Where Offensive Speech is Prohibited, Tyranny Will Follow
by Brian JenningsFirst it was the National Hispanic Media Coalition calling on the FCC to probe what it feels is hate speech by conservative talk radio hosts. The group claims it isolated 334 incidents of hate speech by John & Ken of KFI, Los Angeles, Michael Savage, and Lou Dobbs in eighty minutes of tape.
Then it was minority groups petitioning the FCC to investigate the new radio ratings system called the Portable People Meter because they feel it under represents the ratings on urban radio stations and is unfair. The meter can’t lie and registers in real time what radio stations those who wear the device are hearing. Make sure all groups are fairly represented and all should be fine.
Now, midgets want the FCC to ban the word “midget.” This latest controversy erupted following an April episode of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” in which contestents, including Joan Rivers suggested “bathing midgets in detergent and hanging them out to dry.” Now, the “Little People of America” are asking the FCC to ban the word “midget” from broadcast airwaves because it is demeaning.
So what’s next? Ban the word “fat?” We can’t use that word because it will hurt someone’s feelings? Weight challenged Americans? Ban certain songs, including violent rap music demeaning to women? And while we’re at it, ban the countless words considered to be racist from the airwaves. Ban this and ban that. Instead of using their God-given rights to free speech to fight back in a free country, these groups run to Big Brother asking for speech regulation. They claim they value the First Amendment, but they always use the word “but” in qualifying their cause. It’s time we put an end to this nonsensical syndrome of political correctness and second guessing everything we say as Americans.
As America tries to define hate speech legislation in the Congress, it’s time to tell it like it is. We are a nation of cry babies and wimps. This demand by midgets…er Little People should be ignored by the FCC and we predict it will.
Language cannot be regulated and remain free. Where does it stop? Look at Canada’s cold chill of arctic air under their socialist Human Rights Tribunals and what these Tribunals have done to free expression in that nation. Pastors have been banned for writing about their moral convictions condemning homosexuality. Look at what Hugo Chavez is doing right now in Venezuela - taking the broadcast licenses away from radio stations because he wants no opposition as a tyrant.
Where offensive speech is prohibited, tyranny will follow. Creating protected classes of people free from criticism or even stupid off-color humor is the first step and from there the foundation of a free people crumbles. I’d rather be bathed in detergent and hung out to dry than have the government determine what is and what isn’t free speech.
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274 Comments
I think we should prohibit anything from appearing on television that offends people. I, personally, am offended by the appearance of Democrats. Ergo, they should not be allowed to appear on television.
As a "normal' sized person, I actually find the term "little people" to be offensive. It seems to suggest that they're less than real people. Whereas, at least the word "midget" only describes their physical size. Am I misguided?
If we only can BAN the words THE and AND…THE is so specific, and AND is so inclusie… we need to be more open and general!
My eyes and ears burn whenever Pelosi, Reid, Murtha, and other lib Dems appear on State-Run Media. Ban them.
They are not midgets they are "Vertically Challenged"
Society is turning into the biggest bunch of eggshell walkers, and its working its way down to children. At this rate, the word "No" will be considered hate speech when telling a child that he can't have something since they would be offended. Why I don't really care for the term midget, I think "Little People", "vertically challenged" or "Dwarf" are not any better. Society has a lot of terms that carry a stigma, and we need to be aware that they may not be the preferred choice, but they are commonplace. The worst thing you can do in today's world is hurt someone's feelings.
*shakes head*…. People have gotten such thin skins… is it really too hard to turn off what you don't want to hear? I don't find it that hard… but maybe I am smarter and thicker skinned as well.
I cant speak for all others, but I do have a very dear friend who is a midget and she strongly prefers midget to little people. She thinks the latter is both demeaning and silly.
I thought " midgets-little people" were against any laws which would deprive them of jobs in Hollywood. This is news to me.
I'm waiting for the class action suit against Randy Newman. "Short people got no reason"? You, Mr. Newman, are a monster.
Munchkins . . . It was good enough for Dorothy and it works fine for me.
Munchkins . . . It was good enough for Dorothy and it works fine for me.
I don't know about the rest of you, but being called a "White trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating Middle American." kinda ticked me off. Where's my right to not be offended?
We have all gone to Idiot Hell.
Miley Cyrus is currently being sued on behalf of 1 million Asian or Pacific islanders because of a photo that depicts her making slant eyes. (Oh the horror!) They're asking for $4,000 in damages for each person which comes to a request for $4,000,000,000 in damages.
