Let me see if I understand all of this correctly.

• We are supposed to remain silent about a predominately black culture that romanticizes treating all women as “hos,” advocates murder, especially of police officers–and whose top examples have actually engaged in gang warfare that has resulted in public murders, because it’s a cultural thing and who are we to judge.
• We are supposed to remain silent about female genital mutilation, which traumatizes young girls and wrecks any chance for a normal sexual life, because it’s a cultural thing and who are we to judge.
• We are supposed to remain silent about jihad, because contrary to all observable evidence, it doesn’t mean that an jihadi is a fanatic ready to commit mass murder on the premise that he is a soldier for Allah who is promised an adolescent’s idea of paradise full of virgins– because it’s a cultural thing and who are we to judge.

BUT… :

It is the complaints–sometimes vicious–about American cultural traditions that we are most supposed to remain silent about. Under this meme, Christopher Columbus was a genocidal, greedy maniac and Santa Claus is an evil tobacco addict, fat slob and a potential child molester, who shows his racism and contempt for other cultures by wishing people a Merry Christmas and offering a jolly “ho, ho, ho”, because this is an automatic, and unbearable, insult to anyone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, or who might be a whore.

Have I got that right? It seems to me that the only constant is that we are to remain silent no matter what.

-- "saltydog" at Jules Crittenden^[1]

America’s top doc told the Herald yesterday that Santa Claus should slim down, in the latest blow struck in a global politically correct crusade against the jolly fat man.

...Since when does the Surgeon General dictate how much a Christian saint should weigh? How is this not state encroachment on religion? ... Do you really think you clowns get to redefine the legend of Santa Claus for the rest of us by your silly little proclaimations?

Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 22:56:48 GMT | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 The Brits are awfully sensitive about Coca-Cola; way back in 1970 the BBC banned the Kinks' "Lola," not because of its subject matter, but because it dared to mention the stuff by name.  (Ray Davies redubbed the line with the phrase "cherry cola.")

Posted by: CGHill at 12/02/07 05:28:02 (7tYOI)

2 CGHill,

You're conflating the BBC with 'the Brits'. The two are not synonymous

The BBC will have taken that stance because of its position as a licence-funded public service broadcaster and cannot be seen to be giving prominence or promoting a particular commercial brand.

Things are a bit more relaxed now, but we are gradually catching with the more bizarre American practise of obscuring any and every trademarked image that appears onscreen (logos on clothing etc)- something that wasn't done at all up until a few years ago. Such things were/ are considered incidental, although I suspect somebody got their pet lawyer on the phone to reevaluate that school of thought...

Posted by: Machiavelli's Understudy at 12/16/07 00:10:00 (wtgzW)

3 Well, the American practice grows out of the whole "product placement" thing: Don't show something if you don't get paid (or get a deal) for it. Interesting example: Originally the candy that the kids used to attract ET was supposed to be M&Ms, but Amblin (the film's producing company) wasn't able to make a deal with Mars Candy (M&Ms owner), so in stepped Hershey, and, voila, the candy became Reese's Pieces. [Snopes reference].

I wonder what the Beeb did about the Beatles' "Come Together?":
   He wear no shoeshine he got toe-jam football
      He got monkey finger he shoot coca-cola

Posted by: Old Grouch at 12/16/07 23:17:59 (GLhvz)

4 Nothing that I can recall, though Morris Levy, who owned some of Chuck Berry's music publishing, took Lennon to task (and to court) for borrowing a couple of lines from Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" - that bit about old flat-top groovin' up.

Posted by: CGHill at 12/17/07 00:24:16 (7tYOI)

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