Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Michael Richards' to be sued for his slur and expletive laden tirade

Richards' little explosion was deplorable. He's a professional and should have been able to handle the situation. He's a comedian for crying out loud... I'm sure this wasn't the first time he got some flak from an audience member.

But does this justify a lawsuit?

Gloria Allred thinks it does, so Kyle Doss and Frank McBride are planning to sue. Watch the video interview of the two men from the club and Allred on the Today Show. There's obviously more than the video captured, and according to the two young men they came in in a group of 15-20 for a friend's birthday, they were late and trying to order drinks from their cocktial waitress which is what caused the original disturbance. Events spiraled downward from there. But if you listen to Gloria Allred here, you'd think Richards physically asssaulted these guys. She wants a sit down with him and a judge in some form of arbitration to determine monetary compensation so Richards can "listen to the pain he has inflicted on [her clients]."

Is there a legal remedy here? What about freedom of speech? Matt Lauer asked the two men that and said they want Richards punished. I think the public flogging he's taken over the past few days ought to be enough and whatever "pain" they've felt ought to be cured with a couple aspirin or a couple drinks.

Are we that pitiful a society that we can't take a joke? When black culture embraces "the n-word" by adoring rappers and comedians like Chris Rock, why is it OK for them and not for whites? When going to see comedians, often times we're paying to see jokes that push the envelope. Take Carlos Mencia. I saw his "Punisher" tour in LA, and he came right out and said, why can't whites say "the n-word"? He said it, as well as others like cracker and wetback, as part of his routine and challenged any white to say it. The room fell silent. No one would even laugh because they were too scared of being labeled a racist. Hell, I can't even type the word, and publish it on the internet even though I write under a pseudonym!

Take the Tennie Pierce case, a recent lawsuit where a black fireman sued the city of LA when he was fed spaghetti with dog food as part of a firehouse prank. LA City Council awarded him $2.7 million in an 11-1 vote. NAACP amd NOW are calling for the fire chief to step down because he can't control this racist hazing. Nevermind that Pierce had taken an active role in previous pranks on other firefighters just as bad if not worse than the prank played on him. Here are the pictures to prove it. They came out after the settlement, and when a chance to review the settlement was brought before the city council in light of these pictures surfacing, they still voted to uphold the original settlement, the largest in the city's history. City mayor Villarigosa just overturned the settlement, forcing the city council to review the case again. Does that make him a racist? I bet if he was white it would.

What about racial profiling? It's an effort to prevent terrorists from blowing innocent people up, but some argue it singles out Muslims. Until another group, ethnic, racial, or whatever, comes forward as the dominant perpetrator of terrorist attacks and plane hijackings, Muslims should expect to be watched more closely. If purple headed martians were the main terrorist threat, I'd say the same thing. So Muslims: deal with it. I JUST DON'T WANT MY PLANE TO EXPLODE. I don't care what color, religion, race, or sex you are, if it can help the government stop my plane from being used as a bomb and in the process keep my ass alive, I'm all for it. And I'm sure some loon out there is going to call me a racist for it.

Does Richards saying "the n-word" make him a racist? No, it means he has poor judgement. It means he let his anger get the best of him. But one outburst said in anger doesn't a racist make. Has this happened before? Does he think minorities are second class citizens? Does he espouse policies that would segregate society? I don't know the answers to those, but I'm inclined to say no. Dennis tackled this subject this morning and had a caller that asked if Dennis thought he was a racist simply because he'd used "the n-word" in the past. Nevermind that the man had, as a senior electrician, personally trained hundreds of minorities as his apprentices over the years and treated each one fairly and helped them get into a profession where they could make good money. In private he had used "the n-word" and his wife said he was a racist because he'd used it. Dennis made the point that Truman, who'd been instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel and had a Jew as one of his best friends, often used the work "kike" in private. Does that make Truman a racist? Certainly not.

So please, for the love of God, drop the stupid lawsuit Gloria. You're perpetuating the cycle, not solving anything.

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