Whoopi with a pig and a frog, before condoning animal abuse
She was actually really good in Ghost, funny in Sister Act, and she grew on me in Star Trek: TNG.
Today Caryn Johnson aka Whoopi Goldberg exhibited some of the most incredibly stupid behavior one could image. Call it the Rosie O'Donnell chair-syndrome. Whoopi defend Michael Vick. In my opinion (and it is just my opinion) -- she was playing a race card. She never said race, but it seemed that way to me
Full text in today's online New York Times
first the Oscar® winner said
Goldberg said that "from where he comes from" in the South, dogfighting isn't that unusual. It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico," she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country."
Well she goes on...
For many people, dogs are sport, Goldberg replied, and it appeared it took awhile for Vick to realize that he was up against serious charges.
And stupid D-Cap -- I thought Elisabeth Hasselbeck was the big asshole on that show. (Hasselbeck is a big fucking asshole --- I will eventually get around to her.)
Well Whoopster -- it wasn't too long ago the slavery, lynching and throwing people off the bus were common and accepted practices in certain parts of the country. Blacks couldn't play baseball, couldn't serve in the military, couldn't intermarry. But that too is how it was in certain parts (or all parts) of this country. If it was shock TV and controversy you were going for on your first day --- you succeeded beyond your wildest dreams. But Barbara Walters will get her ratings.
Sorry Whoopi, I so preferred Rosie's tirades against Eva Braun Hasselbeck to your "justification" of some of the most reprehensible behavior around. Behavior from someone who is a role model and should know better. Like you -- you should know better. Obviously you do not.
And -- please no comments from the Peanut Gallery as to why I even watch such drek as The View. Call it heavy lifting for a day's pay.
8-)
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21 comments:
I was so upset when I heard this! I used to really like her, but this is just insane! Does she think if someone is raised in a crime ridden part of a big city and goes out and kills somebody that he/she should be excused because it's the "culture" of where they were raised?
I hate to say it, but I think if he were white and from the South, she wouldn't have defended him.
Now that's funny, because in certain parts of the country... Wait, I think it was mostly(not only, but mostly) The South... Lynching black people was a sport!
You know, like cockfighting in Puerto Rico or Jew Baiting or Misogyny or Child Abuse...
What.
An.
Ass.
Sometimes I listen to radio besides NPR (no, not to Whoopi on WKTU!) but I have heard Vick defended in a very veiled way on at least 2 NYC stations. It just upsets me so I turn it off, but now that I say that I feel wimpy.
I totally agree with you, Mary Ellen and Fran. She's going to take a well deserved "beating" and loss of popularity on this one.
Guinan was a bit wiser.
Is she fucking nuts? So just because he's black we should cut him some slack? She's toast with me.
We were traveling by car a couple of weeks ago. In front of us was a pickup truck and on the back window were two identical decals of pit bull heads with spiked collars on them. When we passed the truck I looked to see what the driver might look like. He was a white guy and the most evil looking face I have ever seen.
No Whoopie, dog fighting is not just for one race. There are a lot of bastards out there of all races and no one deserves any slack.
I like Whoopi, but certainly disagree with her defense of dog fighting. I had no idea she felt that way.
DCap-
Allow me to play the contrarian here, but is it me or is this dog-fighting issue an issue because it's Michael Vick? because he was making a gajillion dollars a year to play pro football? I think so.
Okay, folks, Charles Barkley may be an ass in real life, but his "I am not a role model" quote is dead on here. As a parent, I hate it when my kids find role models in celebrities who could not give a shit whether we lived or breathed. I digress....
The problem I have with this whole dog fighting and killing issue is the hypocritical moral indignation being displayed in the media. Dogs, cats and other pets are "legally" put down ever day. Where is the moral indignation there? We buy boutique pets because they match our curtains, meanwhile thousands of worthy, lovable mutts and kitties are sentenced to death because people can't be bothered to take a shelter animal instead.
(Okay, I'm now stepping off my soap box...Sorry for that.) I agree this is NOT a race issue as Whoop-si implied, and I, too, am a little PO'd that she would try and find some cultural justification for using dogs for sport. Irresponsible and ill-thought words -- death-knell of every down-sliding celebrity.
to all -- thanks for the responses -- you should see the reaction i got to comments i posted at Daily Kos to someone also defending Vick.....i got reamed by the diary writer. last time i do that
spart --- whether these guys like it or not they are role models --- they may not want it, but it comes with the territory.
i think what bothers me most about the Whoopi comment is the race card she is playing --- justifying bad behavior because that is what he knew. That truly is a heinous thing to say.
and Spart you are so correct about the hypocrisy regarding "putting down animals" -- people would rather have designer pets than shelter animals. every pet i have ever had as a kid or adult has been a shelter animal ---
no matter how you look at it -- dogfighting is betting on violence -- you can also say boxing is as well -- except these dogs have no choice.
it just so bothers me that as a society or as a people -- some folks place more value on the entertainment of violence than the humanity of life on this planet.
call me a ridiculous liberal...i just dont get it.
this issue obviously riles a lot of people
I'll take the hypocrisy even further.
How can anyone who eats meat judge someone else for being "cruel to animals?"
Well, you can't, at least not logically. You have to rationalize one behavior over another.
Why do people eat meat?
It is not essential to our survival, nor is it necessarily healthy.
It contributes to pollution, global warming, the resurrection of dangerous diseases that are drug resistant, it contributes to obesity, it wastes land, food, and it is every bit as cruel as dog fighting. Maybe more so.
At least in dog fighting, the dogs have a chance to defend themselves.
