Sez the Associated Press...
Read more about it:
• Andy Rooney Is Internet Hoax Victim - AP
• Hoax: Andy Rooney's Anti-PC Rant - Netlore Archive
• I Am a Bad American - Netlore Archive
Rooney said on Tuesday that a racist commentary [sic] falsely attributed to him is circulating over the Internet and through emails. The "60 Minutes" essayist wants anyone who might have seen it to know he had nothing to do with it.For the record, variants of the same piece have also been attributed to George Carlin, Ted Nugent, and Denis Leary, none of whom had anything to do with it either.
Read more about it:
• Andy Rooney Is Internet Hoax Victim - AP
• Hoax: Andy Rooney's Anti-PC Rant - Netlore Archive
• I Am a Bad American - Netlore Archive
Comments
I read it, and I tried to confirm the real truth a month ago, but no success. I am glad this was confirm to be false. I don’t always agree with Andy, but I was not sure he was a bigot. I passed on the false information, but as soon as I found that the story was not true, I passed that on too. I wish there was a easier way to find out a story was not true.
There is…go to this site or Snopes…I ALWAYS do that FIRST before forwarding…
I agree with nos. 1 & 2. I also agree with the sentiment in the article to a large extent, but I wish I HAD checked with Snopes before I sent it on. I usually do this on a regular basis since I inadvertantly led a friend to destroy his hard drive a year ago because I hadn’t checked. New Years resolution…”I MUST check ALl messages before passing them on!”
Frankly, this is not a racist article. It is not against blacks or homosexuals. This is an opinion statement held by a great many people–who don’t generally share their opinion. Frankly, because of the media and thought police, as well as people like Franken, Jesse Jackson et al, people have become afraid to tell what they think. So they come up with these “quotes” and pass them on. Boy, do they get passed on! I have had this one sent to me many times.
Is my face red?
I consider myself to be a run of the mill liberal type. But I really don’t think this email is racist. If people really think it is then the PC situation is really out of control.
I am sick of all the PC in this country. Whatever happened to freedom of speech? I agree with most of the statements in this email and have forwarded it to many people. Whether its from Andy Rooney or Ted Nugent is irregardless, many people agree with it and have replied to me stating so. Its about time our opinions are heard.
Hey Troy, if you agree with that email.Then take Andy Roony’s name out of the story and Insert your Full Name instead.It is easy to send things like that crap with someone elses name attached to it. Don’t be a coward ,state your views with your name!
For Kim above. Whether the comments are racist or not, they are falsely attributed to Andy Rooney and this is a wrong thing to do. If the originator stands on their convictions, they should post their own name and photo.
The fact that you received it numerous times only shows the character of people who have you in their mailing address.
This was spam that I checked, doubting the authenticity.
It is terribly wrong to lie or impersonate someone to deliver any opinion or message. It is also wrong to label anyone a racist or accuse them of being a racist by their associates(James).
Alot of what is contained in this is true, as Kim above stated. The fact that some groups label anyone that openly disagrees with them homophobic, racist or other defamatory names stifles honest debate.
For instance, why can’t a white man openly question a program that gives a minority special advantages? If he does, he is labeled a racist or bigot. If for religious reasons, he believes something not supported by the PC crowd, he becomes a right-winger or fanatic.
White or black, heterosexual or homosexual, religious or non-religious, you should be able to state your opinion about any politically active group and expect them to debate or ignore you, not label you.
To Troy,
So your opinion is that if people make up a posting that goes completely against this and were to put your name on it and circulate it that is fine, as long as they agree with it?
Sheese,,, it is easy to see how come the Right is getting so sterotyped as idiots, eh?
If the person who started the false email had any integerity at all, any,,,, he woudl have put his name on it, instead of trying to make Andy Rooney look like a right wing nut.
For the record, I also agree with some of what is in it, but I totally disagree with cowards putting someone else’s name on thier thoughts because they are so ashamed of their own thoughts that they will not stand up for them.
