News Weakly - 4/17/21

Paging Dr. Dolittle
Actor Hank Azaria voiced the animated character, Apu, on The Simpsons for years. Now he has apologized to "every single Indian person" for doing so. It was a racist caricature of the "Kwik-E-Mart" kind of owners we've seen in so many 7-11's and such. "Azaria said that he now supports people of color voicing characters of color." Because what we want out of our animated shows is realism and diversity, not humor. The industry will now move to have cats voicing cats, dogs voicing dogs, and so on. Let's not take jobs away from those who don't have enough jobs. (I'm not opposed to this in principle, but do you suppose if they had a white character voiced by a Latinx anyone would complain? So do you suppose it's actually about having the proper people voicing the characters?)

We've Got Your Back
In February the Supreme Court lifted California's ban on indoor church services for something silly -- the First Amendment. Then this last Friday they again told the state you can't ban home Bible studies or prayer meetings ... again, for that crazy First Amendment. So, California, out of their deep and abiding respect for their citizens' rights and the need for religious gatherings, lifted worship-related restrictions. "Because, don't worry, Californians, we've got your back. (Pay no attention to the Supreme Court standing over our shoulders telling us we have to. Or the multiple knives we've stuck there so far.)"

New "Family Values"
Since they opened, Disney has been known as a special place. It has been known as a "family" place, an ultra-conservative place with fairy princesses and friendly animal characters and all. If you wanted to work at Disney, you had to conform to their strict, conservative policies, which may, at times, appear narrow and austere, but resulted in a family place where kids could feel safe and parents didn't have to worry. In their ever changing approach, Disney has decided to jettison that image. Now they're going "gender inclusive" ... so that employees can "feel a sense of belonging at work." That means LGBTQ Mickey ears and tattooed vendors. (I'm not joking; that's actually in the story.) I'm picturing a Cinderella character with beard, a cigar, and tattoos asking in a gruff voice -- "Hey, little girl, wanna sit in a princess's lap?" What could go wrong?

Legal Hate?
I will be honest. I'm a little confused. The Senate is debating a new hate crime bill to protect Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Now, I'm not in favor of hate crimes and I'm not in favor of hate crimes against the people in this bill, but I'm completely lost here. The Congress has passed hate crime legislation before. So far it is a hate crime to cause or attempt to cause harm or injury to people on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Now, I'm pretty sure "Asian American" is encompassed in that list. So what are they trying to outlaw that is not specifically outlawed? (Interestingly, it is also a hate crime "for two or more persons to conspire to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person in any state, territory, or district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or the laws of the U.S." Like when Congress conspires to block First or Second Amendment rights?)

Legal Murder
While we're all upset about the (accidental) shooting of the young black man in Minnesota on one hand -- "We demand justice!!" -- we are not all upset about the intentional shooting of an unarmed white woman in Washington D.C. The Capitol police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt January 6 when she was trying to go through a door will not be charged. The white woman who accidently shot Daunte Wright will be charged. I see how this goes.

Cancel Culture and the Free Press
An officer who was shot in the Breonna Taylor debacle (and who did not shoot Taylor) is writing a book to tell the story. Publisher Post Hill Press believes the officer "deserves to have his account of the tragic events heard publicly." The public disagrees. They petitioned to ban the book and Simon and Schuster has agreed. Let's not have an open dialog. Let's not hear all sides. Let's not examine the case. Let's simply block the press (which, by the way, falls under the existing "hate crimes" law).

Off the Internet
You remember last week that the New York Times reported that white evangelicals will prolong the COVID crisis because they're opposed to the vaccine for religious reasons. I think the Babylon Bee has discovered the real reason. Conservatives are deciding not to get vaccinated after they learned that liberals will stay away from them. A more likely reason, I think.

In other news, Ben and Jerry's is planning to fight white supremacy by discontinuing vanilla ice cream. Seems reasonable given today's version of "reasoning."

Finally, the military is announcing that they will accept anyone who identifies as a good soldier even if they're a "no-skill fat slob." I'm not sure, given today's idea that "reality is what I think it is," how to refute the logic.