Posted on 04/29/2014 8:49:54 AM PDT by Beave Meister
It's time to look at ourselves — and our collective moral outrage — in the mirror, says former NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Moral outrage is exhausting. And dangerous. The whole country has gotten a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome from the newest popular sport of Extreme Finger Wagging. Not to mention the neck strain from Olympic tryouts for Morally Superior Head Shaking. All over the latest in a long line of rich white celebrities to come out of the racist closet. (Was it only a couple days ago that Cliven Bundy said blacks would be better off picking cotton as slaves? And only last June Paula Deen admitted using the “N” word?)
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Hey, kareem, the answer is "No", he didn't say that. What he did was ask the question about which was worse; picking cotton, or living under current liberal policies. Of course, when you wear race colored glasses, anything you see looks like a race problem. Don't hurt your finger wagging it, or your neck with all that head shaking you noted.
There’s an aspect of this I haven’t seen stressed.
Sterling, Bundy and Deen committed no crimes. Nobody has even claimed they were harmed by their actions.
They are to be destroyed because they are Bad People, and everybody knows we demonstrate our own Goodness most effectively by destroying Bad People.
The whole thing reminds me of Athenian or Roman Republican “justice.” In these trials no “evidence” was excluded, so trials tended to degenerate into both sides enthusiastically throwing dirt to show that the other side are Bad People.
The jury’s verdict was by definition not so much on whether the defendant had committed the particular crime of which he was accused, but as to whether the jurymen thought him a Bad Person who should be punished for being Bad.
That’s more or less why Socrates got it in the neck.
While we no longer hold criminal trials of this sort, the Court of Public Opinion is being used to destroy lives every bit as effectively as a criminal conviction.
BTW, insofar as the Bundy case goes, I’ve posted a (partial) defense of his most egregious comments on a number of fora, including FR. Nobody has yet attempted to debate the point with me.
BTW, those leading the charge in these cases are exactly the same people who a few years ago were claiming “dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”
So where is it written that Bundy’s dissent doesn’t qualify?
Good bye Harry Reid if that was the case.
In order for a totalitarian regime to survive, it must create and endless series of “boogeymen” to be vilified and destroyed.
Today’s targets: “Racists” and “Homophobes.”
We don’t have all the facts. Are you a racist if you like some blacks but dislike others? Is he a racist if he disapproves of his girlfriend hanging out with black athletes but has no problem if she hangs out with black attorneys or physicians?
His association with his non-white girlfriend and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suggests he might have no problem with some blacks and problems with other blacks...
Then why should those ramblings define who Sterling is?
If it doesn't fit the meme, then he is a racist.
Interesting article from my old Milwaukee neighbor! He makes some interesting points.
“Shouldn’t we be equally angered by the fact that his private, intimate conversation was taped and then leaked to the media? Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizen’s privacy in such an un-American way? Although the impact is similar to Mitt Romney’s comments that were secretly taped, the difference is that Romney was giving a public speech. The making and release of this tape is so sleazy that just listening to it makes me feel like an accomplice to the crime. We didn’t steal the cake but we’re all gorging ourselves on it.”
I met him, as Lew, on the day he came to Milwaukee. He moved in across the street. He always struck me as a very nice guy. He’s a Jazz fanatic, and I’m a musician. We mostly talked about music. He had a Jazz show on the radio.
Funny how the racist utterances of Obama, Biden and Reid have not once entered into this “discussion.”
Very cool story Dr. Back in the day when star athletes just lived in regular neighborhoods and not gated mansions. That must’ve been a great time for you.
“Lew” lived in the apartment building across the street from my house. Right on the edge of the lakefront park. Great views! The building was owned by Frank Balistrieri, Milwaukee’s Mafia Don. Then his son John took over the building and the mob! Knew John and his beautiful sister, but I knew enough to stay clear of her! Interesting neighborhood, just a couple blocks from downtown.
Here’s why I stayed clear of “Benny” Balistreri. A quote from her father;
“”He called me a name - to my face - and now they can’t find his skin!” -Frank Balistrieri
Thanks for the memory. I was a Knickerbocker fan, back then, and can still recall the nasally voice of the P.A. announcer; “Baaaahsket by ALLLLCINDORRRR !”. Naturally, that was quite often, in a Bucks game :)
The Bucks were champs back then! So were the Marquette Warriors. I was a basketball nut then, but now I pay it no attention whatsoever. But they had Lew, Bobby Dandridge, Oscar Robertson, and more. They were awesome to watch!
The ‘Big O’ was one of my favorites, had his player card, back when he was on the Cincinnati Royals!
and Jerry Lucas and Connie Dierking.
Oh yeah! Had a Lucas card, but Dierking eluded my collection :)
:) He eludes most collectors—but he was a good player.
also of note: Wayne Embry used to foul the daylights out of Wilt Chamberlain—but they rarely called it because the refs considered it unfair that Wilt was a Embry and was so furious, he went after Embry with his fists raised—and Embry ran for the concession stand! It was hilarious...
Ahh, those were the days before hip hop.
Those were INDEED the days, my FRiend. Thanks!
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