I really don’t care who said it, I wish I had, in fact. IT is all true! Why are we so scared to just speak the truth!
ok, it should not have been attributed to andy rooney;
BUT, i agree with the tenets in the article, and am tired of having to atone for historical debts i did not incur..ie: selling of blacks into slavery–when it was DONE by blacks !!!
the holocaust—the pillaging of american natives–
i guess we need a “baptismal” to shake off the debts of those who went before us, in order to not be accused of racism over and over—
and if immigrants want to come here–they need to BECOME americans—not hispanic americans etc.–if they want to be hispanics—go home !!!
if they want their own language/flag–they need to go back home .
Whether we agree or disagree with the article (and there are parts where I do agree) is not the issue. Thank God we live in a country that gives us freedom of speech, or Andy Rooney with the others attributed as the author probably would have been hauled off to jail for saying it.
I think the most unfortunate aspect of this hoax it that we feel by falsely assigning the authorship to someone well know gives it more legitimacy.
I knew the article attributed to Andy Rooney could not have been true. He is a true liberal. If it had been about protecting Senator Craig and having sex in the bathroom, like the ACLU is doing, I could have believed it. Thank god for the ACLU to protect our rights.
Paul you said it well.
It was easy to figure out that this was NOT a quote as it discussed SO many different issues. You can talk for days about each topic; “60 Minutes” wouldn’t have the time. I do agree with many who left comments here that it is someone’s opinion. I tend to agree with a lot of the author(s)statemtnets & have said some of these things myself. The older I’m getting, the more I’m realizing how narrow-minded liberals are; if you don’t agree with their way of thinking, you need to shut your mouth.
I don’t care who said it, I agree with it.
Like many of us, perchance the original author is too scared to be openly branded as a racist bigot by close-minded individuals such as Lok. Or maybe it’s someone just having a laugh at our misdirected sensitivities. Kim (number 4)explains it best in her/his first sentence. PS: This is not my real name.
If you believe these comments are good, then examine yourself. De-humanizing a group of people is the first step toward hate. Hate makes you an ugly person. Think, “how would I feel, if those comments were about me?”.
The way you judge other people, is how you will be judged, so Please do not treat yourself this way.
What is more de-humanizing than to insinuate that a certain race needs welfare, or their own caucus, or their own college fund, or their own Television network, or their own pageant. That they can’t compete with the rest of America. I would be embarrassed to participate in a racist organization that proudly puts race in their title. I am American. I am not any better than any other American. I do not deserve special attention or special preference and neither do they. If I agree or disagree with what has been written, that is my prerogative. Don’t judge me because I might disagree with you. It’s not your place.
Andy Rooney or not, this article is not “mean-spirited” or “racist” at all. It’s only the truth. Only the far left looney PC whiney babies in this country should have a problem with it. Thank God for truth(and yeah, I believe in God. Have a problem with that atheists?).
The whole point of the phony letter is to justify racist attitudes by associating them with a liberal like Mr. Rooney.
AHHH!
Use your brains!
This e-mail is not mean spirited or racist but merely a desription of what goes on in a good many of our urban areas in our country today. It is a rather sad commentary about those who do see racism and meanness in this e-mail.
wow….what an idea, youse a public computer, rant whatever you want. then deny you ever made the rant. aren’t computers wonderful. heck even live cnn doesn’t ever have to make public apologies for getting the story wrong. ask obama whyhe picked hillary for sec of state….for her foreign connections yet during the presidential election, he claimed she had no foreign relations. take all media content for what it’s worth ……..it’s all just good ole entertainment
Just got this email – your site poped up first.
It sounded folksy like Andy but a little to the right of the old guy, though he can be a goof on occasion.
I could care less who wrote it, someone finally had the balls to speak the truth. You come to this country, you do it legally, you learn to speak the language and pay taxes. Illegal aliens come to this country and bleed the system.
We need to tighten our boarder to prevent the inflow of these illegals. They come here milk the system, work under the table and don’t pay taxes, end up getting free health care. They cross the boarder and pop out a kid so they can stay in this country. They hurt our economy.
I say send them back to where they came from.
I am not racists, I feel this way about every person that comes to this country illegally. My grand parents came here from abroad, but did it legally, they learned the language and became american citizens.
