Al Roker Hates People With Epilepsy

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Headache in a Suitcase

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With the other morally corrupt bootlicking rubes.

"I, for one, am really tired of the diatribes, the “humor” at others’ expense, the cruelty that passes for “funny”. Don Imus isn’t the only one doing this, but today he’s the one in the hot seat..."

"What he said was vile and disgusting..."

"The “I’m a good person who said a bad thing” apology doesn’t cut it..."

"The general manager of Cartoon Network resigned after a publicity stunt went wrong and caused a panic in Boston. He did the right thing. Don Imus should do the right thing and resign. Not talk about taking a two-week suspension with dignity. I don’t think Don Imus gets it..."

"Citing “context within a comedy show” is not an excuse..."

"CBS Radio and NBC News needs to remove Don Imus from the airwaves. That is what needs to happen. Otherwise, it just looks like profits and ratings rule over decency and justice..."

-Al Roker's own words

http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/10/116906.aspx

Joker Roker: 'Sorry'
by Michael Starr, New York Post

June 9, 2007 -- AL Roker apologized yesterday for joking about epileptic seizures on Thursday's "Today" show.

"Remember that controversial Olympic logo for the 2012 Olympics in London? Some folks have complained that the campaign actually sent them into epileptic seizures," Roker said on Thursday's show.

"Well, we asked you to weigh in on our Web site in an informal poll; those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around were able to actually log in . . . "

Yesterday, Roker said he was sorry.

"I started joking about it. I want to make this clear - I was not joking about epilepsy or anyone who suffers from epilepsy," he said at around 8:04 a.m. while he was delivering a weather report from Milwaukee.

"We understand and know that this is a serious affliction and would never joke about that.

"We were joking about the logo - not about epilepsy. If anybody was offended, I heartily and really humbly apologize."

"Today's" poll showed that 80 percent of viewers thought the logo was inappropriate.

http://media.putfile.com/Al-Roker-Jokes-about-Epilepsy-on-the-TODAY-show

----------------------------------------------


I, for one, am really tired of the diatribes, the “humor” at others’ expense, the cruelty that passes for “funny”. Al Roker isn’t the only one doing this, but today he’s the one in the hot seat...

What he said was vile and disgusting...

The “I’m a good person who said a bad thing” apology doesn’t cut it...

The general manager of Cartoon Network resigned after a publicity stunt went wrong and caused a panic in Boston. He did the right thing. Al Roker should do the right thing and resign. Not talk about taking a two-week suspension with dignity. I don’t think Al Roker gets it...

Citing “context within a comedy show” is not an excuse...

NBC News needs to remove Al Roker from the airwaves. That is what needs to happen. Otherwise, it just looks like profits and ratings rule over decency and justice...
 
There is an issue of context, the severity of the issue, and the question of a pattern of behavior. I'm not sure that firing Al Roker would be anything more than an overreaction.

Don Imus, on the other hand, had a pattern of offensive comments, whereupon he finally said one too many offensive things and got canned. Now I'm also aware that Imus had a contract that encouraged him to say offensive things and claimed that a warning was required before terminating him. He's now suing CBS over this, and, frankly, I'll let the courts decide on that.

I question the popular wisdom of expecting everyone who makes a public mistake should get very publicly fired. I certainly think that there are instances where firing is appropriate, but we have to remember that, particularly in the media, where you are under constant pressure to tell jokes and entertain, slip ups will happen. It should, as such, come down to issues of severity and whether there's a pattern of offensive behavior, IMO.
 
That's got to be one of the dumbest thread titles in recent memory...:eyebrow:
 
key difference... don imus was doing his job, as explained in his contract. he was doing what he was payed to do.

listen.. i don't believe al roker should be fired. he made a joke... he should be allowed to make his joke. many will find his joke extremely offensive... to them, i say get over it. it's all funny till it hits too close to home, and then it becomes offensive.


i wouldn't even care about what roker said if not for the fact that, in his own words, he said that comedy that he is tired of humor that is cruel and at someone else's expense, and then he goes a month later and makes a joke that can be deemed as being cruel and at someone else's expense.

either everything is okay, or noting's okay. the second you start making lines over what's okay and what's not okay, then that's it... it's over. it's exactly what happened to laverne and shirley.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
either everything is okay, or noting's okay. the second you start making lines over what's okay and what's not okay, then that's it... it's over. it's exactly what happened to laverne and shirley.

But this isn't a science. If a manager canned every employee who made a slip up, then he'd probably bleed all of his talent. A good manager makes decisions based on the written corporate rules and also based on the context of the specific incident. And perhaps CBS wouldn't have fired Don Imus ordinarily, but when the public outcry is that extraordinarily loud, then you start having to care about your bottom line--which trumps all other considerations within corporate culture.

And perhaps Al Roker isn't the most eloquent person when it comes to public diatribes, like that one regarding Don Imus. I'll agree with that; celebrities aren't exactly known for being the brightest of individuals. But, then again, it certainly isn't a requirement to be a celebrity.
 
He apologised for this: "those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around"?

Seems a bit ridiculous.
 
nellypd5.jpg
 
Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson

got one of ours


now it's our turn

to take out one on their team.

"catch em by the toe


and make em pay."
 
Last edited:
LJT said:
He apologised for this: "those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around"?

Seems a bit ridiculous.

Yeah. I'm pretty confident that if anyone said that in Australia or NZ, there may be a few half-hearted chuckles of "that was a lame attempt at a joke" and then everyone would swiftly forget about it. They certainly wouldn't be having a discussion about it!

