My best friend sent me this in an email. I was wondering what everyones take is on it?? Im not saying I am supporting this or not supporting this. I just wanna see what other people have to sayAmazing--Even CBS didn't stopAMEN , ANDY ROONEY !Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like theUnitedCaucasianCollege Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, that is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling, it is the Law of Probability.Ibelieve that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen,( or Canadian) you should have to speak English!My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines.I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and riskour lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poorI know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say "NO!"I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. Idon't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere elseAnd if you don't like my point of view, tough... It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having "In God We Trust" on our money and having "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to Shut Up and BE QUIET!!!
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Amen- Email Forward
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I have read that several times before and I agree with the majority of what he has to say.
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Andy Rooney never said this and has stated publicly that he in no way endorses, supports or agrees with the views expressed there in. As a matter of fact this was discussed on this board about a year ago, in this thread.
Here's a copy of Chance's link to Andy Rooneys responce to the e-mail.
This was a load of shit then and it's a load of shit now.
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Why do you feel that way?
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Because the author of the e-mail is oversimplifying and making a lot of incorrect assumptions about other peoples realities. Further, it assumes all things to be equal in American society and that is just not the case. He is taking the unenlightened position that because he hasn't experienced something it doesn't happen and he plays on the old powerful notion of average, middle-class, white victim-hood. Many of these exact same sentiment are what brought the Nazi's to power, pervaded Germany and eventually lead to the extermination of many eastern European peoples, mentally retarded, non-Germans citizens, homosexuals and of course Jews. The German people, by and large, did not seek to be rid of these people because they had an inbred racial, sexual or nationalistic hatred of them, they exterminated them because they where told and believed that they were the victims. All the same can be said of the KKK and it's history and membership.
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Well whether he actually said some of that stuff or not, I do agree with atleast some of the points brought up. Gives you something to think about if anything.
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You took the words right out of my mouth.
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I agree with most of the views that were expressed in the email. not all, but a majority.
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Well Andy Rooney said of this piece "Some of the remarks . . . are viciously racist and the spirit of the whole thing is nasty, mean and totally inconsistent with my philosophy of life."The piece is mean-spirited and has an attitude of "I can do what I like and no-one else matters", and nothing speaks stronger of American moral corruption than the proportion of Americans who agree with it.
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I think it is indeed ironic. A lot of American Christianity is hardly recognisable as following Christ, with its belief in the virtue of wealth, judging others, and the law of the jungle.I'm in a bad temper and therefore speaking more rashly than perhaps I ought, but where vices such as love of money and accounting one's people better than others are considered virtues, I think the term moral corruption is appropriate.
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i agree with a few thigns there, but the majority is a bunch of egotistical racist bullshit
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I've cooled down now, but I think 'egotistical' hits it. There's a self-centred and self-righteous attitude to it, especially in the lump.Perhaps my allergy to the style tells me more than I want to know about myself. The faults we are most sensitive to in others are often those we have ourselves.
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I'm always happy to read something like that, i dont get to use the word Egotistical nearly enough as I'd like
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oo using big words are we?
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Well,I really dont care who said it or wrote it or whatever.I am a minority and an immigrant (althou legal), and I didnt see a single point I disagreed with, So I guess, shoot me!
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Quote:The thing I really hate about this whole "poor me, I'm not a minority and don't get special treatment" complex is the utter patheticness of it. I mean, it's not like the average middle-class white person needs ANY sort of special government program they don't already have access to - so no matter how you feel about things like affirmative action, minorities are constantly having to play catch-up...which isn't fair, but it's the way it is.DITTO!!!! I'm so sick of hearing middle class white kids whine about how some minority took their place in the college application process. Middle class White kids (and middle class minorities) have no idea of how much of a leg up they have in the American society.Quote:Well Andy Rooney said of this piece "Some of the remarks . . . are viciously racist and the spirit of the whole thing is nasty, mean and totally inconsistent with my philosophy of life."The piece is mean-spirited and has an attitude of "I can do what I like and no-one else matters", and nothing speaks stronger of American moral corruption than the proportion of Americans who agree with it.Double DITTO! Quote:Indeed we Americans know quite a bit about corruption. We're constantly being hammered with Corporate corruption, Governmental corruption, and apparently, Moral corruption as well.Isn't it ironic that this "Christian nation" is so corrupt?Kinda makes me wonder sometimes!Triple DITTOQuote:I think it is indeed ironic. A lot of American Christianity is hardly recognisable as following Christ, with its belief in the virtue of wealth, judging others, and the law of the jungle.I'm in a bad temper and therefore speaking more rashly than perhaps I ought, but where vices such as love of money and accounting one's people better than others are considered virtues, I think the term moral corruption is appropriate.Irony is a bitch....
