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Roseanne’s Firing Is Not a Free-Speech Issue
National Review ^ | May 29, 2018 | KATHERINE TIMPF

Posted on 05/30/2018 9:09:46 AM PDT by reaganaut1

ABC had every right to dump her, and political correctness was not involved. In case you haven’t heard, Roseanne Barr did something really awful and stupid on Tuesday morning.

In a now-deleted tweet, Barr made a racist comment about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, saying that she was like the “Muslim brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby.” A matter of hours later, her hit ABC sitcom was canceled.

There’s no denying that what Barr said was racist, or that she was dumb for having said it. She has since apologized, and has probably also reached the conclusion that it wasn’t worth it. In all honesty, I’ve never understood why people aren’t more careful on social media. I’ve always sarcastically said that the best thing about Twitter is that not only do you not get paid for your tweets, but you can also get fired for them. It really is one of the more idiotic ways to ruin a career, and I can never make sense of it whenever it happens.

But what’s done is done, and there’s no turning back. She was fired, and she deserved to be fired. Her comment was racist and unacceptable, and I would not want someone who had made that kind of comment representing my company, either. It really seems that simple to me, but oddly enough, I’ve actually seen some conservatives defending her — saying that her firing is an example of the rampant political correctness that flies in the face of free speech — and honestly, this is something that I just can’t understand.

First of all, this is in no way a free-speech or First Amendment issue. The First Amendment protects us from facing consequences from the government over our speech, not consequences from our peers or our employers.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abc; freespeech; roseanne; roseannebarr; roseannecancelled
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To: IrishBrigade
well, this is the point; I said earlier that black females are going to call the shots going forward, and this is the proof of it...

This is the president of ABC who made the decision to cancel the "Roseanne" show.

(Channing Dungey)

I think she did this because she was personally offended.

141 posted on 05/30/2018 11:04:01 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: DoodleDawg
It's about money. Disney wants it and ABC's keeping Barr's show could jeopardize that.

No it can't. Roseanne's audience (of which I have never been a member) will not give a crap about this tweet.

The only reason any advertisers will give a craps is because of the astroturf fear machine that will threaten and harass them if they do nothing.

America now has it's own conclave of brownshirts who think they can intimidate the world into silence.

142 posted on 05/30/2018 11:12:32 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: chris37

‘Very similar to some can break whatever laws they want, other will be charged and persecuted with manufactured crimes.’

true...and by the way, look for more of that to come, as in order to redress incarceration imbalances, authorities will limit prosecutorial scope for certain groups...


143 posted on 05/30/2018 11:15:04 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: DoodleDawg

‘So far as Disney is concerned the few million Roseanne brings in through ABC is chump change compared to the hit their other projects might take from a boycott.’

in this case, it’s more like chimp change...


144 posted on 05/30/2018 11:18:41 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: reaganaut1

Planet of the apes and islam have submission in common. VJ is also a rabid communist.

What Roseanne did was show millions that Trump supporters are racist. Yeah, could be some insidious leftist plan. I wouldn’t put it past them after the Obama Admin. spying!

Numerous Democrat-Communist people have been asking ME about Roseanne. The attitude is like “Like look another Trump supporting racist.”


145 posted on 05/30/2018 11:19:03 AM PDT by Lopeover ( The 2016 Election is about allegiance to the United States!)
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To: DiogenesLamp

‘I think she did this because she was personally offended.’

very interesting...


146 posted on 05/30/2018 11:20:23 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: DiogenesLamp

Interesting


147 posted on 05/30/2018 11:23:04 AM PDT by petitfour (APPEAL TO HEAVEN)
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To: bmwcyle
All the Iranians here in Northern Virginia consider themselves white. Where is the racism?

Jarrett was born in Iran, but her parents were African-American. And yes, comparing African-Americans to apes is racist.

148 posted on 05/30/2018 11:24:05 AM PDT by Lurking Libertarian (Non sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege)
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To: DoodleDawg
Disney has several billion reasons for firing Barr over this. That's what they expect to take in from the Black Panther sequels and the Star Wars sequels, and all the other movies, shows, and theme parks that they own.

No. None of that is in jeopardy as a consequence of what Roseanne said.

149 posted on 05/30/2018 11:24:40 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: reaganaut1
The author destroyed the 'free speech' straw man and assumed the 'racism' premise.

Yes, even racist comments are protected as free speech. Free speech is not the issue. People can make idiotic comments & face consequences for such comments. Regardless, the nature of comments is subjective from both perspectives: those who comment & those who hear or read the comment.

Add in to the mix, apologies and forgiveness...

In summary, not so cut and dry is the issue EXCEPT as all to often and increasing it is the case when Leftist ears are offended...

