Recently I appeared on "Hannity and Colmes" on Fox. I
had the pleasure to defend a man who has served this country his
entire life, Jesse Jackson. I argued that his recent sexual
exploits cannot negate the lifetime achievements he has made as
a politician. He is human, and like all of us, he makes
mistakes.
Granted, cheating on your wife for years and having a baby
with your girlfriend is more than a mistake, but it should not
exclude him from public service and his continued assistance to
less fortunate people in this country. I argued his ability to
mobilize the masses for social change is too powerful to throw
away. You may not agree.
Many Democrats were especially quiet on this issue because
they were too afraid of damaging there own fragile reputations
(probably the reason I got the opportunity to be on the show in
the first place), but America represents the epitome of free
speech and I exercise my right as often, and as intelligently, as
I can. Unfortunately, this right goes out to all people, some of
whom are not articulate enough to state an opinion or argue a
point - so they resort to insults and vulgarity. That being said,
I thought I'd share a few of the over fifty e-mails I have
received in response to my appearance.
I am sometimes a little too proud of my Italian heritage so
it was a shock to read, "You're a disgrace to
Italians." I'm not sure why being of a certain nationality
makes ones views any less or more important, but this person
certainly thought it lowered my status in Italian circles. He
went on to sing "If you only had a brain." Now, just
in case I didn’t get the reference he felt it necessary to
include it (The Wizard of Oz). His closing argument was
succinctly, but poignantly stated, "You Dummy" with
three exclamation points. I suppose this means he really,
really, really thinks I am a dummy. I can top that. I am not a
dummy!!!!
One person kept it simple: "You should commit
suicide." Now, does this person really think that my views
are so outlandish that I deserve to die? We're talking about
Jesse Jackson here. I like the man, but he's not worth dying
over. Or does he feel that I do not deserve to live because I am
too intelligent and my mere existence embarrasses his
conservative sensibilities? Well, I think I will not kill
myself over this one issue, but if I get too many more
unintelligible e-mails, I just may have to end it all.
Another person, with obvious bad taste offered this
assessment of me: "You ugly liar!" Now, I may
exaggerate my point of view occasionally and I may have lied a few times in
my adolescence, but if you saw me on the show you would have to
agree that I am damn good-looking. At least my wife and mother
think so.
I obviously made some people literally sick. "You make
me sick", screamed one writer. Another exclaimed, "I
am sick of you bleeding heart liberals!" Is there an
epidemic in conservative circles that people get sick when they
hear intelligible opinions without the attack-squad smear
tactics that they are so used to hearing from their own party?
One
writer gave me insight into why I seem to get so many people
sick. He writes, "...the stink of your viewpoint causes
people to feel a sudden need to puke whenever you flap your
gums...". Can you imagine the fun this talent is at
cocktail parties? I can't wait to get invited to the Whitehouse.
The most shocking letter insinuated that I enjoy flapping my
gums around Jesse's genitals. He argues that if I could just
take it "out of (my) mouth long enough to see what it is
attached to" that I would see he represents the "useless
black rabble". He goes on to say that the only people that
respect him are the "least educated among our
society." In a way, this person, regardless of his racist
comments, pinned the tail on the donkey. The people that respect
Jackson the most are the disadvantaged, the one's without voice.
That is precisely why people like this particular writer hates
him, because he is afraid of a level playing field in this
country. Maybe he’s just afraid to lose ground to these
uneducated, black people. That's right, many black people are
uneducated, but once they get an equal opportunity to be
educated, then he will see that they aren't lazier or dumber
than others like this one writer would have you believe. They
are as good as any one of us and this is what Jesse knows, and
this is why I defend the man.
And please stop writing that all Republicans aren't rich. The
point I am making here is that the party represents this segment
of our country and they are the ones who control this party.
Honestly, there wasn't one letter that I felt deserved a
response because no one had the guts, or maybe the intelligence
to debate my opinions rationally, with real arguments. There was
not one point made. This does not fare well for you
conservatives. Is there anyone one out there that can argue
intelligently? Give it a shot. Do not insult because this tends
to make people defensive which usually does not result in a
rational debate about issues. I am not Jerry Springer, but then,
you are not a party that has a record of confronting issues. Prove
that I am wrong. Previous Column: Jesse
Jackson: The Persecution Continues
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