You Said This Was What You Wanted

I have never cared for Kathy Griffin’s comedy. I never thought she was funny. I never thought she was a very good actress. And I wasn’t surprised when she posted photos depicting a simulated beheading of the current president. Frankly it seems in line with her brand of humor. I was shocked to hear all the outrage coming from people who have spent the past eight years bemoaning the idea of political correctness. These people have complained about how no one can take a joke anymore. Well Kathy Griffin is a comedian. She made a joke. It wasn’t funny. It was politically incorrect and offensive, but that’s exactly what a lot of people claim to want.

Those people should embrace Griffin in the same way they’ve embraced Ted Nugent, the aging and talentless rocker who called for Obama’s death on more than one occasion. Or embrace her the same way they embraced the current president, who spent years arguing that our first black president wasn’t a real American. It is particularly ironic that our current president took time to let us know his feelings were hurt and that his youngest child was upset. Does he imagine that his years-long invective against Obama wasn’t harmful to Sasha and Malia? Do only his children matter?

The same people who are condemning Griffin recently cheered on and elected to Congress a Montana man who physically assaulted a reporter at a campaign rally. These are the same people who do not speak up and condemn the actions and speech of the murderer on the train in Portland. They don’t speak up when someone leaves a noose in the African American exhibit at the Smithsonian. They don’t speak up when someone spray paints racist graffiti on LeBron James’s house or vandalizes yet another Jewish cemetery. And they damn sure didn’t speak up when protestors were burning Obama in effigy after the 2008 election.

The hypocrisy is ripe. Anyone who has banged the drum against political correctness over the past eight years should applaud Kathy Griffin. The only difference between Kathy Griffin and Ted Nugent is that Griffin apologized and lost some income. Nugent got an invitation to the White House. Political correctness is dead. If this is what you’ve been fighting for, congratulations, you’ve won.

The rest of us have definitely lost.

Tiffany Quay Tyson
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174 thoughts on “You Said This Was What You Wanted”

      1. Michael Terrell

        The opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes reflects that which allows the continuing spiral we are currently witnessing in much of our social and political discourse. Ignoring the intended tone of the post that you set quite early on and then solidified by stating “It [Griffin] was politically incorrect and offensive” allows certain people to claim that you are actually sparring with them. There is nothing to intelligently argue in your essay, only the opportunity for the intelligent to reflect.

      2. “They don’t speak up when someone leaves a noose in the African American exhibit at the Smithsonian.”
        ===
        Have you considered the possibility that this is another in a long line of self-inflicted hate hoaxes? I would not be surprised at all if the person who dropped the noose was black, trying to stir up trouble, get attention, and blame it on a Deplorable.

        1. Have you considered the possibility that your baseless posit is deplorable racist apologia?

          I ask, because this nation is so rich in terrorist incidents inflicted by anonymous whites on celebrated and unknown blacks that the disingenuity of your argument is what stands out, and is all that stands out.

          Maybe you “would not be surprised if the person who dropped the noose was black,” but the rest of humanity damned sure would not be surprised if the person who dropped the noose was the same racist-white color as other terrorists who have dropped nooses in thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of past terrorist acts employing nooses, aimed at racial minorities in America. Have you considered just how incredibly disingenuous and, yes, deplorable, your pith comment stands out in the context of this editorial?

        2. Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, and maybe eventually you’ll believe it. No one else will.

        3. Wow that is the most idiotic bs I have seen ! Seriously did you obtain your labotomy recently or were you born that stupid.

    1. Sorry another liberal defending a person who did something that is rally indefensible. As Bugs Bunny would have said “What a maroon”

      1. Funny, you reply with a racist invective Mark Richlin….. You’re definitely the audience she’s targeting for hypocrisy.

        https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maroon

        Of course, my pointing out to you that you are spewing racist garbage won’t affect you at all. You’ll keep on doing it insisting I’m being sensitive and too PC while you call Kathy Griffin ‘s actions indefensible.

        I’d post a link to the definition of the word hypocrite but you won’t read it, won’t care, and will continue to be the hypocrite you are.

        1. @Bill Rawlinson – have you ever watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon? So way back in the day, when we all could laugh at Saturday morning cartoons without fear of being called racist, it was funny when Bugs Bunny misprounanced the word MORON. So look up the word moron – maybe Kathy Griffin’s pic will be there – or maybe yours, or mine. I found the humor in @Mark Richlin’s comment – too bad you had to pull the race card unnecessarily.

          1. they…they literally used an explicit racial slur, and you’re claiming the responder “pulled the race card unncessarily”?

            What would be a “necessary” use of the race card, in your eyes?

          2. @Lisa O – have you ever watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon? So way back in the day, the show had tons of intentionally racist jokes, like tar babies, and there are tons of episodes banned. When’s the last time you saw Speedy Gonzales on the air? That’s right, he’s racist and doesn’t exist anymore. You have nostalgic memories of racist television, and refuse to accept that your casual acceptance of it is part of the issue.

        2. Yes, the term Maroon, capitalized, can indeed be used as a racial slur, but you are totally ignoring the context of when and how Bugs Bunny uses the word. It is almost always used with various other mispronounced words meaning moron or idiot or imbiclile. One can’t remove things from their actual context and then claim they are being used in another manner. I just went and spent thirty minutes reviewing Bugs Bunny Clips of the term “What a maroon!” And in virtually every single clip there was also mispronounced imbiclile. Or other such words. We diminish actual racism when trying to confalte things with things they have no place being compared to. I suggest you take a few minutes and review some you tube clips of said Rabbit and the utterance of the phrase. I sincerely believe you got it wrong in that assertion.

          Now, as to the article, well written and on target. Thank you for the commentary, it reflects my take on the issue entirely. I sat through 8 years of actual racism and vitriol thrown at our former President, and then I saw the Griffin tape. I found it horrendous, just as I did the lynching memes of President Obama. But I also saw my “conservative” friends share those horrible Obama memes left right and center, and then I saw them cry their crocodile tears over the Trump severed head. Hypocrisy finds its own level.

