Boycotting David Zucker and American Carol
Today will be a painful column for me. I wish I did not have to write it.
I will not be discussing Wall Street or the bailout because there is no deal, and even if one is reached, it will take years to know if it was the right thing to do. I am against the bailout, although people I deeply respect are in favor of it.
Today I will be focusing on a less significant issue due to time constraints. I will also, sadly enough, be eating somebody who should be one of my own. Again, this is not a happy decision.
A movie will be coming out in several days. The brains behind the movie is David Zucker, who has produced, “Naked Gun” and “Airplane.” This movie is called “American Carol.” It is a conservative republican slam against Michael Moore. David Zucker is a Jewish republican in Hollywood, a rare breed indeed.
I should be one of the biggest supporters of this movie. At one point I was. My plan was to help light up the blogosphere to promote the movie. Due to events that occurred recently, I have switched sides, and am now advocating against it.
I am absolutely still a proud Jewish conservative republican. My politics have not changed. This is personal, not political.
At the Republican Convention in Minnesota, I saw a screening of the movie. The Chicago Cannonball was with me. She is not a republican, but she is reasonable, and clear thinking. She is also open minded. What we saw left us aghast. She will never attend another republican event ever again, and I do not blame her.
The movie itself is simply not that funny. It has some very funny scenes, especially early on, but after awhile it becomes preachy and self righteous. It becomes everything I criticize liberals for being. Whether it be David Zucker, Rush Limbaugh, or Howard Stern, the entertainment factor has to come first. People do not tune in to Howard or Rush because of their views. It is because they are good entertainers.
Adam Sandler got it perfect with “Zohan.” I did not like the ending, but the movie itself was very funny, with some politics thrown in. “American Carol” is a political movie with some funny moments. It begins very strongly and then gets worse as it goes on.
Yet that would not cause me to be against it. Liking a movie is a matter of taste. I still cannot find people that are willing to give Oscars to Rob Schneider in “Deuce Bigalow,” or the entire cast of “Old School.” Taste is subjective, and I cannot help it if nobody I know besides me has good taste.
This is not about the movie. This is about comments that David Zucker made after the movie to a packed theatre.
He began by praising the movie “The Passion of the Christ.” I have not seen the movie, and religious Jews I respect have disagreed on whether the movie was anti-Semitic. As for Mel Gibson, he is certainly not good for Jews. Nevertheless, many Christians saw the movie, and they are not anti-Semites. So this in itself did not offend me. What happened next did.
In praising the movie, he said, “Nothing brings in money like making a three hour movie about Jews beating up God.”
My jaw dropped, as did the Chicago Cannonball’s as well. Zucker continued.
“What would really make money is if we followed that up with a couple more hours of a movie about Jews beating up the Pope.”
He then offered a third line.
“Jews voting republican is like Indians voting for Custer.”
The overwhelmingly Christian audience laughed hysterically, although some of it was nervous laughter.
I am aware that David Zucker has made these remarks to Jewish audiences before. What bothers me intensely is when Jews make self deprecating remarks in front of Christians. When Chris Rock does his routine criticizing black people, he does it in front of black audiences, not white ones. He also reaffirms his pride in his blackness.
David Zucker is not a liberal Jew, but he used to be one. Most liberal Jewish comedians are pathetic. They put down Jews in order to gain acceptance. It makes Jews look weak. It makes us look like we are begging Christian America to “Please like us. We will promise to put ourselves down as long as you promise to like us.” It is appeasement, which never works.
I am not an angst ridden, guilt wracked Jew. I am a Paul Wolfowitz Jew. Heck, on angry days I am a Jack Ruby Jew. I have no patience for self hating or self loathing Jews. When I ask a Jew if they are Jewish, and they respond, “Yes, but I am not religious,” I want to deck them across their apologizing faces. I then tell them, “I did not ask you that.” Christians and Muslims do not speak like this. Liberal Jews are scared of their own shadow, scared to death of offending people.
I take a different approach. If you don’t like me, then f*ck you, and if you’re a foreigner, and hate me, then I want my government to blow up your country. Then we can negotiate the price of me selling the body parts of your family on Ebay. Sorry if this is too rough for some, but one Holocaust is enough.
