# Harry Belafonte sticks his head up his ass **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 10, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237 "2006-01-10T00:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/141 "2006-01-11T01:24:59Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > In the first place, that is not what I said. Your statement is totally incorrect. Well, I was paraphrasing. In an admittedly hackneyed quasi-mocking way. > [@](#): > > If I were a liberal, I’d be screaming about how you were lying, but I’m not, so I won’t. The existence of this thread has surrendered your right to pretend you’re above hysteria over petty slights. > [@](#): > > In the second place, I’m not concerned in the slightest about how Belafonte came to hold any belief whatsoever. The lack of concern over why people hate America is what makes the right so toxic. > [@](#): > > What does concern me is his actions. You claim he is an “intelligent, thoughtful person”. Why would an “intelligent, thoughtful person” have done something as stupid and shameful as he did? That’s exactly what I want you to reflect on. Presumably, Belafonte was not born with a Bush-hating gene, and nor have the billions of other people around the world who hate him. Do you really think that “anti-American” sentiment just occurs naturally, as a consequence of criticism, spreading like the flu among the simple minded, completely independent of actual things Bush does or the consequences of his presidency? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/142 "2006-01-11T01:30:45Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The fact that one has the freedom to do something does not directly equate to the idea that one has a license to do it. There are certain things that should be taken into account, such as common sense and self-control. Belafonte said what he did with absolutely no thought given to the repercussions of the act. It was an arrogant, stupid act on his part. _This_ I can largely agree with. (Apart from the distinction between “freedom” and “license.”) Characterizing Bush as the “greatest terrorist in the world” is totally counter-productive, apart from being asinine. If anything, though, I’d think that Republicans would be overjoyed at such a statement. It couldn’t work better for them if they’d worked at planting an agent provocateur. Totally undermines the stated purpose of their trip. Now people whose depth of understanding of world affairs is only headline-deep will be more inclined to think that anyone critical of U.S. policy with regard to Venezuela is a drooling nutjob with a blind personal hatred of GWB. Your quote is extremely apropos. > [@Walter Lipmann](#): > > If there is a dividing line between liberty and license, it is where freedom of speech is no longer respected as a procedure of the truth and becomes the unrestricted right to exploit the ignorance, and to excite the passions, of the people. Then freedom is such a hullabaloo of sophistry, propaganda, special pleading, lobbying, and salesmanship that it is difficult to remember why freedom of speech is worth the pain and trouble of defending it. Belafonte clearly needs to get a grip and realize the truth of this assertion. The thing is, the vast majority of public opinion in the United States with regard to Venezuela and the Chavez government is informed entirely by the “hullabaloo of sophistry, propaganda, special pleading, lobbying, and salesmanship” coming from the administration and the oil lobby – and the general thrust of it is no less outrageous than Belafonte’s gross mischaracterization of W. The remedy for this not making offensive and inflammatory remarks that completely alienate people who might otherwise listen to what you have to say. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/143 "2006-01-11T02:11:00Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > The thing is, the vast majority of public opinion in the United States with regard to Venezuela and the Chavez government is informed entirely by the “hullabaloo of sophistry, propaganda, special pleading, lobbying, and salesmanship” coming from the administration and the oil lobby – and the general thrust of it is no less outrageous than Belafonte’s gross mischaracterization of W. Actually, the vast majority of public opinion in the United States with regard to Venezuela and the Chavez government is informed by nothing and nobody, including its own existence. HARRY BELAFONTE: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people . . . support your revolution. JOHN STEWART: I don’t believe millions of Americans know where Venezuela **is!** “Venezuela? What is that? The coffee guy?” ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/144 "2006-01-11T03:40:33Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > JOHN STEWART: I don’t believe millions of Americans know where Venezuela **is!** “Venezuela? What is that? The coffee guy?” Bah! It’s on the RISK™ board! Everyone knows where it is! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/145 "2006-01-11T04:43:45Z")
I think Belafonte acted like Pat Robertson did. They both had a rational political viewpoint but expressed them in a ridiculously overblown manner. And both ended up deservedly looking like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/146 "2006-01-11T06:01:29Z")
> [@](#): > > **Clothahump** : What is really saddening is how many people think it was perfectly okay, because they don’t bother to look beyond the moment and see the results. No one can ever can know for certain the full consequences of choosing to say something or to refrain from saying something. You have no way of knowing that he did not choose what he thought was for the best. In the United States of America it is considered _poor form_ to stifle dissent. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/147 "2006-01-11T06:45:05Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > I think Belafonte acted like Pat Robertson did. They both had a rational political viewpoint but expressed them in a ridiculously overblown manner. And both ended up deservedly looking like an idiot. Just out of curiosity . . . When in all his damned wasted sorry-ass life has Pat Robertson ever had a rational political viewpoint? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/148 "2006-01-11T07:33:08Z")
Of those people who have described Chavez as a dictator, and who have used Amnesty and other international organizations as the basis for that claim, i wonder if any of you are willing to answer this question, posed over 18 hours ago and still without a repsonse: > [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > \*f I come up with a similar list of cites from similar organizations criticizing current US human rights activities, will you concede that W. is a dictator? If not, why ought I accept that Chavez is a dictator from your list of cites? > > “Dictator” is a word with a specific meaning. That meaning is not “very bad man.” > > Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/149 "2006-01-11T07:39:31Z")
