro is also a bit lame. She clearly made a racist comment by commenting that Obama would not be where he is except for the fact he is black which you are defending. She then went on to accuse anybody who called her on it as sexist and being racist toward her as a white person. You can see that and her inability to use the subjunctive oozing out of her. Where’s she from?Queens…pure Archie Bunker territory. And what ground did this woman break again? She got plucked out of obscurity and was clearly never up to it and she got picked because of what? Her sex. The lady clearly has some of those white low information feelings which is all Hillary has going for her in PA and IN. Finally if Obama says he benefited on a book deal and a lot of attention 3 years ago because of his color, what does that have to do with what has happened in the primaries. Nothing. And if you claim it does somehow, then surely Hillary has and is benefiting from two things, her gender and her name. Not to mention her connections and her husband. So what. The uphill struggle was Obama. The fact is, he has beat her ass by out-talking, out-hustling, out-organizing, and people see something special in him. He doesnt embellish a cake walk on a Tuzla tarmac. His blackness got nothing to do with it, as Bill wanted to make it so in South Carolina. Despite your cognitive dissonance, Hillary has said he isnt ready to be commander in chief, he cant get elected, his preacher wouldnt have been hers, the list is endless with her catty comments. So get over it, its going to be Obama. And it aint cause hes beige.
Though she could have been more eloquent.
I believe that we have the right to have faith in anything. You can believe as you so choose. We all have the freedom of religion, which is directly related to the freedom of thought and expression. Yet we have to ballet every day with those in our society who feel that the freedom of religion only applies to their faith, sect, or religion. This is proof positive that a sense of superiority, greed, and the lust for any sense of Divine Entitlement are the result of evangelicalism, fundamentalism or extremism. These aspects always run counter to the constitution, thus competing with the principles that make us a civil society, a free society, a just society. When people discuss the freedom of religion they seem to always refer directly to their religion only, rather than the freedom of all religions. Let us also remember that religion is not just church or faith; rather it is belief and thought. My thoughts, your thoughts, every thought is a belief. We cannot have one without the other. If we think, feel, or believe a particular way about something and repeat that thought more than once we have ritualized a thought. Ritual is what makes religion, religion, plus the aspect of worship, placing, or believing in something that is exalted, praised, or deified in the mind of the individual. Still there are many fellow Americans who have no respect for other’s religion, for their thoughts, or their belief. We have to respect all thought and at the same time respect those who dare to question our thoughts. We also must remember that questioning belief is not disrespect for the individual because if we never questioned any thought we would not have any debate. But it is those people who refuse others the right to believe how they choose or attack people for questioning ideologies that do not respect the constitutional principles of freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. It is such a simple principle, we have the right to believe and we have the right to question that belief. For if my religion is to question everything than it is my right to speak freely. To be offended by speech is to be offended by the right to speak in the first place. To be offended by thought is to be offended by those who dare to question.
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In S. Pasadena California they have declared a cuss-free zone once a year. What is this fascination with “cursing” that permeates our society. Is this a remnant of our puritanical past? I would argue that it is. It is obviously a behavior stemming from Biblical interpretation. But it has been taken to far. Especially when you read the Bible and discover that cursing was when anybody wished ill upon others or taking the Lord’s name in vain. There is no mention of specific words being defined as cuss-words. The greater society has no clue of the fact 99% of the words thought to be curse words are not in any Biblical text. We are under a misconception of what the meaning of “to curse” is. Has anyone heard of placing a curse on someone, as in a spell? Therefore we are living a myth when we as a society ban or censor words or speech. The greater issue is that we are placing limits upon free speech based on false Biblical standards. That would qualify as the government promoting religious doctrine even though the doctrine is not based on any accurate interpretation of Biblical texts. What a shame that we just accept things in our society with no thought put forth as to what is correct or what is the truth of the matter.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I believe that we have the right to have faith in anything. You can believe as you so choose. We all have the freedom of religion, which is directly related to the freedom of thought and expression. Yet we have to ballet every day with those in our society who feel that the freedom of religion only applies to their faith, sect, or religion. This is proof positive that a sense of superiority, greed, and the lust for any sense of Divine Entitlement are the result of evangelicalism, fundamentalism or extremism. These aspects always run counter to the constitution, thus competing with the principles that make us a civil society, a free society, a just society. When people discuss the freedom of religion they seem to always refer directly to their religion only, rather than the freedom of all religions. Let us also remember that religion is not just church or faith; rather it is belief and thought. My thoughts, your thoughts, every thought is a belief. We cannot have one without the other. If we think, feel, or believe a particular way about something and repeat that thought more than once we have ritualized a thought. Ritual is what makes religion, religion, plus the aspect of worship, placing, or believing in something that is exalted, praised, or deified in the mind of the individual. Still there are many fellow Americans who have no respect for other’s religion, for their thoughts, or their belief. We have to respect all thought and at the same time respect those who dare to question our thoughts. We also must remember that questioning belief is not disrespect for the individual because if we never questioned any thought we would not have any debate. But it is those people who refuse others the right to believe how they choose or attack people for questioning ideologies that do not respect the constitutional principles of freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. It is such a simple principle, we have the right to believe and we have the right to question that belief. For if my religion is to question everything than it is my right to speak freely. To be offended by speech is to be offended by the right to speak in the first place. To be offended by thought is to be offended by those who dare to question.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Though she could have been more eloquent.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Youre a bit defensive on your girl Hillary because you know she aint gonna make it. Defending Ferraro is also a bit lame. She clearly made a racist comment by commenting that Obama would not be where he is except for the fact he is black which you are defending. She then went on to accuse anybody who called her on it as sexist and being racist toward her as a white person. You can see that and her inability to use the subjunctive oozing out of her. Where’s she from?Queens…pure Archie Bunker territory. And what ground did this woman break again? She got plucked out of obscurity and was clearly never up to it and she got picked because of what? Her sex. The lady clearly has some of those white low information feelings which is all Hillary has going for her in PA and IN. Finally if Obama says he benefited on a book deal and a lot of attention 3 years ago because of his color, what does that have to do with what has happened in the primaries. Nothing. And if you claim it does somehow, then surely Hillary has and is benefiting from two things, her gender and her name. Not to mention her connections and her husband. So what. The uphill struggle was Obama. The fact is, he has beat her ass by out-talking, out-hustling, out-organizing, and people see something special in him. He doesnt embellish a cake walk on a Tuzla tarmac. His blackness got nothing to do with it, as Bill wanted to make it so in South Carolina. Despite your cognitive dissonance, Hillary has said he isnt ready to be commander in chief, he cant get elected, his preacher wouldnt have been hers, the list is endless with her catty comments. So get over it, its going to be Obama. And it aint cause hes beige.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I agree 100% with Phil. Alan, you were wrong to try to defend Ferrero’s condescending, racist comments. You were also waaaaaaaaay too defensive. I don’t approve of Rhode’s comments, but you kept going on and on about it so much. You said you don’t think Rhodes’ should be fired but I think think deep down you wish AAR would indeed fire her. I think she should be suspended and that’s all. I am also wondering how RFK Jr., AAR’s only host that supports Hillary (like you do, Alan) will react to this.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Michael Dyson was an interesting and illuminating guest and I’d like to hear more from him and others on the topic of the “black experience.”
April 6th, 2008 at 1:33 am