So much of our "outrage" in this country seems disingenuous.
D-CAP:
You are more generous to Whoopi Goldberg than am. I think she's crap as an entertainer and always has been. Funny thing about her comment about the South, weren't we led to believe that she's from our neck of the woods, the ILG to be more specific?
OK, so let's give her that. If she's "Southern", that makes me "Russian". Fair enough. But in a way, she has a point. I've heard a veritable treatise on fighting-dog breeding owning and training from a Southerner. Doesn't make it right. Killing the useless ones? That ought to be an aggravating factor to his sentence for sure.
And I almost bit on this anti-Vick thing...but I read somewhere that WHENEVER EVERYBODY AGREES ON SOMETHING IT'S WRONG. And EVERYBODY in blogland agrees on this. Vick is right up there with Hitler and Stalin, no?
The guy pled guilty. He's going to get a custodial sentence. He made an ass of himself with his "finding Jesus" bullshit. That kind of wraps it up, si o no? Obviously, the latter. EVERYBODY has to get their Francsican bona fides down. And why is there a paucity of Black voices (not on Vick but on EVERY issue) in this "tolerant" corner of blogland?
Finally, EVERYBODY AGREED on 9/11 to "come together" as a nation yada yada yada. I'll bet my balls that one of you bought a flag pin sometime before 9/18/01. How do you feel about that NO?
What's my point? Your stupid country is about to get the world blown in two by attacking Iran. Why do I feel like there will be a strong positive correlation between the people who go on and on and on about Vick and the people who'll be wearing a new flag pin when the first bomb hits Teheran?
And why do I keep coming back to the line in WALL STREET: "the goyim love animals and hate people."?
Damn, I knew I could count on you, FAIRLANE. We were commenting at roughly the same time so I didn't see your remark. Well put.
First I thought "I'm not touching this. No way."
Then I remembered how my mom once hit our neighbor's dog as she was backing out of our driveway. When she went to move the dog, he bit her.
Whoopi would do well to remember not to fuck with an injured dog. Like our human reaction to the violence against animals, it may not be rational and it will bite you.
i didnt realize the range of response i would get with this
i have to stick with more benign subjects for awhile
benign...what is that? I have no idea...but I do know that learning this about Whoppi blew my mind ....what the hell....abusing animals is now merely a Southern Cultural issue.....omg...
Yeah, I got pissed when I read that. I was just really disappointed; I thought she was smarter than that. Your post said it all--what an ignorant f-ing thing for Whoopie (or anyone) to say!
Hey--I just thought of something: what if all those defenders of scum like Vick had to watch THEIR dogs (or cats) go fight for their lives in one of those "certain parts of the country"? Maybe THEN they'd change their tune?
D-Cap
I don't think you should shy away from "Controversial" topics. Too many of the so-called "Liberal" blogs already do.
Personally, I'm sick of the milquetoast "Left," and their mealy mouthing.
One of the biggest problems in this country is we avoid uncomfortable issues both in the outside world and in our own worlds.
There are numerous other voices on the Vick issue.
I think it's great when people disagree. When everyone is on the same page I start worrying that they're nothing but overly-educated Wingnuts.
you are right fairlane
i shouldnt shy away from controversy.........
you convinced me
Look, I've no interest in going down a Peter Singer-type rhetorical sinkhole in which one moment we are wondering why dog fighting is bad and the next pondering why we don't kill the mentally retarded.
Pit bulls used to be benign dogs entrusted with children. They have been bred to kill. And they do. Whoopi Goldberg would do well to remember the San Francisco woman killed outside her apartment by a pair of pitbulls.
Because I know evolution to be true, I can say without a doubt that we are genetically engineering bloodlines of dogs who, if let loose, can roam our cities killing people. And for what? Cause Ron Mexico is entertained?
Thanks, guys.
And it is upsetting because Michael Vick is a celebrity and does have alot of money and can make much better choices about what he does with his money and his celebrity.
I have never been a fan. And I most certainly now will never be.
Michael O'Donoghue, now that was comic genius.
Inspired by FAIRLANE once again, I'm going to tell the worst story I've ever told in blogland just to set that Non-Milquetoast bar high so we as the opposition have some toughness to aspire to as opposed to being as FAIRLANE say "over educated Wing-Nuts."
As a preamble, while I don't advocate censorship, may I ask for a moratorium on those stupid prison rape jokes when Republicans get in trouble? Which leads me into the story. Prison is not funny. Prison rape is not funny. Sorry, it just isn't. 5 years of sexual bondage for stealing a car is not a proportional sanciton.
Why? Well, a criminal defense lawyer of my acquaintance who's now a judge in a small city in Upstate New York, once said to me "nobody should have to go to prison." And he went on: "I feel so strongly about this that there's no feeling quite like getting a guilty guy off, especially a murderer. Fuck them."
Well, that was liberating to tell. But screw it. I wrote it on a comment on my own spot: I'M FEELING LIKE NIXON NOW. AS IN YOU WON'T HAVE DICK NIXON TO KICK AROUND ANYMORE.
But for those of you tenderfeet who were offended by that little tale, it all worked out for the best for you. Sure, my friend got elected judge, but the per-capita prison population has increased -- like -- a LOT, like 5 fold, since I heard that little story.
I can't wait until you take aim at Hasselbeck! Whoopi's an ass.
I have to think that if Vick was white, she would not have defended him. Just a hunch. His actions were indefensible. I just think she needs to look farther than "the authorities are picking on a African-American male" this time.
Usually, I agree with her stands-suprised to hear about this!
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