Just a quick note here.
I have to confess that I haven't been sending out the letters everyday like I thought I would. I have been emailing Mars, Kelloggs and Olive Garden. (There are probably better email addresses to use, but I've been googling the company's name along with contact information). At least I feel like I'm doing something.
I've heard conflicting reports that Olive Garden may have dropped its advertising from the Letterman Show. I'll be away from the computer for a few days. I'll have to see how things are when I get back to it. I'll probably continue emailing Mars and Kelloggs, and possibly adding Johnson and Johnson.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Bullies
When we think of bullies, we think of the nasty kids who taunt, push and demand money from the kids without the power. We think of Scut Farkus, from A Christmas Story who relentlessly taunts Ralphie and his friends. They habitually back down.
I've been thinking about bullies this past week. Isn't a comedian who has a show and incessantly pounds at particular individuals, a kind of bully? I mean, if you say anything in response, you come across as being a poor sport who can't take a joke. If you consistently taunt the same person over and over, and hide behind the mask of "comedian", aren't you being a bully? The victim of your taunts can't fight back. Think of Tina Fey's caricatures of Sarah Palin during the campaign. Think of the late night comedians relentless pounding of her character. It would be different if they told the same number and same kind of jokes against liberals. But they don't - it isn't even close.
Letterman, in particular, has not given up smashing Bush/Cheney and Palin, even though Obama has been in office for 6 months. How is that anything other than laziness and mean-spiritedness? In his faux-apology, he implied that he shouldn't have to defend what he said because they're "just jokes". Is that an acceptable standard? Should we be able to say anything we want with impunity, as long as we call it a joke? Or does that standard only apply if you're ridiculing a conservative woman?
Don't get me wrong. It's a free country. Letterman can say whatever he wants. He just doesn't have the right to use the public airwaves to spew his hate and then get paid for it.
If this stands, if bullies can get away with mocking the statutory rape the daughter of a conservative woman, what's next?
It's time to contact CBS and its sponsors. It's time to use our dollars and our time as a weapon. It's time to fight back.*
I've been thinking about bullies this past week. Isn't a comedian who has a show and incessantly pounds at particular individuals, a kind of bully? I mean, if you say anything in response, you come across as being a poor sport who can't take a joke. If you consistently taunt the same person over and over, and hide behind the mask of "comedian", aren't you being a bully? The victim of your taunts can't fight back. Think of Tina Fey's caricatures of Sarah Palin during the campaign. Think of the late night comedians relentless pounding of her character. It would be different if they told the same number and same kind of jokes against liberals. But they don't - it isn't even close.
Letterman, in particular, has not given up smashing Bush/Cheney and Palin, even though Obama has been in office for 6 months. How is that anything other than laziness and mean-spiritedness? In his faux-apology, he implied that he shouldn't have to defend what he said because they're "just jokes". Is that an acceptable standard? Should we be able to say anything we want with impunity, as long as we call it a joke? Or does that standard only apply if you're ridiculing a conservative woman?
Don't get me wrong. It's a free country. Letterman can say whatever he wants. He just doesn't have the right to use the public airwaves to spew his hate and then get paid for it.
If this stands, if bullies can get away with mocking the statutory rape the daughter of a conservative woman, what's next?
It's time to contact CBS and its sponsors. It's time to use our dollars and our time as a weapon. It's time to fight back.*
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sponsor Contact Information
I generally don't participate in letter writing campaigns, boycotts, etc. But I have 16 letters on my desk right now, ready to be mailed to the board members of Mars, Kelloggs and Olive Garden. I'm taking the advice from the hillbuzz website, and I'll try to send out a letter each day to each of those board members until they withdraw their sponsorship of the Letterman show.
I've saved each letter in a file, so I'm planning on only changing the date each day and printing them off and sending them. Maybe I'll occasionally reword them. I'm sending them via regular mail. FedEx would be way too cost prohibitive.
