By Scott Tibbs, February 16, 2011
We have all heard the fable about the boy who cried wolf. He was sent to guard the sheep, and decided to scream that there was a wolf. The people of the town would come running, much to the boy's amusement. When a wolf really came, no one believed him and the wolf killed the livestock - and the boy with it. The dishonorable Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) would do well to remember that.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee whined on the floor of the House that the Pepsi Maxx commercial featuring a henpecked man and his overbearing wife was "demeaning" and inappropriate during black history month.
Oh, give me a break. There was nothing racist about the ad. You could argue that the ad was misogynistic, with the beleaguered husband unable to enjoy a treat because of his meddlesome shrew of a wife - the poor guy was hiding in the bathtub trying to enjoy a hamburger when his wife rips the burger from his hand and shoves a bar of soap in his mouth. If the couple had been played by two white actors alongside the attractive white jogger, no one would have given it a second thought beyond the initial reaction: "Well, that was stupid."
This is ridiculous. People like Jackson Lee are looking for an excuse to be "offended" and demand their "grievances" be addressed. The professionally offended need to be mocked and ridiculed, and certainly not taken seriously.
Are race relations really so good that this is what a multi-term member of Congress needs to be spending time crying about? There are legitimate problems faced by blacks in this country, and a stupid ad for a diet cola is not one of them. There are legitimate examples of racism that should be condemned. A stupid commercial is not one of them.
This controversy is demeaning, but it was the congresswoman's whining that is demeaning. It is demeaning to people who have endured real racism for a member of Congress to play the race card about a silly diet soda commercial. By screaming "racism" where there is none, Jackson Lee reduces her credibility to name and shame real racism, because she is rightly seen as a clown.
