Thursday, February 19, 2009

Q Tips

NPR related comments welcomed.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

As usual, NPR tries to play the "balance game" on the chimp cartoon.

Let's be serious for just a moment, shall we? The cartoon depicts a chimpanzee getting shot with a caption underneath that refers to the economic stimulus bill of our first African American President.

How anyone with a brain can view that cartoon as anything OTHER than a racist (and possibly even incitement for a physical) attack on President Obama is beyond me.

But obviously Michell Norris and the other chumps at NPR would like us all to "keep an open mind" on this one and "try to put ourselves in the shoes of the cartoonist" -- who obviously had no clue what he was doing (right. Show me another "funny" cartoon)


From NPR interview:
"St. Petersburg Times media critic Eric Deggans tells NPR's Michele Norris that the conservative-leaning Post is "willfully ignoring" what may have caused the uproar."

The biggest proponent of the stimulus package is also the first black president, and "black people historically have been depicted as apes and in simian ways in stereotypical media in the past," Deggans says.

"I don't necessarily think that this was intentional, but I can understand why some people might wonder" if this was a disguised jab at Obama, Deggans says.
////end NPR quote

"Don't necessarily think that this was intentional"????

What is that supposed to mean?

I wonder: where the hell does Deggans suppose the cartoonist has been living? In an isolation chamber totally devoid of any connection to the reality of this country's racist (and murderous) past?

Jesus Christ, only an idiot or journalist obsessed with "balance" (sorry for the redundancy) would try to present this as anything other than a racist attack on Obama.

If the "Journalists" at NPR can not see that, there is no hope for them.

Anonymous said...

Correction to the last line of the above comment:

"only a closet racist, idiot or journalist obsessed with "balance" (sorry for the redundancy) would try to present this as anything other than a racist attack on Obama.

Juan "Toss" Ensalada said...

In light of The NY Post's "non-apology" what will NPR say now. My guess? Nothing. If Juan Williams is playing the part of "Uncle Tom," MeeeeShill is playing the part of "Aunt Thomasina," aka, "NPR's Junior Black Correspondent". Larry Wilmore would be proud!

Anonymous said...

Tsk tsk. I know the topic's shelf life has expired (and gee, maybe I missed it if they actually did a segment on it) but they could've applied this reasoning to Rut Lamebrain's "I hope he fails" sneer, parse it all out and conclude that he's a rilly rilly cool & clever guy.

"A penny retracted from public radio donations is a penny well saved."

Anonymous said...

Incidentally, anyone who actually believes Delonas (the cartoonist) when he claims his cartoon was simply misconstrued should look at some of his other cartoons


I tell ya, that guy is a real winner.

Delonas makes Archie Bunker look like a veritable civil rights activist.

Anonymous said...

The presentation (by "journalists" on NPR and elsewhere in the media) of the Delonas cartoon in the "least offensive light" -- ie, the cartoonist and Post were guilty of "willful ignorance" -- are almost as disgusting as the cartoon itself.

Madison Wilburs said...

Diane Rehm is taking on the cartoon for her Monday show.

Hubertg said...

The source of this cartoon thing must be a truly kind, benevolent, and trustworthy soul.

Anonymous said...

"Diane Rehm is taking on the cartoon for her Monday show."

What's to "discuss"?

It's racist trash.

The cartoonist certainly does not deserve all the attention he has gotten.

The only thing he should have got out of it is a pink slip.

Kevan Smith said...

Wow, the latest ombudsman's column is weaksauce.

I want to comment there, but I'd have to register, and I don't want to register. I guess I will when the itch gets too strong.

Anonymous said...

Weekend Edition Saturday continues its new feature "Conservative Media-Mouth Chat" this week, with columnist Kathleen Parker. First Joe Scarborough, then Dorothy Rabinowitz, now Kathleen Parker has gotten the chance to have a segment on after Daniel Schorr to spout random right wing opinions and no facts. Most of today's segment was pure gossip about that woman who had octuplets.

It's been what, three weeks, since the woman gave birth. Did Kathleen have any actual news about her and her situation? Ha. Of course not. But gossip aplenty, you bet.

If NPR wants to air right-wing gossip, couldn't they at least pick a topic in a recent news cycle? A-rod, perhaps, or that chimp attack?

Anonymous said...

If NPR wants to air right-wing gossip, couldn't they at least pick a topic in a recent news cycle? A-rod, perhaps, or that chimp attack?"

I thought everything NPR aired these days was right-wing gossip.

They hardly need a special program for that.

Sometimes I'd swear there is an underground tunnel between the Fox news studio and the NPR studio. Or maybe they are actually one and the same -- even populated with the same announcers: after all, we never actually SEE the people on NPR [except in the pictures on their websites, which may be of random street people] and it's pretty easy to electronically modify voices)

Anonymous said...

I think the only function of NPR is to "pacify" a certain segment of American society i.e. npr members.

I note they always beg for "something positive" from everybody they have on the show. I guess if they had covered the titanic they would have given 15 seconds to the "facts" and spent 4-5 minutes discussing the light being reflected in the iceberg.

edk