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Not Too 'Hip' and 'Edgy' for Censorship (or, "Please. Behead me last.")
National Review ^ | 04-24-10 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 04/24/2010 8:12:03 AM PDT by thouworm

....in terms of the electoral map this November, you’ve only got to scare a relatively small percentage of squishy, suburban moderate centrists back into the Democratic fold, and how difficult can that be?

Hence, Bill Clinton energetically on the stump, summoning all his elder statesman’s dignity (please, no giggling) in the cause of comparing tea partiers to Timothy McVeigh. Oh, c’mon, they’ve got everything in common. They both want to reduce the size of government, the late Mr. McVeigh through the use of fertilizer bombs, the tea partiers through control of federal spending, but these are mere nuanced differences of means, not ends.

(snip)

For a long time, tea partiers were racists. Everybody knows that when you say “I’m becoming very concerned about unsustainable levels of federal spending,” that’s old Jim Crow code for “Let’s get up a lynching party and teach that uppity Negro a lesson.”

(snip)

Meanwhile, Comedy Central — you know, the “hip,” “edgy” network with Jon Stewart, from whom “young” Americans under 53 supposedly get most of their news — just caved in to death threats. From a hateful 83-year-old widow who doesn’t like Obamacare? Why, no! It was a chap called Abu Talhah al Amrikee, who put up a video on the Internet explaining why a South Park episode with a rather tame Mohammed joke was likely to lead to the deaths of the show’s creators.

(snip)

Yet in the end, in a craven culture, even big Hollywood A-listers can’t get their message over. So the brave, transgressive comedy network was intimidated into caving in and censoring a speech about not being intimidated into caving in. That’s what I call “hip,” “edgy,” “cutting-edge” comedy: They’re so edgy they’re curled up in the fetal position, whimpering at the guy with the cutting edge, “Please. Behead me last. And don’t use the rusty scimitar where you have to saw away for 20 minutes to find the spinal column . . . ”

Terrific. You can see why young, urban, postmodern Americans under 57 get most of their news from Comedy Central. What a shame 1930s Fascist Europe was so lacking in cable.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: marksteyn; teaparty
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1 posted on 04/24/2010 8:12:04 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: thouworm

McVaeigh was in the service of islamism.


2 posted on 04/24/2010 8:16:06 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: thouworm

Bump!


3 posted on 04/24/2010 8:16:19 AM PDT by SeminoleSoldier
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To: Admin Moderator

Will you please correct author’s name to “Steyn”? Thank you


4 posted on 04/24/2010 8:16:42 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: thouworm
Who's Mark Setyn?
5 posted on 04/24/2010 8:17:08 AM PDT by bcsco (Obama: Hokus Pokus POTUS)
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To: bcsco

lol; hopefully, being fixed.


6 posted on 04/24/2010 8:18:54 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: onedoug

How so?


7 posted on 04/24/2010 8:19:24 AM PDT by Grunthor (Over YOUR dead body!)
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To: thouworm

What a Straw Man argument. Comedy Central never said it was “hip,” or “edgy.” It’s been pretty middle-of-the-road. Even HBO is more edgy.

You want hip or edgy on Basic Cable, you have to go to VH1 or MTV, some of their “reality” shows.

As far as Comedy Central saying “Cut the Prophet Mohamed in a Bear Suit”: those of us who actually watch it and are familiar with it expected nothing less than capitulation. They ARE a business concern foremost, after all.

Methinks the National Review doesn’t watch much Comedy Central, except for maybe “Larry the Cable Guy” specials.


8 posted on 04/24/2010 8:20:34 AM PDT by worst-case scenario (Striving to reach the light)
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To: thouworm

South Park’s Scientology parody lasted 1 episode but their Christ rants are forever.


9 posted on 04/24/2010 8:22:03 AM PDT by AU72
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To: thouworm

Is this the Bill Clinton who ordered the assault on Waco that so enraged McVeigh? Is this the same Bill Clinton who razed the Alfred P. Murrah building in record time and couldn’t wait to execute McVeigh? Probably the fastest execution in modern US history. THAT Bill Clinton?