This is what makes me so shocked at David Zucker. He is dedicated to using humor to attack the very leftists and Islamofacists I want to attack. He detests appeasement as much as I do. He and I should be kindred spirits.
I was going to light up the blogosphere with his comments, but friends of mine told me to talk to him first. Perhaps he would be reasonable. I thought about it, and decided that perhaps if I approached him very politely, he might consider my comments and decide to stop saying such things. My goal was not to condemn the man. It was to show him that his remarks were harmful. For one thing, getting beyond that such statements in such settings are wrong, it also backfired. The Chicago Cannonball, as I said earlier, will never listen to a republican message again. She was persuadable, and now is not. I don’t blame her one bit.
Last night, I finally met and spoke with David Zucker. He made the Custer joke again, but it did not bother me in this setting. Again, A small Jewish audience is not a large Christian audience.
When I introduced myself to him, I told him I was a Jewish republican blogger that takes brickbats to the Daily Kos. He vigorously shook my hand. He was enthusiastic. I had a lump in my throat knowing his enthusiasm would dissipate rather quickly.
I was very polite, and I expressed my concern. I then said, “I don’t know if I have the right to even ask you this, but would you be willing to stop making such remarks in front of Christian audiences?”
He was not rude. He was not dismissive. He was very respectful and genial in his reply. Yet he was also firm, and he let me know that he would not stop doing it.
“Comedy is edgy. I have offended virtually everybody. Part of humor involves making people uncomfortable. I understand you were uncomfortable, but making people uncomfortable is what I do. Some jokes will hit, and some will miss.”
Most Jewish people I have spoken to, including Jewish republicans, did not find his comments funny. Yet they were not offended either.
One person advised me to pick my battles carefully. After all, this guy is a proud Jewish republican. We have so many outside problems. We don’t need inside problems.
I am aware that this will not make me popular in certain social circles. Worse than that, it might give me praise from leftists. In the same way that the first President Bush was dead in the water when Walter Mondale praised him for raising taxes, the last thing I want is for leftists to praise me for going after a Jewish republican.
I am doing it because one star in the movie is Trace Adkins. I bought his book, which is entitled, “A personal stand.” Although Mr. Adkins would not like me boycotting a movie he is in, I hope he understands that I am making a personal stand.
I do not hate David Zucker. I do not believe he is anti-Semitic, or a self hating Jew. I agree with him on most political issues. I simply vehemently disagree with him on his making anti-Jewish jokes, even in jest, in front of Christian audiences.
One thing he also said to me was, “I cannot say I am wrong when I believe I am right.”
I prefer that to a mealy mouthed phony apology. He stuck to his guns.
I still believe he is wrong.
I will not be encouraging people to see “American Carol.” I also will not be burning copies of “Airplane” or “Naked Gun” in effigy either.
David Zucker has his opinion, and I have mine. I wish Mr. Zucker would understand that preaching to the converted is one approach. Trying to reach out is a better approach. Reaching out does not mean diluting one’s own message. It means expanding appeal without losing one’s core. It is not easy.
What I know is that the people who praised him were already on his side. Those that went in with an open mind…I believe that the Chicago Cannonball’s reaction was appropriate, and representative of open minded people.
David Zucker has lost my support. I doubt he will lose sleep over this, but I will sleep better knowing that I maintained my integrity, spoke my mind, and did so in a fair and decent manner.
I will not lead an active boycott since that might have the reverse effect. I will simply not encourage anyone to see the movie either, and tell them why if they ask.
Mr. Zucker has deeply disappointed me, and disappointment is part of life.
For those that find his comments troubling, please consider boycotting American Carol.
I remain a proud Jewish republican, dedicated to fighting for my beliefs. I have taken on Islamofacists and liberals, and will continue to do so. Yet sometimes I have to take on somebody that should be part of my family.
I am prepared for any consequences or blowback. I may have burned some bridges.
Yet when I look you, whoever you are, in the eye, you will know where I stand.
Hineni. Here I am. Jewish, republican, and proud.
eric
September 26th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I don’t get it. What exactly did you find offensive about his remarks? They weren’t even all that edgy. I’ve heard jokes like that a million times, from and in front of Jews and Gentiles. If anything, I might have been offended by his praising of that Jesus Chainsaw Massacre film, if I was a Jew. That film was over-the-top, anti-semitic, victim-mentality, rabid demagoguery. Ahmadinejad probably has a copy on top of his DVD rack. But Zucker was obviously joking, so what’s the problem?