In addition the plaintiffs lawyers filed a motion to recuse Judge Robert Hess for saying that the controversial photo "included Orientals and non-Orientals and she was doing a gesture pulling with her fingers to the outside of her eyes in a gesture that could be construed as mocking or disparaging of persons of Oriental ancestry."
Plaintiffs accused the judge of racial bias because his use of the word "Oriental" is akin to using the word 'N___er' or Negro when referring to African Americans. Gee, everybody knows that, don't they?
The result? The Judge issued a written apology AND recused himself from the case.
Idiot Hell. Get used to it.
Not only is it stupid to create a bunch of multiple word euphimisms; it's also counter-productive. If I'm going to be a stupid bigot, I'll think bigoted thoughts no matter what words I'm using, and those bigoted emotions will translate whether I'm using the word "midget," "little person," or "vertically challenged." The inverse is also true which is why Hate Crime laws are also stupid. No one reads minds to know what someone is thinking.
All you do when you ban words is lose some of the richness and depth of the language.
You just lost the argument there by showing your "bigotry".
You're an "Average sized" person, not "normal", by defining yourself as "normal" you're saying "little people" are abnormal. How bigoted and small minded of you!
(see, PC is FUN!)
Hear hear… I am tired of being called uneducated and redneck simply because I choose to reside in Texas… I feel like I am demeaned.
*Actually I don't really care because it really only shows the ignorance of those slinging the insults and that makes me laugh.
Yes, I agree.. makes me think of Darby O'Gill's type of "Little People"
I agree with her. They did a story on Fox News about this and there was a show (didn't catch what it was) where midgets were gathered, and one of the hosts asked one guy if he was offended by being called a midget. He said "of course not!"
Never in a million years would I think that "midget" was an offensive word!
Lord save us from the tyranny of the offended!
the next salvo from Fearless Leader…
The FCC already has the authority to install 'neighborhood boards' that will deem whether broadcast content 'is in the community interest'. These will happen stealthily, for they know the Fairness Doctrine is radioactive.
This is no joke.
As the saying goes, 'any means to the end'….
I hate to break the news to you, but there's a large and growing contingent of parents who think it's wrong to say no to their children (the word no itself).
There is also a growing number of parents that believe it's wrong to give your child encouragement or admonishment. It's based on a book called "Unconditional Parenting."
Basically, if your child draws a nice picture, saying, "Good Job!" is wrong and sets up expectations the child cannot reach. You are instead to say, "You did it!" which does not offer any "value judgment."
I understand there are a vocal group of undead who are petitioning the FCC to ban the word "zombie" as derogatory and hateful. They also don't like being called "the living dead" or "the undead" as they feel both terms are unflattering and put too much emphasis on negative stereotypes. Apparently they prefer to be called Re-animated Americans.
I'm wondering WHY any group of adults would insists we call them "little people"; aren't children considered "little people"…seriously, who of voting/drinking age would want to be likened to a child (besides liberal hippies, but that's another matter…)?
So does this mean I can no longer refer to Liberal's as Midget Brains? Do I now have to refer to them as Little Brain's?
And check this parenting philosophy out too:
http://www.consensual-living.com/
How about we don't call these mamby-pamby whiny Little People of America-type groups ANYTHING and just ignore them instead?
As a thin skinned person, I take offense to you writing that something is wrong with me due to my condition.
Scarred (AND sacred) for life after viewing that site. North Carolina, shame on you! No wonder you fell for Dear Leader last fall.
Scarred (AND scared) for life after viewing that site. North Carolina, shame on you! No wonder you fell for Dear Leader last fall.
Do they still eat brrraaaiinnnnsss… ?
Yes, almost like they are patting them on the head and saying, "What a good boy/ girl you are!!"
FYI, the term 'cry babies' is considered offensive to the maturity-challenged community. Be careful.
I'm with Frank Burns: the word "the" is exclusionary. Its very function is to single out one entity from among all of the diversity of the peoples. It should be banned… oops, I used it! I'll go report to the re-education camp now… darn…
While we're at it, I suggest we also ban the term "cracker" when it refers to a Caucasian of European, non-Hispanic descent.
Terry Pratchett has some great satire in the Discworld books related to PC group politics. The trolls are represented by the "Anti-Silocon Defamation League", and the Dwarfs have the "Committee for Equal Heights". Sadly, both represented groups are too busy making a living to be involved in the grievance groups – instead normal humans busybodies run these things. There are too many professional grievance groups in this world!