William, Your comment was confusing. I’m sure your grandparents did the same thing for awhile. As far As I’m concerned YOU ALL ARE ILLEGALLY HERE ! every last one of you!
Black,white, Hispanic, whatever. I am a full-blooded Shoshone.
and you are still trespassing on MY Grandfather’s land.
Then you say “I’m not racist-I just don’t like Minority’s coming here after I did, That’s saying I can walk through the door, because I’m white and you’re not. everyone who says they’re not racist-is. and learn the Language? really?
Da` suh take` ah a wah ty-bo!
It is a direct rip off of Ted Nuggents “Bad American” speach. Look it up.
Andy Rooney said on ‘60 Minutes’ a few weeks back:
AR: “I don’t think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers.”
My Critique (MC): In a democratic society numbers are everything. Numbers also allow unmediated stereotypes of minorities to be perpetuated, along with the prejudices and restrictions these elicit, and make challenging those prejudices all the harder.
AR: “The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Aboriginal Legal Service, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America and see what happens…Jesse Jackson or Tony Mundane will be knocking down your door.”
MC: These sort of organizations came about because of the above ‘numbers’ – the white majority with all the power didn’t need to preface their organization with a racial preclusion because anything mainstream is presumed to be theirs, and their prejudices t excluded black Americans from belonging to white organizations so black people had to form their own, and preface with a racial preclusion to avoid whites mistaking the organisation for one of their own.
AR: “Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball or cricket bat, or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the game.”
MC: Yes, Michel Moore made this point, about how there are as many guns in Canada as the US, but the death rate drops radically across the border because the culture is totally different, ie. It’s the gung-ho cultural violence in the US, comes all the way from it’s murderous war with the Indians and history of slavery.
AR: “I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE? ARE YOU LISTENING GERMAINE GREER?”
MC: Don’t know about Martha Burke, but I’m not familiar with Germaine Greer saying anything about girls rights to join the Boy Scouts, and what girl at that age and in her right mind wants to play with boys anyway?
AR: “I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.”
MC: Yes, it’s an opinion, but homosexuality remains a valid dimension of human and, indeed, many other species, sexuality. Being homosexual in a rigidly heterosexual society has been the source of great misery for people who struggle against their own nature and are persecuted by their community, resulting in suicide and other misery. And its important to remember, it was that sort of ‘opinion’ which made it illegal – numbers again – and only ‘legalised’ recently in Tasmania, still illegal in many countries, where people can be imprisoned or much worse.
AR: “I have the right ‘NOT’ to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.”
MC: Yes, we all have that right, because we live in a democracy, but that same system gives those others about whom we think that to think the same thing about us. Remember, human beings are weird, pernickety creatures, and tolerance is essential for us to get on harmoniously. Otherwise, any group that has the ‘numbers’ can make life intolerable for anyone they don’t like, eg. Homosexuals and blacks.
AR: “When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.”
MC: That 70% of a city’s inhabitants are black is not common across the US, yet the racial profile of prisoners tends to be. And where that proportion may be true, you can be sure that city is desperately poor and suffers from all the ills that poverty brings to people whatever their colour.
AR: “I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American, Canadian or Australian citizen, you should have to speak English!”
MC: Yes, common language is optimal for effective social functioning, but not everyone is adept at learning a new language, especially for those already mature, escaping from poor, illiterate countries, so it is incumbent upon the host country to make ESL classes mandatory and accessible.
AR: “My father and grandfather didn’t die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.”
MC: He has his history rather mixed here. Is he talking of Vietnam, where the US barged in and trashed the joint? Or WWII, when the allies defended democracy against fascism, and the ongoing US presence in the Philipines? Or Korea? Sadly, refugees from conflict zones tend to bring the trauma with them, and it would be helpful if host countries also made grief and trauma counseling mandatory in those cases. There is also the disrespect borne of the disappointment from unrealistic expectations. Effective debriefing and assimilation programs would save a lot of later trouble.
AR: “I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can’t understand the word ‘freeze’ or ’stop’ in English, see the above lines.”