And I sort of agree with Zucker - I couldn’t imagine being Jewish and being in league with the Christian Right. No matter how much they say otherwise, they do not love you for being Jewish. On the other hand, if you’re a Wall Street Conservative, then it really doesn’t matter what your race or faith might be. All that matters is making money. Just the same, historically markets have faired better with the Dems in power than with the GOP, so really, I have no idea why you’re a Republican in the first place. Are you really so suckered by their rhetoric as to believe the Dems are really all that socialistic? They’re not, ya’ know. Otherwise, I’d be a Democrat.
And what’s the problem with Jews who say they’re Jewish but not religious? One thing I always liked about Judaism is that it encourages questions, unlike Christianity and Islam, faiths that pride themselves in arrogant, prideful ignorance. Judaism, as goes the expression, is the one religion that allows atheism. And thanks to that openmindedness, Jews have been prominent throughout history in the fields of science, law, politics, medicine, philsophy, and a whole host of endeavors that have at times and to this day been impermissible among the followers of other faiths.
I have no idea what’s bothering you here.
JMJ
September 26th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
And one more thing - do you not see the irony of being Jewish and yet favoring an authoritarian police state and the wholesale slaughter of people just because you think they don’t like you?
JMJ
September 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I believe their is no “thinking” in Eric knowing who does not like him.
I’m pretty sure he “KNOWS” who doesnt like him.
What are those police enforcing jersey ?
Are we subjected to an autocratic bunch of gestapos ?
September 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Jersey,
As a Christian I can be devout and still have questions. And I do even in my 40’s and I know others that do. Muslim’s cannot question the ‘religion of enlightenment’ because it is the perfect religion and cannot be questioned. Muslims are only suppose to read the Koran in arabic, the ‘pure’ language of Mohammed.
I am thinking that Eric would have preferred that a more aggressive world would have gotten rid of the Nazi police state before it tried to kill his parents and 6 million others that they did. Intead of diplomatic failures by people that cannot take a hint. I know many muslims that are good, but the fanatics are taking the Koran literally when it says to ’smite the neck of the Jew’. I can find the sura if you want. But mohammed’s bio states that he also helped ’smite’ (i.e. behead) about 600 jews that surrended at a battle near Medina.
There was also a female comedian about 20 years ago that had Cerebral Palsy, and made fun of the handi-capped and retards. (sorry retards) I think most felt she was hard to laugh at, even though she was funny. And she didn’t last very long.
I am not Jewish, so I will take Eric’s word for it. Just as I would take your word on the shipping container business or atheism reasoning. Apologies if you are not atheist.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I guess I was saying Eric probably would have preferred the 30,000 SS Guards in the Death camps had been slaughtered before 6 million of the Jews. I’m with him on that one.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Recently Sandra Bernhard warned Sarah Palin not to come into Manhattan “lest she get gang-raped by some of Sandra’s big black brothers”.
Politics aside, Is that funny?
A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is fine.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Sandra is a gutter slut
September 26th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Looks like a ‘no’ from Micky2. And Jersey usually disagrees with Micky2 so that means…..
Jersey, if it is no, please explain why. Just a sentence or two.
September 26th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Micky, we live in a police state. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world, almost of third wof which convisted of victimless crimes. The courts have been stacked with anti-civil rights authoritarians. The rightwing demonizes civil rights groups like the ACLU and bashes the Fourth Estate. A quareter of Americans believe the press has too much freedom. And now we incarcerate foreign nationals with almost no rights whatsoever - no trial, no habeus, no evidence, no public scrutiny. We live in a police state.
Infidel, individuals do as they choose, be they Jewish, Christain, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, or whatever. As a matter of traditional theological doctrine, among the Abrahamic faiths, Judaism as a whole allows for far more latitude in practices and belief than does Christianity or Islam. And you shouldn’t haold your faith so far above Islam. When Christendom was in the same state as Islam today, the Christians behaved far worse and were far more anti-Semitic. And the Bible contains just as much if not more incitemnet to violence and cruelty as the Koran. It is the curent state of the advancement of Western culture that has overruled the more vile tenets of Judeo-Christianity.