      2. Stephen A. Montgomery

        Mark richlin: Obviously if you think this piece defended a person who did something that is really indefensible, (I assume that’s the word you meant but misspelled) you didn’t read the piece or your comprehension abilities are deficient. The writer made the point clear her behavior was reprehensible and offensive even to those of us who are offended at the stupidity of those who elected a buffoon to the White House. Tyson was pointing out the hypocrisy of the right in what they choose to condemn. The difference is the responsible left widely condemned her tacky and offensive display that wasn’t even remotely funny but the leaders of the right have acquiesced to and at the very least ignored or dismissed tacky and offensive behavior of their own in demeaning the left, the former President and the progressive and humanist issues they support.

      3. Mark Richlin: Did you actually read Tiffany Quay Tyson’s essay? If so, I think you should read it again. She never defended Kathy.

    2. This is exactly why I’ve always thought the “war against political correctness” to be nothing more than a misdirection of anger. Staging a fake beheading of the president is way over the top and completely out of line, and I’m a liberal. Is it free speech? Sure. Is it worthy of criticism? Absolutely. There is a point at which “being against political correctness” becomes easily construed as hate speech. Conservative talk show hosts make their money off of it because shock sells. The left does it too, just less frequently. Whenever that line is crossed it should legitimately be pointed out.

      1. Humorless? Yes, in this instance. Dirtbag? No. It’s that kind of rhetoric that proves Griffin’s point.

    3. In some countries people are beheaded and terrirists are the ones doing that. This is more than political, some actions should not be depicted.

    4. I thought this was going to be another thread telling how great Trump was. Thank goodness it was a very well written and though provoking article. Great job and very well done.

    5. Tiffany, you make some good point. I think all comedians walk a very fine line and sometimes fall over it, particularly as they are honing their craft. The level of self-awareness not to do so must be very high. Some people obviously find her funny. What was not said however is that she is a woman. Trump’s America has proven it will not be led or told what to do or think by a woman. It will not even collude or agree on issues that really matter with a woman. Women just aren’t as credible as men are they? It in no accident that a black man became president before a woman. This makes me sad.

      1. Just curious. Since Kellyanne Conway was in charge of his campaign and is now his chief advisor, and his daughter is officially an advisor, just how did you come to your conclusion? Please limit your assumptions to verifiable facts.

      1. Tiffany – very good piece. I just have one, small editorial comment (because I have been an editor for most of my life, and cannot stop myself – sorry!) Instead of “The hypocrisy is ripe”, I think the phrase you’re looking for is: “The hypocrisy is rife.” Rife means “rampant”. Ripe does not.

        1. As a fellow editor, I think “ripe” is fine in the sense of “rich, intense, or pungent”, though that might not be what Tiffany meant.

        2. That jumped out at me, too, but then I thought she could have meant ripe the way a stinky cheese is ripe, fully aware of the near homonym.

        3. As a former English teacher, I read it first as a mistake for “rife,” then thought she meant is stinks to high heaven. After all, “rife” calls for the prepositional phase “with (something).”

        4. As a carpenter by trade, contractor by progression and a lover of all things we endure saved by temperaments and fellowship. The word ripe is utterly perfect.

          Most excellent and appreciated piece ma’am.

      2. I am tempted to be very politically incorrect and call you a few choice words but I stop and remind myself that liberalism is a mental disorder and Liberals won’t stop until they have provoked us into a civil war.

        1. You need to grow up a little Paul, and do some homework before you make a claim. Liberalism has never been defined as a mental disorder, (except possibly by an angry conservative). Merriam-Webster’s definition, or one of them is: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically: such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (such as those involving race, gender, or class). Conservatism: a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change; specifically: such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (such as retirement income or health-care coverage). I would like to think that both have the best intentions at heart and I am sure neither is a mental disorder. Our zeal for our own ideas shouldn’t make any of us hateful or destructive but we do all have the right to respond to what is happening to our country. I’m not certain who you were addressing in your response, but if it is the lady who wrote the original post, I believe she expressed her views eloquently and if you would like to debate them, you’ll have to work a lot harder at it than you have. Name-calling just doesn’t do it, just as a violent hateful image of the present POTUS is neither a persuasive nor eloquent argument for liberalism.

          1. LInda, thank you for taking the time to write that. It is very well written and very sensible.

        2. I have known Paul since grade school. He was the one who would pull wings off of flies to see them suffer. He picked his nose and ate the fruit he which he reaped. Why does he rail against ‘libtards?’ Could it be that the corporal punishment which he regularly received caused him to blame over-paid teachers and the unions which protected them? Could it be that he takes offense at being related to apes because he fears the comparison? Could it be that, while he does not truly believe the earth is only 6,000 years old, the people that tell him that give him ammunition against the rest of the society that rightfully tells him that he is wrong about most things? Paul, for your own good, just go back to picking your nose.

  1. I didn’t vote for this congress or the Donald and I am outraged at her actions. I was outraged by Ted Nugent and others. Griffin has a much larger spotlight than Ted Nugent did and she was also allegedly a member of the Press at CNN!
    You can be both outraged at her behavior and NOT support the person she victimized. I think the problem is people like you want to say we are either on one side or another when it isn’t true.

    1. The article made it very VERY clear that it was directed at a certain set of people. Nowhere in the article does it say that you can’t be both outraged at Ms. Griffin’s behaviour and still support the person she victimized.

      This article is aimed at hypocrites….and there are a lot of them. Those are the only “sides” being discussed here.

    2. I think you may need to re-read the original post—the post makes no such assumption. The target is those who (implicitly or explicitly) condoned such actions previously, but are expressing outrage now.

      There are more than two groups in this whole issue. Assuming that there are is a problem, but that isn’t a rhetorical sin this post commits.

    3. She is not a member of the press with CNN. She co-hosts an entertainment show on New Years Eve. She’s not funny, she did a foolish and trashy thing with that head and she is no worse than Ted Nugent.