MC: People in states of high drama enter a form of psychosis in which something minor can escalate to maniac – this applies to police as much as their target, and is especially true for youths and young men – and behaviour in that state is not rational. Despite this, even targets under great stress will hold back from using lethal force themselves if they believe the police will not kill them. To authorize lethal response in such circumstances just ratchets up the death rate. Law enforcement agents need to have non-lethal weaponry that is capable of stopping the target without lethal force – we DO have the technology.
AR: “I don’t think, just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.”
MC: Well, no. It should all be relative, so that any citizens in vulnerable positions are enabled to improve their situation. But as a citizen, they have the same right as any other citizen to criticize what they perceive as unjust or irrational conditions, and they have, or should have, the same recourse to legitimate avenues of protest.
AR: “We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.”
MC: Well, no, true, but see the above re citizen’s rights in a democracy and the need for migrant assimilation programs.
AR: “I don’t hate the rich I don’t pity the poor”
MC: That would be a fine sentiment in a fair world. However, the way Wall St and the rest of the virtual financial universe have operated over the past couple of decades, the foundations of rich and poor, and how they got there bear closer examination – some rich people definitely deserve to be hated, and there are a lot pf poor people who should not be that way.
AR: “I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn’t stop you from watching them.”
MC: If that’s what turns you on, good luck to you sport.
AR: “I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that’s better and put your name on a building.”
MC: But Bill Gates is not doing that, is he? Why not? Why is he giving so much away? Because he realizes that there has been a massively unbalanced redistribution of wealth that means he made undue profits on his company’s products, ie. They should have been cheaper, and it has only been by the manipulative marketing based on the capitalist principle that a product is worth what people are prepared to pay that he has accrued ridiculous wealth.
AR: “It doesn’t take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary and say ‘NO!’ ”
MC: When parents had unlimited rights to chastise their children, and children were habitually beaten, there were still naughty children, bad apples, criminal youths and social dysfunction, it was just more personally violent and there were a lot more people living with domestic violence. When a society offers support to parents, provides parenting education and creates civil environments where they are able to cope, then it is more likely that they will raise stable children in stable home environments and it will be a lot cheaper in the long run, for everyone. I have absolutely nothing against a healthy, open-handed smack on the bum (the best padded part of the anatomy) to bring a halt to dangerous or hysterical behaviour when reasoning will not work, if, ONLY IF, it is not done in anger.
AR: “I think tattoos and piercing are fine, if you want them, but please don’t pretend they are a political statement. And please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don’t want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!”
MC: Fair enough
AR: “I am sick of ‘Political Correctness.’ I know a lot of black people and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be ‘African-Americans’? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don’t go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else, just as Canadians and Australians are proud to be from their countries – and if you don’t like my point of view, tough…”
MC: The answer to this refers back to the above on prejudice and numbers. Prejudice against black people for generations, that effectively told them they were not ‘real’ Americans, brought about the Afro-American distinction in an effort to attain some identity for people twice and thrice disenfranchised and denied identity in the land of their birth. So, if that is to change, if Americans who happen to have negroid heritage are to be able to be universally proud of being Americans, it will take generations of ‘political correctness’ to prevent the endemic prejudice that still keeps them in the lower social echelons.
AR: “I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTYAND JUSTICE FOR ALL!”
MC: So far, the sentiments I’ve critiqued here don’t live up to this grandiose statement.
“And what about CANADIANS and AUSTRALIANS? We feel the same. Bravo for the Canadians and Australians too!!!”
What? You mean we pledge to the US flag too??
AR: “It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having ‘In God We Trust’ on our money and having ‘God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don’t we just tell the 14% to BE QUIET!!”
MC: Whilst we know a great many US citizens are gun-toting, God-botherers, but such a high belief rate across such a diverse land seems highly optimistic to me. Who says? And this rant ends with the same inequities with which it began – it’s all about the numbers, and he reckons that he has the numbers, so anyone who doesn’t agree they can just shut up. All very democratic!
I have a simple solution, I NEVER forward stuff whether true or not. There is too much stuff being forwarded and it does nothing but slow down the net. Because I choose to not forward it does not make me a racist, or that I lack patriotism, or I am for or against the war, country, or God if I do not pass it on. This is my solution for staying out of trouble with everyone.