The Hillbuzz site originally formed to back Hillary Clinton. I became aware of it closer to the election because of it's strong support of Sarah Palin. I just finished reading an article there on the difference between Republicans and Democrats, and the fact that Republicans back down way too quickly. Right now, CBS is telling its sponsors that this will all blow over quickly.
Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Maybe there are enough conservatives who are tired of being bullied by the main stream media, and they're willing to fight back.
Here is some contact information for some of Letterman's sponsors, as compiled by http://www.hillbuzz.org/:*
KELLOGGS COMPANY
One Kellogg Square
PO Box 3599
Battle Creek, MI 49016-3599
(269) 961-2000
(800) 962-1413
Write to these 6 people over and over and over again:
(1) James M. Jenness – Chairman of the Board
(2) A.D. David Mackay – President and CEO
(3) John A. Bryant – COO and CFO
(4) Mark R. Baynes – VP and CMO
(5) Brian S. Rice – SVP, CIO
(6) Gary H. Pilnick – SVP, General Counsel, Corporate Development and Secretary
UPDATE: MARS CANDY is owned exclusively by the Mars family. John Franklyn Mars is the company Chairman.
Products include: 3 Musketeers, Combos, Dove chocolate, Kudos, Mars Bar, Milky Way, Skittles, Snickers, Starburst, Twix, and Whiscas cat food
Write to these 2 people over and over again:
Chairman: John Franklyn Mars
President and CEO: Paul S. Michaels
MARS, Inc.
6885 Elm Street
McClean Virginia 22101-3810
(703) 821-4900
FAX: 703-448-9678
THE OLIVE GARDEN CONTACT INFORMATION:
Write to these 8 people over and over again
(1) Clarence J. Otis — Chairman/CEO
(2) Andrew H. Madsen — President/COO
(3) David T. Pickens — Senior VP
(4) Brad Richmond — CFO
(5) Valerie K. Collins — Corporate Controller
(6) Bob McAdam — SVP Government and Community Affairs
(7) Gene Lee – President Special Restaurant Group
(8) Paula J. Shives — General Counsel and Secretary
Darden Restaurants Office (address for all above):
5900 Lake Ellenor Drive
Orlando, FL 32809
(407) 245-4000
*I would recommend that parents check over this website before their children
I've saved each letter in a file, so I'm planning on only changing the date each day and printing them off and sending them. Maybe I'll occasionally reword them. I'm sending them via regular mail. FedEx would be way too cost prohibitive.
The Hillbuzz site originally formed to back Hillary Clinton. I became aware of it closer to the election because of it's strong support of Sarah Palin. I just finished reading an article there on the difference between Republicans and Democrats, and the fact that Republicans back down way too quickly. Right now, CBS is telling its sponsors that this will all blow over quickly.
Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Maybe there are enough conservatives who are tired of being bullied by the main stream media, and they're willing to fight back.
Here is some contact information for some of Letterman's sponsors, as compiled by http://www.hillbuzz.org/:*
KELLOGGS COMPANY
One Kellogg Square
PO Box 3599
Battle Creek, MI 49016-3599
(269) 961-2000
(800) 962-1413
Write to these 6 people over and over and over again:
(1) James M. Jenness – Chairman of the Board
(2) A.D. David Mackay – President and CEO
(3) John A. Bryant – COO and CFO
(4) Mark R. Baynes – VP and CMO
(5) Brian S. Rice – SVP, CIO
(6) Gary H. Pilnick – SVP, General Counsel, Corporate Development and Secretary
UPDATE: MARS CANDY is owned exclusively by the Mars family. John Franklyn Mars is the company Chairman.
Products include: 3 Musketeers, Combos, Dove chocolate, Kudos, Mars Bar, Milky Way, Skittles, Snickers, Starburst, Twix, and Whiscas cat food
Write to these 2 people over and over again:
Chairman: John Franklyn Mars
President and CEO: Paul S. Michaels
MARS, Inc.
