Reactions Of Beck And Producer Wreak Of Classism, Callousness And Bigotry

Here's a perfect example of what is increasingly wrong with so many conservatives in our country.

A family home burns down in Tennessee over this $75 fee that the couple did not pay. Instead of putting the fire out and charging the family for services rendered, the fire department essentially allows the house to burn to the ground.

Enter Fox News far, FAR right commentator Glenn Beck and one of his cronies (Pat Gray, a producer for his radio show).

Check out how these two sensitive Americans gently discuss the issue:

GRAY: (mocking Cranick’s accent) Even tho’ I hadn’t paid mah seventy five dollahs I thought dey’d put it out. [...] I wanted ‘em to put it out, but dey didn’t put it out.

BECK: Here’s the thing. Those that are just on raw feeling are not going to understand. [...]

GRAY: But I thought they was gonna put the fire out anyway, but it burned down. Dat ain’t right! [...] What’s the Fire Department for if you don’t put out the fire?! [...] I thought they’d put out mah fire even if I didn’t pay seventy five dollars.

BECK: This is the sort of argument that Americans are going to have.

GRAY: It is.

BECK: And it goes nowhere if you go onto “compassion, compassion, compassion, compassion” or well, “they should’ve put it out, what is the fire department for?” [...] If you don’t pay the 75 dollars then that hurts the fire department. They can’t use those resources, and you’d be sponging off your neighbor’s resources. [...] It’s important for America to have this debate. This is the kind of stuff that’s going to have to happen, we are going to have to have these kinds of things.

One can quickly see the bigotry and classism rearing its ugly head at the hands of these two right-wing knuckleheads who who have no problem joking about this man after his home burned to the ground.

What's next, the police charging a $75 and not stopping thugs from mugging an old lady because she did not pay up?

Lets hope not, but this is s sad commentary on where it seems our society is headed. It's one thing to repossess a car because of nonpayment, but to let a house burn down is disgraceful.

Tennessee Fire Allowed To Burn Shows An Erosion Of American Values

The callousness of some people never cease to amaze me.

We have this story from Tennessee of a fire department essentially watching a family home burn to the ground because the owners did not pay a $75 fee to a nearby fire department.

I agree, it's cheap and to some extent it is gambling with your house and property. But, come on now. If a person is dying in the hospital emergency room ... do you not help the person because they may not have insurance or did not pay their last premium?

Seriously, put the fire out and bill the family for services rendered. For this town and these firefighters to allow that house to burn down runs counter to the American spirit.

It's an example of how far our society has plummeted since the days and weeks after 9/11 when we were all Americans pulling together to help one another.

To allow this home to burn down over $75 is pathetic and disgraceful.

Here are some opinions from the blog Booker Rising, which tends to feature the opinions of black conservatives:

The FOX Business analyst and conservative writes: "Much is being made over the home being allowed to burn to the ground because the owner didn't pay his $75.00 fee to the neighboring town's fire department. The owners of the home in Obion County in Tennessee offered to pay the fee when firefighters arrived, but that offer was turned down. The mayor explained that it's like trying to pay auto insurance after an accident. The family lost three dogs and a cat, along with their doublewide. This is a cautionary tale in so many ways. I think the firefighters should have put out the fire and charged an extra fee after."

More: "Beyond that is the economic reality that speaks to accountability. There are services we all willingly pay for, including police and fire protection. Big government advocates like to leverage those commonsense needs that are met by taxing for massive government spending that flies all over the board, and extends from protecting citizens from foreign and domestic invasion to protecting citizens from harming themselves or exercising creative thought. What is really interesting is why the county doesn't provide firefighters. Obion County has 33,000 residents whose incomes are well above the 2,500 of South Fulton."

