Political Correctness | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    Have you ever wondered who is in charge of Political Correctness?? It's the PC Police. But that still doesn't answer the question. So I decided to find out just who that is so I went on a "safari" to see if I could find out. Turns out, it's a lot easier said than done. No wonder so many people have such a time with it. Maybe it's the media. After all, they are the ones who spread the word. It is the media who decides what will get coverage and what won't. Take, for example the "Redskin" name and logo flap. Normally, you would expect there to be someone standing in front of a microphone decrying Daniel Snyder's unwillingness to change the name to something less "offensive". But that's not the case. Even the faceless bureaucrats who lurk in the shadows of the U.S. Patent Office have joined the PC crowd with their cancellation of the Redskin logo protection. We read the name and logo is offensive but we don't seem to see who is saying that. The Washington Post reports it and that's that. My wife and I lived in Washington (Big Washington) during the Redskins "glory days". Anybody who had anything bad to say about the Redskins in those days was taking a big risk as far as their personal well being was concerned. With the dismal record the Redskins have posted over the last several years, "bad mouthing" the Redskins is not nearly as risky. (Still risky, but not nearly as risky as during the Joe Gibbs era...)

    And, talking about the Redskins reminds me of what S.I. Hayakawa, President of San Francisco State University was credited with saying when there was an Indian "uprising" (a long time ago) over having their land taken by the government. He said something to the effect that the American Indians didn't have anything to complain about when it came to "losing" their land. "We stole it fair and square. So what's the beef?? Since then, we have recognized them as "sovereign nations" which has resulted in a lot of Indian gambling casinos, the profits from which should have made every "real" Indian rich by now. I'm not sure if it really worked out that way but someone (presumably of the "Indian" persuasion) seems to have become rich enough to hire big time high dollar lawyers to go after more. Welcome to the great American ethic...

    A similar tough minded Hayakawa logic should also apply to those who come here to this great "melting pot" and then don't seem to be willing to "melt". Mexicans (Hispanics??) and Muslims (think CAIR) come to mind. Surely they came here for a reason. And just as surely the reason was not so that they could change our way of living to more closely resemble the (presumably) unpleasant situation they are fleeing. I would suggest that people who come here and want to start making changes to bring the US closer in line to the situation they left need to turn around and "go home" (i.e. back to whence they came).

    It seems as though if you get a group of like thinking (or is it non-thinking??) people together, all of whom are willing to sing the same song, they can (and often do) take offense at virtually anything anyone says or does. At least they claim to be offended. As long and as soon as the media "picks up" the complaint, a PC victory has been scored. What makes the whole notion truly weird is that it seems as though a lot of these PC Police almost seem to be in it for the fun they get out of the mischief they perpetrate. Surely they can't be serious about all the things they complain about.. Take the Seattle folks ("please," as Rodney Dangerfield would say). Get rid of Columbus Day and substitute "Native American Day". Give me a break... Do you suppose the "social clubs" started by the Italian community have lost so much clout that they are going to stand by and let this happen?? We'll see...

    What is also weird is that they seldom get any "push back". Maybe Seattle will (think displaced Sicilianos). It seems to me the proper response to a lot of the PC pronouncements we hear is something like, "That's the way it is. You need to either get over it or get used to it..." As long as there is no intent to hurt anyone, the PC police need to stay away. So where is the media when someone pushes back?? Nowhere to be found..

    Would the people of Eastern North Carolina even hear (or care) about Seattle and their idiocy if not for the media?? Why would anyone here care about what goes on in the land of Windows 8 and all manner of flavored Lattes?? Why would anyone anywhere care?? We all may not have converted to Mac, but I would venture that a lot of us have given dumping Microsoft some pretty serious consideration. And, as for the Lattes....

    And what about the proposals we have heard about doing away with references to "gender"?? He and She will soon be on the prohibited list. But then what?? Surely, in most cases we will still be able to tell the difference (vive le difference!!) sooner or later. Of course this may not be a bad idea. Could it mean the end of sexual discrimination?? Hmmm...

    In the meantime, about as close as I can come to defining who the PC Police are is to say it's nobody and it's everybody - aided and abetted by the mainstream media... And that explains a lot..

    D'ya Think??