    4. Thank you A.J., whether you’re right, left or Libertarian I applaud you for being a free and independent thinker and aren’t so locked-in to a political cult doctrine you become comatose to all unvetted views, opinions and potential evidentiarily opposed resources. You are thankfully a courageous example of those who still see and are unafraid to point out hypocrisy wherever it exists.! BTW, I probably don’t share your political views, but at least you’re one of the extreme minority who is still capable of engaging in a debate based on logic and reason, instead of political talking points and stupid mantras.

    5. I think you should read her article and read it again until you understand that she is not saying that all of Griffin’s critics are on one side of the political spectrum.

      She is addressing the right-wing ideologues who have defended similar vulgarities aimed at liberals, but now protest loudly and only to take the heat off the widespread hate and bigotry that is the heart and soul of the “conservative” movement in 21st-century America.

      It does not matter how big Griffin’s “spotlight” is in relation to Nugent’s notoriety. Tyson’s point here is that while both are very well-known, only Nugent has received an invitation to the White House after making a gruesome public statement involving the bloody assassination of a sitting president. Conservatives condemn Griffin as being a traitor, but “Nugent was just expressing his frustrations with liberals,” and they view his visit to the White House with approval. Do you get it? Say you get it, because the “problem,” as you put it, is people who do not get or admit the gross double standard the so-called “moral” right lives by.

    6. A.J. Franke – I think you misconstrued Tiffany’s post.
      You said “You can be both outraged at her behavior and NOT support the person she victimized.” Tiffany never implied that isn’t true. Looks to me like she agrees with that idea.
      You said “I think the problem is people like you want to say we are either on one side or another when it isn’t true.” She never said that, or implied it.
      Please read Tiffany’s post again, more carefully.
      The way I see it, one of her points is the hypocrisy of those who decry Kathy Griffin’s behavior, yet are not equally outraged when behavior like that comes from the other side.
      Another point is that some people keep complaining about “political correctness.” You could say that the opposite of political correctness is rude, insulting, anything-goes, over-the-top behavior. Well, that’s the kind of behavior that Kathy Griffin displayed – so anti-political correct people should embrace it.
      Food for thought.

    7. A.J. Franke,
      If you think hosting a New Years Eve Ball Drop with Anderson Cooper is somehow a “Journalistic” endeavor your in more need of help than can be administered here. She is no more a “member of the Press” than a tomato is a vegetable. You seem to have misread the entire piece, since she clearly states that the act was in bad taste, but that there is a collective lapse of memory about the treatment of the prior President. Nuance is difficult, I’m sure that’s why you missed the point.

  2. I believed it was uncivilized to do what was done in effigy to President Obama just and much as I condemn Griffin’s picture. What the hell ever happened to manners and propriety? Shock value is over rated, and crude in my opinion.

    1. ME first, what’s in it for ME… It’s all they know, that is… to be totally in touch with their own NPD and bordering on outskirts of sociopathos. Excellent read if not a white paper study in WYSIWYG.

  3. What Griffin did was not an issue of political correctness. Political correctness is saying happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas or forcing a sports team to change their mascot or the name of the sports team. What she did was make a threat to a political figure, the President of the United States, in an attempt to make a political statement that shows her dislike for the President. I think she is getting off easy.
    What’s ridiculous is this artical is calling what Griffin did, something it’s not and then calls it ridiculous.

    1. So, by your reasoning hanging Obama in effigy was also a threat….and yet…everything the author of this blog wrote. “The right” don’t seem so see, well, “the wrong”, in any actions against anyone but themselves.

      This blog piece is spot on! Thanks.

    2. The point, however, is that such threats were made against President Obama all the time and no one on the political Right cared about it – in fact, they encouraged it and were even part of it.

      1. This is not true. MANY on the right side of the political fence cared deeply about the horrific images of lynching and worse that were directed at President Obama. Repulsed, even. And they were vocal about it. It makes me wonder who your friends are if NO ONE said anything about that to you. Maybe you don’t have any right-leaning friends. Personally, I’m solidly left of center (and I voted for Hillary, of course) and I abhor what this President stands for as well as his “leadership.” But I have friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum and those on the right were definitely and vocally appalled at the images of Obama referenced. As I, solidly on the left, abhor the images Griffin published.

        1. Apparently, the sitting president did not care, because Ted Nugent, the man who threatened to assassinate President Obama, was a featured guest in Trump’s White House just a few weeks ago.

      2. Really? Must have missed all those celebrities and politicians, comedians doing that sort of thing with Obama. Oh, but sure remember all those senile congressmen/women screaching hysterically almost daily, IMPEACH HIM!! after his first couple of months in office. And based on clear and verified evidence!! Well after that pink puxxyhat fashion show circus clown parade, with their fearless leader, Linda Sorsaur, (oh God, the hilarious hypocritical irony) , I’m no longer surprised at anything coming from the left. Gotta admit, it was more entertaining, and just as analogous as a group of Jews protesting anti-Semitism and electing an admitted neo-nazi leader as their representative/leader. What lunacy!

    3. Matt, so what do you have to say concerning Ted Nugent’ s threat to President Barack Obama? He made a statement showing his contempt! Did he not get off easy as well? How can you be so hypocritical? Nugent threatened a sitting U.S. President yet still received an invitation to the white house.

      1. Please cite the Ted Nugent “threat” if you would. I’m very aware of their mutual distain but don’t remember that.

    4. She made a threat? Do you think that Griffin is intending to decapitate Donald Trump in the future? That this was a “warning shot” of some kind? No? In that case, it wasn’t a threat.

    5. It amazes me that the people who were willing to vote for someone who broke the law, allowed people to die at Benghazi, lived with a man who raped women and had sex with interns while he was President of the United States lost his law license she lost her law license because of fraud are standing in agreement with someone who made a threat on the president! Then they have the audacity two assassinate his character! Truly, do any of you have any sense at all.

      1. Oh here we go have to jump back a couple of decades to vent and whine. You people and your fairytales have caused much pain to the families of many who still see and hear people using their lost loved ones for hate and political screed. The republican congress is to blame for Benghazi, Secretary Clinton was never proven to have commited any wrong doing. What makes you think because people are fed up with the hypocracy of the rightwing and their lies lead by a narcissistic sociopath in the white house voted democrat or who they voted for. You cant make it up, no one said they agreed with the bad joke. Donnie doesnt get a pass , go watch fox news its your style.

