Is Tavis Smiley the New Rosie O’Donnell?
If you’ve ever fallen victim to one of these guilt-tripping PBS fundraising appeals and actually sent ‘em a check, I’d call and cancel my subscription now!
Call them up and just say two words: “Tavis Smiley.” They’ll instantly know why you’re mad.
Smiley is the host of a nightly PBS TV broadcast which claims to be a “hybrid of news, issues, and entertainment.” But let’s be clear: he is, in all-too-many ways, simply Al Sharpton with an updated hair style and a better sense of fashion. Like the Reverend Al, he’s a political opportunist and a shameless self-promoter with a bad case of “hate America” politics.
But up to now, he’s just been another annoying liberal TV host playing the usual game of racial-victim politics.
Well, that was up to now, because in the blink of an eye Smiley’s just gone from being an annoyance to a guy who willfully insulted seventy-five percent of the American population who proudly identify as Christians.
How’d he do this?
Recently, Smiley’s guest was none other than Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the internationally renowned social critic and author of Infidel. She was on the show to promote her new book, Nomad.
If you are unfamiliar with this woman’s amazing and courageous story, Hirsi Ali fled a traditional Muslim life in Somalia, a life that included being the victim of female genital mutilation as a child, and eventually made her way to the Netherlands where she rejected Islam and literally underwent an intellectual awakening. She now lives in America.
Hirsi Ali’s name made international headlines after her colleague, Theo van Gogh, was butchered by a Muslim assassin in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street in Amsterdam. The Muslim immigrant vowed to kill both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali after the release of Submission, a film they made together that spotlighted the treatment of women under Islam.
It’s also important to know that Hirsi Ali lives under the constant watch of security guards, since her life continues to be threatened by Islamic extremists.
This was the woman who walked onto Tavis Smiley’s PBS show to promote her new book. Nomad calls on key institutions of the West — universities, feminists, and Christian churches — to wage a war of ideas against Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.
However, Smiley was in no mood to hear Hirsi Ali’s arguments that placed Islam in a bad light. He wanted to assert the old leftist claim that Islam is always and everywhere “a religion of peace.”
Look at this jaw-dropping exchange between Smiley and Hirsi Ali:
Smiley: But Christians do that every single day in this country. …
Ali: Do they blow people up every single day?
Smiley: Yes, Christians. Every day, people walk into post offices, they walk into schools, that’s what Columbine — I mean I could do this all day long. There’s so many more examples of Christians — and I happen to be a Christian — that’s back to this notion of you idealizing Christianity to my read. There’s so many more examples, Ayaan, of Christians who do that than you could ever give me examples of Muslims who have done that inside this country where you live and work.
Beyond the irritating liberal arrogance is the complete ignorance of the facts involved here.
Let’s ignore momentarily the dozens of terror plots — all designed and organized by Muslim-Americans — that have been uncovered and thwarted by this nation’s security forces. I will instead direct Smiley’s attention to these attacks against Americans:
- 1993: The World Trade Center bombing in New York killed 6 people.
- 1996: The Khobar Towers bombing killed 20 and wounded 372.
- 1998: The bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania left 224 dead and 4,000 injured.
- 2001: On 9/11, 19 hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 perished.
- 2009: U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan shot and killed 13 at Texas’ Fort Hood.
- 2010: Faisal Shahzad attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square.
Uh, where’s a similar listing of Christian-inspired acts of violence, Mr. Smiley? The sweeping ignorance, or political blindness, of Smiley’s claim that “Christians do that (commit acts of terror) every single day in this country” is nothing short of astounding.
Unlike Islam, Christian scripture does not guarantee paradise to those who kill in the name of their faith. But the Koran does offer the fruits of paradise to “those who kill for Allah.” Suicide bombers have been lured to their deaths with this promise and the offer that they will be free from the fires of hell if they kill an infidel and, in the process, die.