Dear god that was awful. I need a brillo pad for my brain. Self-determination? When a kid can tell me what that actually means, then maybe I'd buy into the whole ball of crap.
Kids need structure – period. They rebel against it and that's part of growing up.
Try being a conservative trapped in the liberal wasteland of New England. Tarred & feathered with the same brush that is applied to Teddy Kennedy and Christopher Dodd. They offend me by breathing – and I grew up in MA and currently live in CT.
Can I write to someone to complain and get them to go away?
See what they are up against! Just because a percentage of Re-animated Americans (approximately 100%) include human brain as a part of their dietary intake doesn't mean that we need to be afraid of them. Different cultures have different traditions. I'm sure there are many foods of ours that seem strange to Re-animated Americans. We must respect their values and not judge them from the perspective of our value system. We need to be accepting of and accomodating to their diversity.
It's PC run a muck.
Yeah well I take offense that you find my comment offensive…
It looks like the philosophies for the parents whose children can do no wrong… :/ I am a spare the rod type of person and that is how I shall rule…… er, I mean parent.
And WTF is a Caucasion? I'm not from the Caucusus! Hasn't science proven that human life started in Africa? So we are all African Americans! Or maybe it started before the continents formed and we are all Pangeans! That's it! From now on I'm putting Pangean down when any form asks for my race.
I suggest we ban the word Hispanic. It's incredibly sexist and demeaning to women. If we can't ban Hispanic then we must adopt a second word to repair the awful damage….
Herspanic….
When I was a child my parents taught me "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me". This settled the whole name-calling issue for me back then (when I was like five years old).
When I hear stuff like this it reminds me of that simple saying. Sure words are powerful but names people call you are only as powerful as you let them be. I don't know if a simple lesson like this would get through to people who get all upset and call for bans but really it is that simple.
Maybe we should have some fun with the over sensitive politically correct crowd and start mailing out copies of Gran Torino to them. >:)
so if they were at the Democratic National Convention, they'd go hungry???
Or we could just decapitate them?
Might want to try for a gender neutral word, might I suggest "Theirspanic" or it's deep south variant "Themspanic."
Being Irish, when I hear someone say "little people" I think of leprechauns. Would these crybabies prefer leprechaun to midget?
The more I think of it, the more I HATE the sound of "little people." Grow a hide and some sense, folks!
Welcome to the
United States ofthe Offened
Hussein Obama really offends me
Who can I sue ?
I call them all munchkins
/
I prefer the term "free range" to "self-determination."
How offensive!
You've clearly done time in college! Have you ever run into the womyn that roam college campuses demanding that "history" be renamed "herstory" because "history" is exclusive?
They were serious!?!?!
I thought they were practicing lines from a Woody Allen comedy…..
I like what George Lopez said once, call me an American, I don't want to be associated with anything that has PANIC in it.
Sadly no, they were quite serious.
Does this mean Fisher-Price will have to take their "Little People" toy line off the shelves? My kids loved their collection.
KrisNewEngland,
You are precisely correct. I cannot find it now to cite it, but there was a study done some years ago regarding children and boundaries. A group of children is taken to an open (unfenced) playground and told they were free to do whatever they wanted to do. The children were timid, uncertain. They walked warily to the playground equipment. They did play, but it was almost "measured" play with lots of looking around and looking to the adults to make sure they were doing the right thing. The group was taken at a later time to a playground that was completely fenced in with only one gate. The children were told, again, that they were free to do whatever they wanted to do. All of the children took off running and played with abandon, rarely looking to the adults for approval. They knew where and what the boundaries were. Even though this is a physical example, I believe it applies to abstract boundaries as well.
wow……just…..wow……
I agree with whoever said "little people" sounds a whole lot worse than midget; to me, it sounds condescending to the extreme (weren't women, just a generation ago, chafing at the phrase "little woman?") However, I've come to realize that, having been born into a group that is casually and incessantly ajudged to be racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, et al, I don't get to choose what offends whom. If the word offends midgets…er, I mean, little people, that's their prerogative under the by-laws of the PC world gone mad. Language is being regulated: The "N-word" has effectively been banned (depending, of course, on who uses it); why shouldn't the "M-Word" be as well?
John Wayne said it better:
http://www.theodoresworld.net/archives/2006/03/th...
and to think, that was the movie that got Sean Connery noticed for the James Bond role.