      2. Your comment seems slightly hysterical.
        I will agree that Hillary’s loyalty and commitment to her husband, whose sexual behavior is know to be unwise and is very possible predatory, is awkward. She appears to take her promises of lifelong commitment in the eyes of God quite seriously and I cannot imagine that has been easy for her. When she as a wife preferred not to honestly publicly discuss her embarrassment at her husbands consensual affair that betrayed his oaths to her, when his political opponents were making the nature of her marriage a public witchhunt, and was punished in her role as lawyer I had great sympathy for her. When someone with evil intent and disrespect asks you to publicly discuss a family members betrayal, I think a polite lie is the more mature and gracious option as opposed to telling them to “take their rude intrusive asshole self out of my face”
        As per LOTS of investigation, she was never told of the requests for increased security at Benghazi and instead of focusing on what if anything can be done to ensure that never happens again [as if one actually cared about the lives of our civil servants overseas instead of just wanting an excuse to vilify Hillary] by improving the lines of communication within the State Department, the concerned fanatics have instead made it a code word for evil indifference while actively practicing that indifference. [Sadly ironic ]

        It is not necessary to assassinate Trumps character as he clearly has none worthy of the term, and is willing to demonstrate that on a hourly/daily/weekly basis. Though the efforts to assassinate a hard working dedicated lifelong public servant and actual Christian aka Hillary has been the favorite hobby of the formerly republican now deluded mob.
        K Griffin is a nonPC [the kind of people your side claims to respect for speaking TRUTH]entertainer who tastelessly and in a non PC manner depicted the disgust and dislike many hold for the embarrassment in chief. She has apologized. This post did not claim that her behavior was acceptable, merely that it was consistent with the hateful disrespectful level of public discourse exemplified by your president and thru your support, yourself. Then clearly called you [ a loyal Trump supporter], him [Trump] and them [the mass of those who chucked character in favor of hate speech}
        _ hypocrites_
        Then stated a sorrowful belief that this lowered standard is a sad thing for us as a people.
        SO Hillary wasn’t part of this till you brought her up and clearly demonstrated the lowered standard of reasoning and civility as well as the policy of character assassination practiced by your side before you implied that character assassination is wrong. Thus you have now demonstrated that you are a hypocrite on yet another topic “character assassination”. The topic of the post was hypocrisy and you have provided a clear demonstration, thank you.
        I am aware the Democrats are also open to hypocrisy as we are all human. I will attempt to find compassion for you and assume you are having a stressful day, I hope it gets better.

      3. Your comment seems slightly hysterical.
        I will agree that Hillary’s loyalty and commitment to her husband, whose sexual behavior is know to be unwise and is very possible predatory, is awkward. She appears to take her promises of lifelong commitment in the eyes of God quite seriously and I cannot imagine that has been easy for her. When she as a wife preferred not to honestly publicly discuss her embarrassment at her husbands consensual affair that betrayed his oaths to her, when his political opponents were making the nature of her marriage a public witchhunt, and was punished in her role as lawyer I had great sympathy for her. When someone with evil intent and disrespect asks you to publicly discuss a family members betrayal, I think a polite lie is the more mature and gracious option as opposed to telling them to “take their rude intrusive asshole self out of my face”
        As per LOTS of investigation, she was never told of the requests for increased security at Benghazi and instead of focusing on what if anything can be done to ensure that never happens again [as if one actually cared about the lives of our civil servants overseas instead of just wanting an excuse to vilify Hillary] by improving the lines of communication within the State Department, the concerned fanatics have instead made it a code word for evil indifference while actively practicing that indifference. [Sadly ironic ]

        It is not necessary to assassinate Trumps character as he clearly has none worthy of the term, and is willing to demonstrate that on a hourly/daily/weekly basis. Though the efforts to assassinate a hard working dedicated lifelong public servant and actual Christian aka Hillary has been the favorite hobby of the formerly republican now deluded mob.
        K Griffin is a nonPC [the kind of people your side claims to respect for speaking TRUTH]entertainer who tastelessly and in a non PC manner depicted the disgust and dislike many hold for the embarrassment in chief. She has apologized. This post did not claim that her behavior was acceptable, merely that it was consistent with the hateful disrespectful level of public discourse exemplified by your president and thru your support, yourself. Then clearly called you [ a loyal Trump supporter], him [Trump] and them [the mass of those who chucked character in favor of hate speech}
        _ hypocrites_
        Then stated a sorrowful belief that this lowered standard is a sad thing for us as a people.
        SO Hillary wasn’t part of this till you brought her up and clearly demonstrated the lowered standard of reasoning and civility as well as the policy of character assassination practiced by your side before you implied that character assassination is wrong. Thus you have now demonstrated that you are a hypocrite on yet another topic “character assassination”. The topic of the post was hypocrisy and you have provided a clear demonstration, thank you.
        I am aware the Democrats are also open to hypocrisy as we are all human. I will attempt to find compassion for you and assume you are having a stressful day, I hope it gets better.

      4. First of all, a great deal of what you are trying to say about Hillary is just FLAT OUT FALSE. LIES. Second, who is defending Kathy Griffith? The post and most of us simply point out the hypocrisy of those who voted for a man who said “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” and THEN he tweets how upset he is over these pics, complaining about them as well. There IS a good point to had in saying this is what was voted for.

      5. Our current president has no character. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, or that his actions and crassness is offensive….I think what Griffin did was in poor taste, to say the least. She recognized this and she paid for it, period. And as far as bringing up the past, neither party has a clean slate…

    6. “What Griffin did was not an issue of political correctness.”

      Exactly. It was an issue of the very political INcorrectness the right claims to champion. That was the point of the article–that people on the right who champion the right to offend turn out to be just as quick to take offense as anyone else.