6885 Elm Street
McClean Virginia 22101-3810
(703) 821-4900
FAX: 703-448-9678
THE OLIVE GARDEN CONTACT INFORMATION:
Write to these 8 people over and over again
(1) Clarence J. Otis — Chairman/CEO
(2) Andrew H. Madsen — President/COO
(3) David T. Pickens — Senior VP
(4) Brad Richmond — CFO
(5) Valerie K. Collins — Corporate Controller
(6) Bob McAdam — SVP Government and Community Affairs
(7) Gene Lee – President Special Restaurant Group
(8) Paula J. Shives — General Counsel and Secretary
Darden Restaurants Office (address for all above):
5900 Lake Ellenor Drive
Orlando, FL 32809
(407) 245-4000
*I would recommend that parents check over this website before their children
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Move To Remove Letterman
The website http://www.hillbuzz.org/ has some very detailed information on getting a boycott of Letterman's sponsors running. They want to focus on 3 companies, Mars, Kelloggs and Olive Garden (I think) and maintain at least a 30 day onslaught of letters to these sponsors. They also recommend FedExing the letters so that they'll go directly to management.
There's also a http://www.firedavidletterman.com/ site up and running.
There's also a http://www.firedavidletterman.com/ site up and running.
On A Much Lighter Note
Our dogs bark at knock knock jokes.
(To be fair, it's not at the "Knock Knock" part, but at the "Who's There" part. Still, it's pretty funny.)
(To be fair, it's not at the "Knock Knock" part, but at the "Who's There" part. Still, it's pretty funny.)
More Letterman
So, Mr. Letterman, you say that you would never have made a joke like you did about a 14 year old girl. Here's the thing. Whether it was your intention or not, you did. You made a joke about Sarah Palin taking her daughter to the Yankees game, yada yada yada. The daughter she took to the game was 14. The joke was about a 14 year old girl, regardless of your intention.
You, sir, are a man who makes millions of dollars a year to tell jokes. I'm not saying that it's always easy, but, by most people's standards, it's a pretty cushy gig. But, as part of accepting those millions of dollars, you are responsible for every word you say on the airwaves. Not knowing which daughter was at the game is not an excuse. It was your responsibility to find out.
My husband is a public school teacher. Every school day he's up by 5 am, sometimes earlier. Once he steps into the school building, he has to be on. He can't slack off, because the students and his supervisors hold him accountable. He's on his feet all day, performing in front of his students, and by the end of the day, he's exhausted. He doesn't make nearly as much money as you do, Mr. Letterman, but he's still accountable for every word he says. If he made a remark anywhere nearly as offensive as you did, he would have to suffer the consequences.
Why do you think you shouldn't be held accountable for what you said? Why can't you have the integrity to admit you were wrong?
I think I know.
As I mentioned in my previous post, like many other liberals, in your mind you think that since conservatives aren't like "us" they therefore must be "less than us." It wasn't that you didn't know which Palin daughter was at the game, you just didn't care. It's just a Palin. Since you feel you are so superior to her (and my) kind, what you said can't possibly be wrong.
By your incessant nightly bashing of Bush, Cheney, Palin, et al, at the exclusion of any even mild jokes about Obama, haven't you in effect been saying to the conservatives, "Lie down and take it." Why should a joke about a baseball player doing the same thing to a Palin be such a big deal?
You, sir, are a man who makes millions of dollars a year to tell jokes. I'm not saying that it's always easy, but, by most people's standards, it's a pretty cushy gig. But, as part of accepting those millions of dollars, you are responsible for every word you say on the airwaves. Not knowing which daughter was at the game is not an excuse. It was your responsibility to find out.