Saw that one again last April when we were in the UK. First time for my 3.5 year old.
indeed.. more and more it seems that "little people" has been pushed by those who are not.
That's why I think little people is offensive. It demeans adults.
Now that would definitely piss one off indeed.
indeed, keeping PC is like impossible gymnastics.
They were the Democratic National Convention.
I'm simply going to put "human".
OMG! I was going to post changing "history" to "herstory" as JOKE! There are really women out there demanding that???? Holy crap! PC is completely and totally out of control.
This is like speech codes at college. We're told that we can't say anything to offend anybody, but they won't tell you what that's supposed to me.
Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Liberalism is the disease.
Give them Judge Judy. At least she has a pair.
DIE ZOMBIE, DIE!!!!! come meet my BOOMSTICK!
not while they're in congress doing their petitioning. nothing there to eat.
WAAAAAAAA!
but.. but.. I like Ritz.
The FCC already regulates "offensive" language and content, and a lot of you probably celebrate that fact. But granting the federal government that kind of power is precisely what leads to all this PC garbage being shoved down our throats.
Don't be surprised when the government tries to increase the power it was willingly handed by a gullible public.
Woody Allen is funny?
Or like licking your elbow, though I don't know why anyone would want to lick their own elbow….
He's hilarious!!
But looks aren't everything….
It depemds on who you are and anything you say
Saying good day to a woman could be offending or sexual harrasment
Being white makes you and us offensive automaticly
You are giving libs waaaaaaaaaay too much credit….
Never being one to speak without proof, I offer for your consideration . . . crazy town:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herstory
P.S. I met a whole group of proponents of this in college. They spelled "women" as "womyn" as well.
Who's in "power" and working to stop this government takeover?
DeMint … Boehner … McCotter … Blunt …. to name a few …..
Who else should I be contacting and supporting?
She may be hot, but she is a loser. Boo Megan Fox. I hope Megatron kills you in Transformers 3
That, my dear, is old skool crazy…I remember it in the 70's. There was a bookstore in my Upper West Side called "Woman Books" will a 'herstory' section. Took me a while to figure out why there weren't ever any men in there…
Oh, it isn't just in colleges, sir. They are starting much earlier:
http://www.girlscoutshop.com/GSUSAOnline/GSProduc...
http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_b_xtre...
You're a thin-skinaphobe!
Just an idea:
Let's start calling Fox News and talk radio and Drudge and Breitbart …. "The Real Main Stream Media."
Let's re-claim the art of making the rules.
uh …. or … Mainstream
You know, I had to work with one of those "pigeon-holers" once…..the kind that have to identify everyone by hyphens and PCness. He was training under me, and never having met a Puerto Rican before, he asked me what was appropriate for him to call me: Hispanic, Hispanic-American, Puerto Rican, etc.
With a chilly look, and as much disdain as I could muster (which you know is a lot, Hank) I told the moron:
"You may call me your SUPERIOR."
The next day he requested a transfer to another store….
No I am not a thin-skinaphobe I just don't agree with the lifestyle…
No I am not a thin-skinaphobe I just don't agree with the lifestyle…
We can still be friends.
Toughen up all you sensitive people, you are ridiculous. So your feelings are hurt. Nothing but a bunch of cry babies. If you ban all these words, how will the military communicate, how will police vent their frustration, how will rap artists ,and I use the term artist loosely, write songs, again I use the term loosely. Anyone's feelings hurt?
God help us.
Reminds me of the Lesbian in Legally Blonde where she was telling people that they should change the term semester to ovester…
though changing male-gendered words to female gendered words is "doing" the same thing… so why should people really care?
I bow to your SUPERIOR disdain abilities….
As a fellow who works with jockeys, I prefer 'malignant dwarf" Of course, around the race track, the term is "lil' balls of hate"
If Little People prefere not to be called midgets, ok. We do our best not to use the term. Only fair. But running to the FCC and calling it hate speech. Holy Barty! If someone calls them "midget" as a perjorative, as will happen on occasion, ignore it, or retort("Piss off, Bulwinkle" would be my choice") but don't go running to Federal Teat and whine. Stand up for yourselves. You can be taller than you think.
I don't see a problem with regulating speech that makes people feel bad. What right should anyone have to make someone suffer? If I said, Dear Leader is an incompetent bum and nobody should vote for him, just imagine the anguish he will feel? And think about his family: I have just implied he should be unemployed, which means his wife and children could become street people. Should I be allowed to say this, when the harm it causes is obvious? Of course not.
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