Cancel 2020.1
Canceled
By distorting what I said, by using words I did not use, by insinuating I have said things I did not say.
I said she was more qualified to give a political opinion, not that her opinion was more valid. Jim Carrey is more qualified to act in comedy movies. Ted Nugent is more qualified to make rock music. Koby Bryant is more qualified to play basketball.
Well, I am sorry, but we've ALWAYS lived in a world where people with university degrees and experience are more qualified than others, and their opinions are valued. Laura Ingraham is paid to give her opinion by people who are paid by advertisers, because her opinion is valued. I did not say her opinions are more valid, or that other people's opinions are invalid.
It has nothing to do with being afraid of anything. It has nothing to do with opinions I agree with or disagree with. I made a statement with regard to my respect for other people. Those who exploit their position in life to do something the rest of us can't do, because we lack their status, is offensive to me. No one is paying Jim Carrey to be a political speaker or for his political opinions, he is exploiting his fame and connection with the media, to pontificate his personal views. He has that right, I haven't said he shouldn't have that right, but I don't have to respect him for it. To me, it is much more respectable to deliver whatever political message you have through your art. Make a movie and tell me about your political view, I can appreciate that, but grabbing the mic because you happen to be famous, and lecturing me on your political views, is just not cool with me. I don't care if it's Ted Nugent, who I agree with, or Jim Carrey, who I don't. Laura Ingraham is okay because she is being paid by advertisers to do what she does, and that is her job. When advertisers pay Jim Carrey to do a nationally syndicated political talk show, I will feel differently, but that is not currently the case.
Saying that someone's opinion is more 'valued' but that this doesn't mean it's more 'valid' is a bit of hairsplitting, imo. And I don't agree with you that advertisers paying someone money does anything at all to make an opinion more 'valued,' anyway. That's giving a lot of power to advertisers.
And it's also giving a lot of power to the punditry. I think it's sad to see their opinions as being more 'valued', or on some other level somehow, because they're all so much more "qualified" than the rest of us to have opinions and voice them.