I'm A Nasty Doodle Dandy
September 15th 2009 18:17
A few days ago, I lamented, in my essay “Joltin’ Joe,” about the loss of civility in our dealings with one another. No sooner had I finished writing the essay when two other public figures, Serena Williams and Kanye West, tried to out do Joe Wilson (I’ll continue with him later).
Serena was having difficulty in her tennis match at the US Open with Kim Clijsters.
Clijsters was winning the last game of the last match 15-30. The line judge called a foot fault on Serena, who was serving. Serena then went berserk. She walked over to the line judge and said, “If I could, I would take this ... ball and shove it down your ... throat.” We couldn’t make out the words before ball and throat, but it isn’t difficult to imagine. She was penalized again, and lost the match, allowing Clijsters to advance to the finals. The line judge walked over to the chair umpire, reported the incident and then walked back to her seat. Serena started to walk towards the line judge, and the line judge walked back to the chair umpire. Brian Earley, the tournament referee, asked the line judge what Serena had said. Serena walked over and said, “Are you scared? Because I said I would hit you? I'm sorry, but there's a lot of people who've said way worse.” Earley asked the line judge what Serena said, and her reply was a surprise: “I didn't say I would kill you. Are you serious? Are you serious? I didn't say that.” Apparently, Serena doesn’t think having a tennis ball shoved down your throat amounts to anything more than heartburn.
Later, in a press conference televised by ESPN, Serena sweetly said she honestly couldn’t remember anything about the incident, so she couldn’t discuss it. Then, the next day she was fined $10,500, which is nothing for this millionaire (it’s like a parking ticket for the rest of us). However, if Bill Babcock, the top administrator for Grand Slam tournaments determines the offense requires more severe action, Serena could be fined all of her winnings from this tournament, and she could face a suspension. This could explain Serena’s sudden contrition prior to her doubles match with sister Venus (which they won), and her news conference after which she reiterated her contrition to the line judge, Kim Clijsters, tournament officials, the fans, and anyone who would listen.
Then, there’s the case of Kanye West and Taylor Swift. It seems that Ms. Swift was receiving an award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video. Rapper Kanye West ran on stage and yelled, “Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you. Ima let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time.” Now, he didn’t threaten to shove a tennis ball down her throat or do any other bodily harm, but he stole her moment, and that’s vulgarity. Later in the show, when Beyonce was accepting the Video of the Year Award, she invited Taylor Swift back on stage to finish her speech. Those rappers are a crude bunch, aren’t they? I guess you can’t put lipstick on a pig and expect anything else but a pig. By the way, why do we have so many TV award shows? Don’t these people make enough money with their questionable artistic talents? Do they have to give themselves awards too?
Back to Joe Wilson: there was talk of censure in the House because Wilson wouldn’t stand up and issue a formal apology to the House of Representatives for his “You lie” comment to President Obama, even though the President already forgave him. Today, it was reported that a group of black representatives is going to press on for a censure vote because they see Wilson’s comment as a personal attack on a black President. It was a personal attack on a black President, and if they are stupid enough to press on with their attack, they will be playing into the hands of the Republican/Conservative Party, formerly the Dixiecrats, of South Carolina who would like nothing less than to portray Joe Wilson as a white martyr being attacked by blacks and liberal interests after he did the right thing and apologized for his transgression. Wilson has a small chance of being defeated in 2010, but a chance nonetheless, but the Democrats will kill whatever chance there is if they galvanize white voters in his district, who make up 70% of the registered voters. Barack Obama knew that. That’s why he refused to linger on Wilson’s boorish remark.
Plus, he had a bigger fish to catch: a health care bill, and if he could embarrass the Republican/Conservatives, and make them appear contrite, if he could gain the upper hand in the debate, maybe, just maybe, he would get his health care bill.
Serena was having difficulty in her tennis match at the US Open with Kim Clijsters.
Clijsters was winning the last game of the last match 15-30. The line judge called a foot fault on Serena, who was serving. Serena then went berserk. She walked over to the line judge and said, “If I could, I would take this ... ball and shove it down your ... throat.” We couldn’t make out the words before ball and throat, but it isn’t difficult to imagine. She was penalized again, and lost the match, allowing Clijsters to advance to the finals. The line judge walked over to the chair umpire, reported the incident and then walked back to her seat. Serena started to walk towards the line judge, and the line judge walked back to the chair umpire. Brian Earley, the tournament referee, asked the line judge what Serena had said. Serena walked over and said, “Are you scared? Because I said I would hit you? I'm sorry, but there's a lot of people who've said way worse.” Earley asked the line judge what Serena said, and her reply was a surprise: “I didn't say I would kill you. Are you serious? Are you serious? I didn't say that.” Apparently, Serena doesn’t think having a tennis ball shoved down your throat amounts to anything more than heartburn.
Later, in a press conference televised by ESPN, Serena sweetly said she honestly couldn’t remember anything about the incident, so she couldn’t discuss it. Then, the next day she was fined $10,500, which is nothing for this millionaire (it’s like a parking ticket for the rest of us). However, if Bill Babcock, the top administrator for Grand Slam tournaments determines the offense requires more severe action, Serena could be fined all of her winnings from this tournament, and she could face a suspension. This could explain Serena’s sudden contrition prior to her doubles match with sister Venus (which they won), and her news conference after which she reiterated her contrition to the line judge, Kim Clijsters, tournament officials, the fans, and anyone who would listen.
Then, there’s the case of Kanye West and Taylor Swift. It seems that Ms. Swift was receiving an award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video. Rapper Kanye West ran on stage and yelled, “Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you. Ima let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time.” Now, he didn’t threaten to shove a tennis ball down her throat or do any other bodily harm, but he stole her moment, and that’s vulgarity. Later in the show, when Beyonce was accepting the Video of the Year Award, she invited Taylor Swift back on stage to finish her speech. Those rappers are a crude bunch, aren’t they? I guess you can’t put lipstick on a pig and expect anything else but a pig. By the way, why do we have so many TV award shows? Don’t these people make enough money with their questionable artistic talents? Do they have to give themselves awards too?
Back to Joe Wilson: there was talk of censure in the House because Wilson wouldn’t stand up and issue a formal apology to the House of Representatives for his “You lie” comment to President Obama, even though the President already forgave him. Today, it was reported that a group of black representatives is going to press on for a censure vote because they see Wilson’s comment as a personal attack on a black President. It was a personal attack on a black President, and if they are stupid enough to press on with their attack, they will be playing into the hands of the Republican/Conservative Party, formerly the Dixiecrats, of South Carolina who would like nothing less than to portray Joe Wilson as a white martyr being attacked by blacks and liberal interests after he did the right thing and apologized for his transgression. Wilson has a small chance of being defeated in 2010, but a chance nonetheless, but the Democrats will kill whatever chance there is if they galvanize white voters in his district, who make up 70% of the registered voters. Barack Obama knew that. That’s why he refused to linger on Wilson’s boorish remark.
Plus, he had a bigger fish to catch: a health care bill, and if he could embarrass the Republican/Conservatives, and make them appear contrite, if he could gain the upper hand in the debate, maybe, just maybe, he would get his health care bill.
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