And yes, I am an atheist.
Sandra Bullock is a pretty rough comedian, and though I get a kick out of her personality, I’m not a huge fan of her comedy. I just don’t think her jokes are all that good. That joke was pretty rough. Of course, Micky’s comment was just as lowbrow. But then I’ve come to learn something about too many conservatives over the years - they have no problem lowering themselves to the level of the people they despise.
JMJ
September 26th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Incarceration is a whole nuther dept than policing Jersey.
I challenge you to find a country with police more tolerant than ours that doesnt have anarchy boiling over in the streets, besides Amsterdam, they’re all too wasted to know what to protest or commit crimes.
And by the way , Its Sandra “BERNHARDT” not Bullock.
And I’ve seen her act twice and she can only get laughs on a shock effect and has no imagination.
My joke was not that, she is a slut who deals in gutter mentallity.
You should look into some of the hollywod reports on the nasty disgusting habits she has. Mostly no one has a lot if nice things to say about her. People who sit next to her on planes complain that she stinks, maintenence crews say she is a slob and she always looks as if she just got done humping some football team that Eric doesnt like.
Shes just a nasty woman (too much credit) all around.
On the other hand, this piece of trash Sandra has the nerve to talk spit about one our most accomplished citizens who has done more for her country in the time it took to write this post than she ever has in her life.
Please, give us all a large break saying I lower myself to being lowbrow
I am not the one who just ran the immature hatefilled two paragraph littnies on Hannity at yesterdays post.
That was pretty bad dude, pretty bad indeed, you should be ashamed.
You lowered yourself past what you assert Hannity to be.
Without a doubt
Get a grip and start thinking before you open your yap.
I have been more cordial to you than you have ever deserved and offerd you olive branchs containing civilty only to have to once again engage in insulting my iontelligence and lying and being disengenuous.
Crust o mighty Ive even shared recipies with you in attenpts to elevate my level with you but you still insist on your ways of ignorance and intolerence for anyone who sees things differently than you to point that i have called stupid, idiot etc…
September 26th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I wasn’t trying to hold my religion above Islam. Just pointing out to you that not all Christians have undenying belief because you said “that it encourages questions, unlike Christianity”.
The correct answer was ‘NO’. Unless you are a racist and agree with Ms. Bernhard seeming to think that black guys are into gang rape of white women. She sounds pretty racist, but I do not think she speaks for all white female Democrats. I wonder if the NAACP will be axing her to clarify her remark.
I have never seen you post anything racist so I will assume you are not. I am sure we all enjoy listening to ‘Achmed the Dead Terrorist’ and him telling Jeff he is a racist for not letting Jews into bars, but I let someone who IS Jewish decide what may be offensive to some Jews.
September 26th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
“And now we incarcerate foreign nationals with almost no rights whatsoever - no trial, no habeus, no evidence, no public scrutiny.”
?WTF?
Who, when, where? Links please.
Why do foreign nationals fall under OUR Constitution?
September 26th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
“When Christendom was in the same state as Islam today, the Christians behaved far worse ”
So you are saying it is okay for the Terrorists who happen to be Islamic, to act like the Christians did 700 years ago? If you are atheist, why are you an Islamic apologist?
September 26th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
“A quareter of Americans believe the press has too much freedom.”
If you had said a quarter of all Americans believe that ALL the press gives THEIR opinion and not the news. I would agree.
From what poll?
You need to get away from the coast. All that salt air is corroding your brain.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
You’re my boy blue …. er, Eric ….
September 26th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Sarajevo, known for centuries for the peaceful coexistence of its Muslims, Christians and Jews, became a majority Muslim city after the 1992-95 war.
Dozens of Muslim protesters attacked participants of Bosnia’s first-ever gay rights festival in Sarajevo on Wednesday. Police said at least eight people were injured when attackers dragged some people from vehicles and beat others in the street. A policeman was also injured. Islamic media campaigned this month against the organization of the festival during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and anonymous death threats were made against its organizers and media that supported it. Yup, nice religion. Got freedom of the press to encite violence and kill people that are different.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/09/25/57208.html
September 26th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
“Incarceration is a whole nuther dept than policing Jersey.”