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Its good to see everyone view on this.
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Some things to think about from a different perspective.>>>"Amazing--Even CBS didn't stop"This title immediately betrays the agenda of the author of this e-mail as a neo-con. It is meant to imply that the media is "liberal" and further that since the "liberal media" allowed these remarks on the air then they must be beyond debate.>>>"Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:"This is an example of the Thomas Jefferson syndrome, that is falsely applying a statement to someone of authority or respect to lend credence to the statement or position. In this case an 80 some year old curmudgeon, that is famous for pointing out our many short comings as human being and societies.>>>"I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the UnitedCaucasianCollege Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door."This is the classic example of a bold statement with empty rhetoric used to back it up. It appeals to the emotional reaction of the reader. There is no critical examination or analysis in support of the claim made, it's purely emotive.>>>>>"I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers."This statement is reasonable on it's face but laughable in the face of the reality of history and human experience. Think about how this is trying to frame the argument. It seems to be implying that a minority seeking equality is crying "victim". This is an attempt to trivialize the claim of inequality. People are far less likely, at least in this country, to care about "victims" of demographics, as the statement characterises the problem, then they are about equality. >>>>>"Try to have things like the UnitedCaucasianCollege Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door."Such things do exist. I doubt many blacks are granted to many scholarships from The Scholarship for Descendants of Irish Catholic Immigrants. Also, lets not forget legacy seats. It wasn't the presidents hard work and good grades that got him into Yale. It was because he was a legacy. Somehow no one seems to have a problem with legacy seats at a university. As for television, other than token comic relief I don't ever recall seeing many people of color on TNN, TBN or CMT, those are pretty Lilly white.Lastly the statement again appeals to the reader on a gut level by politicizing the argument with the image of Jesse Jackson.>>>"Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game."Again a fair statement that is grossly oversimplified. It trys to disqualify and prematurely dismiss the argument about how easy it is to kill, say... 30 people in a matter of minutes with a gun versus a bat. I think, it also trys to get the jump on framing the argument by sewinng the seeds that will eventually, when mature, equate regulation to banning.>>>"I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, that is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?"Again, great oversimplification of an issue with a generous does of circular reasoning. The reason girls were not allowed was because it was believed improper for girls to engage in such activities as the boy scouts enjoyed. The issue at hand is whether there is any grounds for a separation of the sexes when learning how to tie knots, erect tents or other general scout activities. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't but obfuscating the issue with emotional appeal does nothing to answer it and effect change or move past it.And lastly as was done with the Jesse Jackson the issue is dismissed by politicising it by means of bringing Martha Burke into the discussion unnecessarily.>>>"I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion."Again emotive. So what. Does holding an opinion on something somehow give it more credibility. If I think Prodastants are money grubbing, judgemental, gossipy, control freaks does that make my opinion valid with regard to there equality as a religion.>>>"I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off."This is simply wrong and it tries to characterize intolerance as a constitutional right, which it is not. Again emotive word craft. Poor word craft but word craft none the less. We do have to tolerate each other plain and simple, think about it.>>>"When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling, it is the Law of Probability."The argument trying to be made here is completely lacking in reason and is trying to confuse the issue with irrelevant statistics. If 70% of the general population is black and 70% of the prison population is black, fine but that has nothing to do with pulling over every black man in town that is driving an Escalade. The statistic sighted mean nothing to the argument that the author is trying to make, other than to get the reader to preemptively dismiss any question about the ethicality of profiling.>>>"I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen,(or Canadian) you should have to speak English!"In a capitalist society there is a simple solution to this. By the cigarettes elsewhere, get the paper from a different store, sleep at a different hotel. If enough people share the authors opinion those businesses will shut down. As for immigrants speaking English many try and eventually will, to verying degrees of sucess, at least in public. If they choose to converse in their native language with each other who does author think he is to limit that. I would dare wager that the authors own forebarers didn't have a thorough command of American English when the first generation came here. First generation Italians, Poles, Chinese and Germans retreated to the ease and security of their native language when they were in their own communities.I won't even bother to speak to the fact the Canada is a bi-lingual country other than to point out how removed form reality the author is.>>>"My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours."Again emotive phrasing. What does the author mean by "disrespect"? Dissent does not equate to disrespect and that is exactly what our fore fathers fought and died for. Dissent is what the U.S. was founded on be it religious dissent or economic or what have you.