California Mayor's 'Watermelon White House' email

[peejay 327]

Comedians aren't elected officials. You expect an elected official to be fair to all his/her constituents, no such expectation exists of Chapelle or Mencia.

And you would expect everyone in the world to hug each other around the campfire in the woods and sing Kumbaya, but they don't, do they?

So the guy will either resign, get impeached, or get reelected. Everybody makes their own bed in life.

Like I said...if there are those that are going to cast the first stone or to look under every rock...then they ought to cast stones at everyone and look under every rock (even their own rock). Not just pick and choose to play silly head games or advance personal agendas.

[HAL 9000 96]

When you can tell the difference between a stone and a boulder, we'll talk about logic and personal agendas.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There's no agenda being advanced here. The guy did something stupid, he apologized for it and that's surely the end of unless his constituents feel its important to punish him by impeachment or being voted out of office.

The argument in this thread went off on a tangent about whether the image itself contains humour and the usual screeching about double standards.

Yet strangely we aren't any more enlightened than we were before. Brilliant!

[alienlovechild 75]

Yet strangely we aren't any more enlightened than we were before. Brilliant!

Since when have you pursued the path of enlightenment on this forum?

All of you putting up over a 138 posts discussing a watermelon joke? That's the mark of refinement.

Edited February 26, 2009 by alienlovechild

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Did someone say enlightenment? I wish www.gaia.com was more like VJ with msg boards.

[HAL 9000 96]

It seems like 138 posts of people talking about what is racially insensitive and others apparently having no issue defending it. That shows quite a lot of refinement indeed.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I dunno man - I'm well used to the dishonest arguments perpetuated by yourself and others who seem to have no problem prostituting ideals if it means getting in a petty personal dig against people they don't like.

Perhaps that makes some kind of sense to the people doing it. It makes none to me.

[Peikko 1,575]

The offense is that anyone feels that in this day and age it's acceptable to imply that anyone is racially inferior. There is nothing frivolous about that.

We can make jest at each other's differences, without creating inferiority complexes, can't we? Can we drop the facade of self-rightous outrage in defense of a race that can demonstrably defend itself? I mean, we white folk can do it. What make you think we are unique in that ability?

Nothing wrong in making jokes. I love jokes, I am all for jokes, but this is not a joke about something contemporary to and specifically about Barack Obama, it's about the notion that 'a black man' has no right to inhabit the White House, that he can't be trusted to treat it properly, that he is nothing more than some 'uppity ***' who doesn't know his station in life. That is the offense Mr Bill.

You read an awful lot into that cartoon. I recommend you spend more time watching Carlos Mencia!

I am not 'reading anything' into that cartoon. It is what it is. There are only two ways you can find this funny. One if you understand the significance of the stereotype portrayed and believe in the idea that blacks are 'uppity niggers' or two if you find the idea that someone finding the idea of 'uppity niggers' in the whitehouse offensive is funny.

Either way, you can't get away from the implications of this so called 'benign' joke - unless of course you really are trying to suggest that turning the White House lawn into a produce patch is somehow funny, regardless of who the occupant of the White House is. Again, show me the humour in that idea and I might laugh.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[Peikko 1,575]

As for all these attempts to portray taking offense at something that is patently offensive, as an exercise in being mindlessly PC, pathetic.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well it was never going to be easy to get someone to admit to bigotry, given that its a product of ignorance isn't terribly surprising.

[alienlovechild 75]

I dunno man - I'm well used to the dishonest arguments perpetuated by yourself and others who seem to have no problem prostituting ideals if it means getting in a petty personal dig against people they don't like.

What dishonest argument are you referring to? Prostituting what ideals?

Who are you trying to enlighten? Yourself or others and how's that project coming along?

[Peikko 1,575]

I don't mind that, what I find truly offensive is how many people are hiding behind the 'this is just being mindlessly pc' The mayor himself is just a dufus and will be judged or not by his electorate but here, on this message board we have people openly defending this junk. Bah, I'll never understand some people.

What really gets me, is that I would love for there to be some really, really good humour coming out of the Obama presidency. Humour that comes from who he is as a person not humour related to who he is perceived to be because of some skin colour idiocy. Will that happen? Will we get some really good lampoons? I somewhat doubt it if people are content to laugh at such #######.

[Ban Hammer 13,360]

As for all these attempts to portray taking offense at something that is patently offensive, as an exercise in being mindlessly PC, pathetic.

[Peikko 1,575]

As for all these attempts to portray taking offense at something that is patently offensive, as an exercise in being mindlessly PC, pathetic.

You are one of the worst culprits Charles, because you don't believe the ####### but you just want to moan at how PC everyone is. #### you mate.

[Ban Hammer 13,360]

As for all these attempts to portray taking offense at something that is patently offensive, as an exercise in being mindlessly PC, pathetic.

You are one of the worst culprits Charles, because you don't believe the ####### but you just want to moan at how PC everyone is. #### you mate.

take a number, nessa's first

she is, after all, wifey #1, and you are wifey #2

Edited February 26, 2009 by charles!