Andy Rooney?
I thought I was the trouble maker! I responded below to an 'Andy Rooney' piece a friend sent me. Despite my COMMENTS there have been times in life when I have felt just like the author, but do my best not to think like that. I think our emotions and logic often get all tangled up. Of course it can be argued that it is my emotions which are on target and my logic which is off target. At any rate these issues are always guaranteed to generate a lot of heat. My comments are in quotation marks.
Andy Rooney Tells It Like It Is
(and CBS, to their credit, lets him do it.)
Andy Rooney spoke his mind on a '60 Minutes' segment.
"Note: I went back over a year and couldn't find any such 60 minute segment. And the following appears to be way too long for one of his short segments, plus Andy always pinpoints his segments. Perhaps this comes out of one of his books, but doubt it, I think this, like so much on the internet, is fabricated. Following are some of my own comments about each of these, whoever wrote them."
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 United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.
"Comment: No majority ever feels a need to have such titles. In fact a majority population would be offended by such titles. Being a majority is satisfaction enough, comfort enough. Minorities of any ilk will always seek to attract their members through specially titled groups. I can't think of any good reason why the existence of any such groups should annoy anyone."
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.
"Comment:This argument is silly, but will never be won by either side. Cars are not made to kill, when someone is killed it is called an accident. Baseball bats are not made to kill and when someone uses a bat for that the product has been misused. Assault weapons are not used to hunt animals, but to kill people. Everyone knows the widespread possession of weapons in most societies ensures there will be a lot of killing. This is especially true in third world countries and the United States. The number of Americans killed by weapons in Iraq per year pales with the number of Americans killed by Americans per year. Fortunately the killing of Americans by Americans does not run up a huge national debt and require smart bombs----yet."
I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE ?
"Comment: I agree with this if girls are really trying to join the boy scouts."
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.
"Comment: I have no idea what this really is supposed to mean. It seems to justify all the intolerance of others present in society. Anyone can believe anything they want, but that doesn't give anyone either the moral or legal right to interfere with another's right to equal justice. People of course at different times thought that slavery was right, that women shouldn't be allowed to vote, that minors should be allowed to work long hours on a job, etc. And of course this raising the flag of intolerance up the flagpole as some sort of proud right violates the grandaddy of all ethics: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
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.
"Comment: This too is silly. It says nothing. Racial profiling is when only certain ethnic groups are stopped or pulled out of a crowd to harass about this or that."
I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you should do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, 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.
"Comment: I think English should be the official language of the country, that illegals should not be allowed to work in this country, and that all legal immigrants should be offered the opportunity to be taught English, free if they are poor."
I think the police should have every right to shoot you 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.
"Comment: I agree with this one."
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 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.
"Comment. I don't know what this is all about either. I am not aware there are any such government sponsored loans for any of the above targeted to immigrants. I think the question is whether an immigrant should also be entitled to such loans? I would guess if he/she is a citizen they should be. Illegal immigrants should be deported."
I don't hate the rich; I don't pity the poor
"Comment: What the hell does this mean? Not hating the rich justifies no empathy with the less fortunate? This kind of comment is usually made by those with all the inherited blessings which grease the way for them to be affluent."
I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and most of television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.
" Comment: What is this? Since when do movies and television even purport to be true? Certainly if someone thinks pro wrestling is real they deserve to be called on it."
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.
"Comment:The welfare of society in general always tops individual rights. No civilized society has yet lasted which allowed it's wealth to accumulate in the hands of a few. To prevent this, graduated income taxes have been used to ensure that there are built in restraints to the accumulation of wealth while living, and inheritance taxes to ensure vast empires of wealth cannot be bequeathed to those who did not earn any of the wealth. Wealth earned is wealth respected. Unearned wealth---stolen, inherited, or otherwise unearned---need have limits placed on it so that much of it is returned to the society from whence it came, so others then have a chance to earn wealth as the original earner had such a chance. And incidently, since 1% of our population now own 90% of the wealth in the country, shouldn't they pay 90% of our taxes?"
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!'
"Comment: This is dribble. We are what we are because of others, of course including good parents. People build people. Kids trapped behind barred up windows and doors and stuck with a poor parent or parents, need others for salvation. The others are the village. All affluent people also have a long list of other non parental influences which contributed to their personage. These others are the village. The 'village' provides justice, a good education, proper medical attention, opportunities, exposure to diversity, and alternate viewpoints."
I think tattoos and body 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!
"Comment: I personally find tattoos unattractive and would not care to have any. If anyone else wants one, be my guest. It has nothing to do with me. Being ugly by birth is unattractive also. Tough. They are free to walk amongst us. Insisting others must dress to please another is arrogance at it's height. I am not in favor of locking the elderly unattractive eyesores out of sight so Bozo above doesn't have to look at them."
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.
"Comment: Really? Well fine, let's just do away with group distinctions and be done with it. We are all Americans (although why should this distinction be granted? Let's just call all homo sapiens humans. There is a novel idea). So it is agreed---no more African AMericans, no more Catholic Americans, no more gay Americans, no more hispanic Americans, no more immigrant Americans, etc.----everyone is just a human being. I think whoever wrote the above is on to something."
And if you don't like my point of view, tough!
"Comment. I like this one best: Another version of "You do it because I say so! Why do you have to do it? Because I say so". And I have been led to believe Terrell Owens had cornered the market on I, I, I."
