Boortz on FOX's O'Reilly tonight to debate the Georgia Prom.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I am quite familiar with East Texas, and while I love the place and it has many wonderful people, it also has its share of racism and unsavory aspects. The fact that they were still have segregated proms just a few years ago is a disgrace. Sorry, but I have zero tolerance for racism. That is one reason I can't stand Jackson and the race-baiting pimps, and all the media who overplayed the Jasper story for political gains. But I also am going to speak out when I see racist elements defended, even if it is by some here on FR. There is a small but sad undercurrent of racism brought here by some posters, sometimes purposeful, sometimes inadvertant, and it is a stain on this site.

I agree that O'Reilly is pimping this, is unfairly attacking Perdue, and that there is right to free association. But that right does not make some actions ethical nor wise, and the media's actions does not excuse what took place. Segregated proms are a disgusting form of exclusion designed as a statement. Frankly I had thought such stupidity had died out in the South. Apparently I was wrong.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Where did I ever say or imply that the governor has anything to do with this? Where did I ever defend O'Reilly's ridiculousness? Please cite.

[Ken H]

"If you want to happy for the rest of your life,
Never make a pretty woman your wife.
So for my personal point of view,
Get an ugly girl to marry you."

(popular song from the '60s)

[Ken H]

make that "If you want to be happy..."

[snopercod]

O'Reilly does not like being laughed at...seems to get him a wee bit flustered.

He was so upset that he couldn't even get his E-mail address right at the end of the show. Hilarious!

[snopercod]

Sorry, but I have zero tolerance for racism.

I think everyone is missing the point, here. It's a cultural divide which just happens to coincide with skin color.

Suppose you have one group who thinks a prom should consist of long dresses, corsages, and slow dancing. They you have another group which wants rap music, trash talking, hot pants and tank tops.

If you mix those groups at a party, neither will be happy with the outcome.

[Admin Moderator]

No, the reference to Stormfront was a reference to Stormfront, not to Free Republic.

They can see from the http logs what the referring website was for the visitors who participated in the online poll.

[William McKinley]

Not quite the full story. Apparently the theme of the night was a sock hop, and stealing hubcaps was a common prank at drive-ins back in the sock hop days. O'Reilly claims his comment was making a joke along the theme of the night. His detractors claim he was being racist.

And before anyone starts jumping on me for defending O'Reilly here, I'm just going to say I don't have a dog in this hunt.

[StoneColdTaxHater]

Man, O'Reilly snapped last night! He called Neal a "vicious SOB". We might not like it but it was a private event with no ties to the school system or giv't. In fact I beleive it was held in another town or county. The best line was Neal asking Bill, "Which part of freedom of association do you not understand?". O'Reilly needs to vent that anger on the RATS who are blocking Estrada and Owen. These kids will have to live with their decisions.

[spodefly]

Suppose you have one group who thinks a prom should consist of long dresses, corsages, and slow dancing. They you have another group which wants rap music, trash talking, hot pants and tank tops. If you mix those groups at a party, neither will be happy with the outcome.

Yours is the most accurate appraisal of this situation I have seen in all the threads on this subject, and it is exactly the point so many are overlooking in their zeal to see racism in everything (just like Jesse and Al.)

This was a private party put on by the MINORITY STUDENTS (yes, whites are a minority in that school and in that town) and if black students had decided that they wanted a 'black only' party where slow-dancing in flowing gowns to "Precious and Few" was not on the agenda, no one would have said a word about it.

As to O'reilly -- he has always been a long winded gas bag, but on this subject he has completely lost his mind.

[Admin Moderator]

Yes, we pulled your two line vanities, and will continue to do so (but not for much longer, because if you persist you won't be here to continue posting one or two line vanities).

[TankerKC]

I'll admit that I don't know the particulars of this story. Maybe I shouldn't have commented. But, I have lived in Alabama now for 7 years. Before I got here, I believed all of the stories of the white on black racism in the South. I have found that there is SOME of that. I have also found that there is a HUGE amount of black on white racism that no one is willing to talk about.

My son’s best friend is black. His friend’s parents can’t stand it. They constantly tell him the he is “too white”. The way I see it, there are two distinct cultures in the South-- one black and one white. The reason it is that way is because folks here choose to live this way...and I choose not to. All IMHO.

[B Knotts]

Yeah, but I sense something different this time. I could be wrong, but I know that personally, I've had a harder and harder time watching O'Hubcap (credit to Beck_isright for that one :-) ), as he becomes more and more an over-the-top moralizer. It's like he's channeling Bill Bennett lately sometimes.

When I watch lately, I have to have the remote in hand to switch channels when he becomes tiresome, which is about half the show.

I no longer feel any regret missing his show if I'm doing something else.

I just have a feeling his numbers are going to start slowly deteriorating.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

I won't watch the factor anymore. He is so out of line with this. I used to think he was part of the soultion, now I see he is part of the proble. Here is a hint Bill everyone who answered that poll has an agenda. Otherwise they would not be answering a pollin the first place. I guess everyone has the right to association in this country, but white southern kids. Shame on rascist Bill for maiking this an issue when our fellow citizens are fighting a war for the rights of other people. How insulting.

[Norse]

O'Reilly got smoked on this one. Who cares if people organized it within the school? As long as the school took no part in it. Last time I checked, people have the right to talk about anything they want in school as long as it doesn't hurt other people, and that means to plan private functions for a group of kids at that high school. So, according to O'Reilly, maybe all conversation in high schools should be banned in order to prevent people from organizing events outside of the high school.

No one has the right to tell anyone else that they can or cannot plan a function for a certain group of people as long as it is funded with THEIR OWN MONEY, which it is.

[katykelly]

Boortz is talking about this right now on his radio show.

[Tribune7]

No one has the right to tell anyone else that they can or cannot plan a function

And no one has the right to tell anyone else that they can't say a particular planned function is racist and disgraceful.

[TomGuy]

I couldn't get the internet feed of Boortz this morning from Atlanta, so am just now (9:00-11:00) getting it on area radio.

Boortz is really blasting O'Reilly.

O'Reilly's on the wrong side of the issue (due to a lack of knowledge and reality on his part) and he doesn't know how to gracefully extracate himself.

Calling Boortz an SOB on air was not really nice---it made for good tv, but seldom, if ever, has a HOST cursed a GUEST on-air. lol.

[Norse]

>And no one has the right to tell anyone else that they >can't say a particular planned function is racist and >disgraceful.

Who did that??? I've never seen anyone do that before...that isn't even the issue here...what?!?

[Norse]

And another thing, it isn't necessarily racist at all if you think about it for a little bit...I sure wouldn't want my prom to be dominated by Rap and R&B, although I do listen to those occassionally.

I love stuff like this...blacks do their own things, so whites can do their own things also. I love agitation. Deal with it