Tavis Smirky’s actions are those of the typical lib- shamelessly lie and distort the truth to make an argument. belittle an opponent who has actually experienced the actions the lib is defending, and then ending up with an antiChristian or antiAmerican conclusion while supporting the true evil, which in this case is islam. I cant help but wonder if these tools (Smirky, Odonnell et al) get together and plan their strategies. . . If this great country of ours ever falls, these clowns will be at least partly responsible, and I, for one, would have no compunction about eliminating them from the gene pool. . .
My favorite Tavis Smiley episode had Will Smith coming on and trying to teach Tavis something new. Smith tries to educate Brother Tavis, telling him about hard work, visualizing success and refusing to fail. He even says “LISTEN” to Tavis three different times, because Brother Tavis doesn’t LISTEN. Only in his mid-forties, Tavis is locked into old ideas and old attitudes, he can’t even understand what Will Smith is saying:
Tavis: Ain’t 55 Negros all making blockbuster movies at one time. (Laughter)
Smith: Right.
Tavis: You get selected, you get selected, whatever, and this is who we working with for the next couple years. You’ve broken through that, obviously, but I raise that only because whether or not it really does represent -
Smith: Except I don’t like the idea of selected. I don’t think I was selected.
Tavis: Okay.
Smith: I demanded my position.
Tavis: I respect that. I respect that. Somebody has to choose to work with you, though. If they decided to shut you out, what would you do? If nobody’s distributing and nobody’s – so I get your point. You’re talent is awesome.
Smith: Then we’ll start a distributor, we’ll – (laughter) you know what I mean? Listen.
Tavis: All right.
Smith: Listen.
Tavis: Here’s the question I’m getting to.
Smith: You talk to the Van Peebles; they’ll tell you how to do it. Listen.
A clearly embarrassed Tavis then name drops Melvin and Mario, rambles on like an old Uncle. But Smith is clearly offended by Tavis’ “selected” insult. Smith returns to the idea of refusing to be out-worked, of always being ready, of seeking crucial opportunities… The whole interview is worth seeing because it illustrates Will Smith’s Intelligence and highlights Tavis Smiley’s Ignorance.
This is one of the many, many, reasons why I don’t want any more tax dollars going to PBS. I also don’t want any more public funding going to National Public Radio (NPR), a radio station nobody listens to. If they want to spew their left-wing bile, let them do it on their own dime, not ours. The left knows that if they were not subsidized by the Federal Government, they would fail miserably. One only has to look at Air America to see how the left FAILS miserably whenever they have to support themselves. Pull all funding and let them try to make it on their own. I’m sure Smiley will be able to find some other work, such as selling women’s shoes.
By the way, another major example that was not listed above of a Muslim attack on the US was the suicide bombing of the USS Cole. Although this attack was made against a military target, it was still an attack. I guess you don’t see many Christians going into a motor boat and blowing themselves up against the side of a US destroyer, now do you?
But how much do you want to bet that you’re going to get some far left nut today who will try to draw a moral equivalence between our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and Muslim suicide bombings? Perhaps some Europeans will do that too, even though they also have NATO troops serving in Afghanistan right now. Well, save your breath. If you STILL can’t see the difference between the two, you should also be selling women’s shoes with Mr. Smiley.
Hi Libertyship- heck you dont have to wait for people to comment our invasion of iraq with terrorism. There are plenty of people who do. I even see thoes who still use the crusades, and the inquisition as ‘reasons’ christians are the same as terrorists who tried to blow up time square or thro acid into schoolgirls faces, or hang a 7 yr old. 800+ yrs ao vs less than 8 days ago ad these fools still wont get it. Its the sole narrative of the socialist lefts guide on international relations. hate america first, last and soley. These fools dont get that it is america thatis the only country that gives them this right and encourages it. It would be fnny if these lib socialists were not in charge.
He’s an excellent example of that type of human being who thinks an empty mind is the same thing as an open one.
When conservatives get control of Congress a bill needs to be introduced to defund PBS. PBS provides a forum for trash talkers like Smiley who are handsome enough for tv, and empty headed enough too. PBS needs to stop sucking on the taxpayers teat and start funding it’s own editorial position by demonstrating it has the fund raising ability to self sustain.
