Mr. F: Attention must be paid, of course, to James J. Kilpatrick, who was a "biggie," and inspired Dan Ackroyd's "Jane, you ignorant slut" in the ""Cross Fire" takeoff with Jane Curtain, but, please, a brief mention of Mr. Breeden. "Who?" Well, before he came along, the idea of colleges having jazz bands, and students studying jazz in college, was hardly conceived of. Most music faculty shuddered at the thought, and, in the few instances where there was an "official" band, it had to be a "dance" or "lab" band. Much of the change in jazz education is due to Breeden's work at North Texas State, and the touring and recording of its top jazz band (the "One O'Clock" band, because that was the time it met), led by Breeden. Today, a degree in jazz studies is common, and professional jazz musicians are named professors at prestigious schools of music. Footnote - the "One o'clock" band once played with Ella Fitzgerald, and she tried to get it to tour with her, but Breeden had to say "no," because it would take too much time away from the students' studies.
Interesting! I had heard of North Texas State's music program (and isn't it great that a school in Texas is better known for music than football?), but never Mr. Breeden. Hail to thee, Mr. B.!
Totally agree. I listened to the tape of that conversation and I thought, "Well, this is easy. Just tell the caller that her neighbor is a bigoted pig and that she should tell him to stuff it." But, no. She went all HBO and Obama on her. Stupid.
Ah, yes. Forgot that one in my open. I was referring to the Gallup Poll that showed the credibility of newspapers and TV news falling--again. My comment: Given how many people have stopped reading newspapers and watching TV news, how can people assess the credibility of something they're not paying any attention to?
I'd have to check this, but I think even Stewart bleeps the word, too. Again, I'm not saying anyone should call anyone that; I'm saying that when someone does, there's no need to hide the word.
Thanks for the programming note!
Well, yeah, you could make that argument. And let's make another one: Who was paying any attention to Dr. Laura before this incident?
Cool town, especially if you're under 30. Close enough to DFW to have fun, but far enough that you can go to the store in under an hour. The Denton Jazz Festival, which isn't just jazz, draws many thousands, most of whom enjoy live music, Shiner Bock, meat on a stick, pot, and vomiting. Big fun...
Except for the Shiner Bock, I think that describes almost every music festival involving people under 30. Your personal vomiting will vary, of course.
Without commenting on the merits, if any, of the reporting here, I think there's a lesson for every reporter here: Labeling the politics of groups and organizations can get dicey. Best to just name them; people can come to their own conclusions.
So, when a vice president says, "F- you" to a .US. senator, and it's reported in the media, should WaPo fill in the dash? Should he TV newscasts?
Glad you brought that up. The f-word is legally "indecent," as determined by the FCC (though newscasts and newspapers aren't subject to FCC enforcement). So perhaps it's in a different category than "nigger" in that sense. But I get your point: Both are offensive, and so perhaps the media is sparing the ears and eyes of its listeners, viewers and readers by using euphemisms.
I will condemn the use of this word until the day I die (and then afterwards, too, God willing). But it's a word. A hateful word, but a word nevertheless.
I don't have a problem with Dr. Laura dispensing advice, though I happen to disagree with most of the advice she offers. What I would like is for her to stop masquerading as a "doctor." She does have a doctorate--in physiology, not psychology or psychiatry or even sociology--and calling herself "Dr. Laura" is blatantly deceptive.
Yes. We should ban the penny and round everything up or down. Maybe take the nickel with you while we're at it. Waste of resources, seems to me.
To his credit, he (like the recently deceased Robert Byrd) disavowed his extremely racist past. I'll let other judge whether that makes everything okay. But it is/was a fact.
Great point. Everyone: Stop using this word now. Let it die a quick and terrible death.
I dig. But this implicates a whole lot of words that are offensive. EVERY racial slur. EVERY swear word (hell? damn? suck?). ...Some years ago, by the way, the Los Angeles Times put out a list of banned words. As I recall, such terms as "hillbilly" and "paddy wagon" made the list. I understand banning gratuitous use of these words, but if you're reporting on someone else saying them, are you supposed to say he or she said, "hill-----" or "h-word"?