    7. Matt Leech,

      I say Happy Holidays not to be politically correct, but to acknowledge the other holidays my myriad of friends celebrate. See, I have Jewish friends, I have Christian friends, and I have non religious friends, so I greet them with Happy Holidays, and since I sing always know what other people believe in or don’t, it’s just nice to say something that can apply to all people across the board. Not everyone celebrates the holiday YOU celebtrte, so what’s wrong with including them and their holidays? Not to mention that during the “Holiday” season in America we have a number of major celebrations that occur, ranging from Thanksgiving, Christmas, to New Year’s Day, so sometimes I’m wishing people Happy HoliDAYS”. The world doesn’t revolve around your religion,.

  4. What ever you do in life you must own up to it. Either stand by your actions or apologize for having a moment of being overwhelmed. No one is ever right we are all not made the same. the biggest saying that I’ve grown up with always sticks in my mind and I try to follow it but sometimes we slip and that’s when you own up to who you are.

    “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”

        1. Besides pulling us out of the climate treaty? Besides repeatedly trying to ban an entire culture from visiting? Besides nominating literal ghouls to cabinet positions? Besides firing the head of the FBI? Besides starting fights with all of our allies? Besides directing strikes on Syria that are killing hundreds of civilians? Besides acting as a complete belligerent antagonist to the world in general?

          pardon the old cliche, but if you aren’t outraged, you aren’t paying attention.

          1. it s about time a president stood up for the American people instead of kissing everybody else ass

          2. Exactly! I think the response to “What has Trump done?” bing “Nothing” actually meant “Nothing positive! He has done plenty in the way of destroying the country he vowed to make great again!”

        2. Trump has golfed while in office, more in four months than any other president golfed in a year or much longer.

          Trump has left more vacancies in government in the four months he has golfed than any other president in history.

          Trump has fired the U.S. Attorney General who was investigating his very likely treason.

          Trump has made maggots and shit-eating dogs seem like appealing, kissable creatures.

          That is what Trump has done while in office.

    1. Yours is an assumptive and misguided comment. There are lots of people who don’t like Trump and and don’t like or support Clinton or the Clintons.

      As long as everything continued to be framed in these either/or statements and stuck in the confines of Republican and Democrat, both sides can continue to get away with murder while they laugh at us arguing among ourselves over meaningless issues.

      Rome is burning folks and we–and I’ll include myself for wasting time trying to make a point to people here whose only joy is lambasting–are yelling at each other and jerking each other off over things that are less than unimportant compared to what is being done to our country by those we blindly give money and votes to, on both sides.

  5. I agree with both A.J. and Dierksen. People are being hypocritical all the time either way. We need to start feeding the positive in the world rather than the negative. Nugent was wrong…Griffin was wrong. It is disgusting to mock the killing of anyone.

  6. I don’t like or approve of violent, sick humor. It occurs to me however that:

    The other significant difference between Griffin and Nugent is she is a woman, he is a man. Who got crucified and lost a job?

  7. I thought Kathy Griffin’s “joke” was disgusting. But I also think Nugent’s “political commentary” is disgusting. Your post expresses my feelings perfectly. Thank you!

  8. Ted Nugent may have been ridiculously ignorant with his diatribe, Kathy was hateful and pre-meditated. Nugent was reactionary and hers a planned thought out process.

    Her mistakes were not just of her holding a very graphic decapitation of President Trump but video sharing of her entire process and allowing the world to hear her explain of the future potential consequences.

    Hers was for effect of being catipultated into the limelight. What she is getting is crushed finanacially! Her press conference was step 2 of her plan. And she struck out again.

    Her apology wasn’t accepted because it appeared planned and not genuine.

    The incident in Montana was terrible, yet not nearly as comparable. The press and politics are coming to a serious fork in the road because of the “Enquirer” type news.

    The ideological differences in America are growing by the day. Yesterday’s horrific terror attack will provide more proof with each days passing news coverage.

    We can only hope the masses come to there senses before it’s too late!

    1. You are so right. God bless the London victims, and the families of those who have been killed in this brutal manner.

  9. You’ve officilly lost your marbles. When did anyone ever hold up a severed head of Obama during his 8 yrs of awfulness. You are a joke.

    1. Oh, so hanging is okay, it’s only beheading that you object to?
      You’re very specific.

    2. You’re right. Beheading is a currently ongoing practice, and the way it is done is horrific. Hanging, burning, torturing… All evil, all wrong.

    3. Melanie edgecombe

      Ok, I guess someone has to explain this to you. There were many depictions of “lynching” with president Obamas image. (Google it to refresh your memory). Just so you know, historically this REALLY happened to many black American citizens, perpertrated by white citizens well up to recent times. It is a shameful chapter in American history that makes these images of our first black president especially reprehensible. Can’t believe I have to explain this to someone, GEEZ!

  10. What offended me about the post of Kathy Griffin holding the severed head, is that is exactly what ISIS does; beheads innocent civilians and holds up the bloodied head for all to see. Disturbing and disgusting.

  11. Excellent article perfectly capturing the hypocrisy of those on the right who love to call liberals humorless snowflakes then act like humorless snowflakes themselves when anyone satirizes one of their own. My only suggestion is to reconsider the use of “aging” as an insult, as in calling Ted Nugent “the aging and talentless rocker.” We are all aging. Speaking as someone who’s probably at least a couple of decades older than you but still loves to play rock and roll, I’d like to suggest that there are plenty of other valid ways to insult Ted Nugent that don’t start to cross the line into ageism. Thank you.

    1. A lot of political correctness goes far beyond good manners. It is not bad manners to wish someone a Merry Christmas, but it seems that we are not allowed to do that anymore without offending someone. Just one example.

  12. You have misjudged this on so many levels. First, to say X got away with something doesn’t mean that Y is right in what he or she does. Wrong is wrong. Evil is evil. If I shoot your dog and you strangle my cat, are we even? Or are we both sick and depraved?

