Why I Put The South Jersey Times In The Bottom Of Pete the Parrot’s Cage

"Pete the Parrot"

The South Jersey Times has managed to again prove why the paper is only good for the bottom of a bird cage. For whatever reason the South Jersey Times Editorial Board just couldn’t let the Dennis and Judi thing go – the Editorial Board felt compelled to run a piece on the opinion page titled, “If you can't show respect, drop the radio mic.”

The radio duo apologized and have been punished with a 10 day suspension. This should be over, but not for the South Jersey Times. The Editorial Board just had to fan the flames with more than 500 words.

In the opinion piece the editorial board claims, “It's not so bad that Malloy called Grewal ‘the man with the turban,’ and that both hosts repeatedly referred to him as ‘turban man.’” I agree. Unfortunately, prior to that line the editorial board argues, “Before jabbering about the ‘PC police’ and giving ‘Dennis and Judi’ excessive latitude to claim that they're doing ‘comedy,’ let's analyze this.”

Analyze it? Are they psychiatrists? The people on this editorial board aren’t qualified to analyze what is in the minds of people. But, I digress, that’s really not my issue with their opinion piece.

My issue is simple, this editorial board isn’t upset over what I assume was two people kidding around. Two people who are paid to entertain. They’re upset with anyone that doesn’t think like them, anyone that doesn’t have at least some left or leftish leanings.

Of course, my claim isn’t very scientific. I simply scrolled through their list of editorials, I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled. The only Republican they praised with regularity was Congressman LoBiondo, a moderate.

But, back to the Dennis and Judi thing. The story is over, yet this editorial board HAD to write something.

Could I find anything written by this editorial board about Michelle Wolf and her verbal assault of Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the White House correspondents’ dinner? No!

Did this editorial board have anything to say about Wolf going after Huckabee Sanders again on the Netflix talk show “The Break?” No!

Did this editorial board say anything when Kathy Griffin posted a photo of her holding a replica of President Trump's bloodied, decapitated head? Not that I could find!

Are you getting the theme here?

The South Jersey Times editorial board has obvious leanings toward the left of the political spectrum. They want their readers to think like them.

For the record, I don’t have a problem with Michelle Wolf or Kathy Griffin. They’re comedians, I don’t find them funny so I don’t watch or listen to them, others do. I have never advocated for either of them to be punished for the actions described above.

I also don’t care what professional football players do, I still pay for NFL Sunday Ticket (or whatever it’s called) every year because I like to watch the football games I want to watch. I would prefer football players stand for the national anthem but I’m not going to stop watching because they’re disrespectful.

This is America and we all have the right to freedom of speech and expression. What this means is that we also all have the right to not read or listen to those exercising their rights if we don’t like what they’re saying. (For the record I do have an issue with flag burning but I’ll save that for another day).

When it comes to the South Jersey Times I exercise my freedom of expression by putting their rag of a newspaper in the bottom of Pete the Parrot’s cage.

What Happened To Sticks And Stones?

Photo stolen from "Fans of Dennis Malloy & Judi Franco" Facebook page

No way in Hell could TV shows like “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and to a lesser extent “Sanford and Son” be on the air today.

Archie Bunker has frequently been referred to as a “lovable bigot,” George Jefferson often called Helen and Tom Willis zebra because she was black and he was white and he referred to Tom as honky. And, Fred Sanford always had some choice words for his neighbor Julio often telling him to go back to Puerto Rico when the guy was from New York.

Forget about Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd trying to make one of my favorite Christmas Season movies, “Trading Places,” today. That movie would offend everyone, even people who smoke Kools.

Fast forward to today, or yesterday, and it seems like the entire state of New Jersey is freaking out because talk radio co-hosts Dennis and Judi called Attorney General Gurbir Grewal “turban man.”

Here’s a newsflash: IT WAS A JOKE! Listen to it, they were laughing about it. You can listen here.

Was it a good joke? I didn’t laugh. Was it in poor taste? Probably. Lots of jokes are in poor taste.

For emphasis, I’ll say it again: IT WAS A JOKE!

It does not make Dennis and Judi guilty of being xenophobes as our governor suggested in a statement he issued on the topic. What it makes them guilty of is being politically incorrect. They are guilty of making a joke that really wasn’t funny.

I don’t write this in defense of Dennis and Judi, I don’t know them, never met them, I write because people are just too sensitive.

When I was growing up we were taught, “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” Archie Bunker, George Jefferson and Fred Sanford all talked trash about anyone they felt like talking trash about. The beloved television series MASH even had a cross dresser and a guy nicknamed “spearchucker.” And, every single one of these shows can be seen on late night cable TV to this day! No one has been caused physical pain by these shows. Why? Because they are funny. If any of these shows have caused you mental anguish then you need to grow a thicker skin.

Because my great grandfather on my dad’s side was a native of Poland I hear dumb Polack jokes to this day. My co-host, Bob Greco, being of Italian heritage hears a lot of jokes about his ethnicity. You don’t hear us crying, quite the opposite, we laugh at the funny jokes.

Why do Bob and I not get upset over jokes about our heritage? Because our mothers raised us not to be big babies. They raised us to have thick skins. They taught us that names will never hurt us. Given the number of people he and I pissed off over the years, and the even bigger number who dislike us, it’s probably a good thing our mothers raised us to be tough.

To all the mothers out there who raised their kids to be tough and have thick skins, we say “thank you.” To everyone else – grow up! And, finally, to Dennis and Judi, thanks for giving me something to post on the blog today.