Arianna Discusses Race Relations, Politics And Letterman Scandal On Joy Behar's Show (VIDEO)
Arianna was a guest on Joy Behar's CNN Headline News show tonight, along with comedian Chuck Nice, Joe Watkins, Republican and former aide to George Bush Sr., and Kathleen Parker, columnist for the Washington Post. The show covered the state of race relations; politics, including whether Rep. Charles Rangel, who is accused of not paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes, should resign his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, a key tax-writing committee; and the sex and extortion scandal that has engulfed David Letterman.
Arianna also discussed why she chose Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed, by Carl Honore, as the first selection for the HuffPost Book Club.
WATCH:
Annie Stamell: Enough With the David Letterman Hoopla Already!
Okay. Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, please! Enough with this David Letterman hoopla already! You know something? I DON'T CARE! I don't. In fact,...
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
As much as I am a feminist, it is not the United States' responsibility to ensure that women in different cultures are protected. Otherwise, we would be invading half the world. So, Joy Behar's point that we need to stay in Afghanistan to protect their women is invalid. In addition, the Karzai gov't is the group that passed the law that okayed allowing men to rape their wives, so the US is not backing a feminist regime. The US, contrary to some opinions, is not the world's policeman and gets itself into trouble when it attempts to act as such, whether out of self-interest or altruism.
If you think the blackface was hinky, check out this YouTube video.
A bit of background: Bert Newton is a very famous comedian, TV Host and one of the best-quipping sidekicks in Australia. He did have a catchphrase: "I like the boy!" But, at the Annual TV awards he used it on none other than Mohammad Ali! Check the reaction!!!!
http://www
Sending people in for treatment rather than jail for drug use...haha
To fix our education system you need to stop the dropping out. There's no punishment for dropping out right now. You actually get rewarded w/ food stamps, gov't pays your rent, gives you healthcare, etc. If you drop out you should be inelligible for gov't assistance, and your parents should lose 50% of theirs. People work their _____ off to pay their taxes and set up a free public school system for you to succeed in, and if you throw it out the window for no reason....
I have a question? Isn't the Ways and Means Committee the most POWERFUL commitee in the House. Just asking?
For most of the last century Australia pursued a 'White Australia Policy.' It was designed to limit immigration only to those of white skin.
In the first half of the century nearly 80 percent of all immigrants came from the United Kingdom.
Despite being geographically in Asia, Australians generally viewed Asian people with suspicion dubbing them the 'yellow peril.'
In the words of one of the prime ministers of the time Harold Holt "Australia must be kept preponderantly British in its institutions and compositions of its people."
Immigrants, Holt conceded, "offered much" and in return they must simply "become Australian
http://edi
Harold Holt?
Got anything recent, that was over 40 years ago. The entire world was a markedly different place back then.
Holt was bad, Menzies (1930-40's) was even worse ("Austraila is British"???).
Unfortunately we have many expat Brits who think this still applies.
i think ur the one whose racist. u seem to have something against australia and its ppl, even choosing to ignore the fact that the australians of this generation come in all shades of colour, and the White Only policy was abolished ages ago.
I will say as a Black American i will say I would think my chances in Australia or just about any other country when it comes to racial issues compared to America. Americans like to believe racism is over, yeaa we have Barrak Obama, but they forget about the rest of the minorities in this country whose unemployment is double that of their white counter parts among other things. Its better for someone to say be blunt and racist or make a racist joke without a prejudice than what we have in America where there is subliminal racism, or the PC speaking with the prejudice actions.
I'm not the most widely traveled person and I socialize with anyone from anywhere (otherwise life is boring, frankly). However, (overseas) I've visited the UK, and lived in France and South Africa and I bear witness: you can cut the racial tension with a knife as soon as you've joined your fellow travelers at the gate for the return flight to the States. (With the exception of South Africa, you also feel way more physically vulnerable. I love my country, but in all honesty the US is violent.)
it'll be great if more african americans would come here. it'll give them a chance to see for themselves that not all australians are as racist as what the media has been portraying. here's also an article i found that explains about why theres been an increase of angry white ppl becoming more opposed to obama. he mentions an interview he had with our deputy pm:
caught up with Australia's deputy prime minister, Julia Gillard, who was visiting Washington for a conference on education. Though Gillard diplomatically avoided direct comment on American politics, she said what's happening here reminded her of the rise of Pauline Hanson, a politician who caused a sensation in Australian politics during the 1990s by creating One Nation, a xenophobic and protectionist political party tinged with racism. Gillard, a leader of Australia's center-left Labor Party, argues that high unemployment, particularly the displacement of men from well-paying jobs, helped unleash "the politics of the ordinary guy versus these elites, the opera-watching, latte-sipping elites."Ha
http://www
Firstly, I would question Joy's knowledge of Australia.
Secondly, whether anyone knows anything about the show, or the particular segment of the show this clip was taken. To fill you in, it's from a small segment within a variety show (called "Red Faces" ) where amatuers can go on TV and perform an act (note: this is not a serious segment). So to clarify, people don't take these acts seriously, they laugh because the acts are stupid, not because they're funny (as you could probably tell). So to say that "Australians" (this suggests everyone in the country) found the act funny is just plain ignorant. Australian culture is fairy laid-back, where many people don't take themselves too seriously and aren't easily offended (this act obviously pushed those boundaries, but nobody took it seriously). Another point of note is that we were never involved in the slave trade, so the context for us is different.