And to think I just got head head reattached, and you come along and just knock it clean off again. Micky, Micky, Micky…
“I challenge you to find a country with police more tolerant than ours that doesnt have anarchy boiling over in the streets, besides Amsterdam, they’re all too wasted to know what to protest or commit crimes.”
Cops in America are often abusive and tyrannical. For a man who had some bad habits in the past, you of all people should know that. American police have a wide berth when it comes to their behavior. If you think America is is any better than any other developed nation when ti comes to law enforcement abuse, then you’ve got blinders on.
Infidel, ever hear of GITMO? Extraordinary rendition? Secret prisons? Where’ve you been?
“So you are saying it is okay for the Terrorists who happen to be Islamic, to act like the Christians did 700 years ago?”
No, but you can apparently connote all sorts of carzy things. Personally, I think all religiously inspired bad behavior is abhorant no matter who’s doing it. How you read that into what I said is beyond me. Did I say I was a fan of the Inquisition?
“From what poll?”
Google it. Some polls put it a lot higher. And try to stay up to date on the news so I don’t have to be your Link Mommy.
“Sarajevo, known for centuries for the peaceful coexistence of its Muslims, Christians and Jews, became a majority Muslim city after the 1992-95 war.”
Are you sane? Do you know anything about history? The city barely existed until the Ottomans! It took an iron hand to keep the peace after the Ottomans left. Don’t just make stuff up, man. Sure there were tensions recently with the Muslims, but they didn’t start it. And unfortunately, modern problems in rightwing Islamic culture have been exaserbating the problems - and the rightwingers in the US have only made everything worse.
JMJ
September 26th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
And to think I just got head head reattached, and you come along and just knock it clean off again. Micky, Micky, Micky…”
If you think I dont know the diffeence between the laws that are resposable for what gets all these guys locked up for ridiculous offenses and how the police do thier job then you do need your head attached to something other than where its at.
Yes, I’m very aware of bad cops, I did 6 months because of one.
But that does not change the fact that we still have a police force in this country that is way more tolerant than just about any other countries. Which by the way you never did answer to my challenge/question which can only mean that I’m right.
Your only response is that I have blinders on which is typical of liberals and how they debate.
It boils down always to “if you dont see it my way you are defected in some way” and you resort to name calling and concluding the debate on the basis of your intellectual superiority instead of actually displaying something of verifiable reputation and credibility.
As noted above you automatically call into question infidels sanity and imply to be his mommy.
Weak, pathetically weak.
JMJ:
“If you think America is is any better than any other developed nation when ti comes to law enforcement abuse, then you’ve got blinders on.”
The South African apartheid system might be a little worse than us
Nazi Germany. Need I say anything more ?
In Cuba, 22 journalists who attempted to publicise non-government authorized news are still locked up
North Korea ranked last out of 168 countries in a test of press freedom.
The list goes on and on.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
“Don’t just make stuff up, man”
I didn’t, thats why I included a link of the news organization that stated that. See, its all about YOU always being right and everyone else is wrong. Thats why if you are gonna post crazy sh!t, you should provide me with a link. So now I have no reason to believe you, and you proved the point for me. So it wasn’t me making stuff up, it was Al-Aribiya (according to you) but since you know more than anyone I guess all debate is over.
“Cops in America are often abusive and tyrannical”
You seriously need to get away from all those ‘tall buildings’ dude. Get out to where the real America is. Where I live, you can leave your house unlocked all day and night. Keys in the car. And the Police Department takes Thursdays off. Yes, no Police on Thursdays. No dispatcher, no one in the office.
Now in Egypt, I have seen people ‘disappear’ as if they never existed. But it was Al-Queda so I didn’t care. In France, you can be held as a terrorism suspect for 4 years with no lawyer, no red cross, no rights. And the prisoners at GITMO (now that I know you were referring to them) have more rights than a CONUS Penitentiary. If we were to grant them our Bill of Rights, then they would be at a Fed. Pen. and the rest of the world would b!tch that they aren’t being properly protected (think Jeff Dahmer). Military Tribunals like Nurenberg took place After the war. The after is going to be a ways off in this war, so we are moving at the speed that we can.