I honestly don't even see how it's an offensive comment, and it certainly doesn't require outrage or an apology. Although I don't have epilepsy, I have a number of other medical conditions and an equivalent joke would not offend me in the slightest - in fact, I'd probably make such a joke about myself!
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
here's the thing...

don't get up and preach on your soap box (and what a sturdy soap box it must have been)

Just what do you mean by that?
See how easy it is?
(being the devils advocate here)

You didn't mean a thing about that, right.
but yet it was derogatory. and funny. and demeaning.
I watch comedians all the time and laugh my ass off, but some things aren't to be said in everyday situations, or should they?
Hence the controversy.
Where does the line draw? when you say it or when someone else says it? and are all insults ok?
 
Axver said:


Yeah. I'm pretty confident that if anyone said that in Australia or NZ, there may be a few half-hearted chuckles of "that was a lame attempt at a joke" and then everyone would swiftly forget about it. They certainly wouldn't be having a discussion about it!

I honestly don't even see how it's an offensive comment, and it certainly doesn't require outrage or an apology. Although I don't have epilepsy, I have a number of other medical conditions and an equivalent joke would not offend me in the slightest - in fact, I'd probably make such a joke about myself!

Something like Little Britain (is it shown anywhere in the states? and if so is it heavily edited at all?) or Jonathan Ross were shown in the US...some people would have a field day...I generally enjoy it when American guests discover they can actually swear on TV.

Just question to the American folk here....are Americans in general more sensitive to these types of thing? Or is it the watchdogs for TV and radio just out of control and too draconian?
 
^ Honestly I think a lot of Americans get a kick out of seeing somebody screw up. When somebody says something on radio/TV that's a bit "questionable", as in possibly offensive, people here love to point it out. It's kind of like catching somebody with their fly down, or with food in their teeth...we just have to laugh at their slip-up.

That's not to say that the things people sometimes say aren't truly offensive to some, or that it's always OK to say them, or that if anyone is offended by someone's comments that they need to just "get over it". I just think our current culture is obsessed with that kind of thing.

I think a lot of folk here are missing Headache's point, which I think is that Al Roker is a hypocrite. He is of course, and it's fair to point it out...but it's also fair to point out that one questionable comment by Roker doesn't equate to a history of offensive remarks by Imus.
 
sue4u2 said:


Just what do you mean by that?
See how easy it is?
(being the devils advocate here)

You didn't mean a thing about that, right.
but yet it was derogatory. and funny. and demeaning.
I watch comedians all the time and laugh my ass off, but some things aren't to be said in everyday situations, or should they?
Hence the controversy.
Where does the line draw? when you say it or when someone else says it? and are all insults ok?

i think you might be missing my point... i was being ironical. i in no way think al roker should be fired. he made a joke... a joke that could (and i'm sure in some cases did) offend a group of people. a joke that was mean, demeaning and at the expense of someone else... even after al roker himself jumped up and down over the imus thing, and pretty much lead the internal NBC revolt that ultimately brought upon WNBC's pulling of the plug. he said in his own words that he is "tired" of jokes at other people's expense.. and then he makes one. :shrug: and ya know what? i could care less. it was funny.

other than knock knock jokes and chicken crossing the road jokes, the majority of humor is at someone else's expense. there are different types of humor... some humor is more crude, dark, edgey than others. when we start drawing the line over what is okay to make fun of and what isn't we enter into a very dangerous area. one group complains that they're being made fun of... an episode gets pulled, a person gets fired. then another group complains... hey, you did it for them, why not us? ok... pull that episode, too. fire that guy. before you know it, there's no one left to fire. there are no shows left to show. it's exactly what happened to laverne and shirley.

he offended someone... fire him! that thing is no good for you... ban it! that music is degrading, that video game is too violent... ban, ban, ban! that book can corrupt young minds... burn it!

am i overstating things? probably... are we at risk of turning into the future as shown in Demolition Man anytime soon, where everything that is deemed bad for you is illegal and you need to wipe your butt with the three seashells? no... but when you start drawing lines over what's okay to make fun of and what isn't, you're tip toeing on a very slippery slope.
 
Most human beings are hypocrites as far as not holding themselves to the same standard that they hold other people and being so eager to point out others' flaws and ignoring their own. So we could point out such situations to infinity :shrug:

And Al Roker isn't even a real weatherman, he's a talking head just reading someone else's forecast. So maybe we should go after him for that too...:wink:
 
LJT said:


Something like Little Britain (is it shown anywhere in the states? and if so is it heavily edited at all?) or Jonathan Ross were shown in the US...some people would have a field day...I generally enjoy it when American guests discover they can actually swear on TV.

Just question to the American folk here....are Americans in general more sensitive to these types of thing? Or is it the watchdogs for TV and radio just out of control and too draconian?

Political correctness and litigiousness are the 2 evils at work here.

Imus's job was to offend, he did it for years, now he gets canned ? Roker makes a joke in marginal taste (by TV standards) and we're supposed to cry foul ? Ridiculous in both cases
 
LJT said:
Something like Little Britain (is it shown anywhere in the states? and if so is it heavily edited at all?) or Jonathan Ross were shown in the US...some people would have a field day...I generally enjoy it when American guests discover they can actually swear on TV.

I hate to think what would happen if something like The Chaser's War On Everything were shown in the States. It'd make for some damn funny news stories, though. For example ... in response to the "so where the bloody hell are ya?" Aussie tourism campaign, The Chaser gave us "Australia, it shits all over everywhere else" and "fuck, Australia's fucking great so why the fuck aren't you here motherfucker?"

Yeah, The Chaser's more worthwhile than some non-controversy being stirred up by people who'd be offended by almost anything you care to name.
 
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