Stossel calls for repeal of public accommodations section of Civil Rights Act

[RamboLiberal]

KELLY: Rand Paul is a libertarian. You are a libertarian. He is getting excoriated for suggesting that the Civil Rights act -- what he said was, "Look it's got 10 parts, essentially; I favor nine. It's the last part that mandated no discrimination in places of public accommodation that I have a problem with, because you should let businesses decide for themselves whether they are going to be racist or not racist. Because once the government gets involved, it's a slippery slope." Do you agree with that?

STOSSEL: Totally. I'm in total agreement with Rand Paul. You can call it public accommodation, and it is, but it's a private business. And if a private business wants to say, "We don't want any blond anchorwomen or mustached guys," it ought to be their right. Are we going to say to the black students' association they have to take white people, or the gay softball association they have to take straight people? We should have freedom of association in America.

KELLY: OK. When you put it like that it sounds fine, right? So who cares if a blond anchorwoman and mustached anchorman can't go into the lunchroom. But as you know, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came around because it was needed. Blacks weren't allowed to sit at the lunch counter with whites. They couldn't, as they traveled from state to state in this country, they couldn't go in and use a restroom. They couldn't get severed meals and so on, and therefore, unfortunately in this country a law was necessary to get them equal rights.

STOSSEL: Absolutely. But those -- Jim Crow -- those were government rules. Government was saying we have white and black drinking fountains. That's very different from saying private people can't discriminate.

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201005200033

Progressive Businesses ought to ban Stossel & all his Fox cronies plus all the RW radio blowhards!

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. John Stossel is the reason I quit watching 20/20

He is disgustingly wrong 100% of the time.

[librechik]

2. Funny--I didn't think it would be him

freakin dingbat!

[brentspeak]

3. Now we know that corporate whore Stossel is also a racist

Piece of dung.

[laughingliberal]

7. There was never a doubt in my mind. nt

[name not needed]

19. Not to mention homophobic to boot.

In an interview with New York Magazine he claimed to have Barney Frank hanging in effigy above his couch.

[JackintheGreen]

4. Re: this quote

"And if a private business wants to say, "We don't want any blond anchorwomen or mustached guys," it ought to be their right."

We already have that. When I was working at UPS, managers were not allowed to have beards. Sleazy porn mustaches? OK! Beards? No way. Which is one of the many reasons that I chose not to work management.

Then we have the story from yesterday from CNN about the Hooters waitress that got fired for being too fat (I'm simplifying).

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/05/18/dnt.hooters.employee.uniform.wdiv?hpt=T2

Right or wrong, fair or not, it already happens.

Still, Stossel's examples are fatuous at best. The laws were not enacted to prevent discrimination against blond anchorwomen or dickholes. Show me a sign that says "No Mustachioed Men" or "Blondes Only" and I'll concede your point, you dips#*t.

[Canuckistanian]

20. He might just as well have said "No left-handed Armenian accountants"

Because NONE of those examples have had a history of being persecuted or discriminated against.

We're talking about black people. That's what Rand meant, and Stossel KNEW that.

[tinymontgomery]

24. Changing the subject

that young lady was only 132 lbs which for her size is probably right. The manager is clearly obese. Hypocrites as usual.

[glen123098]

5. Doesn't stossel realise government is already involved with private business.

The government provides the roads for customers to come. They also provide police and fire protection. Therefore they have a right to make these kinds of rules.

[lolly]

10. Yes--that's what I was thinking.

Let's go ahead and let restaurants refuse to serve people they don't like.

Let's also refuse to provide police protection if they get robbed or vandalized.

Let's let the roads to their establishment fall apart.

Let's stop supplying them with clean water from municipal water plants.

Oh, and if they catch on fire? Well, hope they have lots of buckets to get water from the nearest lake.

Appearance standards for the workplace are in a somewhat different category than standards for serving patrons (although, granted, those are abused sometimes too).

[WeDidIt]

6. Trying to hide racisim under a cloak of libertarianism is still just baltant racism

and it's nice to know, John Stossel is a blatant racist.

[fasttense]

8. The Alan Greenspan spin of how the magical mystery hand of the

free market can solve all, even racism. But it didn't in South Africa, it didn't in the Jim Crow South.

It wasn't just laws that stopped black people from living normal lives in Jim Crow South, it was businesses and Corporations too. They didn't have to put in an extra bathroom for blacks if they didn't want to. They didn't even have to serve black people in a separate area if they didn't want to. They purposely cut their customer base and had absolutely no problems staying in business and making huge profits.

