Friday, November 24, 2006

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Wouldn't smell half as sweet to some people.

The first time I heard Jimmy Burke use the word "Dago", I was puzzed then frightened. Jimmy was the real "Gentleman Jim" of Goodfellas fame, and the only reason Scorsesi changed the name was because Jimmy's daughter wanted a chunk of cash if the Burke name was used, so they said no thanks and went with Conway.

Italians don't like Wop and Dago, and the more sensitive ones will kill you dead on the spot upon such utterance, but Jimmy was a legend in his own time and could get away with most anything. The Jews don't like Heebs, or Yids, or Mocky's, or Bagel-Benders, with the Irish it's Dumb-Mick along with a host of others, and the Germans cringe at Kraut.

The blacks are different but of course. They refer to one another as nigger, up to and beyond the point where some clueless schlep believes it to be something HE might toss out in mixed company, but even liberal Hollywood actors shouldn't dare do so, and Michael Richards is proof. Black "leaders" are playing this to the hilt, knowing full well that they can wring every last scintilla of guilt from the Lefty's, and since Lefty's are alive ONLY to experience guilt this will be fun to watch.

Once "Dago" was explained to me, I was frightened to think that Jimmy Burke was using words that were going to ignite a shitstorm of trouble, but Jimmy had that way about him, the way of saying the un-sayable without fear of reprisal. Michael Richards thought he bore a similar get out of jail free card, but not when there's political hay to be made. Today, I could care less what anyone says, because the wisdom of Sticks-And-Stones sunk in sometime around the age of puberty. Not that someone would get away with disrespecting the Flag, or the Country, or the Corps in my presence, but that's different. It's personal, but not individual specific. Someone shouts "nigger", and one would imagine the response to be, "Hell, what's wrong with HIM?", and not the beginning of the end of the world as we know it.

Not so. I've had someone, a large someone to be precise, use the word Wop and the thought of responding with nigger never entered my mind. It's just one nasty ass word. Saying it labels you as unfit for polite society and should be it's own punishment. But at the end of the day, kids, it's a WORD. Some folks evolve past the point of being wounded so cheaply. Some folks like to weep with the professional weepers and remain as jumpy as a raw, exposed nerve. It's up to the individual to decide which rung he or she likes standing upon atop the socio-evolutionary ladder.

A dumb comic said a dumb thing. Now Al and Jesse can extort more bennies from Hollywood. One might almost think they put him up to it.

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