Internet Comments, Summarized

Damn: Two highway police officers shot in North Philadelphia near Broad and Diamond. One is in critical condition; the gunman is dead.

Yeah. So that’s not fun. But there’s a lesson here as well: Let’s take a look at the first three comments on the Action News story:

This is pretty much the only three kinds of comments on news stories nowadays: Not-so-subtly racist ones (comment 1), oddly naive responses to previous racist ones (comment 2) and absolute nonsensical ones complaining that soap operas — in this case, One Life to Live and/or All My Children — were pre-empted for a few minutes (comment 3).

Reader Joe writes: “The article says it happened at 1:45, so the story probably went up around 2. The first comment is at 2:06. I think commenter 3 was watching TV and his program was interrupted — so he went online with the specific intention of complaining about the show being bumped.” He also notes that commenter 3 refers to a double-police shooting as a “slow news day.” Man, who needs to be shot to impress that person? “How dare they interrupt Days of Our Lives to tell me the Pope was shot!”

Update: One of the officers has died.

2 officers shot in North Philadelphia [6 ABC]

Goode’s Aide: Fox 29 Is Racist

Do you know who Latrice Bryant is? Right. Apparently, she’s an aide to Councilman Wilson Goode. And Jeff Cole and his team of crack Fox 29 reporters have been following Bryant around for some report about “city employees slacking off on the job” or something.

Bryant, therefore, did the only sensible thing: Hold up signs during today’s City Council meeting calling Fox 29 racist. And another one that said KKK! (To be fair, Jeff Cole is known to wear white? Geeze, I dunno.)

Clout gives us the scoop:

Cole confronted Goode after Council’s session wrapped up, asking if he thought Fox29’s reporting was racist. Goode didn’t break stride as reporters rushed after him.

Cole’s questions involved videotape he says Fox29 has of Bryant, while listed as working in City Hall: a) working out in the gym and b) walking with Goode into his house with a case of beer and c) leaving Goode’s house looking as if she had spent the night there.

Goode responded that a) his employees had not been filling out their work time sheets daily, which led to mistakes that have been corrected and b) who he goes to his house with is his business and c) Cole’s question was disrespectful.

Jeff Cole is following Wilson Goode all the way to his house and seeing who he kicks back and gets drunk with? Man, this is the best thing this station has done since May.

And don’t think I didn’t notice Wilson Goode’s clever strategy: Have an aide hold up signs calling Jeff Cole racist, then when questioned about it by Cole himself, call him disrespectful. That’s a rhetorical strategy usually reserved for a blog! I am impressed.

Councilman Goode’s Aide Calls Fox29 “Racist” [Clout]

Neasties Not Sold On This ‘Barack Obama’

Amazingly, the editors of the Daily News decided to run the greatest story yet written this year in Saturday’s edition (official motto: “Nearly 2 cents per page!”). Dave Davies followed around Joe Biden in Northeast Philly, and the laughs didn’t stop ’til he left the Dining Car.

But first, Davies chatted with Mike McAleer, the Democratic ward leader in the 66th ward, home of one Daniel Hall McQuade for the first 17 or so years of his life. What’s the problem with getting people there to vote for Obama?

“The Dunkin’ Donut crowd tells me that we’ve got everything going for us but Obama,” McAleer said. “They can’t give me a direct answer. Do I have them right now in the 66th ward? No. But I got 60 days to get them.”

Asked what the problem is with Obama, McAleer paused and said: “It’s his color… I tell them he’s half white and half black. He’s got a better perspective for everything in this country.”

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during a conversation between McAleer and one of those 66th-ward Democrats he’s talking about. But perhaps the vice presidential nominee will have a better shot than the ward leader. Let’s go to the Dining Car!

In a corner booth, Biden sat down and, after a moment’s conversation, planted a kiss on the forehead of Carolyn Bauer, age 89. Bauer explained afterward it wasn’t such a friendly encounter.

“I told him I’m not going to vote for him,” Bauer said. “Anybody who runs with a guy with a name like that is not going to get my vote. It’d be disgusting to get a man named Barack Obama as president of the United States. No way. I mean it… I’m going to vote for McCain and the lady.”

“[Obama's] a Muslim,” Bauer added. “He pretends to be a Christian, and he isn’t, he’s a Muslim.”

McCain/the lady ‘08, apparently! Hope you enjoy your 71-year-old president, America.

Biden gets mixed welcome in Northeast [Daily News]

Fun With ‘NE Times’ Letters Page

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with the Northeast Times letters page. Let’s take a look.

But one thing that bites at me is that all these fine men in blue were white. How is it that they are always the first to respond?

Last year I visited my old hometown (Philadelphia). I drove by six police patrol cars on the road. Four out of six had the “rap music” on so loud I don’t think they could hear a dispatcher’s call. And the other two were on cell phones with their heads bobbing left to right. Very professional.

Oh, all six were black. I’m not saying I wished the cops that were killed were black, because I am not. But it just seems so strange that all were white.

