PrintNovember 30, 2006
Kramer meets the Godfather
The scene is a darkened, wood-paneled office with a huge oak door providing entrance to a dimly lit, sanctified chamber. On each side of the portal stands a tall, husky man wearing a 3-piece suit and a sinister countenance. A grim-faced middle-aged man sits behind a huge desk next to a floor to ceiling window shrouded in dark drapes. He nods solemnly to one of the sentinels and the man opens the door slowly, revealing the drooping, cowering figure of a has-been comic who made the near fatal mistake of using racist language during his onstage act.
The man at the desk nods again and the shivering figure is directed to enter. He walks slowly on wobbly legs toward the outstretched hand of the man at the desk and kneels before kissing the man's ring. The foregoing is a perhaps imaginative fictionalized account of a recent meeting between Michael Richards, the Kramer character in "Seinfeld" and the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson, the race-baiting agitator turned "Capo di tutti capi" in charge of all prohibited speech and black-white controversies in the country.
When Mr. Richards erupted in spasms of racist rhetoric during his routine at a Los Angeles comedy club it was a foregone conclusion that he'd inevitably have to prostrate himself at the feet of the Godfather and beg for forgiveness. After the comedy club outburst was broadcast to every planet in the universe, Jackson didn't waste any time calling for a boycott of the latest DVD Seinfeld season being offered for sale.
When Richards finished groveling at the feet of the hypocritical hustler, he crawled out of the room metaphorically on his belly, grateful that his life had been spared. Then, the "Reverend" put in a call to the news media, telling them that Richards had shown the proper respect, but should get treatment for his malady.
Let's face it: what Richards did on that stage was one of the ugliest, most despicable tirades ever viewed on national television. It seems quite evident that he has some issues to deal with. But, is Jesse Jackson qualified to give absolution to someone with a bigotry problem? I seem to remember this so-called "Reverend" having his own fit of hateful invective. Some years ago, in what could only be described as a vicious anti-Semitic remark, Jackson used insulting words toward New York Jews when he referred to the city as "Hymietown."
It would seem just as clear that Jackson is in need of treatment for his own malady. To whom did he go to beg forgiveness? Did he pay a visit to a rabbi and get advice on his condition? Did anyone call for a boycott of the Rainbow/Push Coalition and a plea to stop donating to any of Jackson's other enterprises? I don't remember anyone calling for the complete destruction of the man because of a poorly chosen utterance that was delivered in anger. Moreover, so far as I know, no one asked him to his face if he had used that term at any other time in his life, or prescribed a visit to a psychiatrist.
He wasn't constantly badgered and forced to do a repetitious mea culpa. Attorney, Gloria Allred didn't go on national television to proclaim that she was suing Jackson because of the emotional damage he did to the Jewish residents of the Big Apple.
I don't doubt that Jackson has some serious issues with Jews and probably with all white people. Does that mean he gets a pass because of his darker skin pigmentation? After using such bigoted language, how does he have the standing to chastise others for doing the same thing?
After one of my recent columns was published, I was accused by some of being a racist because I said racist words should not be used by people of any color. Some, who described themselves as black, told me that it's okay for them to use such language toward each other, but whites have no right to use it. That is utter nonsense! No one has a monopoly on speech in this country. Either stop it for all, or stop it for none! If any good comes of Richards' bad behavior, it will be a national discussion of the need to apply uniform standards for speech to all groups, equal as we all are under our Constitution.
Bob Weir is a former detective sergeant in the New York City Police Department. He is the excutive editor of The News Connection in Highland Village, Texas. Email Bob