My husband is a public school teacher. Every school day he's up by 5 am, sometimes earlier. Once he steps into the school building, he has to be on. He can't slack off, because the students and his supervisors hold him accountable. He's on his feet all day, performing in front of his students, and by the end of the day, he's exhausted. He doesn't make nearly as much money as you do, Mr. Letterman, but he's still accountable for every word he says. If he made a remark anywhere nearly as offensive as you did, he would have to suffer the consequences.
Why do you think you shouldn't be held accountable for what you said? Why can't you have the integrity to admit you were wrong?
I think I know.
As I mentioned in my previous post, like many other liberals, in your mind you think that since conservatives aren't like "us" they therefore must be "less than us." It wasn't that you didn't know which Palin daughter was at the game, you just didn't care. It's just a Palin. Since you feel you are so superior to her (and my) kind, what you said can't possibly be wrong.
By your incessant nightly bashing of Bush, Cheney, Palin, et al, at the exclusion of any even mild jokes about Obama, haven't you in effect been saying to the conservatives, "Lie down and take it." Why should a joke about a baseball player doing the same thing to a Palin be such a big deal?
Sarah And Me
I think to understand why this whole Letterman thing is bothering me, I need to take a step back and explain how Palin's candidacy and her subsequent treatment by the media affected me.
My mother is a staunch Democrat. I think my dad had Democrat leanings, but he didn't talk about politics as much. So growing up, and through my college years, I considered myself a liberal. I would watch the news and it generally concurred with my beliefs. Therefore, I knew I was smart. If other people would just be as smart and caring as me, they'd be liberals, too. It really seemed that simple. I despised Reagan, and couldn't understand how he could have been elected, twice.
I can remember in 1988 I voted for Al Gore in the primaries because he was the only Dem who identified himself as pro-life. (I would probably be hard pressed to find any evidence now that he had taken that position then) I voted for Dukakis in the general election, but I was surprised to find myself relieved that Bush had won. That election was the turning point. The abortion issue, combined with the fact that I had an actual job, (working with prisoners who were, surprisingly, not just misunderstood but actually deserving of their punishment) pushed me squarely into the Republican camp by the 1992 election.
So, as a liberal I did not understand the appeal of Reagan. As a conservative, I have always considered the Clintons hollow, willing to sell their souls for a few votes. I voted for G.W. twice, because he was the best option. I'm certain he did a better job than Gore or Kerry would have done, and I'm thankful he had the guts to take unpopular stands in the interest of keeping my family safe. However, there are number of ways that he disappointed me.
This is all to say that I had never felt a strong connection to a politician. While I can admire McCain's courage fighting for our country, as a candidate I was less than enthusiastic about him. I had not decided if I was even going to vote in the election. When he picked Sarah Palin, I was ecstatic. Finally, someone I could relate to.
She's my age. She values her family. She has a strong marriage. She's pro-life. She had the kind of college education I had. She worked for everything she had.
Sarah Palin was me. The connection was immediate and total. Finally, someone who represented me. Someone who could relate to me and to the kind of life I lead. I felt on top of the world. For about a week.
And then they tore into her and her family. I was new to the world of reading political blogs, and I had never seen anything so vicious in my life. I'm not saying Sarah Palin is perfect, but she certainly did not and does not deserve the attempts at annihilation that the media, the pundits, the comedians, the lazy joke tellers who think they're comedians, have heaped on her.
After the election, I was exhausted. It was more than just having my guy lose the election. It was personal. The attacks against Sarah Palin weren't just attacks against her policies, they were attacks against her person. They were attacks against me.
So, you see, when Mr. Letterman makes jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughters, he's making jokes about me and my daughters.
I remember during the last election (and maybe I've already made this point in a previous post) there was a poll done concerning republicans and democrats, and their attitudes towards each other. Republicans could understand why democrats held their beliefs, but democrats had no such empathy for republicans. Going back to my days as a liberal, I can kind of understand that. I honestly felt it was just a matter of the other guys not being as smart as me. Their viewpoints weren't nearly as enlightened as mine and couldn't possibly be valid.
I'm so glad I grew up.