    Next, let’s discuss triggers. There are real people who have witnessed the real beheadings of loved ones on live internet. These are not the quick beheadings like the chop of Marie Antoinette or the swift sword to Ann Boleyn…it’s more like the novice axe man who hacked and sawed at the neck of Thomas Cromwell until even the crowd was horrified. The terrorists saw through the neck of the victim, while the victim tries to scream in horror until finally the vocal folds are severed and then the head is twisted and yanked off. Then the bloody head is raised in triumph.

    Picture your loved ones watching this torture happen to you. Picture yourself watching your family member, partner, even beloved pet, being tortured in this way. Imagine the heart of the person committing the act. Now picture yourself planning and going through with this on another human being. Imagine yourself wishing it on him. His family.

    Evil is evil. Planning that “art” or “protest” or whatever she wants to call it, was evil. It was a slap in the face to all family members who mourn loved ones and live with the memory of something they can never un-see. It was child abuse for a young boy to see his father portrayed that way. It was identification with the means of torture and murder used by terrorists. Those poor families can’t retreat to a safe space. Reality is reality. They have seen Hell. Kathy Griffen just depicted it again.

    I pray that no one of any religion, political persuasion… will find humor or bravery in the depiction of or wish for the death or torture of another human being. What is wrong is wrong, no matter who does it. I don’t care if one person is judged over the other on this earth… The other persons judgement will come one day. Let’s stop the hypocrasy of saying One person did it, why can’t The Other? Let’s see evil for what it is, and shun it in all its forms.

    God bless the victims and family members of those in England.

    1. There are real families who saw their families members lynched and killed as well, and the horror for them is real as well. Which is why that imagery was used against Obama — it is visceral and powerful. Those families cannot retreat to a safe space, either, and their pain is no less. The point of the article wasn’t to say she was right for her actions, but to point out hypocrisy. If you can only imagine the horror of the people who watched videos of beheadings, and not the horror of those who had to cut loved ones from tree limbs after they’d been murdered by lynching, then the root of the hypocrisy becomes obvious.

      1. Spot on. It is hard for me to erase the images of my people hanging from trees just because the color of their skin. Wrong is wrong. I believe in a judgememt day.

      2. Spot on. It is hard for me to erase the images of my people hanging from trees just because the color of their skin. Wrong is wrong. I believe in a judgememt day.

    2. Do you not think the hangings in effigy of President Obama didn’t stir up feeling of horror for black people?. That was their history. The issue being debated here is HYPOCRISY. The right seems to be ok with the pictured hanging of a sitting president yet take umbrage with a pictured beheading of a president. Both wrong. BTW,did you get some particular pleasure in your graphic description of the types of beheadings ? It was gratuitous and totally unnecessary.

      1. SuziQ
        You are so correct in pointing out the hypocrisy in this situation. No mention here of the child abuse in the depiction of lynching Obama. I feel quite sure that Sasha and Malia were just as horrified to see that as was Barron. No child should be subjected to that! It was wrong on both levels!

  13. She made a public threat against potus, if this was obama would you say the same thing? It was very offensive to me because I’ve never found her funny, this never being a comedian. Millions of other real Americans agree with me. I’m glad her career is ruined. To add, wasn’t she one of the liberal tards that threatened to leave this country if TRUMP won the election against the lying-woman hating hillary(a.k.a Killary)?????

    1. I love how people gloss over the fact that there were many depictions of President Obama being hung and that he was burned in effigy when he got elected. I find both that and what griffin did distasteful but let’s not pretend that it hasn’t come from both sides.

      1. Who is glossing over this fact? No one that I know of and as far as I am aware, no publicly known figure defended the lynchings in effigy of President Obama. There are idiots on both sides of the political aisle but too many times people use a broad brush and try to paint all republicans as racist or all democrats as anarchists and that is just not true. Most of us have much more moderate views and would never condone such behavior. The difference here is that Kathy Griffin is a public figure that did this as part of her job and that is what makes it worse, while not at all excusing the morons that lynched President Obama in effigy. I am trying to figure out exactly who Ms. Tyson wrote this article for. Does anyone think that the lowlifes that would accept either the lynchings or the beheading are the kind of people that would even read this post?

    2. You missed the point of this piece. Possibly deliberately?

      Where were you when protesters were making Obama effigies and lynching them? Were you decrying the threat against the sitting president? How about when tea party protesters burned Obama in effigy? Is that not a threat?

      Do you also know that president Obama never received fewer than twelve death threats–actual, literal death threats–per day when he was in the White House? What is your response to that?

      If you were okay with people simulating lynching our previous president, you have no call to be outraged over this photo shoot. None.

      1. Presidents being hung and/or burned in effigy have been going on for 100’s of years. I’m sure that some of the Obama effigies were because of the color of his skin and some were simply a protest against a Liberal President. Every political party gets outraged when their Presidential choice is hung in effigy and the other side then questions where that moral outrage was when the same was done when their President was in power. How tiresome! Nothing in this country will get done if we’re constantly at each other’s throats. I’m not a “Trumper” but also was not an “I’m with Her”! Both were bad choices and I wish that someone with substance decides to run for President so we can bring this country together.

    3. It was done to Obama, over and over and over and over an over. Do try to keep up.

  14. gabriel castillo

    This was some kind of dark humor/satire but nevertheless it was just a joke. She is a comedienne. No one should be fired from a job because of a politically motivated joke. It is CNN an other news media corporate networks that can get away with repressive measures and suppression of first amendment rights.

    1. Because we only listen to celebrities? A regular person making a solid, coherent statement is valueless because they lack some stamp of celebrity? Honestly, that’s your argument?

  15. Laura Livingston

    Well said! I agree, and said so to my friends who had negative comments about her. I think it’s totally ‘her’, except the look on her face seemed contradictory to her action. I would have smiled.

  16. First….I’m not a Trump fan. But I completel disagree with everything you’ve said here….mostly because I don’t follow your logic. Even people, like me, who think political correctness has gone too far believe there is a line in the sand that shouldn’t get crossed. Kathy Griffin was not simply being plitically “incorrect,” nor was the photo a comedic attempt to “poke fun” at the president…nor was she exercising her right of “free speech,” She was making a political statement that was over-the-top distasteful and offensive. No one should find the photo funny. And no one should be bullied into belieiving they’re being “hypocritical” if they find the photo offensive. You missed the mark. And by the way, Ted Nugent’s is a rock legend….just because you perfer the likes of Barry Manilow doesn’t mean that Nugent isn’t a talented rocker. Just sayin.