10 posted on 04/24/2010 8:22:10 AM PDT by chickadee
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To: thouworm

Yeah, I saw that after I posted. You were asking it be corrected as I was typing. Just thought I’d pull you chain a little... :>)


11 posted on 04/24/2010 8:22:58 AM PDT by bcsco (Obama: Hokus Pokus POTUS)
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To: worst-case scenario

not many columnists better at using wit to drive home a point..........
~~~~~~~~~~`

Hence, Bill Clinton energetically on the stump, summoning all his elder statesman’s dignity (please, no giggling) in the cause of comparing tea partiers to Timothy McVeigh. Oh, c’mon, they’ve got everything in common. They both want to reduce the size of government, the late Mr. McVeigh through the use of fertilizer bombs, the tea partiers through control of federal spending, but these are mere nuanced differences of means, not ends.
~~~~~~~~~~

For a long time, tea partiers were racists. Everybody knows that when you say “I’m becoming very concerned about unsustainable levels of federal spending,” that’s old Jim Crow code for “Let’s get up a lynching party and teach that uppity Negro a lesson.”
~~~~~~~~~~~

“Please. Behead me last. And don’t use the rusty scimitar where you have to saw away for 20 minutes to find the spinal column . . . ”


12 posted on 04/24/2010 8:25:58 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: worst-case scenario

We all know ‘those horrible, faulted for all evils ever perpetrated since time began’ Christians don’t behead; I guess they wouldn’t be a concern to business either.


13 posted on 04/24/2010 8:29:00 AM PDT by AliVeritas (Pray, Pray, Pray.)
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To: AU72

Yeah, we sure do need fewer shows that show Jesus as a sympathetic character who can be relied on to save the day even though no one else shows the proper respect. They should really lay off that message.


14 posted on 04/24/2010 8:29:09 AM PDT by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: thouworm
This is a good one - nice comparison:

"But they won’t do that [Tea Partiers go violent]. Because, notwithstanding their outrageous demonization by the media, they’re not terrorists. So, in the end, Comedy Central has incentivized Islamic violence and nothing much else. Nevertheless, we should be grateful to its jelly-spined executives for reminding us that the cardboard heroes of the American media are your go-to guys for standing up to entirely fictitious threats. But for real ones? Not so much."

15 posted on 04/24/2010 8:29:40 AM PDT by Oatka ("A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves." –Bertrand de Jouvenel)
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To: chickadee

Both Levin & Limbaugh raked Clinton over the coals. One of them read at length Clinton’s book excerpt on this. And Dick Morris said Clinton was forced to give Reno a second term-—else she said she would out him about Waco.

The leftists are beginning to expose themselves...


16 posted on 04/24/2010 8:30:26 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: Mr. Blonde

Islam Rising will be released 5/1—let’s see if any commentators are willing to mention it or will they go all South Park squishy?

http://joytiz.com/2010/islam-rising-civilzation-falling/


17 posted on 04/24/2010 8:34:05 AM PDT by jazminerose
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To: thouworm
I heard Mark yesterday on how Liberals endlessly praise themselves for being the Guardians of Free Speech by insulting people who generally don't fight back.

When it comes to putting their butts on the line they are cowards.

I have to respect Matt and Trey because they have a spine.


18 posted on 04/24/2010 8:36:22 AM PDT by darkwing104 (Lets get dangerous)
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To: thouworm; All
President Clinton packed his reading glasses and affected his scholarly look, with the spectacles pushed down toward the end of his nose, as if he’s trying to determine whether that’s his 10a.m. intern shuffling toward him across the broadloom or a rabid armadillo Al Gore brought along for the Earth Day photo op.

Who has the Rabid Armadillo Pinglist?

19 posted on 04/24/2010 8:36:57 AM PDT by Stoat (If you want a vision of the future, imagine a Birkenstock stamping on a human face... forever)
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To: darkwing104

I confess I did not know who “Matt & Trey” were. Look them up and found this:

A Statement from Matt and Trey:

“In the 14 years we’ve been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle’s customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn’t mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We’ll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we’ll see what happens to it.”


20 posted on 04/24/2010 8:41:43 AM PDT by thouworm
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