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Outrage Brigades Attack MSNBC, SNL — Jon Gabriel
The vigilant PC watchdogs of MSNBC took a 60-second break from fretting about racism to ring in Cinco de Mayo. An early morning host honored Mexico’s proud victory over the French by stumbling around the studio in a sombrero, shaking maracas and taking a swig from a cheap bottle of tequila.
¡Ay, carumba! Surprising no one, an even more vigilant group of PC watchdogs took MSNBC to task.
The network said Tuesday the interlude on its “Way Too Early” show Monday featuring correspondent Louis Burgdorf and host Thomas Roberts wasn’t intended to be disrespectful. The show apologized online and will express its regret Wednesday on the air.
Hugo Balta, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, says it was abominable that the segment was done by a news organization. He says it feeds “the ignorant misconceptions of a rich and proud people who unfortunately are too often portrayed as caricatures to be scoffed at.”
Like Stephen Colbert being blasted for his “ching chong” jokes, progressives are increasingly being attacked by the outrage lobbies they empowered. A few months ago, black and feminist activists demanded that “Saturday Night Live” add an African-American female to the cast. Lorne Michaels sheepishly granted their request, but now finds his reliably liberal show in even more hot water.
A “Saturday Night Live” sketch joking about slavery — written by one of the show’s recently hired black female writers — has ignited an online backlash. But comedian Leslie Jones — who made her debut Saturday night for a segment on the news-show parody “Weekend Update” — refused to apologize for her controversial bit, calling her critics “self-righteous.”
The sketch, “No. 1 Slave Draft Pick,” opened with Jones discussing People magazine’s choice of Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o as the cover girl for its “World’s Most Beautiful” issue.
Jones joked about her own lack of love life — but added that in the days of slavery, her sturdy frame would have gotten plenty of attention.
…Ebony.com editor Jamilah Lemieux tweeted her disgust: “This Leslie Jones person is an embarrassment … I’m so appalled right now.” …She later took to Ebony.com to further berate Jones in an essay, saying she minimalized the brutality experienced by black women during slave days.
MSNBC and Mr. Michaels can prevent future offenses by submitting all jokes to the Red Comedic Subcommittee of the Revolutionary Workers Council for full review prior to broadcast.
Published in General
Pffft its been done.
I’ve been working on a hypothesis related to this phenomena in some writing I’m doing — essentially a manual for adolescents that lists logical fallacies.
Essentially, the problem that these groups are starting to run into is living by the Appeal to Ridicule fallacy. Ridicule has been very successful for them the last decade. They don’t have to argue their points, they only have to mock their opponents’ beliefs enough that they “win” by default.
My hypothesis: The Appeal to Ridicule leeches our sense of humor. Once we declare that people to be laughed at are people to be dismissed, we cannot allow ourselves to be laughed at. Any jest is to be taken as a serious rebuttal — because we use it as serious rebuttal against our foes. We can no longer laugh at ourselves. We can’t allow ourselves to be laughed at — or even be perceived as being laughed at.
And once we come to the point we cannot laugh at ourselves, we have drained our humor dry. All we have left is humorless mockery and outrage at perceived slights.
Holy guacamole! (Is it OK if I say that?)
I can’t believe they did that on a news program, especially MSNBC. It never occurred to anyone that they’d be killed by the lefty activist groups for that?
This is, this seems to me to be a mockery of a popular American pastime: taking an ethnic holiday and turning it to an excuse for drinking and carousing in comically ethnic trappings.
Why do you believe that a streamlined manual listing logical fallacies is ‘only’ for adolescents? I hope you finish and publish it soon.
Well, soon is probably not going to happen. Between day job and taking care of a home, I haven’t a lot of time to write.
I came up with the idea as my nieces are starting to have an online “presence” and I realized that the internet is full of fallacious arguments and the like. Since banning internet access is an exercise in long-term futility, and as I’m not close by to answer questions (these roles best served by their awesome parents), I figured the best way to help was to give them tools to navigate through the detritus. That’s why I am gearing it “for adolescents.”
Of course, I am neither hip nor trendy, and I have no desire to pretend to be as such. As these are smart young ladies, I wouldn’t even try to “talk down” to them. So I suspect just about any age could read this future work. If I ever finish.