It is patently absurd that public television gets a dime from taxpayers, yet is not in any way accountable to them. The public is systematically shuting off the old media. For many like me, that has to do with the ascendency of alternative media that provides real time information and non Marxist editorial content. I have not watched PBS in years and only watch ABC, NBC, and CBS when sports I want to watch are broadcast. The concept of a government sponsered TV station is as outmoded as government run health care.
I rarely watch TV in general – and PBS in particular, especially “news”/interview shows with pompous libtard jerks like Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley. They are SO full of themselves! They remind me of Charles Gibson interviewing Sarah Palin with that supercilious look on his idiot face and his little pince-nez perched at the end of his silly nose.
I did happend to see this particular clip as a video clip in the past day or so – and was, as was this writer, appalled at the stupidity and mendacity of his ignorant statements vis-a-vis Christianity. I’m sorry I didn’t see the rest of the video – not for his clueless rantings, but, perchance, any intelligent questions he might have asked his illustrious guest!
Obviously, he wasn’t REALLY interested in her brave and unique story – or any of the serious issues she so intimately and horrifically knows. This only indicates that he obviously doesn’t let anyone or anything that challenges his closed mind get a fair shake on his show – let alone a “quality” interview. This guy is SUCH a hack!!
Tavis Smiley demonstrated his total ignorance, so typical of the jihadist apologists and the left, and his obvious bias toward kneeling as a dhimmi rather than standing for human rights as Dr. King did. Joe Hicks clearly articulately factually and with unemotional conviction debased Mr. Smiley’s ridiculous uninformed, and frankly self humiliating, argument. Mr. Smiley was hoping he could take on a ‘woman’ from his dunce chair and appear as an advocate for islam while wearing the cloak of self proclaimed ‘Christianity’ as his shield. He did a poor job of both and damaged his future credibility at the same time.
This hustler is also heard on Nancy Pelosi Radio (NPR). There is no subject in which he can’t find racism. I look for him to latch onto the NAACP’S objection to astronomy’s use of the term “black hole.” Substitute language must be found or there will be marches.
The contrast between the graceful, intelligent Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the PBS buffoon was fantastic. What is remarkable is that she is so seldom on TV, while ignorant dhimmis and Jihad apologists are so frequently given air time to obfuscate and spin for Islam.
Dear PBS,
As long as Tavis Smiley is spewing his hate on publicly funded airwaves, I will never again contribute a dime to PBS. PBS has become an anti-American institution with their far-left personalities (Gwen Ifel, Tavis Smiley, Bill Moyers et al).
Time to pull the plug on PBS, they have become the enemy.
Smiley is a black version of Mahar on steroids. Moreover he like Rev.(?) Wright, Cornell West, Michael Eric Dyson and Bill O’Really’s BFF Lamont Hill are just black liberation theologists who by happenstance and affirmative action got college degrees and university positions. None of them can debate off of their pre-recorded talking points.
But being black grants them special privilege. And having the WON as POTUS helps too.
PBS should lose its license at the very least and definitely should lose its taxpayer funding if we take over Congress.
What a shame PBS has become. I fondly remember This Old House and, when the kids were younger, Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood. IMHO, these are what the “Public” in PBS stood for. To bad PBS has ventured into politics. We need the money, maybe its time to pull the funding for PBS. I’m sure George Soros would be happy to fund PBS to continue this nonsense.
It’s also important to know that Hirsi Ali lives under the constant watch of security guards, since her life continues to be threatened by
Islamic extremists.followers of Islam.FIFY
PBS is a big disappointment but I use their fundraisers to express my disdain. I try to always call in on their fundraisers and to strike up a conversation with the person taking the call. I am very friendly, they are trying to get my donation so they are also friendly. If I can extend their conversation they cannot get donations from someone else. I eventually state my problem with PBS political views and state I can’t donate until they change their views. The more people that call and express that they will not donate due to the political views of PBS, the more the management will eventually have to take notice.
Christains attacking schools on a daily basis!!??? ‘Scuse me, Mr. Smiley, but that would be Muslims in Afghanistan.
This is why I stopped watching PBS years ago.