Maybe Doug was just angling for a job at Fox News. Am I the only one shocked to learn that Dr. Laura is actually still on the air?
No cheap shots at Doug, but he has expressed his view that journalists are biased in favor of liberals. He took some public parting shots at WRC, channel 4, on this subject when he left that station to join ABC7 some years ago.
"N-word" is not a euphemism? Hmmm. Yes, you may be right. But "f-word" is actually longer than the word in question, so it can't be a truncation, can it?
Don't recall it, but there you go. This has come up before, obviously.
Sometimes people focus on small, unimportant tasks when the real problem is so huge they don't know how to tackle it. In the midst of a terrible economy we are making our money look prettier.
Well, it probably doesn't cost much to do it (although I admit I don't know WHAT it costs), and NOT doing it wouldn't contribute much to improving the economy, either, I suspect.
But physiology is the backbone of psychiatry.
And the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone! Bottom line: Would you go to see a physiologist if you had emotional or mental problems?
He had a vacation home in Rappahannock County, Va. , and invited Reagan to a party. Secret Service came through (probably several times) with a dog. Housekeeper decided it was finally okay to wash the kitchen floor. Who wants yet another walk-through? Secret Service AND dog. Housekeeper made agents take off their shoes AND carry the dog.
Excellent! And I like the anecdote (in Adam Bernstein's excellent obit of JJK today in the Post) about fudging the dateline on his newspaper columns because "Scrabble" (the town next door) sounded so much better than the actual town in which he was living.
Unless you are an MD or vet you shouldn't be calling yourself a doctor and that goes for psychologists and folks with Ph.D.s in a hard science or social science. I tell the lawyers and administrative judges I work with I have a JD after my name and for our line of work my jd for juvenile delinquent is lot more relevant than their jd or llb. I have marketable skills that can help me survive when it all goes to heel but their law degree will only make a good fires starter.
I've always thought it was pretentious for a Ph.D to call his/herself "doctor," particularly when the honorific had nothing to do with the context in which the person was speaking (such as making reservations at a restaurant). On the other hand, it takes as much work to get a Ph.D. as it does to become a dentist or a medical doctor, and no one questions dentists or medicos on this point.
As I understand it--and correct me if I'm wrong here--it costs way less than a dollar to print up a dollar. And dollars are in wide and constant use. Thus, it may be one of our most "efficient" pieces of currency.
Sorry, Karl Marx, but the only reason you could come to that conclusion is because the news media told you about corruption. Which it does on a frequent basis.
That's certainly been one rationale for it. But I don't see much evidence for it. It may even be the opposite. By constantly repeating a slur, a demeaned group doesn't really take "ownership" of that word. They simply perpetuate it. Better to let it die.
Hold on. Let's go back to Square One. Why is a physiologist who happens to have a radio-advice program calling herself "Dr."? Is she trying to suggest more expertise than she really has?
Oh, wait. Maybe they ARE known for football!
Great question. I don't know the answer. But I will say this: If the media DID spell out the bad words, it would be a fairly rare occurence. These kinds of stories don't come around all that often.
Yes, that's a great illustration of the problem. We can take this a little too far. I'm not sure where the line is.
Sometimes we don't even know a word is disparaging. My father's family is Welsh. We're a minor ethnic group in the U.S., known more for giving lexicographers around Philadelphia headaches than anything else. Yet in the last few years, I've had to call the Post and WTOP to raise an editor's consciousness because a reporter said someone "welshed" on a debt. If I can be irritated by a word used out of ignorance, how much more is a word used deliberately painful to the intended recipients? That word - I will not use it - is used only by Klansmen, Nazi wannabes, and the uneducated boys on the street.
"Welshed" was, I believe, one of the words that the L.A. Times sought to ban. But I'm tempted to argue that the ethic reference to "welshed" has been laundered out of society; that is, almost all speakers using that word have no idea it once referred to a particular group of people. There no similar ambiguity or obscurity with most racial slurs. They are very, very specific.
