Viet-Justice

Just a little reminder for all you folks out there that think whites and blacks are mistreating Asians by using racist humor among other things. Asians can be racist too, so stop being the proverbial pot calling the kettle black when you are outraged at white people such as JV & Elvis, Rosie O’ Donnell, Imus, or black Gangsta Rappaz such as Ice Cube, ICE-T, and others.

I think this video shows that discrimination based on race or nationality is a culturally accepted aspect of at least one Asian country. Is this a dirty little secret we would prefer for whites, blacks, and latinos not to know? It’s a little difficult to expect others to be nice when we are guilty of basically the same thing. Keep that in mind before you start whining.

I’m all for putting people in prison for violent crime, but we already have laws on the books that deal with violent crime without getting into whether the victim is a racial minority or gay or something else. The President’s expected veto is a welcome act.

“State and local criminal laws already provide criminal penalties for the violence addressed by the new federal crime defined in section 7 of H.R. 1592, and many of these laws carry stricter penalties (including mandatory minimums and the death penalty) than the proposed language in H.R. 1592,” the statement said.

The above statement is a good point. The 50 states have their own laws and I am greatly dismayed that our Federal legislators are wasting time reinventing the wheel. In addition, only Federal authorities can enforce Federal law. I do not see the FBI going out to arrest people for violating laws such as this. It’s difficult enough getting your local police to help, especially when they’re out blowing things up like Boston PD.

Surprising minority advocates are supporting the idea of the veto.

Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues with Concerned Women for America, was quick to praise the statement.

The bill would penalize someone who commits an act of violence against a homosexual more so than any other person. Assault is assault and murder is murder. We need to stop trying to invent new forms of hate crime and enforce the laws that are already on the books. I also believe that good self defense training can act as a deterrent. Most people are not going to commit assault if they know the potential of getting injured or shot themselves.

Comedians and shock jocks of the world, you had better watch out. The Vatican has said comedy is terrorism.

The Vatican’s official newspaper accused an Italian comedian on Wednesday of “terrorism” for criticizing the Pope and warned his rhetoric could fuel a return to 1970s-style political violence.

“This, too, is terrorism. It’s terrorism to launch attacks on the Church,” it said. “It’s terrorism to stoke blind and irrational rage against someone who always speaks in the name of love, love for life and love for man.”

It is official that making jokes about the Church is now being on the wrong side of the War on Terror. Apparently it isn’t safe to make jokes about anyone these days. Not only can you get fired or suspended from your day job at CBS, your soul will be condemned to hell, and “W” will launch a “regime change” against your household.

While we have kicked the JV & Elvis issue around quite a bit. Albert and I can agree that this is an artistic issue where taste in the literary form of Sarcasm is at issue. Some groups think it is funny while OCA and others find it offensive. I will now argue that the PC slippery slope does put the Constitution in danger. By being overly sensitive and getting our feelings hurt the terms discriminatory and stereotypical have been thrown around. To everyone’s credit nobody that I know of has foolishly used the term “hate speech”.

Now how does expressing your outrage over comedians and shock jocks endanger our freedom of speech? Aside from the slippery slope we have to worry about hate speech legislation. Not the stuff in the US, but the crazy legislation being drafted in the EU.

The proposed regulations would require E.U. governments to impose criminal sanctions against people or groups “publicly inciting violence or hatred . . . directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, color, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.” Under the recommendations, conviction on those charges would carry jail terms of up to one year.

There is already criticism that such legislation could rewrite history because some groups may find either their own history or someone else’s offensive. Iran is denying the holocaust occurred. Now if enough people bitch that they find the holocaust offensive or if enough Jews decide they don’t want to remember then all historical record could be erased. The first step in letting history repeat itself is forgetting what has happened.

Tying this new proposed legislation into satire and sarcasm, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed pictures of the Prophet Mohammad which touched off a fire storm of riots and threats by Muslim terrorists. The Muslims claimed that publishing the pictures of Mohammad by non-believers was an insult which of course gave them free license to riot and call for the execution of the editorial writers. As a show of solidarity many US publications and bloggers republished the pictures saying that freedom of speech trumps others being offended. At Viet-Justice we went farther to create our own blasphemy by tossing ridicule at the people rioting in the streets of Europe. I guarantee most Muslims would find it offensive, but this is artistic expression, and protected by the Constitution.