> [@](#): > > When in all his damned wasted sorry-ass life has Pat Robertson ever had a rational political viewpoint? If Robertson had limited himself to saying “Ariel Sharon shouldn’t have forced Israeli settlers out of the Gaza strip” then people might not agree with him but nobody would think he was nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/150 "2006-01-11T07:50:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > There was nothing else that needed to be said. The asshole went down and rubbed shoulders with a dictator and called his own President a terrorist. > > Just out of curiousity, why aren’t the liberals upset about that? Whether you like Bush or not, this episode should have everyone aggravated at both Belafonte for being an asshole and saying something like that and at the media for trumpeting it to the high heavens. > > Perhaps the left no longer has any sense of pride in our country any more. I don’t know; what about it, libs? When did it become fashionably correct to call our President a terrorist while kissing the ass of a dictator? We’re not upset because what Belafonte said has a strong element of truth to it. Bush started a war with a country that had no ability to wage war against us, or our allies, on false pretences. He is responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Iraqis, and over 2000 Americans, and counting. He may not be a terrorist, but his actions are those of a terrorist. His actions are those of a tyrant. He belongs in a jail cell in the Hague, awaiting a trial for crimes against humanity. So do some members of his Administration. The only real hyperbole is in calling him the worst tyrant. He’s probably not the worst tyrant out there. He just has more ability to abuse his power than others do. I’m not sure Chavez is a dictator either. Wasn’t he legitimately elected? Unlike, say … Bush? ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/151 "2006-01-11T11:04:49Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I don’t know and I don’t care. No matter how closely they are linked, **it’s not more important that our right to dissent**. > > By what stretch of the imagination are the opinions of people abroad more important than our right to disagree publicly with the president? Do you see _any_ value in the right to dissent? So those who dissent against the US and the rest of the Western world are bad/wicked /evil?? They are evil because WE disagree with them? or because they disagree with the US? or because they will hurt people they disagree with? (unlike the US govt :D) ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/152 "2006-01-11T11:40:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Of those people who have described Chavez as a dictator, and who have used Amnesty and other international organizations as the basis for that claim, i wonder if any of you are willing to answer this question, posed over 18 hours ago and still without a repsonse: No question to answer. Any cites suggesting any policy or aspect of the USA is anything other than perfection will come from, by definition, the evil, mirror-universe, BAD Amnesty International whose reports and statements are routinely decried be the same people who want to use them to prove Chavez is a dictator. There is simply no limit to the hypocricy of the Apologistas. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/153 "2006-01-11T13:58:10Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I guess there used to be a time when people would say “I didn’t vote for the jerk but he’s still our president”, but that time seems to have passed most of us by. I don’t remember hearing a lot of that from the right during the Clinton administration. It was all, “Evil, evil, blowjob! BLOOOOWJOBBBBB!!!” ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/154 "2006-01-11T14:18:19Z")
I’d just like to chime in, as I’ve now chewed over the Chavez cites and I see nothing that means he’s a dictator. In many cases, Bush has done the exact same sort of things, and he’s not a dictator, just an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/155 "2006-01-11T14:34:53Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > I don’t remember hearing a lot of that from the right during the Clinton administration. It was all, “Evil, evil, blowjob! BLOOOOWJOBBBBB!!!” We were around then, but we’re not very loud. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/156 "2006-01-11T14:38:39Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Did such a time really ever exist? During WWII, there was a joke going around about a GI who refused to shoot a German soldier (or Japanese soldier depending upon who was telling the joke) who yelled, “To Hell with Roosevelt!” because he couldn’t kill a fellow Republican. > > I disagree with the vast majority of Bush’s policies. If I were to walk into Canada and began discussing politics with a citizen of the country, I am not suddenly going to start praising and kissing W’s ass just because I’m no longer in the U.S. I will continue to criticize and find fault with Bush’s leadership just as I do here. I won’t change my political opinions just because I’ve crossed a border. Why is it that it’s automatically ass-kissing if it’s not badmouthing? I simply said I’d change my opinion to outsiders; I just wouldn’t express it. But to other Americans I’d rip GW a new one. But hey, do what you want. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/157 "2006-01-11T14:40:08Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > I’d just like to chime in, as I’ve now chewed over the Chavez cites and I see nothing that means he’s a dictator. In many cases, Bush has done the exact same sort of things, and he’s not a dictator, just an asshole. Indeed. Clearly there are many problems with how things are in V but compared to the murderous dictatorships the West has actively supported in South America and continues to support around the world today, this is chump change. Neither Bush nor his Apologistas have any interest in democracy and human rights. With the failure of coup attempts for the time being, it is just a convenient stick to beat a regime that isn’t playing capitalist ball and embarasses the Bush regime. And now, to conclusively close the debate, I invoke the right’s favourite last-ditch gambit. The ‘at least he isn’t as bad as Hitler/Saddam/Kim/Oprah’ defence. Worse things by far routinely go on in Egypt, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Pakistan, Iraq and places we ‘render’ suspects to for torturing. Or in our own black detention centres. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/158 "2006-01-11T14:43:15Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Why is it that it’s automatically ass-kissing if it’s not badmouthing? > > I simply said I’d change my opinion to outsiders; I just wouldn’t express it. > But to other Americans I’d rip GW a new one. > > But hey, do what you want. Jeez I can’t type for shit today. SHould have written: I wouldn’t change my opinion to an outsider (not suppress dissent); I just wouldn’t express it. In other words I save my political dissent for inside the USA. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/159 "2006-01-11T15:21:57Z")
[Figured that I’d interject some humor.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/finnagain/Belafonte.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237/160 "2006-01-11T15:38:04Z")
My biggest problem with Belafonte is that, as an Italian American, I’m offended by his frequent use of the epithet “dago” in that Banana Boat song. Jesus, doesn’t he know that’s a racial slur? How’d he like it if I sang a song that went “Nigger! Ni-i-i-gger! Daylight come and me wanna go home!” Suddenly it’s not so cute and innocent anymore, is it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-belafonte-sticks-his-head-up-his-ass/339237.md?page=9)