Booker Rising response: No sympathy. The owners had enough money to care for three dogs and a cat, then they had enough money to pay the $75 fire department fee and protect their assets. They gambled with their home by choosing not the pay the fee beforehand....and lost big. And by the way, this ain't an example of libertarianism run amok. For one, the fire department is the only game in town. Two, they had no option for folks who want fires put out after not paying the fee. In a free market, such an option would emerge.

This is precisely the kind of libertarian mindset that is ruining this country and putting each person and each family on an island. I take care of my island and you take care of your island. it's like working in an office and everyone is in their silo. It's like walking through a building and seeing trash on the floor and saying "I am not picking that up ... it's the custodian's job and he gets paid to do it." Where's the mindset of helping your fellow person ... even if you need to invoice for services rendered?

Well, like the togetherness following 9/11 ... it apparently has become a passing fad.

Robert Bobb Responds To Shepard Smith’s Stupid Comment About Detroit

Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools had this to say about reckless comments made by Fox News commentator Shepard Smith, who said “If my kid were in Detroit, I’d try to burn the place down,” during a discussion about the school district’s poor academic record illustrated by a recent report.

BOBB: To hell with him. Who the hell does he think he is? There’s nothing wrong with these kids’ minds. Maybe something’s wrong with the adults.

Here is another excerpt:

Bobb says “there’s nothing wrong” with the minds of Detroit students. Bobb has been in charge of district finances since March. He recently asked state lawmakers to also give him control over academics.

Smith made those idiotic comments and showed just how increasingly reckless commentators are getting as the line between news and scarcely considered opinion is now barely visible.

MLive:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/robert_bobb_responds_to_fox_ne.html

Fox News Commentator Shepard Smith’s Comments Insulting, Degrading And Dangerous

Detroit Public Schools justifiably have been taken to task for a poor record which, most recently, was displayed by record-low test scores that have been in the bright glare of the national media spotlight. As a city, Detroit has been an easy and frequent target of those who want to attack a variety of topics (including the quality of urban black leadership, so-called liberal ideology, the sting of decades of white flight, conflict at times between the city and the suburbs, problems associated with the troubled auto industry and more). Much of the criticism directed at Detroit mostly is justified (even as the city, in some ways, is showing signs of fighting back and perhaps rising up to a more respectable status).

But, even with Detroit’s problems, the comments by Fox News commentator Shepard Smith were irresponsible, ignorant, insulting and perhaps dangerous.

“If my kid were in Detroit, I’d try to burn the place down,” Smith said during a discussion on the city of Detroit’s recently acknowledged record-low test scores.

Obviously, Smith did not mean that comment to be taken literally (as if to say that parents or other citizens should run out into the streets and begin burning up everything in sight. In no way am I saying or insinuating that he had that reality in mind when he made his reckless comments. Two people who understand the discussion and the city of Detroit also believe that Smith went too far with his comments. The two people in question are school board member Tyrone Whinfrey and Detroit Parent Network Executive Director Sharlonda Buckman.

Here are their responses:

“We’re not going to burn down Detroit,” Whinfrey told local Fox affiliate WJBK after the interview. “We’re going to stand together in the city.”

Buckman, a fierce critic of the district herself, said Shepard’s comment was shameful. “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

Well said by both Whinfrey and Buckman.

Fox News television commentators often are quick to ditch journalistic integrity, editorialize and take shots at people (almost always liberals or something they feel liberals represent or are responsible for on one level or another). Smith, who is not nearly as bad as most at Fox News, should have been more careful to understand the bitter history in the city of Detroit including fires related to deadly race riots and fires related to the infamous Devil’s Night. Smith’s comments are dangerous because plays to a theme of negative stereotypes of inner city black people rioting and burning stuff down.

It’s easy for people like Shepard Smith to pile on Detroit right now and make degrading comments.

Face it, that’s what a lot of opportunistic people do.

For far too many individuals, you can’t stand tall unless you’re standing on someone else’s back.

Come on Shep … you’re better than that comment.

MLive:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/fox_news_shepard_smith_if_my_k.html