Thanks, Anthony J. Porta from Sebring, Florida, for your insightful letter. “I’m not saying anything racist, like I wish black cops were killed. I just think all the black officers on the Philadelphia police department are lazy and listen to rap ‘music.’ See what I did there, with the quotes around it, insinuating it’s not any good?”

Why are the white cops the ones to die? [Northeast Times, 4th from bottom]

KYW Apparently Pushing Jail For Fliers

KYW 1060 has yet another story on those race-baiting fliers and once again I am going to write about it. Apparently, the radio station is just extremely pissed off that we can’t go out and arrest those stupid skinheads who put them up and defamed Family Guy. Aargh, why can’t we just lock up people who say things with disagree with?

This latest story talks to Mayor Nutter and is headlined “Nutter Acknowledges Difficulty of Prosecuting Those Who Distributed Race-Baiting Fliers,” making me wonder if Nutter just wishes he could actually prosecute those who put up the fliers.

Fortunately, Mix Master Mike says nothing of the sort! “Much as we don’t like some things, we can’t always chase after people legally for things we don’t like,” he says, which sounds fine to me, I guess. And it certainly sounds better than notifying the authorities when you’ve been offended.

Sigh. Isn’t there somebody at KYW or the Human Rights Commission we can lock up for saying this stupid shit? Erhm.

Nutter Acknowledges Difficulty of Prosecuting Those Who Distributed Race-Baiting Fliers [KYW 1060]
Earlier today: It’s Apparently Legal To Be Offensive

Speech Police Investigate Posters

Remember those Family Guy-quoting racist posters noted a little bit ago?

Well, it appears they’ve spread outside of our little Internet circle? The city’s official speech police, the Human Rights Commission, has launched an investigation into those posters!

KYW 1060 reports:

Nick Taliaferro, executive director of the Human Relations Commission, says its response is more like outreach than investigation: “We are not policemen. We don’t go out and try to arrest people. What we do is try to proactively engage the community in ways that will resist that type of poisonous engagement of an otherwise very decent community. You won’t find better people than you will find at Shiller and Almond Street.” Taliaferro says the commission will look to see if the law was broken and if the poster had any effect beyond creating upset.

They are not policemen, yet they will look and see if the law was broken. Clearly, these posters aren’t sanctioned city billboards — someone has to pay with some time in jail.

Phila. Human Relations Commission Probes Racist Fliers [KYW 1060]

Family Guy-Quoting Racists!

Hey, look, there are racist posters everywhere! I guess. The above shot is from Cottman and Frankford; it was posted at Domelights (the thread later turns into posters arguing that few black officers go to benefits for slain white officers). It’s also, uhm, a freaking joke from Family Guy.

And, hey: A poster at Young Philly Politics found a different one (uh, I guess) after regaling us with a story of buying a new belt at the Gap outlet and realizing some people might not like Barack Obama because he’s black.

Get It? Get It?

Don Russell, aka Joe Sixpack, notes an oh-so-hilarious shirt from Casper’s Place on Cottman Avenue.

While heading down Pattison Avenue toward the ballpark for Jackie Robinson night at the Phillies, I found myself behind some guy in a green t-shirt advertising Casper’s Place on Cottman Avenue. The cartoon ghost on the shirt is shown saying, “No spooks allowed.”

Oh, that good ol’ fashioned American racism. Joe Vento’s place looks like Multicultural Mexican Food compared to this place.

Casper the unfriendly racist ghost [Beer Radar]

Let’s Ask Philly.com Users What The Dirtiest SEPTA Stop Is

I imagine the stop that’s the most offensive is the one with the most blacks at it all day.

Uhh, yeah, let’s not.

It’s SEPTA riders vs. subway rodents [Inquirer]

Road To 10,000 Losses: Phillies Make Fans Look Good

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th Loss, coming sometime later this year. Currently, the Phillies stand at 9960 losses, only 40 away from 10,000.

It’s no doubt the Phillies are one of the worst teams in professional sports history. But what if they deserve it?

The Inquirer is running a series on Jackie Robinson’s 60th birthday; today Frank Fitzpatrick recounts the treatment the Phillies game Robinson on his first trip to the City of Brotherly Love. Sadly — but naturally — people chanted racial slurs at the rookie, but it wasn’t the fans. It was the players, goaded on by the manager.

Racist manager Ben Chapman decided the best way to welcome Robinson to Philadelphia would be to make it as unpleasant to him as possible. And so, when Robinson came up to bat, Jonathan Eig said, “[h]is accounts in later years, and accounts by others who were there, say the Phillies mentioned Robinson’s thick lips, thick skull, and sores and diseases his teammates and their wives would likely contract by associating with him.” (Sadly enough, Robinson also wasn’t allowed to stay at the hotel the rest of the Brooklyn Dodgers stayed at.)

Here’s how bad it was:

This time, the vitriol from the Phils was so intensely unrelenting that several fans seated near their dugout wrote commissioner Happy Chandler to complain.

The racism from the manager and the players was so bad even Philadelphia sports fans were pissed. To this day, Ben Chapman remains the only man to make us look good.

Part 2: Phils hurled insults at the ‘noble experiment’ [Inquirer]