I'd wager he'd be more inclined to say something if he wasn't married with a kid. He no doubt values their safety above all else. If i were in his shoes, I wouldn't risk it.
On Sat, Aug 20, 2011 at 10:12 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]>wrote: > >> My issue is that when a joke is made about Christianity on these >> shows, it is constructed in such a way that the extremist stereotypes >> we have both mentioned are actually indicative of all Christians -- >> not all the time, but with some frequency. And while comics will be >> critical of certain Muslims, they are always quick to indicate the >> actions or thoughts of extremists do not reflect all of Islam. And I >> believe this happens because we have been conditioned to be afraid, >> and that fear has allowed this inequity to occur. And that fear is one >> of many fears we've had thrust upon us in the last decade, and I'm >> tired of them. I'm not even saying Christians are being treated >> unfairly; what I am saying is that Muslims are being treated too >> fairly. The old writer's adage indicates it is his job "to comfort the >> afflicted and afflict the comforted." Nowhere is the proviso "unless >> he is afraid" to be found. If the government has deemed this a >> credible threat, then it is the government's job to protect Mr. >> Letterman so he can make whatever joke he chooses. He should feel free >> to be provocative and challenge people, if for no other reason than >> this: Violent and hate-filled extremists should NOT feel comfortable. >> Not ever. >> > > [Sorry for the delay, I have been out of town for a few days] > > I don't disagree with the underlying point that comics should be able to > make fun of whoever they want to. I disagree with your claim that, in > practice, comics are more like to generalize stereotypes about Christians to > all believers, but bend over backwards to limit their barbs against Muslims > to just extremists. I just can not think of many examples of what you are > claiming. Comics make fun of people like Pat Robertson, or Mr. Michelle > Bachmann, but I don't think there is anything in that implying that they are > making fun of all Christians. And, in the example on point in this thread, > when Dave made fun of Kashmiri, he did not add any special proviso that he > was only making fun of Islamic terrorists, but that most Muslims are really > decent, nice people. My claim would be, counter to what you are saying, that > whether comics are making fun of Bachmann or Kashmiri, most often it is > pretty clear that they are making fun of extremists or fundamentalists, not > the faith of ordinary, mainstream practitioners of either particular faith. > > And again, I do disagree with your specific response to my suggestion that > Dave may not mention the threat (we shall see what he actually does). I was > not suggesting that Dave would stop making fun of Islamic terrorists; I was > suggesting that he may choose not to make fun of the fact that terrorists > have put out a death threat on him - not because he does not want to offend > over-sensitive Muslims, but be because the FBI may well want to keep a lower > profile on things while they try to track it down. > > I just don't think it is true that in the post-9-11 USA, Christians are > somehow at a cultural disadvantage in terms of how they are treated by the > media compared to Muslims. On the contrary, it seems to me that really > absurd claims made by very conservative Christians are treated as > reasonable, and not given very much critical scrutiny, by journalists but > even by nightly comics, while quite ordinary claims made by Muslims (e.g. > building a mosque in lower Manhattan) are given widespread, negative > coverage, not just in in the whacky conservative media, but in the > mainstream media as well (God forbid anyone would suggest that building a > church near a mosque was offensive for any reason). > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > -- +++++++++++++++ Joe Coughlin http://www.twitter.com/inturnaround -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