This sort of crap is one of the reasons why I took the step, some months ago, of having my cable TV service disconnected. And you know something? I haven’t missed it at all.
Nor do I miss the newspapers I gave up reading twenty years ago. And this from someone who used to subscribe to two daily newspapers, three weekly newsmagazines, and who had CNN on almost 24/7.
But the media’s trend to the Left became a stampede, to the point that there is no Liberal “bias”, but rather a full-bore, blind, unquestioning acceptance of the radical leftist view of the world.
These days, I get my news and information from websites – like Pajamas Media – with a proven history of accuracy, and a willingness to admit to and correct errors. Note that I did not say “unbiased”; such a condition is impossible in any enterprise operated by Man. But accuracy and responsibility are possible, and are available on the Web for people who bother to look.
Some have moved to defund PBS/NPR. There are some things that these organizations can do better than commercial media – education, documentaries, etc. But the overwhelming bias can, and must be, eliminated – even if that means dismantling the organizations and rebuilding them from the ground up.
I’m sorry, it’s one thing to debate whether she’s spreading the brush to broadly (from her own experiences, I doubt it, at least for African/Arab muslims, I can’t say about Indonesians, etc), but another to be so ignorant and well, stupid in your arguments. How does this man even have a job? A D+ high school student could have researched and prepared a better interview than this. Heck, there are probably some grade schoolers that could have.
His race allows him to be an idiot. Tolerated by quilt ridden whites. Ironic, given his discourse with Smith as posted in comment 2 above. He is an embarrassment to all black Americans.
Tavis Smiley is a jerk, what I want to know is where is his vastly superior libertarian nemesis Larry Elder ?
The whole PBS system seems to be taken over by leftist. Most of the trash they show is pro-Arabist in nature. BBC seems to be their favorite news service. This coupled with their shows about the wonders of Islam completes the fare. It is curious to watch them only put on a show of Jewish fare only when they are fund raising. “If you want more shows like this, please donate to PBS. Only you can keep shows like this on the air.” In the mean time they bring on the most virulent Jew bashers they can find and give them a forum. They are never asked questions to pin them to the truth and are completely allowed to spew their propaganda. Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley are the worst offenders of the type. Nobody has ever called them on this. Tavis is a thinly veiled racist. Yes, ladies and gentlemen blacks can be racists.
My favorite skit was one on Mad TV where they made fun of the Tavis type of commentator. It really hit the nail on the head.
If you want the nearest equivalent to Islamic terrorists, I don’t think you can do better than the abortion clinic bombers and assassins, possibly the Irish Republican Army.
But as I discuss at my website, not only have these movements died out, but the one was about shutting down what the activists regarded as slaughterhouses of the innocent, and the other was pressing a longstanding nationalism with real grievances, not trying to proselytize a particular faith against the whole world.
It’s a strong indicator of Smiley’s ignorance that he didn’t even bring up these two examples, which actually do require rebuttal.
Well, he did compare 9/11 on the Jihad side with spitting on one’s opponents for the Western side, which he equated with Christian. Even if the spitting was true, which apparently it was not, the comparison is . . . Well, the quality of that supposed “argument” does not even have a word to describe it.
We no longer watch or contribute to PBS. We no longer watch CBS, ABC, NBC….there is a lot of tv out there folks. You can stay away from these guys forever!! They are depressing to say the least
There are also a lot of good books, gardens to grow etc..
Smiley is ignorant, pure and simple, ignorant.
“Smiley: Yes, Christians. Every day, people walk into post offices, they walk into schools, that’s what Columbine — I mean I could do this all day long.”
I have no trouble believing that this clown can play the fool all day long.
But, hell, all lefties can do that.
“Is Tavis Smiley the New Rosie O’Donnell?”
No, these are two jackasses that stand well enough on their own.
Interesting that the PBS ombudsman left room for the interpretation that somehow Smiley is right, but that he just hadn’t “made his case”. That doesn’t go far in encouraging any clear-thinking person to want to support PBS.
The article left out the fact that Ali was a member of the Dutch Parliament. It was truly shameful that Smiley didn’t listen to this brave woman’s warnings for us all.
