Whoopi Goldberg

[Neurochick]

Yesterday, my mom heard Whoopi say that. My mom's from Virginia and she never heard of dogfighting until she started hearing about people getting pit bulls. But it's not a cultural thing, Whoopi is lying.

She should talk about something important, like the injustice to the Jenna 6 rather than Michael Vick.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

From what I gathered, she was not condoning his actions but trying to explain why Vick may not have realized what he did was wrong. Because, you know, southerners don't get that torturing and killing animals is cruel and illegal.

[underjoyed]

I would really like to see an open letter or email about this to The View or a well-known newspaper. Being Southern seems to have been put forward recently as a defense for stupidity or cruelty, and it would be working my last fragile nerve if I was from the South. Dogfighting? Shoot, I'm from the South! Driving with my baby on my lap? I'm country, y'all! That's our way! We're not too bright down here.

airbrushed said:

Seriously guys, did she actually defend him and say it was okay? Or was she just highlighting that he isn't unique and that there is a subculture that some people belong to where his behavior is prevelant?

Good point; it's the latter, in my opinion. But I don't buy the argument that because an established subculture exists (and I think that itself is debatable), that therefore Vick didn't know that there was a broader societal disapproval of it. I mean, he kept it pretty well hidden. The idea that he couldn't be expected to know any better ooks me out for several reasons. Plus, as someone else pointed out, there are various "traditional" unpleasant Southern "subcultures" that exist, but the people who participate in them tend to be aware that they aren't smiled upon by society as a whole. I assume Whoopi will be defending those, as well.

She should talk about something important, like the injustice to the Jenna 6 rather than Michael Vick.

Yep.

[airbrushed]

babyfishmouth said:

From what I gathered, she was not condoning his actions but trying to explain why Vick may not have realized what he did was wrong. Because, you know, southerners don't get that torturing and killing animals is cruel and illegal.

I thought she was saying that these people know that it's cruel and illegal but they do it anyway. I kind of got the feeling she was getting at the problem being deeper than one might think because there is a subculture attached and there are a bunch of people out there that would need to be shown that their ways will not be tolerated. The people that breed the dogs, fight them and the crowds who turn up on the weekend and watch and gamble.

That was what I extrapolated from what she seemed to be trying to get across.

I think she may not have been talking about Southerners in general. Like when people talk about gang culture they are not talking about Los Angelans in general. They would be talking about the underground subversive subculture of a minority.

I however have to say that with all the breaks he had making money as an NFL star and the exposure he had to the world why the hell with this stuff? It's just so backward among many more other obvious things. And wasn't it members of his own family who reported him? I don't know the story, just heard they didn't like it either and they reported it.

[Brookie]

I like Whoopie but defending Michael Vick is unquestionably indefensible. His little tale about being an ignorant Southerner doesn't wash (BTW, I'm originally from Alabama, so I must qualify, too). He lived the good life as a well-paid, nationally known professional athlete who was exposed to privilege and wealth. Something in his personality (greed?) drove him to be callous, cruel and cold-hearted. It has nothing to do with regional values. (What a crock of shit; I hope his defense team has something other than that up their sleeves.)

[underjoyed]

airbrushed said:

I think she may not have been talking about Southerners in general. Like when people talk about gang culture they are not talking about Los Angelans in general. They would be talking about the underground subversive subculture of a minority.

Except that she said this:

"It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico," she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country."

Granted, she's not saying ALL Southerners do this, because that would be patently ridiculous. But she *is* linking this subculture with the South, specifically. Which, to me (and although she didn't say it), veers uncomfortably into a kind of it's-their-way territory.

Plus, what bstewart said. "Indicative to"?

[dragonfly80]

You know what Whoopi? I've lived as deep in the South as you can get for 26 years and never EVER knew of anyone that did dog fighting or even really what it was until all these scandals started breaking within the past few years. Trust me when I say that a good Southern boy would rather shoot you for looking at his dog wrong than harm a dog, a philosophy I subscribe to as well.

She's always bugged me but on a pretty low level. Now I am just pissed off at her utter stupidity. Oh well the View's ratings will likely go up and that's all that matters.

She should talk about something important, like the injustice to the Jenna 6 rather than Michael Vick.

You don't think that if the race roles were reversed that she and Sharpton and Jackson would be yelling that the charges were reduced and what a travesty of justice it was? In the case of Jena I can't help but think if you viciously beat someone you deserve to be jailed, no matter what color you or the victim are.

[Witchie]

I'm from Atlanta, and I'm so sick of hearing Vick and his supporters blaming his actions on being from the South. I know plenty of men his age who don't participate in dogfighting. It's not a cultural thing. It's an ignorance thing. It has nothing to do with race or culture. I really like Whoopi, but damnit, I'm sick of hearing it's a Southern black thing. It's not!

[Neurochick]

You don't think that if the race roles were reversed that she and Sharpton and Jackson would be yelling that the charges were reduced and what a travesty of justice it was? In the case of Jena I can't help but think if you viciously beat someone you deserve to be jailed, no matter what color you or the victim are.

This is OT but since you brought it up.


Anyway, Whoopi should know that it's not a Southern thing at all; I'm sure that many Southerners like my mom have never even heard of dogfighting.

[swanflake]

daisynukem said:

Oh for shit's sake. Slavery is also part of Southern culture, and the ku klux klan. I wonder how Whoopi feels about that?

THANK YOU! Whoopi only trots this shit out when it's convenient for her. If one of her granddaughters was in an unhealthy relationship with a black man, there's no way that she'd ever accept some kind of excuse of how that's what said black man learned in his culture, or anything like that. She wouldn't play that for a second. And Michael Vick is 27. Not a "kid" as Whoopi keeps calling him in an attempt to build her whole Old Wise Mother Whoopi persona.

I have no intention of watching "The View" this year, but someone turned it on this morning, so I listened to the beginning. They were all pulling a Rosie about the controversy--acting like people are trying to find controversy where there is none and are manipulating Whoopi's words, choosing not to examine what her point was out of narrow-mindedness. They're all such frauds. They love acting like they're being picked on. Whoopi made some joke about how the papers are saying she eats dogs, again pulling another Rosie by making a misdirected exaggeration about the controversy to dismiss what the issues at fault really are with her comments.

Then they all finished that little segment with their usual spiel about how it's so great to have women together on TV expressing their opinions. Yes, every word out of their mouths and on the TV is a triumph for womankind everywhere. And anyone who disagrees with them or who thinks their show is stupid probably just hates women. That's why Harry Reasoner hated Barbara Walters, you know, in case you missed hearing her say it the first 5,000 times. Yeah, it has nothing to do with all of the ill-informed, ignorant, self-serving, poorly thought, dishonest, hypocritical, dumbfucked things that have been said by the various co-hosts on the show. No, people who don't find the co-hosts of "The View" as brilliant as they each find themselves must totally hate women. But the co-hosts just laugh it off and keep on speakin' their minds! What courage.