Great, Quan, we know Europe is messed up, but how does that affect us? This affects us through the implementation of Treaties. Treaties are agreements with other countries that do override our constitution. One example was a UN sponsored treaty to ban the ownership of guns by private citizens worldwide. If the US signed on with this treaty it would nullify our 2^nd Amendment. The 1^st Amendment can be just as easily nullified.

Normally a constitutional amendment is an involved process requiring lots of voting. To ratify a treaty it requires the President, and two-thirds of the Senate, totally bypassing the normal checks and balances put into place. Rumor has it President Bush recently bypassed the Senate in an attempt to setup a North American Union merging the US, Canada, and Mexico as seen in this CNN Video. Treaties can happen without our knowledge and we should be vigilant.

There are a lot of well meaning people out there that believe we as a country do not participate in world affairs to a great extent. One example is the International Criminal Court. Yes it makes sense to go after war criminals, but President Bush along with India’s leader have opposed the ICC since any citizen could be extradited and placed on trial for violating the laws of another country. Stop and think about that for a moment.

Think of the Internet and the telephone today. They break down barriers to communication. In addition they expose us to new things that go beyond what we would see in our local community. Obscenity and pornography easily come to mind here because the Internet does away with “community values” in favor of the least restrictive in the world. But what if you said something that was illegal in another country on the Internet? Today you are protected by the Constitution, unless you travel to that country. China is already trying to find out which of their expatriates are badmouthing the government and such people tend to be held in prison for a long time when they go back to china. The same goes for Iran.

What if tomorrow the US ratifies a treaty with the EU accepting their “hate crime” legislation and if the US is a member of the ICC, you could be snatched out of your home and sent to Europe to stand trial for saying something offensive. The US Government would have to send you away because of the treaty and you would be subject to the laws of that other country. Is that the world we really want to live in? Well that is the slippery slope we are riding on if go overboard with being offended by satire or sarcasm.  In Europe, Muslims are complaining that Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are offensive.  In England “The Three Little Pigs” was rewritten to “The Three Little Puppies” because Muslims don’t like Pigs.  Do you really want to live in that kind of world?  Globalization and carelessly accepting what is offensive and hateful will put us there.

You can be offended, that is your right and nobody is telling you that you can’t be offended or that you should keep your mouth shut. Just realize that crying “hate speech” puts all speech in danger since you never know if what you have to say is hateful somewhere else. All speech is hateful. All speech is not hateful. It depends on which side of the line you choose to stand on. There is never any one right answer to anything.

Another thing that bothered me from the Fallout Central podcast debate with Albert was his blatant disregard for the US Constitution. I made the point that I have not heard JV & Elvis or Rosie O’Donnell and I don’t need to hear them. He said that was like hiding your head in the sand and sitting idly by while the boogeyman is forming from some nebulous fog or a Stephen King novel. Not only should we watch what the boogeyman is doing, but putting a stop to that boogeyman is what this approach is all about. Pro-censorship approach? If it looks like pho noodle soup, and tastes like pho noodle soup, then it must be Pho!

In order to defend JV & Elvis, Rosie, or anyone else I do not need to hear what their speech is. If you have to hear what someone else has to say in order to validate it, then you do not believe in freedom of speech and sadly you do not believe in our country. You actually believe that some speech has more merit than other speech. I believe so much in our country and our Constitution that I do not need to hear what anyone says in order to support their right to say it. I may disagree with the points they are making, but we can all agree to disagree. This is the future folks. Be prepared to bow to your new Asian overlords and have your speech validated by the censors. Welcome to The United States of Asians.

I’ve had a few minutes to stew over the podcast debate with Fallout Central. I really didn’t get to make any hard hitting arguments in that 1 minute final rebuttal so this is my space to say what wasn’t said.

First the fact that the Asian community is getting their own set of Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons being a good thing. WTF? These guys were relevant in the 70′s, but really their time has come to pass the torch on to a new set of civil rights champions that can argue about modern issues. This will be a grim day when the Asian community has the same group of people making us look like a bunch of whiners to the rest of the country.

