Bill O’Reilly WAS a Thug?

Now I understand why Bill O’Reilly acts like he does. It started during his childhood.  On a recent appearance on the Daily Show, where he talks briefly about his new book, he admits to having been “scolded by nuns.”   He also reveals that “I was a little thug.”  WAS?  He talks about while in the third grade “doing some thuggish thing in the back of the room.”  Well.  Now he gets to be a thug and do thuggish things in full public view.  And he gets paid to do it.  Geez.  Some people get all the breaks. 

Here’s Part I of the Interview and Part II.

Hillary as Secretary of State?

There have been rumors that the Obama administration is considering Hillary Clinton as Secretary State.  Sorry, but she’ll never get past the vetting stage if she has to respond to the same questions as other applicants for high-ranking jobs.  I’m talking about the 7-page, 63-part questionnaire.  The last question reads: “Please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the president-elect.”  Call me crazy, but Bill might be a problem there.  Uh-oh.  Come to think of it, they might have problems filling any of the vacancies.  Good luck with that.

“What’s More Scary: A Bleak Economy or a Black President?” (not my words, just quoting)

There I was, watching Rick Sanchez on CNN.  He gave a report on a couple of things he encountered in Georgia lately.  He told of a sign in front of a church that read “When the Wicked Beareth Rule the People Mourn” (from Proverbs).  Maybe the church was addressing a bear market.  You know, the Beareth Market as opposed to a Bulleth Market.

 

He saw flags at half staff.  Were those confederate flags? (ouch)

 

He then told of the Statesville Record, a newspaper in Statesville, NC, that printed an article back in October (he made it sound as though it were just yesterday) with the headline “Analysis: Some whites fear an Obama presidency” and the first lines that read “What’s more scary: a bleak economy or a black president?”  It created a bit of a stir.  I’m not sure who was upset, people who might be “afraid” of a black president, people who were offended by the sentiment, or someone else.  Nevertheless, the paper had to issue an apology.  First, I can’t find the article in the Statesville Record on line, but it’s available here.  Second, the article was written by Jesse Washington, AP Race & Ethnicity writer.  It’s syndicated.  Sanchez made it sound as though it were written by a Statesville writer.  Third, did the paper owe an apology?  From what I can tell, Washington was making an observation.  It wasn’t his opinion. From the evidence he gave, it sounds like a pretty fair observation.   

 

Bottom line, though, Sanchez should’ve been more careful about his 2-minute semi-sensational report.  Shame on him.

Racists versus Felons?

The Evil Ann Coulter recently wrote the following (Nov. 5):

This was such an enormous Democratic year that even John Murtha won his congressional seat in Pennsylvania after calling his constituents racists. It turns out they’re not racists — they’re retards.

Umm.  Take a look at Alaska’s election.  They elected a convicted felon.  Oops.  Don’t forget to be fair and balanced.

Woo Hoo! Race No Longer Matters!

Maybe Cornel West, who wrote Race Matters, would have something to say about that.  Seriously, in Kathleen Parker’s latest column she tells her story of living in a divided south.  Dorothy, the woman who took care of her, was biracial.  Parker’s story is very touching, but she ends it this way:

The day after the election, an African American woman and I were marveling about events and trying to put our finger on what had changed.

That thing. The little speck of difference that kept us imperceptibly apart had been dissolved in a lovely instant of national consensus that race no longer matters.

Really?  Race no longer matters?  CNN sure is devoting a lot of time to something that doesn’t matter.  Oh, and don’t forget what happened at Baylor.  Someone thought it would be fun to hang a rope from a tree and burn Obama/Biden signs. 

Right.  Race no longer matters.

About This Blog . . .

I have other blogs, but they’re connected with my profession (I’m a professor in an English Department at a university–you know how we are–we’re some of those unAmerican liberals).  I keep those blogs apolitical and relatively neutral, if there is any such thing as being apolitical and neutral.  After all, the very books I read, the blogs I visit, the products I buy, the places I shop, and the way my taxes are spent have political implications.  But I don’t feel comfortable asking students to contribute to a blog that would probably alienate many of them.  Getting students to think in different ways is difficult enough.  So I couldn’t express the thrill of having watched Barack Obama being elected president.  I couldn’t post the YouTube of Wil.I.Am’s “Yes We Can Video.”  I couldn’t say that I’m going to watch the inauguration instead of go into mourning as I did when George W. was re-elected.  So there you have it.  I’ll write about books.  I’ll write about politics.  I’ll make observations.  I’ll take my Prozac.  I’ll live my life.  Yes I can.

 

P.S.  I’m not always going to demonstrate as much good will or good sense as one of my blogging friends does.   She writes “I can disagree with someone’s politics without being ugly to them.”  I admire her restraint.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be ugly at times.  But I’ll work on it and I won’t boo anyone.  And take more Prozac.