    1. a) Ted Nugent sucks and has always sucked. If that’s what counts as a rock legend to you, burn your record collection.

      B) It’s obvious you can’t follow logic. If you weren’t this mad when the Nuge wanted to kill Obama, you’re a hypocrite for being mad when Kathy cracks a joke about it, whether or not the joke was funny.

      It doesn’t matter that it was or wasn’t a joke. What matters is that this exact behavior was totally fine to you and the rest of these hypocrites a couple of years ago, but now that someone’s picking on YOUR guy, you want to throw a fit about it. Before, your type called anyone who said those lynching images were just snowflakes who couldn’t take a joke, but when you can’t deal with it, you’re not crybaby pc snowflakes, you’re just being proud americans. You can’t have it both ways.

  17. Let her move to Thailand where we live as expats. If you insult the King here, in any form or fashion, you go to jail. End of story. We (being white people), are referred to as farangs. We get charged more for things, and cannot work any jobs that a Thai person could do. We are fine with that, because “it is their house”. Abide by the laws. Don’t do anything stupid (cough cough, Kathy), and you will have a good life.
    Kathy crossed a line. Granted, the line in the USA is way more lenient than in other countries .. but what she did was hideous and actually illegal. If a “nobody” did the same, they would be jailed. So why isn’t she?

    1. “what she did was hideous and actually illegal”

      What on earth are you talking about? Since when is it illegal to hold up a mask covered in blood?

  18. Lets be perfectly clear. There was no apology. Not one. What she did was say I am sorry, and much like the rest of your crowd, started crying poor me.

    Its typical liberal behavior. Donald is ass. You people are worse….. No self accountability. Do something then blame everyone else.

    No I know where the term snowflake comes from.

  19. Good points, but I would respectfully like to add:
    Most republicans don’t “embrace” Nugent. We tolerate Nugent, the same way we tolerate Snoop Dog. We tolerate comments like “cock holster”. We tolerate the hundreds of ways you can say Trump, T Rump, Drumph, etc. We tolerate, on a daily basis, a barrage of insults hurled at us by many on the left. We tolerate being called racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and transphobic on a daily basis. We tolerate all the hateful things that are said abiut us by those with a big audience in the media. We don’t tolerate Griffin because she crossed a line, and clearly it’s not just the GOP who believes this to be true. Had any famous individual shown us pics of Obama burning, we would not have tolerated that either (we can not control our fringe any better than the left can control theirs). As far as the Montana election, most votes were in prior to the incident with the reporter, and many on the right spoke out about the Portland horror. I can point out unbridled hypocrisy from both sides of the aisle from the slew of new armchair politicians in America. In my humble opinion, we should consider not making blanket assumptions based upon political party affiliation. That goes for both sides.

    1. Trump is ridiculed because of his constant snowflake Tweets. Obama simply tolerated his critics with utmost class!

    2. Yeah, tolerated “cock holster” so much that your team tried their damnedest to get Colbert taken off the air.

      You act as if the left does not get all of those same insults back at them. Did you forget all of the equivalent things that were done to Obama’s likeness? The lynchings? The burnings? Two wrongs don’t make a right, but people in glass houses shouldn’t through stones.

      There is a difference between “tolerance” and “crying foul ad nauseam, but not being able to do a damn thing about it.” I would wager that it’s the latter in your case and not the former.

  20. Funny how “liberals” don’t see the in the indefensible-ness of Kathy Griffin, and the “right-wingers” don’t see the indefensible-ness of the treatments the were waged on Barack Obama throughout his presidency – all eight years! And people say “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”, but they only believe in when they are the gander. I never saw the original Kathy Griffin cartoon, but I heard about it. Yes, I agree that it was unfunny, but I do not agree that it was substantially more offensive than anything that was aimed at Obama! Most of us fall prey to confirmation bias; it’s worthwhile to try to avoid that!

  21. As much as I am against giving advice unless it is requested, I have some advice for most of the responders, and the President. A quote by President Harry Truman… “The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.” All in all, I believe this was a very wise posting that provides a “teaching moment.” That being kind is, at times, more important than being right.

  22. I don’t know about this “same people” meme. Plenty of anti-Trump folks on the left side of the spectrum, rightly or wrongly, feel Kathy Griffin crossed a line. They’re vocal about sharing their disgust.
    The difference between her and Ted Nugent is the latter’s offensive comments and actions were largely greeted by either shouts of support or shrugs of complete indifference by the anti-Obama crowd on the right side of the spectrum.
    Although the author didn’t intend it, there’s a bit of false equivalence there.
    We’ve gotten, collectively, far too thin skinned and demanding of PC perfection when it comes to these sorts of things. One can only wonder on how the likes of Lenny Bruce and George Carlin would be responding to our current state of affairs.

  23. I like Kathy Griffin. I wasn’t offended by the photo, I’m more offended by Trump’s policies that actually do hurt people. Your post is spot on! Thank you!

  24. If you say something offensive, I don’t care who you are or what political party you’re with its wrong. I think what got so many people riled up is the fact that her stunt was so much like something we’d see from ISIS. I did vote for Trump but for the last several elections it’s really been trying to figure out which is the lesser of the two evils. I believe we need to constantly pray for our country and its leaders.

  25. This was an interesting read. So what is an apology? If I wrong someone do I apologize to the general public? An apology is to the person you offended. Also, Kathy only said she was sorry for going too far not that she inflectted hurt to someone else. She then used the opportunity as a platform to continue her attack. I dont see an apology here. The atricle highlights a lot of things wrong but the author is defending an action the article claims was offisive. This appears to be simple spin, Kathy dont embrase us but they desrve it, sort of thing. Justice ceases to be justice and becomes revenge when we lose respect of the persons humanity and have nothing but contempt for them. At this point the problem is ours not theirs.

