Am I the only person who doesn't think Andy Rooney's recent column is in the same ballpark as Don Imus' remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team? Have people gotten so hypersensitive that they actually actively look for these kinds of things?
In case anyone missed it, Rooney wrote a column in the Stamford Times about his lifelong dislike of baseball as it exists today. In the second paragraph he says,
I know all about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, but today’s baseball stars are all guys named Rodriguez to me. They’re apparently very good but they haven’t caught my interest.
How is that even close to "nappy-headed ho's"? Have I completely lost my sense of perspective? Perhaps this reveals Rooney to be a slightly ditzy old guy, but how exactly is it racist in the derogatory sense of the word? Suppose he had said 'Smith', or 'MacTavish', do you suppose the UK would be up in arms? Seriously, should he be tarred and feathered by the pitcher's union for saying in the same op-ed piece, "the player who starts the game as pitcher should have to play all nine innings without a substitution"?
Rooney is backtracking now, no doubt at the behest of his employer. And I'm wondering when we'll see an apology from Manny Ramirez...for what, you ask? For saying, "Those Japanese guys know how to paint" in a recent comment about the Red Sox pitching staff.
It's call op-ed for a reason. It's his OPINION. Sheesh.
This is the first I heard of the story.. What the hell is racist anymore? or Racey for that matter!
ReplyDeleteThis competitive world has made it acceptable to step all over anyone to get to the top of the heap. There are those folks who are more than willing to do that, be it speaking or doing hurtful things to get attention or degrade a person, race or religion to make themselves more powerful. If you're not hurting someones feelings or steping on their human rights, you're not making money these days.
It all makes me sick, and want to join the cook-coo's nest!
Andy Rooney wouldn't hurt a fly and he was singled out to keep the rest in check. Our perception of him is always positive, so to let him slip over a line would make it acceptable to slip... and eventually fall into the group of ass.