Joy followed this up with talk of how, during hard times, people become more pregidous. This seems to be contradicted by the fact that the UN rates Australia's refugee program as the best in the world (many of which arrive from African nations), and that despite the current climate, we continue to improve on the program (payed for by our tax-payers, who don't seem to complaing too much about it). This also contradicts Queenhuh's blog about how Australia (one of the most multi-ethnic, multi-cultural countries on the planet) is "mired" in racism.
leftoright - I have heard Auzzies talk about racism being a big problem the that country, especially toward Aboriginal peoples. Do you think that is the exception rather than the rule?
Please pardon my grammatical errors (above). Doh!
I'd say it's the exception. But unfortunately it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.
We've got a lot of work to do fixing up decisions made in the past. But if you look at the nations of the world, comparatively we're a very progressive nation.
I think Australia is like the ocean deep: seldomly travelled to, predominantly unexplored, thus most people know very little about it. I would safely recommend it to anyone of any racial background (except the English : )).
Anecdotal: I was astounded about 10 years ago to hear an African American man tout, after a trip abroad, how much better things were racially in Australia than in the US. When someone mentioned the Indigenous peoples, his response was something like, "Oh, yeah. They seem to have a hard time." I think it's that sort of insensitivity (one's inability to reference beyond one's own experience
Bravo. Joy is going to go places. As a guy, I enjoyed the reasonable discussing by these ladies than I do for the rubbish that I hear on cable by "men".
Thus far, there is no issue of sexual harassment a la Letterman's dalliance. (Furthermore, I'd argue that NOW missed the third wave. Proof: their support of Sarah Palin.)
Bottom line is that if this had been Hannity, Beck, O'reilly, Limbaugh, or a conservative comedian, Joy and team would have cried foul big time. We all know it's true.
Whether Dave crossed the line of sexual harassment in these liberal women's eyes is purely based on his political views. He's a liberal so he gets a pass.
Idonthinkso.
The issue with Hannity, et al. is their "holy than thou" attitude--Hannity, our very own "I'm a Catholic," especially shouldn't visit anywhere outside of his home, if you get my meaning. It's conservative hypocrisy with which people take issue: Do as I say do, but not as I do (in men's bathrooms and with prostitutes, apparently).
Regarding Letterman, had he made having sex with him a condition of employment or some such, or had his overtures created a legally defined hostile environment, then, by all means, sue the stuffing out of him. That doesn't appear, however, to be what occurred (thus far).
I would also submit: liberal (theoretical sense) feminists are calling this harassment. I say they're wrong and that their knee-jerk anti-sex reaction muddles instead of clarifies the issue of very real sexual harassment that takes place all over the world.
--A Progressive Woman
Yeah, yeah, yeah! Letterman did nothing to need a pass. No one has complained or filed sexual harassment suits.
...and their lack of support for Justice Sotomayor.
. . . absolutely.
Joy and Arianna= a doubly-compelling discussion on ANY topic.
They could debate thin crust vs. Deep dish and it would still a more stimulating conversation that ANYTHING on Fox News
True
Outstanding Arianna! And I adore Joy Behar, she's the ONLY voice worthwhile listening to on The Voice. Apartheid South Arica and Australia were two countries steeped in deep racism. Sadly, Australia continues to be mired in it. Ask any of their indigenous population as well as immigrants to that country. Can't be more disappointed in Charlie Rangel who I've looked up to for years. Just dashed about this. And Geithner seems more Bush than Dem.
I agree with Arianna (sp?) on Rangel and Geither, and all three panelists on Australia.
Sexual harassement indeed!...
The last time i checked the real victim here was Letterman himself, being done over by blackmail, by an aggreived former lover of one of his dalliances.
Wrong! His former lover did not blackmail him. It was her current boyfriend who stoled her diary.
What does an Australian comedy skit, in my American opinion not funny at all, got to do with America. Are we going to be censors for the entire World. Different society's have different opinions of humor.
"Are we going to be censors for the entire World."
...need to start somewhere. We (U.S.) intradict in everything else for profit.
To him/her that much is given much is expected.
I agree.
You simply can't demand that something that is offensive in America due to America's own unique history also be held offensive in Australian society.
We have to reach at the opposite end of the world to find this skit to discuss racism? People are being murdered by the hundreds of thousands throughout the world every year because of their race. And we use this skit as the focal point for this topic? WEAK!
I agree. I don't think this would be considered racist in Australia, or, for that matter, most countries of the Western World, because it would be seen simply as "dressing up," which, if you think about it, it is.
Let us remember what racism is. Racism is when you claim a person is somehow intrinsically worse based on their race, or if you deny them fair treatment because of their race. How is that true for this sketch?
And how many black comedians do we have here imitating white people with funny voices, etc.? Is that racism? I don't think so. It's just imitation, or satire.
Granted, the skit is corny and boring, but we shouldn't apply our over-sensitivity to race to the rest of the world, just like radical Muslims shouldn't get enraged over harmless cartoons in a Danish newspaper.
At 3:22 in the clip labeled "Part 1" above, Joy Behar says: "This idea that we're in a post-racial America strikes me as a little bit, uh, lame, frankly." But in this clip from the view (at 1:58), in response to the same Australian black-face performance, she claims, to Whoopie Goldberg's chagrin: "we're in what people like to call post-racial America right now": http://www
"what people like to call" Doesn't that say it?
why is that flipflopping? on the view she said "what people like to call..." that is not the same as saying she sees it that way. joy often plays devils advocate on the view.
The sentence is an affirmative statement that "We are in" that post-racial society. That is exactly how it parses.
This is both a literary and logic problem for you, we see.
Usually when people use expressions like, "what people like to call", they do not themselves call it that or approve of the use - that's why the are pointing out that _other_ people think that way.
.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