And it's not just about being able to sit at a Walgreen lunch counter. It's about not being able to travel because you can't find a bathroom to use. Not being able to visit a loved one because there may not be a hotel for you to stay in during your 16 hour drive. Not knowing where it is safe for you to sit, or where you are allowed to eat without offending someone. It reminded you everyday that you were not a part of real America.

Ann Rand Paul has no idea, no insight, no intelligence just like the idiot woman who wrote about not wearing clothes (The Fountain Head - I think). They are so encased in wealth and luxury they don't have a clue about other people.

[AndyA]

9. Stossel is beginning to get old now. His looks are fading.

He is slowly slipping off stage to the right, out of the spotlights.

Let him have his few last glimmers of glory, few pay attention to him these days anyway.

He's always been pathetic.

[msanthrope]

11. This is fucking awesome! Rand has emboldened the bigots to

come out of the woodwork! The new face of the Republican Party!!

(Hey Juan Williams!!! What you got to say to that now???)

[47of74]

12. Stupid is as stupid does.

[Rex]

13. Fucking idiots, no wonder America gets stuck with lemons.

The government HAD TO step in and force businesses to allow black people a chance to eat and go to the bathroom in public settings! Are these idiots on the Kool-Aid or what?

Oh, I see the Racist Roundup thinks America can handle discrimination...oh how stupid they are. They are the very ones who would ban certain people based on physical appearances!

[David Zephyr]

14. As David Bowie said, This Isn't America.

John Stossel. P.O.S.

[madmax]

15. Keep talking, fool. nt

[depakid]

16. At least Stossel is being honest about things for a change- normally he'd just lie about it

[donco6]

17. Just . . . wow.

How many leaps backward can we make in one generation?

[CoffeeCat]

18. Let me tell you a story about this...

I grew up with a father who was incredibly upset about these public accommodations. My
father, a conservative, Christian and life-long Republican was a restaurant owner. He
initially bought his restaurants in the 1970's, and was forced to make physical changes
to the buildings and restrooms.

These changes would allow disabled people and people in wheelchairs to have access to
the entrances, exits and restrooms.

My father was infuriated. He talked about this at the dinner table and was disgusted
that he had to spend profits to alter his businesses. He didn't care that disabled
people couldn't get in. He didn't care about them at all.

Let me tell you something else about my family. My mother had Polio, during her childhood.
She was paralyzed for years, in the hospital and was also in an iron lung. One of her legs
is deformed and she walks with a limp and has trouble getting around. It was part of our
family story, that we all understood our mother would end up in a wheelchair someday--sooner
rather than later.

Amazing, that a man would vociferously complain about "catering to crippled people" as his
wife and children sat there listening--night after night after night.

I've got DOZENS of stories--one more egregious than the next. Growing up with conservatives
like this is a living hell. My father used to ask me if I wanted to go for a ride in his
Mercedes, "So we can go see how the lower 99 percent lives." Our family once attended a
swanky engagement party. It was well known that I was concerned about the homeless and
other disadvantaged groups when I was in high school. At the party, my father leaned over
and said, "Nice plate of food you got there. I think I hear a homeless person scratching
on the window, here's your chance to help."

I could write a book about the pathology present in this family. I cut them off nearly
a decade ago and haven't looked back.

[Kievan Rus]

21. I know what you mean. I had a former friend like that as well.

From a wealthy background and incredibly selfish and mean-spirited; and paranoid about "freeloaders" and "Obama taxing her family" after November 4, 2008.

After Obama got elected, she constantly whined about "socialism" and "people wanting to take her family's wealth away." She literally couldn't go ten minutes without mentioning politics after his victory...and she was largely apolitical before November 4, 2008. If I was out with her with other friends, she'd almost always pick arguments based on politics. It was impossible to watch nearly anything on TV without her "people taking my family's wealth" away rants coming up at least once. I'll never forget watching the post-game of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with her last year; as Penguins owner Mario Lemieux is presented the Stanley Cup, she quips, "I hope he doesn't thank President Obama"; (I live in Pittsburgh) she went on a lenghty anti-Obama rant after Steelers owner Dan Rooney thanked him after Super Bowl XLIII. As health care reform heated up that summer, she increasingly whined about "people taking her family's wealth away" due to health care reform.

Finally, I broke contact with her around October of last year and haven't contacted her since. After HCR passed this March, she probably still goes on her paranoid, Glenn Beck-esque rants.

[donco6]

23. And people like that think Heaven is reserved for them.

Ick. Sorry you had to grow up in that morass. Glad you made it out.

BTW, how the hell did you develop a moral compass coming out of that?

[tnlefty]

22. Quick, someone push him down a flight of stairs...

:spank: :spank: My negative karma bank is increasing.