The question is, will getting a taste of their own medicine cure them or turn them into groveling lackeys? Well, they are already groveling lackeys, but can groveling lackeyhood be cured? That is the question.
Conservatives, Republicans, and/or pale people have generally figured out how to stay safe — they do not talk about race or nationality. Ever.
The MSNBC crowd, on the other hand, probably thought the rules didn’t apply to them. And for many years the rules probably didn’t apply. But since the supply of outrage-worthy comments provided by conservatives, Republicans and/or pale people has dried up, and given the fact that the outrage industry still needs to feed, the result is inevitable.
“For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind.”
Ladies and Gentlemen of Saturday Night Live,
It has come to this. The monster bred and nurtured by your politically correct masters has turned on you.
You have two choices at this juncture. One is to cravenly submit to having your creativity forever hobbled by the humorless, grievance-mongering twits currently assailing you.
The other is to strike back, for yourselves, for your children, for generations yet unborn.
Sound the trumpets. Beat the drums. Hoist the black flag of satire now, or forever consign yourself to doing only that humor which passes inspection by people who cannot – nay – must not laugh at themselves. That, and one day emceeing Pauly Shore retrospectives at the Oxnard Film Festival.
No prisoners. Bayonet the wounded.
P.S. MSNBC – nobody is watching and nobody cares.
Then there’s this. A Democrat has been running a series of gay-baiting, gay-slurring ads against a gay Republican.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/377345/dem-congressman-posts-article-calling-gay-republican-opponent-mary-andrew-johnson
The Leftists want to keep blacks on the plantation, hispanics in the barrio, and gays in the closet.
“My worst quality is I’m a perfectionist”. Ya gotta love Key&Peele – they’re a couple of funny dudes!
This half-froggy, half-frito bandito, mackerel-snapping, heteronormative Texan imperialist has three words for those ethnic grievance lobbyists: chinga tu madre.
Yeah, my previous comment will likely be redacted. But it was worth it.
ok, that was hilarious.
Yes. Key & Peele are verrrry funny guys. And they spare no one in their satire.
Wait. I’m confused. You’re saying MSNBC has a news program??? A program that runs actual news, as opposed to, say… ummm, total left-wing nonsense??? Whadya know.
Moral Swamp NBC is getting a taste of the hair of the dog that they use to bite others. Wonderful irony!
Hey, that’s not fair. They also run a few hours of prison documentaries every day.
You’ve got to hand it to the Irish. Every year millions of Americans who are not Irish dress in green, try to speak in an Irish brogue, and get stinking drunk on Saint Patrick’s Day. Yet we never hear about an Irish interest group throwing a fit about it. At least someone still has a sense of humor.
Can you imagine any other ethnic group/nationality not being offended? Thank goodness we don’t similarly celebrate any Russian holiday. Putin would probably have to invade us to prevent the “harassment” of Russians living in America.
I can’t wait to see their ‘Mohammed’ skit. Since everyone else is getting feisty they’ll just fall back on Christian jokes most likely.
Somebody needs to explain the broader point to Americans that left-wing pc speech and behavior codes make things bland and stripped of humor. I hope more comedians get sick and tired of this, but more importantly I hope they realize that the culprit is left-wing thinking.
There was another kay and peele sketch that had me rolling, but I forget. Let me see if I can find it. Well, there’s this one, for starters. Oh, wait… I was thinking about the n-word on boondocks. That was too funny. Unfortunately, I think liberals could even laugh at it while not feeling even the slightest twinge of self-consciousness.
oh, they sort of do… they make all the jokes, but they are always sure to throw in a jab at conservatives in order to preserve their cred. I can’t really listen to stand-up comedy, anymore. You’re safe as long as you make it absolutely clear that you really do subscribe to all the liberal orthodox. Then you can joke about whatever you want.
You’re a Texas Imperialist, too? Que Padre! Now to conquer….I don’t known….Denver, maybe?
Notre Dame Fighting Irish is a much more offensive ethnic stereotype football team nickname than Washington Redskins. But nobody’s upset about that one.
Ay cabron ! Que palabras por los gringos . Entienden ?
As for me , I think it is about time the PC scorpion got a ride on the dumb frog.
If you are offended by a comedian, then don’t watch them. You don’t have the right to censor their material. On the other hand, the folks at MSNBC thought they were immune; they’r not. I love it when they get bit by their own creations.