Joe Rogan continues to be the shitty, unwanted gift Austin received during the Pandemic and now he has been outed for saying racist and moronic things. Just like Louis CK or Brett Kavanaugh, instead of sincerely apologizing and cleaning up his act or whatever needs to be done if he truly meant it…he goes on the defensive which just makes him a bigger asshole. Believe me, there’s plenty of room to grow, he’s only 5′ 3″.
To be fair and transparent, what the correct and best course of action is? I don’t honestly know. I feel it varies according to the person, the aggrieved, the level of awfulness and how were the aggrieved harmed. Plus, I readily admit to the crappiness of my past behavior, especially when I was a kid, teen, college student and adulthood. I am evolving and even though I’m an Atheist, I always like to remember something Jesse Jackson said in 1984 when he apologized for calling New York “Hymietown” which is a slur against the Jewish faith if you don’t know. In the apology Jackson stated what he said was very inappropriate and mean spirited but he too was evolving to overcome such a shortcoming as he threw in, “The Lord ain’t finished with me yet.” I have said things I regret all the time. I am glad I have grown up, learned new things to counter such dipshittery and done what I can to make up for it. However, I think the best start is to ask those who are plagued by such hurtful behaviors, “What may I do to help counter this?” since they have a better answer than White Saviors no matter how well intentioned we are. Oh wait, the first steps are somewhat obvious, cut it out and tell others doing it to do the same while reminding ourselves, this is harmful as the “joke” makes some feel less human.
What’s even more exhausting with Rogan and his ilk, these “jokes” aren’t funny anyway. Sure, when Eddie Murphy did his Mr. T bit in the Eighties, we all laughed. Now we look back and react the same way as per a nasty hangover; I believe we were overcome by a mass cruelty brought on by the Conservative Movement taking power since St. Reagan gave the green light to mock those who were different. Sadly, many of us (me too) had a little homophobic, racist, misogynistic, etc. embers smoldering in our hearts which transformed into nasty conflagrations disguised as jokes. Couldn’t have happened at a worse period with AIDS killing thousands indirectly. We shouldn’t have given in to such craven behavior and defend it today with the knee-jerk response of “It was funny at the time,” sans context.
Again, contrary to the Atheist stereotypes, I do believe in redemption (forgiveness is another matter I’m selective on). If there are those who truly want to be “uncanceled,” to be welcome back into the fold of society and forgiven by the people they hurt, there must be a path. If their actions were criminal (Bill Cosby, Jimi Page), then they have their work cut out for them in prison. I may hate Brett Kavanaugh from numerous angles yet he could’ve gone before Congress and said, “I did many stupid and egregious things when I was a young man. I was immature. I thought I was invincible. I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self to not be such a creep. But over the years, I have worked hard to put it behind me by doing pro bono work for charities, some of which help battered women. I volunteer at my daughters’ school to help not just them but their classmates in the hopes they will pursue careers that women are underrepresented in. If you look at my record for the last 30 years, you’ll see I’ve grown, matured and demonstrated empathy toward the oppressed. I’m glad you’ve brought my accuser too, how I’ve wanted to apologize yet I was too cowardly to do so. In the end, you have the larger picture to examine and it is up to you with this critical, life-time position. I hope you choose me not just for my record. I hope you also choose me for the potential I have on the highest court of the land to wrangle the nation’s stickiest legal conundrums according to the guidelines given from our Constitution.”
Phew! What I wrote is really what a qualified, non-Federalist Society-backed stooge Brett Kavanaugh would’ve said in the Bizarro universe. I definitely need to have this vetted by several women whose opinions I have great respect for. Thankfully, at least one is a lawyer so she has serious gravitas.
Meanwhile, Joe Rogan will survive the 24-hour news cycle because Russia threatening Ukraine is more profitable to the SCLM and Spotify prefers making money over doing the morally right thing; if they kept ripping off 99% of the artists on their service, why should anybody be surprised they’re comfortable with a D-list comedian spreading bullshit if it makes money? I’m going to stick to working on me and striving to be a better person.