Double standards
Guess it's time for another Adscam inspired posting. This one deals more with the public perception than the actual events of the Gomery commission. It's mostly driven by all the recent polling that shows that a large group of Canadians still don't want an election (what exactly does it take?) and that the Liberals still have a great deal of support (although it finally seems to be dropping).
I still can't believe the apathy that seems to be affecting the general voting populace around here. Even though they provide no evidence to support their views, the overwhelming response I get when the topic of corruption in politics comes up is "they're all the same". This just drives me crazy. The only way the Liberals will be able to get themselves back into power is to convince the voters that the other parties would have done the same if they were in power and it appears their plan is working.
What kind of odd difference in standards do we have between liberals and conservatives (in the more general sense of the words) in this continent. If one conservative says something that people disagree with then all conservatives are painted as evil, racist, homophobic, etc.. even though they may be condemned by their own party and maybe even kicked out. Either way the controversy manages to stay contained to the conservative side of the spectrum. On the other hand, if a liberal says something that people find offensive, they rarely face any type of condemnation from the left (unless they do something which directly atacks another liberal) and if they do get in trouble, the fallout usually hits all politicians.
This doesn't just stand for political leaders either, but media personalities too. How can Rhandi Rhodes, on two occasions, play the sound of gunshots after talking about ways to get rid of President Bush and another radio host call Secretary Rice "Aunt Jemima" and former Secretary Powell "Uncle Tom" and both still have their jobs today. Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold went so far as to call the latter statements 'regrettable'. Apparently, using some of the most demeaning, racist terms around is just 'regrettable' when uttered by a liberal radio host.
Now compare that to Bob Lonsberry. A Conservative radio host who, when commenting on a recent zoo escape and tieing it into the local government, said this "Headline: Orangutan escapes at zoo, runs for county executive. Fascinating stuff." on air. The mayor who he was indirectly referring to happens to be African American so therefore his comments were considered racist by the reactionary left. Days later, with pressure from the NAACP and local protestors Lonsberry was fired.
How is it that the Lonsberry case is deemed racist and worth firing (we have all seen commercials depicting monkeys in an office setting to indicate poor leadership) while outright calling prominent public officials "Aunt Jemima" and "Uncle Tom" is seen as simply 'regrettable'. If that is not a double standard, I don't know what is.
Maybe it's just because the public, on a whole, expects so much less from liberals in terms of civility? That's about the only defense I can think of for this type of double standard.
I still can't believe the apathy that seems to be affecting the general voting populace around here. Even though they provide no evidence to support their views, the overwhelming response I get when the topic of corruption in politics comes up is "they're all the same". This just drives me crazy. The only way the Liberals will be able to get themselves back into power is to convince the voters that the other parties would have done the same if they were in power and it appears their plan is working.
What kind of odd difference in standards do we have between liberals and conservatives (in the more general sense of the words) in this continent. If one conservative says something that people disagree with then all conservatives are painted as evil, racist, homophobic, etc.. even though they may be condemned by their own party and maybe even kicked out. Either way the controversy manages to stay contained to the conservative side of the spectrum. On the other hand, if a liberal says something that people find offensive, they rarely face any type of condemnation from the left (unless they do something which directly atacks another liberal) and if they do get in trouble, the fallout usually hits all politicians.
This doesn't just stand for political leaders either, but media personalities too. How can Rhandi Rhodes, on two occasions, play the sound of gunshots after talking about ways to get rid of President Bush and another radio host call Secretary Rice "Aunt Jemima" and former Secretary Powell "Uncle Tom" and both still have their jobs today. Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold went so far as to call the latter statements 'regrettable'. Apparently, using some of the most demeaning, racist terms around is just 'regrettable' when uttered by a liberal radio host.
Now compare that to Bob Lonsberry. A Conservative radio host who, when commenting on a recent zoo escape and tieing it into the local government, said this "Headline: Orangutan escapes at zoo, runs for county executive. Fascinating stuff." on air. The mayor who he was indirectly referring to happens to be African American so therefore his comments were considered racist by the reactionary left. Days later, with pressure from the NAACP and local protestors Lonsberry was fired.
How is it that the Lonsberry case is deemed racist and worth firing (we have all seen commercials depicting monkeys in an office setting to indicate poor leadership) while outright calling prominent public officials "Aunt Jemima" and "Uncle Tom" is seen as simply 'regrettable'. If that is not a double standard, I don't know what is.
Maybe it's just because the public, on a whole, expects so much less from liberals in terms of civility? That's about the only defense I can think of for this type of double standard.
posted by Bic at 11:34 a.m.
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