The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Podcast: I Feel Snitty Episode 167: If You Aren't Listening, You Ain't Woke Premiere Date: 10/28/21 Length: 11:36 (2,041 words) Link: https://ifeelsnitty.podbean.com/e/if-you-re-not-listening-you-ain-t-woke/ Transcript:  Welcome to I Feel Snitty, episode 167, entitled, “If You’re Not Listening, You Ain’t Woke.” I’m your host, Craig Rozniecki. Political correctness is defined as “conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities should be eliminated.” If you had asked me 5 years ago what I thought about political correctness, I would have told you, “While I think it goes too far at times, in the end, I think the good outweighs the bad, for what’s the general motto of political correctness? ‘Try to not be an asshole.’” Fast-forward 5 years to today, however, and my opinion on the subject has wavered and become more nuanced as a result. While the motto for some has stayed true to the original of “trying not to be an asshole,” others have...

The latest episode of my podcast ("I Feel Snitty"), entitled, "If You're Not Listening, You Ain't Woke" is now available! Here's a brief description of it:  Did you hear the one about when a liberal white guy watched every Dave Chappelle Netflix-special and recorded a podcast about it? No? Then click on the link... The episode can be heard in its entirety at this link: https://ifeelsnitty.podbean.com/e/if-you-re-not-listening-you-ain-t-woke/

Actresses Dakota Fanning and Scarlett Johansson came under fire from the social media mob yesterday, and while I often times empathize and even agree with the PC (politically correct) police, I think they've gone too far in both these instances. First off, with regard to Dakota Fanning, she's being criticized for allegedly playing an Ethiopian Muslim woman in the upcoming film, Sweetness in the Belly . After reports of this emerged, the critical tweets became more ubiquitous than Donald Trump's stupid tweets (and that's saying something): "A white woman playing an Ethiopian Muslim? #Woke!," "Why not get a person of color or an actual Muslim to play the part?," "This is so wrong!" were just some of the responses. Psst, the film is based off a book, where Fanning's character, Lilly, is an orphaned British child that grows up to be a Muslim nurse (yes, she's white throughout). So let's cool it with the overreactions here... If ...

I've long said the Republican Party often gets itself into trouble due to its self-branding of the party of God, family values, and morality. This sets them up for ridicule and mockery if and when a member of their party speaks or behaves in a manner which runs contrary to said branding. Sure, any and every politician should face criticism after being caught paying off a hooker, especially if a spouse and/or kids are in the picture. However, this behavior receives even more scrutiny (and deservedly so) when the politician in question has repeatedly labeled himself as a man of God, family values, and morality; has bashed and voted against the LGBT community; and then gets caught paying a man to have sex with him while his wife and kids are at home waiting. Democrats are running into a similar problem when it comes to political correctness. One major reason why I favor the Democratic Party over the Republican Party is their inclusivity. Democrats have essentially branded themselves...

I'm often a defender of political correctness. When it comes right down to it, political correctness can be defined as, "Trying not to be an as*hole." However, there are times that political correctness goes too far even for me. The controversy surrounding a recent episode of the ABC show Quantico is the latest such example. Aired this past week, the episode The Blood of Romero  generated controversy due to its storyline which revolved around Indian terrorists plotting an attack in Manhattan and then blaming Pakistan for it. Star of the show, Priyanka Chopra, is of Indian descent, and was singled out by many on social media, as fans wondered how she could have partaken in such an episode. ABC has since apologized for the episode, while depending Ms. Chopra. I'm sorry, but really? Quantico is a work of fiction. Priyanka Chopra isn't a writer of the series; she's an actress. So how is she getting blamed for the episode and why is there a controversy at all? ...

It's a tad surreal to be involved in comedy during this time in our history. Comedians have, throughout history, consistently tried pushing the envelope as far as appropriateness goes. In yesteryear, if a joke went too far, they'd remove it from their routine, try something else, and the earth would continue to move. That was before the advent of the Internet and social media, however. As times has progressed, so too has the call for increased sensitivities to all demographics. Nowadays, if a joke goes too far, social media sites like Twitter attempt to temporarily stop the world as they try and put the comedian out of business. There's always been a fine line for comedians to walk down, but that line has progressively become longer and narrower, making it ever more difficult to keep one's balance. So where do we draw the line? This isn't just limited to comedians. Is there a similar balancing act politically-correct free speech supporters can walk to help preserv...

While, overall, I think political correctness is a good thing, there are times I think the PC-police go too far, especially when it comes to comedy. I find it odd that while a man (Donald Trump) can get elected president after being caught talking about grabbing women by the pus*y, a comedian (Kathy Griffin) can be seen as losing her career after telling an un-PC joke. I'm not saying her joke was morally right or anything of the sort, but I think there is a double-standard in place, and it's quite sad that we often times hold jokesters more accountable for their actions than we do leaders of this country. Having said all that, I think the PC-police have gone a little far in recent days with regard to jokes told by Chelsea Handler and Marilyn Manson. I'll start with Manson. In an interview with NME, the shock rocker described the band members of Kiss as "four gay dudes in Halloween costumes." The man was obviously joking. Like Kiss, he is known to wear make-up on...

Why is it so many like to say they're politically incorrect? After uttering something which only a handful of people the world over might find offensive, they'll say, "I'm not one of those politically-correct folks." It almost comes across like a hybrid of bragging and a just-in-case defense: "Yeah, I'm a bad boy, but if you are offended, I didn't really mean anything by it." My issue with any such statement is, if the person truly is what they say they are, why do they feel the need to say it? "I'm not a racist, but..." Okay, good, but if you're not a racist, why do you feel the need to tell those around you? "I'm not a sexist, but..." That's fantastic, but why do I get the hunch you're about to say something sexist, making your claim moot? "I'm not one of those politically-correct folks..." In this case, at least the person is being honest (to a certain degree), but still, what's the ...

