Mr. De Niro was speaking at a fund-raiser with the first lady, Michelle Obama. Here’s the joke: “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” – Bill Maher
Why the first lady’s press secretary bothered to say Mr. De Niro’s joke was “inappropriate” is beyond me.
That Newt Gingrich used the moment to say it was “inexcusable and the president should apologize for him” is predictable.
Both sides of this trumped up story look foolish and so does the media coverage it got. Why should Pres. Obama assume responsibility for someone outside his administration? The notion is insane, but that’s where we are.
But are we seriously going to simultaneously say that profane descriptions of women as a punch line are equivalent?
Bill Maher says a mouthful in the New York Times today:
[...] This week, President Obama’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, described Mitt Romney’s constant advertising barrage in Illinois as a “Mittzkrieg,” and instantly the Republican Jewish Coalition was outraged and called out Mr. Axelrod’s “Holocaust and Nazi imagery” as “disturbing.” Because the message of “Mittzkrieg” was clear: Kill all the Jews. Then the coalition demanded not only that Mr. Axelrod apologize immediately but also that Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz “publicly rebuke” him. For a pun! For punning against humanity!
The right side of America is mad at President Obama because he hugged the late Derrick Bell, a law professor who believed we live in a racist country, 22 years ago; the left side of America is mad at Rush Limbaugh for seemingly proving him right.
If it weren’t for throwing conniption fits, we wouldn’t get any exercise at all.
Apologies mean nothing, as we found out from Rush Limbaugh. It’s certainly not going to stop him from invoking femininazi, because nothing will.
But no one is going to listen to Bill Maher either.
What the answer is to 24/7 instant media and social interaction in the new media age is uncertain, but we’re not outgrowing it quickly.
If Limbaugh and Maher don’t use the “s,” “p” or “c” words to get a laugh next time they’re taking out after a woman, they’ll never have to say they’re sorry.
I’ve never needed an apology for this stuff and taking someone off the air, whether Limbaugh or Maher, has never interested me either.
However, powerful men in the media using women as a punch line through defaming them is an issue and is not a joke.
Anything that causes women to think twice about getting into the public arena and engaging in politics is a challenge to achieving parity in representation for the genders. Seeing more women in leadership positions is important because of the different policies we champion, as well as getting this country to the moment when our frat boy nation finally elects a female president.
That’s not important to some men, but to every woman in America it should be.
Another thing that’s important is a sense of humor. Ladies need to get one and refusing the urge to be thin-skinned wouldn’t hurt.
Perfectly said, Taylor.
“Another thing that’s important is a sense of humor. Ladies need to get one and refusing the urge to be thin-skinned wouldn’t hurt.”
I would whole heartedly agree EXCEPT we are talking apples and oranges.
There was a supposed comedian a few years back, Andrew Dice Clay I believe his stage name was whose entire “act” was one hateful misogynistic spewing after another. He was rightfully in my view targeted by women tired of the hatred and basically his carreer disappeared.
As much as maher leaves me cold as a comedian his occasional use of the C word and his very evident personal misogyny never rises to the level of genuine hatred and hate speech.
limpwithnoballs does. AND he is NOT a comedian. He is a political opinion commentator.
BIG difference.
“As much as maher leaves me cold as a comedian his occasional use of the C word and his very evident personal misogyny never rises to the level of genuine hatred and hate speech.”
Inherent contradiction here as misogyny ACTUALLY means hatred of women, and if you can’t see the C word as “hate speech,” you really have no business in this thread.
But then your constant use of “limpwithnoballs” exposes your willingness to insult men and women based on gender-specific anatomy. Every time you use that nickname, you imply that cowardess comes from a lack of testicles; i.e. you are calling all women, you know, persons without balls, cowards. It would be much less offensive TO WOMEN to just use Limbaugh’s name.
O.K. Ready for the Right Wing smear that you love so well though I KNOW I’m much to the Left of you as you jump through insane hoops to defend Corporatist Democrats.
Everyone seems uptight sometimes. As a gay man, I hear gay jokes all the time. Sometimes they are funny and sometimes there not, I just brush the bad ones aside. I just don’t like when people use the f word when it comes to gay men or the c word when it comes to women or the N word when it comes to African Americans, those words cross the line. As for jokes, lets face it, there is alot to laugh about these days as long as it is in good taste.
What you said, fairminded
Thank you. I lectured my 17-year-old daughter about six months ago after she casually referred to a classmate with a homophobic perjorative. Whether or not he’s actually gay (I don’t know) is beside the point. I asked her how she would feel if I or someone she knew called her a “stupid b**** ” whenever we disagreed or were dissatisfied with her. Hopefully, the message got through that when engaged in discussion, people’s feelings and one’s own choice of words really do matter.
Maher is referring to what I sometimes call the “I’m offended, therefore I win” rhetorical strategy. That Republican Jewish Coalition statement, if Maher is accurate in his portrayal of it, is a prime example. Start with a fallacious reason for being offended (blitzkrieg is a name for a military tactic, it has no more to do with genocide of Jews than terrorism has to do with Islam) then expect that all the people you disagree with on an issue owe you an apology.
It works great in a country where people are willing to credulously believe anything someone who is “on their side” on an issue tells them.
I agree with fairminded, as I usually do.
I also would like to add that I don’t like Bill and stopped listening to him for disrespectful treatment of Black women and the things he said about kids. I know he hates Sarah Palin however comments about her children’s disabilities and teenage sex life just reinforced what I already know about him.
He may call himself a comedian, and I use that term lightly, but his show has always been political based upon guests and discussions. I think calling oneself a comedian was just a clever title to hide behind after making unacceptable comments and catching heat for it.
Sasha — Completely agree with your assessment of Maher..
Honestly, it seems like so many of us nowadays just live to be offended. I mean, take my wife — please!
I’ve never been much of a fan of Bill Maher, so I don’t very often watch him. Yes, he’s obviously a comedian, and he can say things that I’ll find funny and amusing. But all too often, his humor often strays into the realm of outright malevolence, when he clearly doesn’t have to.
I really don’t understand why Maher feels compelled to do this. because he’s obviously a very intelligent man and can discuss issues on their merits or demerits. Surely, he can lampoon Sarah Palin — although she’s often her own best parody — and ridicule her politics, without resorting to sexist perjoratives and demeaning or maligning her children.
Well said!
Should Newt Gingrich apologize for Rush LImbaugh? That’s pretty much what he’s saying. Of course, Newt never was the sharpest tool in the drawer and this is yet another example of his apparent mental instability.