Wednesday, April 05, 2006

It's all political fun.

Neal Boortz is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host who hosts "The Neal Boortz Show" on Cox Radio.

Following the incident between Representative Cynthia McKinney and a capitol policeman, Boortz addressed McKinney's hairstyle change which may have led to the whole incident. Here's a few of the things he had to say oh his March 31st radio show regarding Representative McKinney's new hairstyle:

"She looks like a ghetto slut

"McKinney's hair-do looks like an explosion in a Brillo pad factory

"To me, that hairstyle just shows contempt for -- no, it's not an Afro. I mean, no, it just shows contempt for the position that she holds and the body that she serves in. And, I'm sorry, there's just no other way to -- it's just a hideous and horrible looking.

"She looks like Tina Turner peeing on an electric fence.

"She looks like a shih tzu!

"There is just no other way to say this. It's just hideous. She looks like ghetto trash. Get a braider over there ... quick! Nobody with a modicum of self-respect would go around looking like that."

Anyway, Boortz concluded by admonishing his listeners, "don't give me any stuff for saying this. I've endured years of bald remarks. I'm entitled."

So he's entitled. Too bad Boortz isn't Afro-American as well. Then some of us might feel he's even more entitled.

Boortz is said to have apologized sometime afterward. I pretty well would expect that. It's along the line of a Pat Robertson comment said but later clarified or regretted. Then there's those Rush admonishments after saying something outrageous and being called on it. It goes like, "Lighten up folks, I'm only kidding."

The main point being, the outrageous remarks are out there. Apologies don't retrieve damage done. But they're not really intended to, are they? It's just good political fun.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I've never heard Neal Boortz & sorry you apparently did. I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about McKinney's hairstyle. I like it. It took years off her face & looks very attractive to me. My only critique is it looks hard to maintain, but that's her choice. The guard not recognizing her is a whole other issue. She looks fine. And you're right, these types of after-the-damage-has-been-done apologies are worthless. D.K.

Dada said...

DK: You know, when posting something like this, I'm always a bit reluctant. That's because, being on the other side of the political aisle from Neal Boortz and others, I have my own biases. I'm sure I could get an idea from this blog's archives how hypocritical I, myself, might be saying this if I took the time to reread them.

So truthfully, I don't know how lily clean I am to be pointing out others. I know there are certain folks that have the power to really outrage me but I try not to attack them based on their personal attributes.

Sure I refer to Condoleezza Rice as The Oil Tanker, but that's simply to connect her to her corporate roots. And Hillary I often refer to as "It takes a village...It takes a bomb...as a fine example of her hypocrisy.

But I try to avoid those attributes of a more personal nature such as our first lady, Pickles, (whoops!) revealing "Hillary kept bad house; West Wing decorations were gaudy, outdated." Shit like that. I don't care how Laura's taste deviates from the former first lady's. Just as I don't care whose hair, Cynthia's vs. Neal's ("Whoa! You mean he HAS some!" Well, so much for MY sainthood!) looks better or worse.

I'm sure at times I slip gears. But mostly I try to avoid the Tucker Carlson school of personal trashing because, when in a verbal joust with such a talent as that, I will always lose.

Anonymous said...

I think the daily outrages make us all want to vent, to rage against the machine, to NOT go gently into that goodnight. It is personal, they've made it personal. Oh, we may not put the words down in a blog, but we think them all the time. Little, appropriate personal revenges, none of them as nasty as what is being done to our country, but sweet thoughts that sustain the soul against rampant hypocracy. D.K.

Anonymous said...

YOUR IMPEACH BUSH BANNER IS BACK. Yeaaay !!! D.K.

Dada said...

Yeah, "Impeach Bush" corner banner is back. I remembered how much you liked it, missed it when I removed it, then saw it somewhere again, so just had to have it back.

BTW, talking about venting...did you hear O'Reilly criticizing Pres. Bush as being way to gentle on Helen Thomas when she aske the 'poor baby' a tough question.

O'Reilly, defending democracy and the tenets of our laws and traditions said, "If I'd been Bush, I'da decked Helen Thomas."

So, have you heard the comments of one questioner of the president today? He musta slipped in, because the oddience was obviously screened to project a pro-Bush consensus.

It was quite unusual. Maybe FOX should fire a "journalist" and hire that "Joe citizen." Oh wait, objective news is not the objective.

Anonymous said...

I'v heard nothing except a little Randi Rhodes today. Still stuck in the tax dungeon. Now I'll have to watch for outakes on news tonight. O'Reilly defends democracy? Hahahah! Bullies don't defend anything, they only pay millions for what amounted to phone sex. D.K.