Well, it IS a terrible word. Shouldn't we be shocked about it? Isn't that why everyone's mad at Dr. L.? Words have meaning because we all (or generally all) agree on their meaning. And I think we agree that that one is painful and hurtful.
Well, I won't defend or condemn McKelway's reporting. But I would point out that facts alone don't justify everything. Context is important, too. And I would guess the question is, are those the facts that you want a reporter to report under those circumstances? Were there OTHER facts that he should have been reporting instead?
Could be; again, I admit my ignorance on issues such as coin re-design and copper smelting efficiencies.
Why should a medical doctor identify himself as "doctor" when making a reservation at a restaurant? Are they compiling a list of emergency responders, in case one of the diners starts to choke?
They would do it if they wanted to convey extra importance to their request; i.e., I'm not just any old hungry person making a reservation--I'M A DOCTOR, JIM!
And the doctor a) wouldn't notice a fellow diner rolling on the floor and help of his/her own accord, or b) wouldn't respond to a general call for a doctor if he/she was unaware that someone needed under those circumstances? Not buying it. Using "doctor" in that way is just a play for advantage or privilege.
Wouldn't you want to be defended by a guy who was (but did not possess) a "j.d."? He'd probably know all the funny tricks those coppers try...
Sure dollar bills are cheaper to make than dollar coins, but the US Mint has said on numerous occassions that going to dollar coins would save them money because of their longevity. The only problem is that people will not give up those dollar bills. I'm sure D.C. Parking would LOVE to see dollar coins used so drivers can start carrying baggies of dollar coins to plunk into their meters that charge $2 per 15 minutes.
Yeah, I think you're right. It goes against consumer preference to try and sell $1 coins. They're heavy and bulky. I hate carrying change around now.
My point exactly. Calling a gay person "queer" is STILL an insult, no matter how hard people tried to "sap" it of its power through repeated use.
Next question: How much does it cost to produce a $1 note vs. how much for a $1 coin? I wonder if the math still works out in the paper note's favor.
The reason that people don't trust newspapers and newscasts is because each one has a different angle so that you'll buy the news they're selling. Everyone puts some kind of spin on the news, and while I'm sure just about everyone out there has found a news outlet that they prefer or "trust," because they spin the news the way they want, there are probably another 10-15 sources of news those same people don't "trust" because the same story is spun in a way that they don't agree with. What people are thinking of as "trust" is really just a preferrence and agreement with the spin that news outlets are almost forced to put on a story to stay in business.
Ah, so the "alternative" sources of news, whatever those are, have reached some Platonic notion of objective purity? News, because it's produced and reported by human beings, will always project some sort of cultural/historical/class assumptions and/or bias. What's more important, however, is how those biases are recognized and balanced. On average, professional reporters tend to do a better job of this than the non-professional kind.
While it may be harder to get into professional school than graduate school, it is harder to get a Ph.D. than an MD or DVM. Having said that, the "Dr." title should not be used to mislead.
Well said. Thanks.
Thanks. But I'm not saying that she and/or Dr. Phil (good mention there; we forgot him) have to be professional psychologists to be TV or radio advice flingers. But it would be nice if the "Dr." thing didn't convey a false impression.
Yes. Fascinating, no? A staunch segregationist who also crusaded in behalf of an innocent black man. American history has a bunch of these kinds of contradictory figures. People aren't always--pardon the dumb pun--black or white in their behavior.
I stand corrected, of course. But again: As long as we have $1 denominations (and I take your point about inflation), people will prefer paper to metal for reasons that have nothing to do with cost efficiencies.
Oh, c'mon. That's hardly an insult.
Right. It's fair to point that out here. His use of "doctor" in his show's title seems pretty legit.
From North Texas State? Really?! ThreadWeave(R) of the day!!
Didn't hear it, but there you go. Weird....
We have both $1 and $2 coins. But, the only way they made that work was pull the paper currency at the same time. I like them, but there is a risk of devaluing a dollar ("hey, it's just change"). I don't look at dimes and nickels the same way, now.
