I’m so sorry I missed this live, however the good people at mediamatters.org are always on the ball when it comes to this and you can read all about it here. Let’s keep it short: David Shuster made a comment on the air saying that the Clinton’s were ‘pimping’ their daughter. BIG DEAL!! This country really has to get over itself when it comes to all the offensive language. To me personally, language isn’t what drives sexism or racism or whatever other Ism - it’s the people that do.
I watch MSNBC quite frequently and I have to agree with all the hype about Chris Matthews, that he’s off his rocker. I’ve actually been thinking about writing Matthews an email suggesting to him to apply to Fox News as his attitude and level of insanity very closely seem to match the job requirements over at the “Fair and Balanced” network.
Joe Scarborough is definitely a sexist and I think that’s a lot coming from someone like me who doesn’t easily come to a conclusion like that so easily. The way he treats Mika Brzezinski on the air is just ridiculous and to a certain extent takes aways from the credibility of the show - not that I’m anyone to judge how credible the show is. Fact is that Joe used to be a Florida congressman and Mika Brzezinski is the daughter of a former adviser to Jimmy Carter so I think it’s safe to say that both have some level of competency when it comes to doing their job. What takes away from the credibility is his treatment of Mrs. Brzezinski. Just the other day I was watching it and where she became a hero for viewers around the world for the “paris hilton incident” Joe just doesn’t give her any weight at all on the show. The other day he talked over her, ridiculing her (I’m sure she didn’t write it) report on environmental warnings that had been released. After reporting that the icebergs were melting at a much higher rate, he interrupted her with a childish remark saying: “aaaawww the pour polar bear cubs”. First of all that’s an extremely ignorant comment, second of all - which network do you think you’re on that you can get away with that type of behavior? I don’t watch a so-called news program to see jack ass type of behavior. I think its’ out of line, and quite frankly I feel sorry for Brzezinski however she always looks like she’s OK with everything so I’m not sure. Bottom line is this - if you behave like Shephard on Fox News - maybe you should go join him and leave serious journalism to people that are qualified.
I actually don’t know David Shuster’s background and quite frankly I’m too lazy to look it up right now. It’s 5:50AM and I’m work, again looking for a good topic to get my brain cells moving.
What I’m getting at here (and thanks for reading this far I know my tangents are hard to keep up with at times) is the fact that this country does so many things which are sexist, racist, offensive etc - and it goes unmentioned, or unchanged, unchallenged. Dare ONE person to SPEAK these things and we’re ready to cut their head off, like in Shuster’s case. I just wish we could as much effort into fixing the social inequalities that exist in this country rather than just lynching someone who uses the wrong verbiage.
Edit*
After talking to my girlfriend and hearing her opinion on this topic I have to revise my statement. I should emphasize that I’m rather desensitized when it comes to a lot of the english language. The media over uses so many words, and words that used to be controversial are now part of every day expressions. MTV has a show called “pimp your ride” and I guess the main difference is that a car is being pimped and not someones daughter. I guess we have to be consistent when it comes to not accepting certain type of language, and this included Shuster’s remarks.
This article was written by Arno - Author's Website
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