Roseanne: The Rest of the Story

The stories about Roseanne Barr have been straightforward. She sent a racist tweet and her show was cancelled. I think there is more to the story.

Personally, I have no use for her as a person or an actress. She did offer two defenses. She claimed she didn’t know Valerie Jarret’s ethnicity. I don’t buy that for a minute. She also claimed that she had taken a sleeping pill. If true, this could have affected her. I used to take the same pill. One day I was mall walking with friends and couldn’t figure out where I was. I got really angry with them which is totally out of character. My doctor told me about a patient who would walk around his apartment complex naked.

ABC should have given her a chance to defend herself. They could have taken her off the show but let it continue. Other shows have gone on after the real or scripted death of a star.

This is really a part of a much bigger story. Liberalism today is a combination of bending over backwards to not offend some groups while expressing hatred for others. They hate conservatives, Christians, southerners and those without college degrees.

The entertainment industry is following in lockstep. It’s fine to attack Vice President Pence because of his religious beliefs. Joking about killing president Trump is harmless fun. A female comedian used an offensive word for a female body part in referring to Ivanka Trump. Their response depends almost totally on which group is being attacked.

Some Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, say that the only reason these groups don’t vote democratic is because of a character flaw. They are racist, sexist homophobes. The women vote the way they do because they can’t stand up to the men in their life.

The entertainment industry doesn’t want to show theses groups in a positive light. Despite the success of Roseanne, clearly some ABC executives were looking for a reason to get rid of it. They cancelled their second highest rated sitcom, quite likely because of the star and his character’s conservative belief. The only devout Christian on any show I watch is Sarah Dew’s April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy. She is no longer on the show.
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We should condemn those that cross the line no matter who they attack. This selective outrage is not good for the country, the Democratic Party or the entertainment industry.