Big Joe

I fully understand all the Joe love from 'Natians and I don't begrudge yall for it. He's a lcoal hero and, unlike other local sports figures, not a scumbag. As a analyst, though, he's simply incompetent.

I actually had fun imagining how Joe would respond to the question of whether he works with Jon Miller or Larry Miller:

"Well, first of all, I'm not really sure who I've worked with these past few years because I haven't really been watching the spot directly to my left that much. So I can't really say. But anytime, you've got a ballgame, you're gonna want someone there to tell you what's going on. And you're gonna want the best person for that job, whoever that might be. I'm not sure."

"That was written in 1968--almost 40 years ago," Obama said of Kennedy's remarks. "We haven't made much progress."
Within hours of the shooting at Virginia Tech, Obama threw away his stump speech and talked about the tragic events.

Monday's massacre, the biggest mass shooting in American history, will prompt "all kinds of discussion," Obama said--about crime, violence, gun control, and campus security, among other topics. "But I hope there will be some discussion of violence in all its forms. . . . [In American culture] we glorify it, encourage it, ignore it . . . . It's heartbreaking. And it has to stop."

Violence, and the callousness Americans have for the suffering of victims of violence, poverty, and oppression, is ultimately "rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other--not understanding that we're all connected fundamentally as people," Obama said. "Those who may not look like me, talk like me, worship the same God I do, are nonetheless worthy of respect and dignity. . . . [But] at some fundamental level, we're still trapped in this insane belief that we can impose our wills on each other."

Part of the reason things are still as bad as they were 40 years ago, Obama said, in terms of poverty, lack of opportunity, broken health care and education systems, and "a war that never should have been authorized and never should have been fought" (his biggest applause line) is that "we haven't been as engaged as we should be."

"We've given up. We look inward. . . . This same disengagement makes us tolerate violence." He made a pitch for overcoming cynicism and restoring " a sense that we have a mutual responsibility to care for each other."

Having devoted 4 years of my life to studying African American history, I also believe that "violence" is a perfectly acceptable term in reference to bigotry, hatred, and discrimination, particularly when African Americans themselves use that word. I find this acceptable because for scores of years, brutal violence, the violence that struck on Monday, existed behind those words.

I don't think it's wise to dissociate violence from bigotry, because there is a danger of future generations becoming unaware of the connection between the two. I feel this is a far greater danger than a slight muddying of a particular word.

Consider the outpouring of domestic and international shock and grief. Ultimately, it has showed me that the actions matter more than the labels we attach to them. I don't think what happened on Monday is any less horrific because someone like Obama used "violence" in another context.

I do worry about media coverage, and if it gets any worse than it does, then perhaps I would tend to agree with you. Major network news has devolved into nothing more than a corporate-approved checklist of buzzwords.

So I agree with your overall premise. If we reduce the number of words used in dialogue, it will be harmful. However, since the meaning of "violence" itself is readily indicated by its context, then I don't think we have to worry as much.

Finally, I don't think you should be surprised that people are reacting to you lucidly and with civility, because that is exactly how you treat everyone else. In the words of Ali G, respeck.