The Scoper

Hoodies

The shooting of Trayvon Martin is a tragedy. An innocent unarmed young man was walking through a neighborhood and was shot by George Zimmerman, a member of a local citizen watch group who was also licensed to carry a concealed weapon. His involvement with the citizens watch group and his permit to carry were unrelated and I would further guess that if the group was police sanctioned, carrying a weapon while on patrol would have been prohibited.

Geraldo Rivera wrote a column (http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/03/23/trayvon-martins-hoodie-and-george-zimmerman-share-blame/) stating that Trayvon would have been alive today if he were not wearing a hoodie. He stated that hoodies are associated with being a member of a gang and that would make you a dangerous person, one that makes others fearful of you. He actually sent a direct message through his column to the parents of all young people to not allow their children to wear hoodies, that if Trayvon's parents had not allowed him to wear a hoodie he would still be alive.

Some direct quotes from Rivera's article:

"His hoodie killed Trayvon Martin as surely as George Zimmerman did."

"If you dress like a hoodlum eventually some schmuck is going to take you at your word."

I wonder how Trayvon's parents felt when they heard that message. If this was a valid warning with substance, the fact that it made the parents feel bad but in doing so saved lives would be a worthwhile exchange. But really, Geraldo. Perhaps like cigarettes there should be a warning on every hoodie sold, "Warning - wearing by ethnic minority could be harmful to your health."

More to the point, I found this to be virtually parallel to the concept that woman should not wear provocative clothes to prevent them from being raped. Like Rivera said about Trayvon, if the girl got raped, it wasn't her fault but she could have prevented it by wearing unattractive attire. Hell, why stop there? Perhaps women should stop wearing perfume and makeup. Every little bit will help decrease the odds of being raped.

Likewise, Trayvon should have not just left the hoodie at home. He should have worn white sox and oxford shoes with flood pants. Throw in some thick glasses and that would have protected him. But make sure that he did not wear a bow tie. That might have made him then resemble a follower of Malcolm X and bam, from nerd to fear inducing menace.

Adding to the absurdity, gun control proponents are using this as an example why conceal carry laws should be repealed and even stating this is proof that all guns should be turned into police. That is food for another column but suffice to say that using this as reason to remove guns from law abiding citizens is like issuing a prohibition on consensual sex because someone was raped.

Bottom line, this was a bad shooting and George Zimmerman should be prosecuted. He had no business even leaving his car, as a community watch member. He should have stayed in the auto and called 911.

And this is also proof that Geraldo Rivera has, like the episode where Fonz jumped the shark on a jet ski, provided proof that this is his evolutionary moment where his decline in quality is beyond recovery.

Louis C.K.

Way back in 2003 almost on the eve of the Iraq invasion, Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks said at a concert in London, that the Dixie Chicks were, “…ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.”

The Dixie Chicks appealed to an upscale C&W crowd which had its fair share of Republicans, many of whom became very vocal about their objection to the comment and that they would never listen to the Dixie Chicks again and certainly would never buy one of their CD’s or concert tickets.

While neither a big supporter nor hater of President Bush, their comment would not have changed my opinion of their musical talents no more that I would stop supporting any President who could not sing the Star Spangled Banner acapella without missing a note. The President is supposed to be our Commander in Chief and The Dixie Chicks are supposed to cause me to tap my toe and get frustrated that I can’t get their hit, Sin Wagon, from playing in my head like an infinite do-loop 8-track.

I have always been amazed at how much attention the public pays to celebrities’ political opinions. I am not saying they lack in political acumen but do I really care what Nick Cage says about the deficit? I mean have you seen Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance? Sheesh, what a mess.

I care that an actor transports me into the film in which he is acting. I want him to provide an experience that will make me laugh, cry, or become oh-so-thoughtful. I really don’t care that he thinks the velocity in growth of M1 and M2 will lead us to an era of hyper-inflation.

So I separate my politics from entertainment. I did not seek Ted Nugent’s opinion on foreign policy nor did I care that Ben Bernanke’s arabesque was a bit shaky as a result of the elevated leg having an undesirable bend in the knee.

Now I have to admit I came close with the Mel Gibson rants on Jews and women. But I confess that I would still watch Mad Max with no prodding.

But my philosophy of separating entertainment from politics has been permanently altered after I learned some of the things Louis C.K. has said about Sarah Palin and her child Trig (who has Down syndrome).

As some of you may know I am the Board President of GiGI’s Playhouse McHenry, a Down syndrome awareness and advocacy organization. So I have a dog in this hunt. But I have also been a big Louis C.K. fan. I think he is very creative and funny. Until now.

Here are some of what he has said, with heavy use of * to hide words that may be offensive to some readers.

Louis C.K. says of Palin: “her f** retard making c” and “the baby that just came out of her f* disgusting c**.”

To Palin: just “stick your t** in its mouth and shut up.” Here is what he says on twitter: “I want to rub my father’s c** all over Sarah Palin’s fat t**”

And one final tweet: “people think that sarah Paalin is really mean but she has a family of chinese poor people living in her c*** hole. Sorry”

Now I also admit to not understanding the passion against Sarah Palin. Not like her politics? Got that? Don’t want her as a VP, one heartbeat away from the Oval Office. Understood. But why the hatred? More to the point, how can anyone rave about a child who has Down syndrome? He said some awful things about her child Trig, things I could not even copy above.

So I reach out to you, dear readers. Am I wrong for placing Louis C.K. on my permanent shun list?