Once upon a time, journalism was about telling people what’s going on in the world. Now it’s about stopping people from saying things that offend journalists. We’re seeing it right now with Vox.com vs. Steven Crowder, the Daily Beast vs. the unemployed forklift driver who made a joke video about Nancy Pelosi, and CNN vs. pretty much anybody wearing a MAGA hat. Some opinions simply cannot be expressed, and some jokes cannot be told. The purpose of journalism is to enforce these ever-changing edicts.
Now those intrepid journalists are protecting the feelings of the only woman to win a men’s gold medal in the 1976 Olympic games.
A California Highway Patrol chief is under investigation after sharing a post on social media that demeaned transgender star Caitlyn Jenner and her gender transition.
The investigation into Chief Mark Garrett was initiated Monday after a Times reporter showed officials at CHP headquarters a message that the veteran highway patrol supervisor posted on his personal Facebook page.
The entry, which Garrett posted in April 2017, shows a photo of Jenner that is overlaid with a transphobic and vulgar message. In bold type on Jenner’s image, it reads, “Anyone who says I’m not a lady can,” and then suggests the reader perform a sex act…
A Philadelphia attorney has launched an extensive examination of the private social media accounts of nearly 3,000 law enforcement officers from eight departments nationwide. The resulting database is intended to show how hundreds of racist or bigoted comments and images from officers’ posts undermine the public trust, the project’s website says.
It’s about time. Out of all the problems with American law enforcement in 2019, I can’t think of anything more dangerous than cops posting rude Facebook memes. Caitlyn Jenner must be protected, and the LA Times has leapt to her rescue. We need to get this cop off the street before he rudely insults another privileged white millionaire.
Oddly enough, back in the early ’80s, Caitlyn — then living as “Bruce,” although we now know that she was born a woman, and believing otherwise is transphobic — portrayed California Highway Patrol officer “Steve McLeish” in several episodes of the popular NBC series CHiPs. Then Erik Estrada came back, and everybody forgot about it.
From cop to victim. That’s quite a step up in the hierarchy, Bruce! I mean Caitlyn.
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