150 posted on 05/30/2018 11:25:30 AM PDT by DBeers (The concept of peace in Islam requires not co-existence but submission.)
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To: reaganaut1

Is this s the blonde who can’t keep her skirt down?


151 posted on 05/30/2018 11:26:30 AM PDT by Mamzelle
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To: DoodleDawg; BroJoeK; x; Bull Snipe; jeffersondem
Darned right it's about the money. For corporations it's only about the money.

And people keep getting mad at me for saying that. :)

152 posted on 05/30/2018 11:27:09 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Lurking Libertarian

Is it? I compare children to monkeys all the time. Children. Red, yellow, black, and white. They all act like monkeys. They do it together because no one has corrupted them yet to say that they are different.

One of my sons looks like an ape. lol. I make fun of my husband’s feet. I call them ape feet. Is that racist? A few of my children have ape feet, too. They can’t all have perfect feet like mine.


153 posted on 05/30/2018 11:29:16 AM PDT by petitfour (APPEAL TO HEAVEN)
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To: chris37
Some can say whatever they want with no consequence at all. Others cannot. Very similar to some can break whatever laws they want, other will be charged and persecuted with manufactured crimes.

.

.

"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. —Voltaire—

154 posted on 05/30/2018 11:30:02 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Hostage

‘What Iger and Redstone did was to slander Barr.’

questionable; the statement would have to be false in order for it to rise to defamation...they referred to her actions as ‘repulsive’; it would be difficult to find that statement false on its face...


155 posted on 05/30/2018 11:31:45 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: DoodleDawg; BroJoeK; x; Bull Snipe; jeffersondem
"Political correctness" may be the reason for the decision but it's only about the money. It's always about the money.

1861 deja vu.

I see you grasp the concept, now apply it to an earlier time in our history. :)

156 posted on 05/30/2018 11:32:17 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: DiogenesLamp

Now that is profound.

Wow!


157 posted on 05/30/2018 11:34:16 AM PDT by chris37 ("I am everybody." -Mark Robinson)
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To: IrishBrigade

Incarceratory justice?

Yes, I agree that is coming.

I expect prosecutorial scope will be limited for some groups and increased for other groups.

This road we travel leads to not a good place.


158 posted on 05/30/2018 11:36:20 AM PDT by chris37 ("I am everybody." -Mark Robinson)
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To: DoodleDawg

> “ABC cancelled their business relationship with her over her comments. That’s business, and not a First Amendment issue.”

Yes, but you’re missing the bigger picture and I can see you are not sophisticated in the law.

They had the right to cancel their contract with her. They did not have the right to claim she’s a racist which she is not. By going out of bounds to call her a racist, they slandered her and damaged her brand.

She has causes of action against them but in my view, she won’t do anything against them because she doesn’t need them.

She doesn’t have to prove that they knew what was said was false. It’s not about intention. It’s about damage. If you rear-end my car, I don’t need to show you knew before you did it that it was wrong to do it. I just show estimated damages.

It’s easy for her to show that her comments were not racist. As has been posted numerous times, the ape main characters in the Planet of the Apes were white. A jury could see that easily. It would be ludicrous to say that a person looks like they came from the Planet of the Apes is a racist statement when the main character apes were white and the film was not a racist production.

What Jarrett, Iger, Redstone are demonstrating is they can destroy anyone they please by calling them a racist even when untrue as in this case.

But they are destroying themselves because fewer and fewer people like their brand of politics. They are indeed from the Planet of the Apes. What was the theme of that film? It was harsh rule by creatures that were incapable of meting out Judeo-Christian justice.

What is Barr had mentioned Jarrett as some sort of character from a Muslim Klingon film? Would this discussion be happening? No. Would Iger and Redstone have terminated her contract? Yes, because she dared to speak down to one of the members of their liberal elite country club.

It has nothing to do with racism. It’s all about power politics.


159 posted on 05/30/2018 11:37:40 AM PDT by Hostage (Article V)
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To: Sans-Culotte
Who cares? Bush ain't black. There has never been a long-standing insulting comparison of apes and white people. I'm sorry, but any halfway intelligent person knows better than to compare blacks with apes.

When I was young, I had a signed (by the author) book about American POWs in Japanese Prison camps. Apparently the Japanese of that era considered it to be a horrible insult to be compared to apes.

When the American POWS were putting on an entertainment show with men dressed up in costumes, one of them was dressed up as a gorilla. As soon as the Japanese guards saw it, they ordered the show closed, and the stage was burned down, and all involved were punished.

Channing Dungey is closing the show, burning down the stage, and ordering all involved to be punished. Some people are just hyper sensitive.

160 posted on 05/30/2018 11:39:18 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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