I believe that the reason there isn't an outcry against Letterman's statements from the feminist community and other liberals in the media is that they've marginalized the Palins to the point where they consider them less than human. Therefore, it's okay to say whatever they want about her, and by extension, me.
And so this is the end of my post-election complacency. I'm still tired, mind you. I'm tired of having my opinions belittled and marginalized. I'm tired of the public discourse being so thoroughly one-sided. I'm tired of people confusing snarks and mean-spiritedness as some kind of deep thinking.
I'm tired and I'm angry.
My mother is a staunch Democrat. I think my dad had Democrat leanings, but he didn't talk about politics as much. So growing up, and through my college years, I considered myself a liberal. I would watch the news and it generally concurred with my beliefs. Therefore, I knew I was smart. If other people would just be as smart and caring as me, they'd be liberals, too. It really seemed that simple. I despised Reagan, and couldn't understand how he could have been elected, twice.
I can remember in 1988 I voted for Al Gore in the primaries because he was the only Dem who identified himself as pro-life. (I would probably be hard pressed to find any evidence now that he had taken that position then) I voted for Dukakis in the general election, but I was surprised to find myself relieved that Bush had won. That election was the turning point. The abortion issue, combined with the fact that I had an actual job, (working with prisoners who were, surprisingly, not just misunderstood but actually deserving of their punishment) pushed me squarely into the Republican camp by the 1992 election.
So, as a liberal I did not understand the appeal of Reagan. As a conservative, I have always considered the Clintons hollow, willing to sell their souls for a few votes. I voted for G.W. twice, because he was the best option. I'm certain he did a better job than Gore or Kerry would have done, and I'm thankful he had the guts to take unpopular stands in the interest of keeping my family safe. However, there are number of ways that he disappointed me.
This is all to say that I had never felt a strong connection to a politician. While I can admire McCain's courage fighting for our country, as a candidate I was less than enthusiastic about him. I had not decided if I was even going to vote in the election. When he picked Sarah Palin, I was ecstatic. Finally, someone I could relate to.
She's my age. She values her family. She has a strong marriage. She's pro-life. She had the kind of college education I had. She worked for everything she had.
Sarah Palin was me. The connection was immediate and total. Finally, someone who represented me. Someone who could relate to me and to the kind of life I lead. I felt on top of the world. For about a week.
And then they tore into her and her family. I was new to the world of reading political blogs, and I had never seen anything so vicious in my life. I'm not saying Sarah Palin is perfect, but she certainly did not and does not deserve the attempts at annihilation that the media, the pundits, the comedians, the lazy joke tellers who think they're comedians, have heaped on her.
After the election, I was exhausted. It was more than just having my guy lose the election. It was personal. The attacks against Sarah Palin weren't just attacks against her policies, they were attacks against her person. They were attacks against me.
So, you see, when Mr. Letterman makes jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughters, he's making jokes about me and my daughters.
I remember during the last election (and maybe I've already made this point in a previous post) there was a poll done concerning republicans and democrats, and their attitudes towards each other. Republicans could understand why democrats held their beliefs, but democrats had no such empathy for republicans. Going back to my days as a liberal, I can kind of understand that. I honestly felt it was just a matter of the other guys not being as smart as me. Their viewpoints weren't nearly as enlightened as mine and couldn't possibly be valid.
I'm so glad I grew up.
I believe that the reason there isn't an outcry against Letterman's statements from the feminist community and other liberals in the media is that they've marginalized the Palins to the point where they consider them less than human. Therefore, it's okay to say whatever they want about her, and by extension, me.
And so this is the end of my post-election complacency. I'm still tired, mind you. I'm tired of having my opinions belittled and marginalized. I'm tired of the public discourse being so thoroughly one-sided. I'm tired of people confusing snarks and mean-spiritedness as some kind of deep thinking.
I'm tired and I'm angry.
