Anyway, in case you've yet to view it, the following clip has started to garner some attention:
First off, in Billy Packer's defense (a phrase I never thought I'd mutter), Charlie Rose DOES have a reputation for always fagging out. He's a HUGE fagger outer.
Secondly, the most recent argument I heard surrounding this topic, from a local sports radio program that shall remain nameless, is that Packer has so far been able to escape major controversy from this because it aired on PBS, which has more "liberal" standards than say, FOX News. Which is a valid point. Here's just a partial list of questionable material I've heard on PBS in the last week alone:
- "Eleanor Roosevelt was a gay" - Jim Lehrer, The Newshour
- "...And there has never since been a time in my life where I've gotten as much pussy as I did then" - Will Lyman, Frontline
- "After doctor give Elmo medicine, Elmo feel fine. No more burn when Elmo pee" - Elmo, Sesame Street
- "The best part about reading is that you can go to places you've never been before, like Holland, or places you'd never want to actually visit, like Mexico!" - Levar Burton, Reading Rainbow
Liberal standards aside, my personal feeling is that this is not a case of politics, censorship or political correctness. This is about being old.
Old people are allowed to say whatever they want. Why? Because they're old, that's why. And because they said so. The older you get, the more crazy stuff you get to say. And if there's no one older than you around, you can say pretty much whatever you want. That's why Anne Coulter can say everything she says. She's really 102.
Take one of my uncles for instance (he's not really my uncle, I think he's a cousin, by I call him my uncle because he's old). He is 93 years old, God bless him. While attending a large extended family gathering last year, he exclaimed, "I don't give a fuck about anyone!" The reaction? General laughter from all. He's the oldest one in the family. He could have dropped his drawers and started peeing on the roses and no one would have cared (generally he saves that for Hannukah).
If there's one lesson we can learn from this, it's that we should respect our elders, and this includes letting them say whatever they want. What goes around comes around. And when you're 80, and you want to call your grand-daughter a cunt, you'll understand.
OH, and one more thing we can learn from this incident:
Who's fagging out now?
