Chris Baldwin - Latest Comments on Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Lou Ser [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Lou Ser [Visitor] — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:59:20 +0000

Another discriminatory argument for political gain.

Scott Brison [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Scott Brison [Visitor] — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:13:08 +0000

there's no waitlist, and you can spread the $55,000 out over a 30-year period. Guys who just graduated school are able to afford it now, not just accomplished business or old money types.

Ken Dryden [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Ken Dryden [Visitor] — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:10:15 +0000

The word conservative means discriminatory practically. It’s a form of political discrimination. [Conservatives are] against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. That’s all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain.

Brian [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Brian [Visitor] — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:37:04 +0000

Wow, its a good thing I do not look to has beens for my political opinions.

Tim McDonald [Member] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Tim McDonald [Member] — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 01:53:14 +0000

Nuh-uh! THEY started it! They're a couple of stupid-heads!

EconAtheist [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

EconAtheist [Visitor] — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 01:23:22 +0000

Nothing funnier than a bunch of golfers trying to talk politics.

Thanks for the belly laughs.

Judge Smails [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Judge Smails [Visitor] — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:02:56 +0000

Susan,

The truth is that, loosely speaking, Barkley is just a dumb jock. I say "loosely speaking" because I'm sure he possesses adequate intelligence. However, this isn't a man who is a desert mystic, let's face it. He's no font of intellectual understanding or philosophical depth.

Unfortunately, like most other celebrities, he made his money while engaging in a rather frivolous pursuit and now he has a forum in which he can have influence in matters of import.

But, as always, the people are the problem. If we had any brains, we would simply say "Look, you made a lot of money tossing a ball around, God bless you. Now, shut-up, go away, be rich and, if you're really interested in making the world a better place, improve yourself."

Susan [Visitor] in response to: Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

Susan [Visitor] — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 10:51:37 +0000

Charles Barkley's Head Fake

If Barkley's not full of hypocrisies, he's full of at least fairly extreme contradictions.

He's a social conservative who throughout his playing career was a devotee of strip clubs, an anti-authority authoritarian, a rebel reactionary, both truth-teller and scam artist. After a difficult loss, he once said he felt like going home and beating his wife—the same woman who he said made him cry with joy every time they made love. He's a relentless capitalist whose principal shtick is sticking up for the poor and downtrodden.
David Shields

Quizzed by a reporter as to whether he was a Republican or a Democrat, Barkley said, "I'm not either, to be honest with you. I made a joke with my grandmother one time. I was asking her, 'Why are we Democrats?' She said, 'Republicans are only for rich people.' And I said, 'I'm rich.' And she hasn't given me a viable answer."

If Barkley were ever to run for political office—he's repeatedly threatened to run for governor of his native Alabama as a Republican—he'd be constrained by certain ideologies. But now he can contradict himself every other day or every other game or every other sentence, can recharge the moment with meaning, whether it's a pick-and-roll or a racial incident.

He's mastered the televisual style of controversy sans consequence, of playing both ends against the middle, of the cult of personality.

David Shields
Slate.com