Posted by
Shogrensus on Friday, April 20, 2007 2:07:34 PM
Rosie gave her two cents about the need to allow those with dissenting political opinions to have the right to keep their soapbox, as long as it's on the air.
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Rosie: I think racist is one thing but when people start to say “well this person has a dissenting political opinion therefore we want them off the air” that’s when we’re in dangerous territory. That’s what I think
Joy: Then you’re in Nazi Germany
Elisabeth: People will always take it beyond the step that it needs to
Whoopi: You have to really be clear about it- you say to people you know what you speak responsibly, even if you’re a comic. You speak responsibly, if people don’t disagree, if they don’t agree you know there’s a chance people are going to do an uprising
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Apparently Rosie thinks that comics and talk show hosts should be free to dissent politically. Her issue seems to be that politicians don't have the right to dissent politically. Those politicians (who are elected by constituents who expect them to take particular political positions and then take the necessary political action to back up the political policy) who disagree with Rosie should be impeached, tried as criminals, thrown to the wolves...
If politicians are not able to act on behalf of their constituents, then what is the point of having elections? What is the point of pretending to let people vote. We should just let Rosie and Joy pick the people who they think would best run the country.
Joy's comment about Nazi Germany is interesting. It is not conservatives like George Bush who create the threat of Fascism: conservatives don't fear the working class- conservatives are the working class. The current threat to America is a form of fascism that pits the elites and the welfare class against the working class.
It is not conservatives who want to limit speech- it is liberals who seek to bring back the fairness doctrine and limit conservative voices on the airwaves. Rosie speaks as though she is all for political speech but her comment about racist talk being different from political talk is telling.
Whoopi correctly says that people should be responsible with their speech or those who disagree will do an uprising. When conservatives "do an uprising" its often viewed as moralistic or demonstrates an effort to censor. When the left rises up, it's seen as "it's about time."
At what point is a conservative who talks about a political issue that disproportionately affects a certain racial group crossing the line between political speech and racist speech. I for one am uncomfortable with people like Rosie and Joy making these distinctions.