Psycho Squid
May 19th, 2003, 06:58 PM
http://msnbc.com/news/914467.asp?0sl=-41
May 15 — Scarborough Country has spoken, and MCI had listened. It’s time for The Real Deal.
SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, our Scarborough Country staff began investigating the extreme views of Hollywood movie star Danny Glover. Mr. Glover, who is know primarily for his “Lethal Weapon” films, has a history of making divisive political comments. He called the president of the United States a racist, he blamed American policy for the murderous acts of September 11th, and he signed a petition comparing American soldiers in the Gulf War to 9/11 terrorists. He called America “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” And most recently Mr. Glover signed a letter of support for Fidel Castro.
At the same time he was signing the pro-Castro manifesto, Danny Glover was also flacking for long distance carrier MCI, and trading off his good guy image to get you and your family to buy MCI’s products.
That’s when we took action, by asking you to call MCI and let them know what you thought of Mr. Glover’s extreme political views.
You reached out and touched MCI, and other corporate heads listened. After two weeks of claiming that Glover’s ads were some of the most popular ever aired by MCI, we received an e-mail today announcing that MCI would no longer be using Danny Glover as its spokesman. Because of your calls, Danny Glover is being held accountable for his comments.
We have asked Glover to defend himself on this show at least 6 times, and he’s refused. We have had several Glover supporters on the show to discuss the actor’s controversial comments, but they have refused to address the crux of this controversy — and that’s Danny Glover’s own words.
You can be assured that Glover and his friends will not take MCI’s actions lightly. Yesterday, Glover was compared to Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. I, on the other hand, have been tagged with the dreaded racist label. And MCI has been threatened with a boycott if they turn their back on Glover.
Glover’s name-calling allies have claimed that he is being punished because he is black. That’s just crude race baiting. They will now claim that MCI’s removal of Glover as its public spokesman amounts to censorship. Wrong again.
The Scarborough Country-led campaign against Glover has nothing to do with race or censorship. It has everything to do with an American citizen being held responsible for his words and actions.
And that’s exactly what happened tin the case of Danny Glover and MCI.
In what Thomas Jefferson called the free marketplace of ideas, the lethal weapon turned out to be the truth. That’s good news for all of us, because it proves that we can all still make a difference, if we only let our voices be heard.
May 15 — Scarborough Country has spoken, and MCI had listened. It’s time for The Real Deal.
SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, our Scarborough Country staff began investigating the extreme views of Hollywood movie star Danny Glover. Mr. Glover, who is know primarily for his “Lethal Weapon” films, has a history of making divisive political comments. He called the president of the United States a racist, he blamed American policy for the murderous acts of September 11th, and he signed a petition comparing American soldiers in the Gulf War to 9/11 terrorists. He called America “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” And most recently Mr. Glover signed a letter of support for Fidel Castro.
At the same time he was signing the pro-Castro manifesto, Danny Glover was also flacking for long distance carrier MCI, and trading off his good guy image to get you and your family to buy MCI’s products.
That’s when we took action, by asking you to call MCI and let them know what you thought of Mr. Glover’s extreme political views.
You reached out and touched MCI, and other corporate heads listened. After two weeks of claiming that Glover’s ads were some of the most popular ever aired by MCI, we received an e-mail today announcing that MCI would no longer be using Danny Glover as its spokesman. Because of your calls, Danny Glover is being held accountable for his comments.
We have asked Glover to defend himself on this show at least 6 times, and he’s refused. We have had several Glover supporters on the show to discuss the actor’s controversial comments, but they have refused to address the crux of this controversy — and that’s Danny Glover’s own words.
You can be assured that Glover and his friends will not take MCI’s actions lightly. Yesterday, Glover was compared to Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. I, on the other hand, have been tagged with the dreaded racist label. And MCI has been threatened with a boycott if they turn their back on Glover.
Glover’s name-calling allies have claimed that he is being punished because he is black. That’s just crude race baiting. They will now claim that MCI’s removal of Glover as its public spokesman amounts to censorship. Wrong again.
The Scarborough Country-led campaign against Glover has nothing to do with race or censorship. It has everything to do with an American citizen being held responsible for his words and actions.
And that’s exactly what happened tin the case of Danny Glover and MCI.
In what Thomas Jefferson called the free marketplace of ideas, the lethal weapon turned out to be the truth. That’s good news for all of us, because it proves that we can all still make a difference, if we only let our voices be heard.