Kyle Sandilands -- Stupid Is As Stupid Does...

It is always interesting to see and hear people offer an apology for being truly offensive. But, the apology more often than not tends to sound really hollow and more like damage control than a real apology. This is the case with Kyle Sandilands of 2Day FM fame, or is that infamy.

After the debacle of the lie detector segment (which you can read about here) and a two-week suspension, it has not taken long for Sandilands to jump right back in where he left off. Sandilands is often portrayed as a shock jock, but I am starting to think that the only shock that this bloke will get is when he looks in his own jock(eys).

I have written about the dangers of exaggeration and using analogies that just do not hold up to scrutiny. But, as an extension of this there are some things that are just not funny. So, the idea that a concentration camp is in some ways an extreme reality version of a Jenny Craig weight loss program is not only objectionable, it is offensive.

One of Australia's premier comics, Magda Szubanski, who happens to be of Polish extraction, and is currently the one of the faces of Jenny Craig in Australia, was the subject of the concentration camp taunt by Sandilands. Szubanski has battled with her weight for many years and finally committed herself to doing something about it. To her credit she has lost 25kgs.

However, Sandilands seemed to think she could lose a few more kilos yet, and that any suggestion that she might be genetically disposed to being heavy set as a consequence of a large frame was nothing more than the standard excuse used by fat people to stay fat. He then figured that to prove his point that he would reckon that the weight would fall off if she was in a concentration camp.

Brainless! There are myriad of other things that I thought about writing to describe Sandilands and his stupidity. But, I know there is no need to write them down as most people would probably have a good collection of their own.

The result is that Sandilands has been suspended again. However, if Austereo, the owners of 2Day FM has any testicular or ovarian fortitude, then they would convert this suspension into a firing. And, if Austereo does not do it then the sponsors must show their concern by fleeing en masse with their advertising dollars.

I am voting for a Sandilands dismissal by not tuning into any 2Day FM programs.

Rush Limbaugh, Barack Obama, and Adolf Hitler...

I have taught a lot of advocacy classes in my time. One of the things that I teach students in those classes is to be careful using exaggerated analogies. Simply, the exaggeration ends up making the analogy sound hollow and untrue. An exaggerated analogy then serves to do nothing more than detract and undermine what may in fact be a legitimate concern.

One of the examples that I use is: "the conditions of the jail where my client is incarcerated are as bad as Auschwitz!" The reason that this is an exaggerated analogy is abundantly clear to anyone who has read anything about the concentration camps that Nazi Germany used as part of the Final Solution. It is highly unlikely, for example, that a modern day prison in Australia, the US, the UK, or even Abu Ghraib, resemble the abhorrent conditions of Auschwitz.

So, as I was reading about Rush Limbaugh comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Obama's health care policies to the policies of the Third Reich and Nazi Germany, I could not help but think that any real points that Limbaugh may have been making would be lost in the brouhaha that was going to come with the analogy equating Obama to Hitler.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper wrote a short and interesting piece on the injection of Nazi into the debate and the dangers that this poses to American democracy.

For me, the points that Limbaugh is trying to make have been lost. I am sure that there are legitimate arguments to be made for and against the Obama health plan. However, labeling Obama a Nazi and trying to equate the health care symbol as one previously favoured by the Third Reich, the Reichsadler, is absurd.

The whole idea of equating Obama to Hitler and the Obama health policy to a policy of Nazi Germany and the Third Reich reminds me of my favourite Forrest Gump quote, "stupid is as stupid does!"