This new Asian power movement bothers me to the extreme. I had thought that we were above wallowing in some made up sorrow for ourselves and beginning to blame White and Black people for our problems. The problem is in the mirror, not with Whites or Blacks. I have heard the voice of fear mongering tonight and I do not think it is a pretty voice. The guys on Fallout Central seem convinced that something bad is coming. Something like racial oppression targeted at Asians or internment camps from WWII. They see Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay as being part of a small group of people that are going to lead us down a slippery slope. I read about how violence against Asians is on the rise, but I don’t see that in Atlanta, “The City Too Busy to Hate”. For some reason the fear and paranoia meter are off the scale with these guys.

What really bothers me is that Albert was convinced that bad things were coming and people like me who ignore it will go running back to them because somehow they will have all the answers. Run back to them; the yellow Jesse Jacksons of the world? I don’t think so. I can protect myself and nobody else has that duty While I hate it that other Asians have suffered from violence I must point out they are at fault for not defending themselves. In the US Supreme Court case DESHANEY v. WINNEBAGO CTY. SOC. SERVS. DEPT it was ruled that a government agency is not liable for not protecting you. This means that the police do not have an obligation to protect you. We know all too well that cops just write reports after you’ve been beaten and robbed. So the only one left to protect you is you. Learn martial arts, carry a knife, get a concealed weapons permit, and learn to shoot. If you want to stop racial violence, muggings, car jackings, etc. just bust a cap in the perpetrator and that will cause all criminals to think twice.

As Neal Boortz has said on his radio show hate crime legislation is thought crime legislation. Just because someone is yelling racial obscenities when they’re beating you does not justify adding 10 years on to their sentence. We already have laws against aggravated assault and strong arm robbery. The end result is the same, you were beaten. The motivation behind the assault doesn’t factor in to that equation, whether robbery or prejudice. Is it a good thing to add on to a prison sentence because of someone’s thoughts? I don’t think so. Today it is racial slurs, but tomorrow pro-choice speech could be considered hate speech because you are ok with the killing of defenseless babies. What if you say something bad about the Westboro Baptist Church and their God Hates Fags campaign? If you’re against Jesus you’re guilty of a hate crime, non-believer! This is a slippery slope that we should be really concerned with, not a couple of shock jocks or Rosie O’ Donnell.

Maybe I am wrong for being critical of Fallout Central. But I do not think sacrificing the Constitution is a good thing to do. That really bothers me, a fracking lot for them to think that all the Asians who didn’t listen to them will come running back and begin groveling for their help. I can see a civil race war coming in this country from all sides. The legal system is going to become bogged down and political correctness will run amok and Asians will be to blame. Is this the legacy we want to leave for the rest of the country? I have seen the face of evil today. It has yellow skin and slanty eyes. I know that when the race war comes I will not be fighting alongside Fallout Central and their special interest groups like The Asian American Justice Center. If being Asian is about towing their party line, then from this moment forward I am White or Latino.

John Edwards has revealed to the world that he is no friend of the constitution. He has come forward and condemned Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay (AKA JV & Elvis) of WFNY.

“The recent radio skit of these two hosts was beyond disgusting. As individuals and as a nation, we have to condemn this kind of language—there is just no place for it in our public dialogue.

No, Mr. Edwards, we should condemn you for saying there is no place for this kind of language in our public dialogue. If you object to this, what is next?

That was good clean fun with William and Albert over at Fallout Central.  Lots of good issues were discussed regarding JV & Elvis.  We did maintain that this is a literary issue and that it is up to the advertisers to make the decision.  Albert is of the opinion that the Jessie Jacksification of the Asian-American people is a good thing.  I must respectfully disagree.  We are not an abused race and we do not need to start acting like victims.  I do not see Asians being abused by the media.  Unfortunately I see a Yellow Panthers movement brewing where Albert stated (paraphrasing) Asians are tired of being pushed around and the anger is building.  I don’t see the pushing, but obviously this can’t be good for those of us that don’t want to be lumped in with the whiners.

Albert did mention that the Libertarian live and let live philosophy is the opposite of the PC slippery slope.  Again I must respectfully disagree.  All speech, including hate speech must be protected. I am not ready to throw the Constitution out the window because of fear.  As much as I dislike the Skinheads and Ku Klux Klan I would be in the streets marching for their right to say what they want to say.

The wonderful guys at Fallout Central have decided to call me for a debate on the JV & Elvis Non-Controversy.  I am expecting the call to be published in the Tuesday version of their podcast.