  26. Diary of a Tipsy Mermaid

    Well said.
    I thought the country was apathetic to this type of thing for the last 8 years, turns out some were racists and the rest were silent because it wasn’t them.
    Elise

  27. It amazes me how someone can compare such a lifelike pic of a beheading to anything Obama went through. Obama dealt with plenty of detractors but no one ever went to the extent of making a political statement by portraying his death in such a lifelike manner emboding the most gruesome manner of execution right next to crucifixion.

    1. You are kidding right? You saw nothing wrong in any of the pictures of hanging or burning Mr Obama in effigy as “portraying his death in such a lifelike manner”?

  28. Anyone who has banged the drum against political correctness over the past eight years should applaud Kathy Griffin.

    Sa-wing and a miss…
    When Kathy Griffin made this video of her holding the fake severed head of the President, the Secret Service opened an investigation. Those tasked with the protection of the President needed to educate her that her video could set off an unstable person believing it was a message to them, a call to arms. (We all agree that there are unstable and potentially dangerous people among us, do we not? ) To make an appeal to their basest instincts is to invite and welcome their predictable violence. After all, the head of the “greatest threat to humanity” , dripping with blood in a video straight out of the ISIS playbook, isn’t exactly a subtle message on its own. Marinate that in the toxic media, and mix with the hyperbolic political culture and it becomes a dare… a challenge….a plea.
    This terrorist-style beheading video posted by Griffin could encourage deadly violence.
    and being anti-politically correct doesn’t equal approval of dehumanization or ignoring basic human decency.
    For those that loathe political correctness, there is nothing in Griffin’s video to embrace or applaud. Just ask the Secret Service.

      1. Laura Williams-May

        Not really. European children see sex on magazines all the time but they are able to separate it from real sex.

  29. I think the article made a good point. And I don’t really care either way. It was a joke in poor humor. But it is also part of the job. Being president does not make you exempt from people’s opinion no matter how unintended and aimed in the wrong direction.

    I just wish I could Spark this much Conversation Over the homeless LOL it was a good article and good comments and discussion thereafter. I look forward to reading the next one

  30. If you choose to make a statement, you can be sure someone will not like it. However, once you have put it out in the public eye it is very hard these days to retract it and have the statement quietly go away. its ironic that CNN fired Ms Griffin, when they have been quite critical of the president. I have not seen a tweet from the president telling her employers to fire her. A few years ago, people would write a letter to the editor, or to the ceo of the TV station. It took effort. After a heartfelt apology, the matter was most likely laid to rest. Now we all have social media devices at our fingertips, our outrage is instantly spread through the wold wide Web and can be recalled at the swipe of a finger. There is no longer an attitude of shake hands and make up. One day we will grow up and learn to temper our outrage. Ms. Griffin will find new outlets for her brand of comedy. The presidents term in office will expire and the world will keep on turning. W

  31. If you choose to make a statement, you can be sure someone will not like it. However, once you have put it out in the public eye it is very hard these days to retract it and have the statement quietly go away. its ironic that CNN fired Ms Griffin, when they have been quite critical of the president. I have not seen a tweet from the president telling her employers to fire her. A few years ago, people would write a letter to the editor, or to the ceo of the TV station. It took effort. After a heartfelt apology, the matter was most likely laid to rest. Now we all have social media devices at our fingertips, our outrage is instantly spread through the wold wide Web and can be recalled at the swipe of a finger. There is no longer an attitude of shake hands and make up. One day we will grow up and learn to temper our outrage. Ms. Griffin will find new outlets for her brand of comedy. The presidents term in office will expire and the world will keep on turning.

  32. She held a beheaded head in her hand……president, or your average everyday person…….she did what this country is trying to STOP. She’s no better than ISIS and the other groups that kill innocent people that do this on a daily basis over seas!

    No she’s crying that she’s loosing jobs, sponsorship, what have you. She did this to herself.

    You defending her are just are wrong………

    1. I don’t think the writer is defending her. Please try reading the piece again. She is merely saying that it is hypocritical for someone to be outraged by Kathy Griffin’s behavior, yet not be equally outraged by other instances. such as when, for example, someone posted a picture of Hillary Clinton with a bulls-eye target on her; or as mentioned in the article, someone hangs a noose. Such actions could also encourage an unbalanced person to commit a violent act. People should condemn and reject all these actions, regardless of which end of the political spectrum they come from.

  33. So long as free speech zones and unpopular speech is not protected and is driven out of academia then political correctness exists. I would argue that Ms Griffin thought she was being politically correct in attacking the correct target.

    She misread the tea leaves.

    How long before we see a photoshopped picture of Trump holding up a bloody effigy head of Ms Griffin? I can guarantee that this parody of a parody will not be produced by anyone on the political right

    1. When I hear people complain about “political correctness,” that is like code to me. I feel it means that they reserve the right to say anything they like, and not be called out for it. They feel they should be able to say any rude, insulting, racist, bigoted thing to people. And that nobody else should criticize them for saying it.
      So, our society is continually becoming more coarse, rude, and uncivilized. How about if instead, people followed what used to be called “The Golden Rule” – treat people the way they themselves would like to be treated. How about if people treated each other with a little respect? Even, if it’s not too much to ask, with a little kindness?
      Is our society going to continue to get meaner and meaner? Where will this all lead?

  34. Beautiful essay. Flowed like Maple syrup over hot flap jacks.
    Sounds like I’m having the munchies. But, I did enjoy reading your missive.
    Mjp

  35. I like where you were headed with this, you began to take me into an important and stimulating examination THEN you did it… you called Ted Nugent talentless….yes he is an idiot, and I deplore many of his stances but one thing is for certain the Motorcity Madman is NOT talentless, you took your credibility, threw it on the ground and stomped it flat, that’s too bad, I stopped reading but maybe that’s your device? My opinion – you got Cat Scratch Fever baby?

  36. Both are wrong. It was wrong when ANYONE depicted Obama being hung or tossed around death threats in political cartoons and it’s STILL WRONG (not matter how stupid Trump looks) to do it his likeness either. BOTH are wrong.

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