I admire your self-restraint, calling him only a fool.
I wish you would write about this other screaming and yelling imbecile John Stewart.
Benjamin Paine’s idea above is a great one!
Just call PBS the next time they are doing one of their ‘beg-a-thons’…talk to the phone operator and tell them how disappointed you are in their leftist hosts and biased programs. Gum up their money-getting operation.
I plan to do this a lot.
Is this the guy MAD TV was doing parodies of a few years ago? Anyone remember those? I don’t remember the guy’s name in the parody, but, this guy sounds a lot like that character.
I’ve been aware of Smiley since he first broke into radio decades ago. He was a fool then, but very young. A life is a terrible thing to waste learning nothing.
Tavis Smiley has poor grammar, a lack of common intelligence and a BIG chip on his shoulder…….the perfect liberal stereotype of “the black experience”.
I keep hearing this growing theme about this “radicalized” American Christianity analogy to Muslim hatred a lot from the Left, and I’m sure in a country where at least 200MM would call themselves Christians, you’re going to have a few loons packing heat or ranting hate in the name of my “religion.”
But in my lifetime, the only people I can remember calling themselves Christian that might even remotely resemble radical Islam’s militancy are a couple of abortion doctors being shot by pro-life extremists, and two or three goons who bombed abortion clinics in the name of Christianity. Each of the perpetrators was not only convicted for their crimes without protest, but many if not most Christians actually condoned the punishment. I feel safe in stating the convicted had jury that was mostly Christian, the law enforcement mostly Christian, even many of the executors probably Christian.
Maybe my memory is failing me.
If it is not, then Travis Smiley represents the most recent example of what has now become daily demonstration of the Left’s abject stupidity.
I don’t know which is worse. The lefts constant denial of reality. By saying islam is a religion of peace after all thats happened. Or The start of a new narrative where jhihad is an acceptable ‘religious tennant’ of Islam. Sorry But these people are trying to convince us to be sheep in the oncomming storm. When it happens do not look for the govt to protect you or the UN. hey will be too busy making sure you cannot fight back, well that and apologising to the terrorists for making them have to be so mean. Im really loosing hope in a peaceful resolution to this, because honestly I am not seeing one
Smiley is neither lying or exaggerating. His “thinking processes” are limited by the sad fact that he is a liberal. Liberals have their own logic. In the 30′s and 40′s they refused to believe that the USSR represented a threat to the US, particularly internally. No matter the state of the evidence of Soviet espionage in the US, liberals denied. Then they discovered a real out and today they characterize it as the age when Joe McCarthy was THE great threat to the US. Forgotten were the 3 Soviet spy rings that operated to steal US Atom bomb secrets for Stalin and the hundreds of American who worked for the USSR including Harry Dexter White, Laurence Duggan, Alger Hiss and others who operated at the highest levels of the US government. Just as liberals refused to engage in “red-baiting”, they don’t engage in “muslim-bashing” by the simple expedient of making the United States the Great Satan and putting it all in perspective- a liberal perspective.
A couple of months ago, about April of this year, Muslim extremist attacked Christians in a village in the Northern part of Nigeria. The story even made it to the recent publication Voice of the Martyrs magazine. Here are some pictures of that attack. CAUTION!! It is VERY graphic. http://www.anglicandioceseofjos.org/dogo.html
So I am EXTREMELY offended (putting it mildly) When TV personality and Muslim apologist Tavis Smiley has the audacity to say that Christians are blowing things and people up in America. Tavis smiley called the columbine shooters at those like them Christians!!!! Am I missing something here?!!! How many of these people i.e. the columbine shooters said they were doing this for CHRIST?!!!!
Please don’t lump Rev. Wright in with the other JustUS Brothers. He’s not one of them. You may not understand what you consider his rhetoric, but he is not a radical extremists or nationalist. He is a man of God, plain and simple. Sometimes people don’t like the truth when it steps on their toes, but that’s their problem. I am a conservative. I am a Christian. I am Black. But, I don’t agree with the assessment about Rev. Jeremiah Wright and if you did a little research, you would change your opinion as well.
God Bless You.