Since Imus, many people have been acting stupid and I’m not talking about the shock jocks. Aside from Cho Seung-Hiu being stupid there are a lot of dumb Asians out there. “The Dog House With JV and Elvis,”on WFNY caused a major stink when hosts Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay punked some Chinese restaurants by calling up and asking for “very large slimp flied lice.” among other things. Well here come the party poopers.

Ben Fong-Torres is the radio critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. He called for JV and Elvis to be fired and added that it wouldn’t be the first time for the duo. “It’s time to continue to send messages. I know it may never work. But this is the society we live in now. The more people get really penalized for doing this kind of stuff — this demeaning, insulting, derogatory, racist kind of material in the guise of humor — the better off we are.”

Even the fools at Fallout Central are getting into the spirit of things. They have asked for people to appear on their podcast to defend JV & Elvis. I have offered to appear and defend their constitutional right to express themselves in whatever way they want.

Subject:
JV & Elvis Non-Controversy
From: Quan Trinh
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:47:13 -0400
To: comments@falloutcentral.com

Greetings,

I’m an Asian-American living in ___________ and I wanted to chime in on
the whole JV & Elvis non-controversy. My family first arrived in
America at the end of the Vietnam war and I absolutely love the freedoms
that we have in this country.

To that end I am a free market capitalist and a believer that the 1st
Amendment is absolute in all aspects. I have only heard the news media
reports of JV & Elvis’ show and some sound clips on the Internet, so I
do not know their entire history; however, I will be the first to rush
to their defense as an American Citizen who believes in freedom of speech.

If you refer back to your 2nd year Literature classes in College out of
many genre, there are two here that come into play, Satire and Sarcasm.
Satire is meant to be witty, but critical. Sarcasm is critical as well,
but less kind and more direct. Both have been used as forms of art
throughout the centuries.
If you take a look at Comedy Central most of the popular shows, such as
Mind of Mencia, South Park, and The Chapelle Show, could be classified
as Sarcasm. We as people tend to like racial stereotypes and insults,
provided it is on Comedy Central. Why limit it to there? What about
FOX network? The early seasons of MadTV had a skit with Ms. Swan, an
Asian woman who owns a nail salon and speaks poor “Engrish”. The MadTV
skits were very funny to me in my younger years because they reminded me
of my mother’s mannerisms.

As for Mr. Vandergrift being married to an Asian woman, I can see him
using that as a valid excuse based on the mixed couples I have
encountered. To cite a case of a Jewish friend, his girlfriend is
always telling Jew jokes. Now this may sound offensive, but she is only
repeating the Jew jokes her boyfriend tells everyone else. Is it less
insulting when a Jew tells a Jew joke? How do we know that Mr.
Vandergrift is not getting material from his wife? Is it wrong for you
to make jokes about your race/heritage and if you do; is there any
expectation that other groups can not or should not repeat said jokes?

Is it wrong when people like fellow Asians like AZN Thugz write songs
such as “Got rice” that are very stereotypical? Or
http://www.gregbender.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/asian.swf

What about their other song “Racing Ain’t a Thang” where they rap about
their street racing rice cars?
http://www.hotlyrics.net/lyrics/A/Asian_Pride/Got_Rice_(part_2).html

America is based on free market capitalism. I do not believe JV & ELvis
should be taken off the air by CBS. If they are so offensive then they
will fall in the ratings and a more popular show will take their place.
If they survive then I believe it is a sign that their brand of Sarcasm
is a viable product in the marketplace and based on simple Darwinism
should be allowed to continue.

I believe that the 1st Amendment is absolute in protecting all speech.
The US Constitution does not exempt certain speech from protection, only
judges since its writing have made exception based on community
standards. I do not support those rulings and I interpret the US
Constitution literally.

I think that Asians, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, etc should lighten up a
bit and be a little less serious. Everyone should grow a thicker skin.
It isn’t a nice world out there and you have no control over what
happens. Shrug it off, ignore it, deal with it, move on.

Hats off to Natasha Yi for defending her husband. First, you always
back the home team no matter what the home team does, or you switch
teams. Second, she knows how to kick back and let the water roll off
her back.

If you are interested in discussing or debating further on your podcast
I can be reached at nnn-nnn-nnnn Sunday evening. I would really be
interested to know if I am in the minority as an Asian American who
thinks you are way out of line. Please respond to this email so I can
block out a couple of hours uninterrupted for the call if you wish to
speak to me. I will be very interested to see if you do call other
Asians to get a counterpoint.