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Kanye West, Serena Williams, Joe Wilson and the politics of civility. A recent spat of outrageously rude behavior has people scratching their heads and wondering what is going on. Kanye West bullies a vulnerable Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. Serena Williams threatens a judge at the US Open. Joe Wilson yells out and interrupts the President's address, calling President Obama a liar.
All three episodes are a sad reflection on the politics of civility in contemporary society. West is an entertainer notorious for off the wall, unscripted and controversial statements. Recall his infamous remark in the heat of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: "George Bush hates black people".
Serena Williams, on the other hand, has been a superstar tennis player for what seems like eternity. Up until now the biggest complaint about her and her sister has simply been that their dominance of women's professional tennis has taken some of the surprise and drama out of the game. Yet both Williams sisters, feminine, soft spoken and polite, have been free of any major controversy or outrageous behavior, on or off the court.
Serena's outburst was out of character, while one could argue Kanye's rude display is simply part and parcel of the narcissistic superstar's repertoire. Both can be somewhat excused for the lapse of judgement, they are, after all is said and done, only entertainers.
The rudeness of Joe Wilson is simply of a whole other magnitude. His blatant and vocal disrespect of the president was without precedent. Unlike Kanye and Serena, Joe is an elected official. He is supposed to know better. He is supposed to be a grown up, a representative of the people.
To Kanye and Serena's credit, they immediately issued unconditional apologies for their major faux paus. Joe Wilson, on the other hand, while he did offer an apology to President Obama immediately after the event, has since back tracked, and refuses to apologize on the House floor to congress, who he insulted and disgraced with his disgusting outburst.
Joe Wilson's story borders on evil, and is a true threat to the politics of civility. Wilson's past indicates he has racist tendencies and beliefs. His incivility runs much deeper than that of Kanye's or Serena's. Wilson's incivility is wrapped up with the old South: a racist, sexist, ugly notion of what America ought to be. Wilson, and those sympathetic to his displaced racism, threatens the civility of our politics. Joe Wilson needs to be held accountable.
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Comments
Mikey, this article is almost identical to another Examiner's article that he posted earlier, what gives Stoner can't come up with any original articles?????
Notice that Stoner excuses retarded Kanye and Serena??? All Joe Wilson did was tell the TRUTH. Is Mikey an anti-white RACISTS, WELL IF THE SHOE FITS.
My Joe Wilson "YOU LIE" t-shirts are selling like hotcakes, want one Mikey?
Wow Mikey, you are troding in racist territory now, don't go getting arrogant on us.
obama attending a black supremacist church for TWENTY YEARS, REPEAT TWENTY YEARS, and making buddy-buddy with Calypso Louie is totally acceptable in Mikey's eye as a fine representitive of the people however.
HEY MIKEY WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO DO A STORY ON THE BROOKLYN ACORN OFFICE?????
I dinnit do nuffin...
Out of character? The whole Williams clan including the parents are known on all continents as unpleasant. And on the men's side, Roddick is known worldwide as a donkey in a sport filled with prima donnas.
I blame it all on roid rage.
Kanye on the other hand is just a d***.
And Bush being booed at the 2005 State of the Union was also totally unprecedented --wait. That's twice something's been unprecedented concerning rudeness to a sitting U.S. president. I'm just confused now.
Oh, wait... no I'm not. You're just a hypocrite. Haha~ you totally had me going there for a second. You sly dog you.
Joe Wilson "belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol".
Sounds like Wilson has been a racist for quite some time. If you don't see the confederate flag as racist you are in denial.
Michael Stone, Kanye West, Serena Williams, Joe Wilson: Politics of civility
There, FIXED the headline.
Jay Leno says:
Joe Wilson "belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans
as well as tens of thousands on decedents of Confederate soldiers.
What is the problem there? Are the SCV a racist group or are they just celebrating their relatives?
I realize that doing a little research is painful, but for the record, Kanye West said "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Indifference is different from hate.
one, this is the examiner, not a serious paper, two, how is calling a politician a liar racist?
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