And they call those things "loonies" (or perhaps "loonies," I dunno)...Gotta tell you that my pockets just bulge like a shoplifter when I go to a country that has those kinds of coins. I just hate it (though I appreciate the workout).
Here Paul, a nice analysis of the costs of bills vs the cost of coins:
CAGW Encourages Move Toward $1 Coin
Thanks for the fact check!
Yes, sad but true. The basic economic equation here is pretty simple: It costs very little to spew an opinion on the air, and it seems to attract an audience when you do. It costs a lot to hire a reporter to report, and people don't always pay attention. So, if you're running a news organization and you want to make a lot of money (or a lot MORE money), which would you choose?
I think the NY Times spelled out the f-word when Cheney dropped it; don't know if they did for Biden. And that great moment in The West Wing when Bartlet tore into the fake Dr. Laura was actually ripped off from a chain e-mail that had been going around for a while. I remembered having gotten the e-mail before the episode premiered. Aaron Sorkin at his sneakiest!
As I said before: Thanks for the fact check!
Well, I think he earned that title by the acclaim of the masses. Richly deserved, too!
Good distinction. I wish there was more oversight of the claims made in those ads, but that's another issue altogether...
Full confession: I went to one of them Euro-zone countries once and rented a car. This particular Euro-zone country had about 10 zillion tollbooths on its roads (maybe all of them do, I dunno). Because I didn't speak the language in this Euro-zone country, and I could never figure out the coins or the tolls each time I approached a booth, I would just hand the attendant a very large note each time and let him/her give me change. I got change all right--dozens and dozens of mysterious coins. I kept this up until a) my pockets were full to the brim, b) I had no more big notes to hand over, and c) I discovered much to my relief that there was a credit-card lane that required no human interaction!
Interesting point--it's the medico types that grabbed onto the "doctor" honorific that originally belonged to the Ph.Ds, not the other way around. Good to know. But it doesn't justify honorific abuse in any case.
We don't need to implant any chips. Cell phones can already do this (and the Japanese and Koreans are already using such a payment system). Still, I don't think it solves the need to carry currency. I now love my debit card, because it means I don't have to carry as much cash . But there are still situations in which only cash will do.
I always thought that name was shocking. Obviously, gay people may disagree with me, but I didn't think "queer" had evolved to that point.
But what do we do about the change that results from a big-denomination purchase? MORE coins?
Yes, but liberals complain about the "conservative" or "corporate" media all the time, too. We have no friends---wah, wah, wah....
I never introduce myself as "Mr.," unless forced to pick an honorific on a form. It seems unnecessary to me. First name, last name should be good enough, though I can understand picking one if you have an ambiguous first name.
is a term no knew was an insult before they knew it as a team name. So why do people want that name changed? And doesn't making a stink about it draw attention to it as an insult and give the name it's power to hurt?
Well, I'd hate to get into this now, but since you mention it, I've always thought the name was offensive, and an insult. But there's a very elaborate historical defense of it, too, which is what I'd hate to get into now...
As you reported at the time, the real issue in his suspension is probably not so much what he said on the air as what he said to the news director in his office, and we don't know what that was. (Do we? If so, what was it? Was the f-word used? Was the hyphen filled in?)
We don't know what he said to his boss because neither side is talking about it now. But we DO know that his report raised enough issues to prompt a conversation in the first place.
That is, I think, the issue here. Viewers (and news directors) can decide if those issues were the appropriate ones to steer to, but that is the issue nevertheless.
I think ignorance is a reasonable defense in these situations. "I just didn't know," followed by a simple apology, lets you off the hook in my book. But that's not the case with Dr. Laura. She knew all too well the meaning and power of that word.
For my high school year book quote I quoted the Paul Simon song Kodachrome - "After all the crap I've learned in high school it's any wonder I can think at all." But the yearbook people thought crap was too bad a word, so they replaced it with stuff. Thus giving me the most retarded year book quote in the school. Yea!