“I think all religiously inspired bad behavior is abhorant no matter who’s doing it”
SO DO I
But you have never said that it is the fault of crazy religious Islamic terrorists that attacked America. You have always insinuated that it is solely OUR fault.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Gotta go-
Important T.V. night ya know.
Twins v. Royals
September 26th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Jersey I am not sure what planet you live on but you are not even close to reality if you think this is a police state. Guantanamo is a piece of cake when compared to the russian gulags, the hanoi hilton, the german stalags, or the treatment of recent people kidnapped like richard pearl.
Having said all that I must admit I am confused. As a Jewish republican I just don’t see what the big deal is. I found none of the jokes funny or offensive. I would be more likely to be offended as a republican than as a Jew, but none of it was that big a deal. Of course I support boycotting Zucker’s movies not for political reasons but because most of them are more stupid than funny. Even the funny bits are so overdone that by 15 minutes into the movie its okay next joke please.
Unfortunately the Custer joke is taken by liberals to be a statement of fact which is far less tolerant than most of what I hear on the right. Witness Jersey’s diatribe.
I really don’t understand the Chicago Cannonball’s reaction. If she was offended I can understand holding it against Zucker, but not all Republicans or Republican events.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
On to more important subjects
DENVER (AP) - Denver Broncos Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway is engaged to a former Oakland Raiders cheerleader.
Is this considered offensive Eric…should she be made to burn her Raiderette costume. ANd forgo any Raider reunions.
September 26th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Micky, remind me when next we debate to specifically exclude South Africa, Nazi Germany, Cuba and North Korea from the list of countries with whom we should be compared.
Parrothead, we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. I’d say that pretty much qualifies us ass a police state.
Here’s some stats…
http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:LHjtRMfsuC4J:www.nccd-crc.org/nccd/pubs/2006nov_factsheet_incarceration.pdf+world+statistics+incarceration&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
The US incarcerates the largest number of people in the world.
The incarceration rate in the US is four times the world average.
Some individual US states imprison up to six times as many people as do nations of comparable population.
The US imprisons the most women in the world.
Crime rates do not account for incarceration rates.
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-559597
We are among the world’s most surveilled populations.
Here’s just pot busts in NYC: http://digg.com/politics/NYC_s_Staggering_Arrest_Rate_for_Pot_Achieved_by_Deception
New study says New York’s cannabis crackdown is both racist and fraudulent - and that more have been arrested under Bloomberg than Giuliani. New York police have arrested almost 400,000 people for misdemeanor marijuana possession in the last decade. Last year, there were 39,700 such arrests, that cost the city $60 to $100 million.
Here’s the only countries known to have carried out the death penalty last year (perhaps Micky would like to compare us to these guys): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, China, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, USA, Vietnam, Yemen.
Shall I go on?
“But you have never said that it is the fault of crazy religious Islamic terrorists that attacked America. You have always insinuated that it is solely OUR fault.”
Infidel,
I’ve been around, man. There’s a whole underbelly out there that too many Americans just don’t see. Look, I live in a great little town now. We have very little crime. But go to one of the local holes in the wall, and you’ll see the underbelly giggling away. It’s everywhere. And tere’s cops everywhere too, even in little towns like mine that could easily do with only half of them. Police are a welfare state of the authortarian politician, dependent on their entitlement to employment and authority. There’s money and power in law enforcement. That’s why pot’s still illegal.
Ya’ know, that was the whole knock on Giuliani from the Left about his affect on crime in NY. Most people never saw what those neighborhoods in certain parts of the burroughs were really like. I know. I saw them. I hung out in them and did “business” in them back in the Wild West days of the 80’s and early 90’s. And I when I lived near L.A for a couple years in the mid-late eighties, I had a friend, an R&B singer from Watts, and another friend from Compton. They showed me what those places were like. People just don’t know. But they watch the news, and the news mostly comes out of the metro areas, and they see the stories, and they get paranoid, and they pack their sleepy little towns with waaaaay too many cops, who then need something to do, and they Shark the streets, and bust potheads, and look for any excuse to bust anyone.