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has come under recent fire for a tweet she posted of herself riding on the back of the fastest man in the world, Olympic gold medal regular Usain Bolt, with the caption, "This is how I'm running errands from now on." This led to her getting blasted on Twitter, as many proclaimed her post to be racist. I'm sorry, but this is another example of the PC-police going too far. I'm typically all for political correctness, as I think every person, regardless of their age, gender, skin color, creed, or orientation, should be treated with respect. However, when a joke is at the expense of a person's actions and not their race, yet we find a way to insert race into the equation, that's political correctness gone too far. The common denominator in this post was the athlete's speed, not his/her race. Usain Bolt is an incredible runner, arguably the best in the world, and after he won his 3rd consecutive gold medal in the 100 meter, ...

Am I the only one who's bothered by the phrase "persons of color"? I think it rubs me the wrong way for two reasons. First, why is it offensive to use the phrase "colored people" but inoffensive to say "persons of color"? If one is offensive, shouldn't both be offensive? If I were to anger a group of individuals I called "stupid people," wouldn't they likely be angered if I were to alter that phrase to "people of idiocy"? Secondly, if we take the phrase "persons of color" literally, doesn't it come across as kind of ridiculous? To my knowledge, nobody is clear, colorless, transparent. We all have color to us, from the whitest of white to the blackest of black and everywhere in between. I, like most "white" people, am peachy/pinkish in color. So when I hear someone say "persons of color," my immediate thought is, "So, we're talking about everyone then?" More times than not w...

As long-time readers should know by now, I'm a progressive, a strong ally of the LGBT community, and tend to play it in the middle when it comes to the concept of political correctness. While I think many conservatives have blown the alleged issue of (over)political correctness out of proportion, I do think some take PC matters too far at times. Similarly, while I may satirically tackle subjects in what some see as an unPC manner, the intent of these writings is to showcase the ridiculousness and/or hypocrisy of those whom tend to see political correctness as a bigger issue than it actually is. Having said all that, while I have often times defended political correctness, I do think it goes too far at times, and saw this first-hand a couple days ago. A couple days ago (or so) the hashtag #ItsNotRadicalToSay was trending on Twitter, so as I tend to do once or twice a week, I had a little fun with it. I took this opportunity to make fun of the modern-day GOP, including many lovely ...

Likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton drew criticism the other day for saying, "I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak," during an interview with CNN. Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, was perhaps the most outspoken critic of the former Secretary of State, saying, "If I made that statement about women, it'd be front-page headlines. ...the Indians have gotten wild [about Clinton's statement]." The Clinton camp has since apologized, as political director Amanda Renteria posted this tweet regarding the matter: "Hillary Clinton meant no disrespect to Native Americans. She wants this election to be about lifting people up, not tearing them down." While I shouldn't make light of Clinton's poor choice of words, it's difficult to not see the hilarious irony in Trump's critique of them. If just about anyone else had criticized Clinton for he...

I'll be the first to admit there are times when even I'll mumble to myself, "Wait, that's causing an uproar on Twitter? Why? What's offensive about that?" However, for the most part, I see political correctness as a good thing. The definition of the term is: "the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against." So why do so many, on both sides of the political spectrum, particularly on the right, often complain about political correctness? One thing that likely frustrates many about political correctness is the fact it constantly changes. What was considered unoffensive 5 years ago may be seen as offensive today. The PC-world can often times feel like venturing to a family get-together over the holidays, featuring many relatives whom you haven't seen in a while. You're kind of...

On The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore last night, I was struck by a quote from renowned conservative stand-up comedian Nick DiPaulo in the discussion portion of the show and felt the need to comment on it. The central focus of last night's show was political correctness, the word police, and whether or not certain words should be off limits in most (or all) situations if not outright banned. Overall, the group of guests (as well as the host) seemed to believe that while people should become more culturally aware and sensitive given our ever diversifying country and we should refrain from saying certain words, it'd be a potentially dangerous slippery slope to actually start banning these very words. DiPaulo then went on a mini-rant, saying that political correctness always stems from the left, dealing with racism, sexism, and homophobia. He followed that up with this gem: "Political correctness just stifles white heterosexual Christian males." Now, let's get...

Recently, New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait released an article by the title of, "Not a Very P.C. Thing to Say," which dealt with the concept of "political correctness" and he's received his fair share of criticism in return. In the article, Chait criticized leftists (liberals) at length, in saying their PC-policing was slowly stripping our society of civilized debate, especially in the online world. Chait talked about a growing list of words which were off limits according to these leftists - if anyone uttered these words, they wouldn't hear the end of it. The article also made the claim that if leftists heard something from another they strongly disagreed with, they often times referred to that person as bigoted or his/her viewpoint as illegitimate. Yes, according to Jonathan Chait, "political correctness" is at the forefront of our social problems, and if we want to engage in civilized debate with a wide range of people, we must eliminate ...

While I may label myself as quite progressive, even I had to shake my head at the most recent article written by Alyssa Rosenberg of ThinkProgress , entitled, "The Deluded Person's Etiquette Guide To Avoiding Halloween Racism, Sexism, And General Tastelessness." In this article, Ms. Rosenberg basically says that if you wear a costume which could potentially offend one person in the world, you probably shouldn't wear that costume. I guess my question would then be, what costumes could we wear? Could we only dress up as Disney characters? Well, so long as the Disney characters were of the same gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religion as us? I'm sorry, but even I think this political correctness is going a little too far. Rosenberg focuses a majority of her attention on racism, sexism, and "general tastelessness," as the title of her article suggests. Now, I don't believe it would be right for a person to dress themselves in a racist or s...