Pendragon_6
03-30-2006, 07:54 AM
Political correctness has worked it's way into every facit of our lives, even dictating how we fight the War on Terror.
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Michael Smerconish
How putting handcuffs on what we can say and do is literally threatening our lives
TONIGHT, with Bill O'Reilly, I'm scheduled to formally launch my new book, "Muzzled."
Why "Muzzled"? In a word, it's what we are. Words and actions have been muted by those among us who assert their political correctness while sacrificing the rugged individualism that has been the hallmark of our nation.
Every slight.
Every insult.
Every askance look.
What in the past would have been settled with a hand gesture is today grounds for a federal case. At any other time in our history, what I have written would be a collection of enraging, enthralling and entertaining tales. But now they are more. The "Muzzled," victim-filled society we've created is a cancer that has metastasized to the war on terror.
Consider that, on the home front:
Post Katrina, a group of Portland, Ore., firefighters volunteered to help when tens of thousands of people were still stranded. But before they were allowed to have at it, FEMA demanded they undergo diversity training! People were dying in the Gulf states while our government demanded that folks who had already proven their decency by their willingness to leave their own families and travel across the country to help were stuck in a hotel room in a sexual-harassment class.
Not long ago on Wall Street, Andrew Susser was fired from his high-level position at Bank of America after his face was superimposed onto the photo of a fully clothed woman as an attention-getter in a company report. No nudity. No profanity. Just corporate intolerance.
Kirk Reynolds got canned as the public-relations head of the San Francisco 49ers when a video he made to reach those in the locker room was evaluated instead on the politically correct streets of San Francisco.
This very newspaper felt the need to apologize for a Page 1 that showed the mugs of 18 perps wanted for murder in Philadelphia because none was Caucasian, despite the fact that no Caucasians were then at large for murder in Philadelphia!
And, in our town, an ad exec was awarded $600,000 after filing a discrimination lawsuit solely because his boss, in an effort to improve company dress, had distributed the all-time business best-seller, "Dress for Success," which contained advice for people selling to individuals of a different race or ethnicity.
In Full
Philly.com (http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14219872.htm)
===================================
Michael Smerconish
How putting handcuffs on what we can say and do is literally threatening our lives
TONIGHT, with Bill O'Reilly, I'm scheduled to formally launch my new book, "Muzzled."
Why "Muzzled"? In a word, it's what we are. Words and actions have been muted by those among us who assert their political correctness while sacrificing the rugged individualism that has been the hallmark of our nation.
Every slight.
Every insult.
Every askance look.
What in the past would have been settled with a hand gesture is today grounds for a federal case. At any other time in our history, what I have written would be a collection of enraging, enthralling and entertaining tales. But now they are more. The "Muzzled," victim-filled society we've created is a cancer that has metastasized to the war on terror.
Consider that, on the home front:
Post Katrina, a group of Portland, Ore., firefighters volunteered to help when tens of thousands of people were still stranded. But before they were allowed to have at it, FEMA demanded they undergo diversity training! People were dying in the Gulf states while our government demanded that folks who had already proven their decency by their willingness to leave their own families and travel across the country to help were stuck in a hotel room in a sexual-harassment class.
Not long ago on Wall Street, Andrew Susser was fired from his high-level position at Bank of America after his face was superimposed onto the photo of a fully clothed woman as an attention-getter in a company report. No nudity. No profanity. Just corporate intolerance.
Kirk Reynolds got canned as the public-relations head of the San Francisco 49ers when a video he made to reach those in the locker room was evaluated instead on the politically correct streets of San Francisco.
This very newspaper felt the need to apologize for a Page 1 that showed the mugs of 18 perps wanted for murder in Philadelphia because none was Caucasian, despite the fact that no Caucasians were then at large for murder in Philadelphia!
And, in our town, an ad exec was awarded $600,000 after filing a discrimination lawsuit solely because his boss, in an effort to improve company dress, had distributed the all-time business best-seller, "Dress for Success," which contained advice for people selling to individuals of a different race or ethnicity.
In Full
Philly.com (http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14219872.htm)