Letterman
On any given day, I can probably find something that irritates me about the main stream media. The smugness, the little jibes against conservatives, the lack of significant examination of our current president (especially compared to how the former president was treated), etc. The one or two of you who read this thing know what I'm talking about.
For the last couple of days, it's gone beyond being irritated. I'm fuming. It's been a long time since I could tolerate Letterman. He's been so over the top with his Bush and Palin bashing and Obama adoration that I found him unviewable.
In case you haven't seen the reference, he made a joke the other night about Sarah Palin being at the Yankees game with her daughter and that her daughter was impregnated (not the phrase he used) by one of the ball players (Alex Rodriguez). The daughter she was with is 14 years old. Basically, Letterman made a joke about a conservative woman's daughter being raped. HaHa.
It's impossible to imagine if Rush Limbaugh had made the same kind of remark about a liberal politician's daughter that it wouldn't be playing front and center in the media right now. And deservedly so. I haven't been watching much news, so I don't know how this is playing out. (Hold on, let me check some websites)
Okay, I probably shouldn't have done that. At least the Today Show had a video clip and seemed to do a fairly good side presenting both sides. (Frankly, in this situation, I think showing Letterman speak and try to defend himself actually helps my point of view). The ABC site headlined their story , "Palins Can't Take a Joke". Excuse me, exactly how many thousands of jokes have the Palins had to take until it got to this point? But boy, they're poor sports because they're making a big deal about this little perverted joke aimed at their daughter.
Letterman made a statement that he never intended to make a joke about their 14-year-old daughter. Never mind the fact that she was the one at the Yankees game. The joke was aimed at their 18-year-old daughter. Never mind the fact that she's home in Alaska.
Well, that's so much better. It's okay to make a joke about Bristol because she had a baby out of wedlock. Haha. (Never mind the fact that Letterman impregnated - feel free to use the term he used - his girlfriend when he was in his 50's).
That wasn't an apology, Mr. Letterman, that was weasly backtracking. You're not funny, Mr. Letterman. Someone pays you money to tell lazy, sloppy jokes. You're just lucky.
For the last couple of days, it's gone beyond being irritated. I'm fuming. It's been a long time since I could tolerate Letterman. He's been so over the top with his Bush and Palin bashing and Obama adoration that I found him unviewable.
In case you haven't seen the reference, he made a joke the other night about Sarah Palin being at the Yankees game with her daughter and that her daughter was impregnated (not the phrase he used) by one of the ball players (Alex Rodriguez). The daughter she was with is 14 years old. Basically, Letterman made a joke about a conservative woman's daughter being raped. HaHa.
It's impossible to imagine if Rush Limbaugh had made the same kind of remark about a liberal politician's daughter that it wouldn't be playing front and center in the media right now. And deservedly so. I haven't been watching much news, so I don't know how this is playing out. (Hold on, let me check some websites)
Okay, I probably shouldn't have done that. At least the Today Show had a video clip and seemed to do a fairly good side presenting both sides. (Frankly, in this situation, I think showing Letterman speak and try to defend himself actually helps my point of view). The ABC site headlined their story , "Palins Can't Take a Joke". Excuse me, exactly how many thousands of jokes have the Palins had to take until it got to this point? But boy, they're poor sports because they're making a big deal about this little perverted joke aimed at their daughter.
Letterman made a statement that he never intended to make a joke about their 14-year-old daughter. Never mind the fact that she was the one at the Yankees game. The joke was aimed at their 18-year-old daughter. Never mind the fact that she's home in Alaska.
Well, that's so much better. It's okay to make a joke about Bristol because she had a baby out of wedlock. Haha. (Never mind the fact that Letterman impregnated - feel free to use the term he used - his girlfriend when he was in his 50's).
That wasn't an apology, Mr. Letterman, that was weasly backtracking. You're not funny, Mr. Letterman. Someone pays you money to tell lazy, sloppy jokes. You're just lucky.
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