I think I've heard that lyric changed on the radio, too, but I could be imagining it. And "retarded"? Questionable use there.
My question is -- who are the media purporting to "protect" by shielding them from profanities? All those young kids trolling newspapers or their Web sites? 'Cause they're not going to come across those words anywhere else, right? Or humanity, in general? Again, unless we restrict ourselves only to media outlets that censor, we're bound to encounter those same words in countless other places. Try riding the bus some time. besides, I've read/heard plenty of statements that are as or more offensive than "the n-word" without using ANY obscenity (see: Bill O'Reilly). We should focus on the sentiment, not the word itself.
Yes, and the sentiment in Dr. L's case, was a little hostile. She wasn't using the word to slur anyone, per se. But she was using it to criticize an African-American's "hypersensitivity" to the word. Well, why wouldn't an African-American react strongly to that word? It's insulting. So, in context, Dr. L comes off as racially insensitive.
Rock is quite hilarious on this subject, isn't he? To me, that's really the only acceptable use of the word--as a comment on its use and abuse by others.
Paul, did you see the story about a talk show host getting fired in Arkansas because she wore a Florida Gator hat to a post-scrimmage press conference for the Arkansas football team? The coach said he wouldn't take any more questions from her with the hat on. She said she only wore it because it was raining (she is a Florida alum). As if this isn't goofy enough, the coach at Arkansas is Bobby Petrino and he's not exactly a poster boy for loyalty to any school or team. He got a 10-year contract at Louisville in order to keep him from taking other offers. Six months later, he left to go to the Atlanta Falcons. He stayed there one year and left to go to Arkansas. He doesn't have much room to talk.
I hate it when reporters, who are supposed to project neutrality in all things, wear team insignia (the Redskins even required reporters on their preseason telecasts to wear Redskins apparel; ugh!). That said, it's none of the coach's business. Answer questions about football and shut up about the rest of it.
I went to my 30th. It was okay. Not great, frankly. I doubt I'll be back for another.
Sorry, I don't speak Canadian, so I don't know what's what. I'll let the people of the northern realm fight this one out.
That's what I thought, too.
Yes.
Literary recommendation o' the day! We're all about encouraging reading here. Thanks.
Wow--two pounds?! That sounds really heavy. Couldn't they make it lighter...Oh, two pounds as in "the name for British currency is the pound?" Those kinds of pounds?...Never mind.
Hahaha!
Ah. R.I.P., Mr. T. Poor guy--he probably spent the past 60 years of his life talking about that single moment....
Paul, I used to work in TV news and I would have called McKelway to explain himself after this report. One, was his reporting consistent with other reporting on protests, i.e., did he make note of the crowd size (or lack thereof) at other events? Did he characterize groups as "far right" when appropriate? Finally, he was clearly making an editorial comment when he mentioned the "BP" campaign contributions to Obama's campaign. In point of fact, Obama's campaign took contributions from BP employees, not from any PAC associated with BP. In overall spending, BP gave more money to Republicans than Democrats in last election cycle. His selective use of facts without explanation and attempt to downplay the significance of the rally would have raised questions. I wouldn't have fired or suspended him for it, just asked questions. Apparently they did ask, he went off and that's why he got suspended.
Thanks. If I had been McKelway's boss, I would have found those question appropriate, too. That's not a partisan statement, either--it would have been appropriate to raise those issues no matter what kind of rally or story was being covered.
"Dr. Phil holds a B.A. from Midwestern State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from North Texas State University with a dual area of emphasis in clinical and behavioral medicine."
Bingo! Perhaps he even took jazz classes at NT State, too.
I have many reasons to cringe looking back at my h.s. yearbook. I think it's why there are yearbooks in the first place. Keeps you humble later in life.
Yes, speaking of humble. I found, however, that the people I never liked in high school, I still didn't like all those years later (but I did like seeing again the people I actually liked back when)...
Thoughts, comments, suggestions or criticisms about The Post's Live Q&As? Send us an e-mail.
Become a fan of Post Live on Facebook.
Follow @postlive on Twitter.