>>>"I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines."I am not aware that the police ever lost that right. There does need to be some investigation into the actions of the police who do such things to make sure the shooting was justified, less the right be abused. I would say there is nothing improper about suspension with pay or desk work until a review of the incident is conducted. What is the impetus for doing away with such a practice?It seems that the author is trying to make something an issue, that isn't, for purely political purposes.>>>"I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business."We say "Give us your tied, your poor, your huddled masses..." Might there be some advantage to us in helping these people become productive tax pay citizens rather than a subset of people living in ghettos subsisting off of and being victimized by crime.Again the author ignores the reasons why or why not and retreats to a racial stereo-types of some "foreigner" getting big government hand outs to put a sun glass kiosk in the middle of the mall. The factual argument once again is ignored for the emotional reaction.>>>"We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations."This argument ignores the fact that foreign countries can not tell us what to do. It also conviently ingors the fact we are a member of a global community and if we want something from these other countries someday, such as help in invading some other country, we made need to bend on some of the issues they find important.>>>"I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poor"Spoken like a true member of the upper-middle class. Here again is word craft, by including some statement about the rich the author can sneak in a seemingly innocuous swipe at the poor, without to much thought or examination of what is being said by the reader. The importance of this statement is not so much what it said but what it implied, that is the rich and poor both deserve what they have ended up with. Saying something like that would be far less effective and generate far fewer positive responces from the readers.>>>"I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them."So what? Who cares.... The difference being that the business behind the movie industry doesn't go around and tell impressionable youth that everything they are seeing is real.>>>"I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building."It was robber barons that said, "with great wealth comes great social responsibility". It was also they who built the tradition of the wealthy giving away parts of their vast fortunes for public benefit. Bill Gates is free to do whatever he wants but as a prominent figure, if he is going to flout tradition, he must be ready to bare the brunt of criticism unjust and just alike.As for inventing another operating system the practicality of that should need no explanation. How could anybody possibly compete if all the programs on their computer required Windows to run. Again this is yet another emotive statement that has no baring in reality or fact of the situation. It's easy to make such broad statements and elicit the reaction the author whats when the realities of the real world are never presented.>>>"It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say 'NO!'"Here, once again, a reasonable statement that has little, if anything, to do with the issue. It seems the sole purpose of the statement is to try and discredit a political foe. Of course it takes a parent with consistent authoritative discipline to raise a child but that has nothing to do with whether or not the parent needs others to respect and follow through with the rearing of the child. The author is trying to use another gut response to deride a view he offers no opinion on.The fact is, for most, it does take cooperation between all figures in a child's life to have effective direction and discipline. If a teacher disciplines a child and the parent treat it as joke what is the likelihood that the child will respect the teacher. The author offers no comment on this. So, that being the case, what is the author saying? What was the motivation for such a statement?>>>"I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!"Who said they're a political statement? Was this written in 1950? By the same token if I get a tatt of an upside down U.S. flag on my ass, that probably is a political statement whether the author likes it or not. The point is what a tattoo says is important to the one getting it and what the author's opinion is about it is of no relevance.As far as the lip ring is concerned, why must it be infected? Also, as with the non-English speaking business owners, just don't do business there. Complain to the manager and walk out. If enough people do it chances are you won't have to see the lip ring. Personally I would be far more worried about whether the manager makes sure the staff properly cleans the establishment and makes sure that they wash their hands after returning from the bathroom.>>>"I am sick of 'Political Correctness.' I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be 'African-Americans'? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else"We called 'em nigger for how many hundreds of years. What's the big deal in letting them determine themselves how they would like to be referred to. Minorities are different from the masses and like it or not minorities do like to keep some of their cultural identity about them. Is there that much difference in calling someone a derogatory term only to turn around and tell them your not allowed to be referred to as you would wish. The issue should be is there any benefit in any group keeping an ethnic nomenclature.>>>"And if you don't like my point of view, tough... It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having 'In God We Trust' on our money and having 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to Shut Up and BE QUIET!!!"Well that's not how this country was set up. The rights of the majority are not to deny the rights of the minority.An interesting note of history on this point, is that, it was the Southern Baptists that were the strongest advocates Jefferson had for putting a separation between church and state. At the time they were afraid the Catholics would overrun the government and force them to submit to Catholic doctrine. ...How times have changed.It's always prudent to think about why things are stated the way they are and what that says about the intent as well as to think through what is actually being declared, as well as the response it elicits form the reader and why the reader responds as they do. Critical thought should never be abandoned for emotional reaction.
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Great post Scotty.