I have a great example. I live in a really sleepy little retirement town these days. This county is so small it only has three high schools and only two incorporated towns. Most of the retirees are midwestern WASPS, old union guys and such. Anyway, we have a sheriff and deputies here - no town cops and rarely do you see a statey. But the sheriff has broad powers and is elected (again, we’re one of the few countries on Earth stupid enough to ELECT FR!GG!N LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS!). So this shmuck bypasses the county commission thanks to a legal loopholl and totally blows 2.4 million dollars (this in a county with very little tax base) ostensibly for emergencies (that never happen). Now, the sheriff flies around town all day, making all that noise, looking for FR!GG!N METH LABS AND POT FIELDS IN A FR!GG!N RETIREMENT COMMUNITY!
You see what I’m talkin’ about here?
And “insinuated,” huh? Look, if you poke an alligator it just might bite you. That doesn’t mean the alligator is a civilized human being and only attacked you because you poked it. It just means you shouldn’t mess around with alligators. Get me?
JMJ
September 26th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Oops - these two go together… Sorry for any confusion…
“But you have never said that it is the fault of crazy religious Islamic terrorists that attacked America. You have always insinuated that it is solely OUR fault.”
And “insinuated,” huh? Look, if you poke an alligator it just might bite you. That doesn’t mean the alligator is a civilized human being and only attacked you because you poked it. It just means you shouldn’t mess around with alligators. Get me?
JMJ
September 26th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Oops again!
“So this shmuck bypasses the county commission thanks to a legal loopholl and totally blows 2.4 million dollars on a helicopter…”
JMJ
September 27th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Hey! What happened to my post! It took me like a half hour to write that!
JMJ
September 27th, 2008 at 1:17 am
They’re bad alligators.
get it ?
September 27th, 2008 at 11:27 am
LOL! You should see the size of those alligators. My God, man, they’re huge! I’ve seen them well over ten feet long! (My wife’s convinced herself that they’re just harmless robots made to bring the tourists… hey, whatever helps her sleep at night, right?)
And ot think I live in an untra-Red part of Florida! Those “conservative republicans” sure watch out for the taxpayers dollars… NOT!
JMJ
September 27th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Oops, forgot this…
Micky, the point is that if we just avoided the alligators, they wouldn’t bite us. We never had a problem with Islamic terrorists until we put troops on their soil.
JMJ
September 27th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I was very sorry to read this… somewhat because I had been kinda hoping the movie would be a good antidote to F911…. but more so, because of Zucker’s immensely classless remarks and how they affected you and your main squeeze.
I truly have never understood anti-semitism. And as a devout follower of God, the closer I am to Him, the more I value all humanity, and in particular, the Jewish nation. Why? I have no idea. But the point is, those of us walking with God are not anti-semitic. The whole idea that Christians hate Jews is just not the truth. [I know, J, we've hashed this out before, and you're still wrong. Sorry] But I also have to admit to not understanding at ALL Zucker’s joking remarks about Jews, either.
When he said the first line - about nothing brings in money like Jews beating up on Christians thing - I would have walked out.
I did see ‘The Passion…’ and not without some trepidation. I had heard about how graphic it was, and I had been rather shocked by the anti- semitism attributed to Gibson because of it. Frankly, as a believer of many decades, I had never blamed Jews for Christ’s death, because it was WHY He came in the first place. Who did it and revenge for that, has never been a consideration in my faith, because what Christ DID is the point. Frankly, since the Jews were the chosen people in the first place, I have always had a great openness to them, and totally enjoyed all my relationships with the people I have considered my extended family. I as a gentile was not chosen, but grafted in by the act of Jesus death and resurrection - that is, from the view point of my faith.
The movie itself was about Jesus…. not about pointing fingers at the ones who did it. Quite frankly, I think the anti-semitic flap was a trumped up issue to be welded as an axe by the anti-christians in the entertainment world.
Therefore, I would have walked out after his first point. That was a purely offensive statement to me as a Christian, and as one who loves the Jewish nation for their stature in the Kingdom of God.
And Eric….no apology needed for you taking a stand on this issue. People are many things and Republicans are many peoples. For one group of people to insult the other, whether is it on grounds of political beliefs, or religion, or any OTHER reason, no matter WHO is present….is totally despicable.
Carry on.