The Donald Sterling Controversy and Privacy

* World War III? You might think a story of that significance broke if you saw the front page headline in the April 30, 2014 LA Times. But the headline read: "BANNED FOR LIFE." All caps, across the entire page, with two subtitles also across the entire page. The story was about Donald Sterling, an 80 year old who made some private racist comments to his half-black girlfriend. Sterling told her not to bring blacks to Clipper games. He was one of the first NBA owners to hire a black general manager. He has a black coach and mostly black players - who get paid very well. And, of course, black fans do attend the games. For whatever reason, he did not want his girlfriend bringing blacks to the games. Racist comments? Sure. But meant to be private.

* Perhaps not surprisingly, our black President weighed in. After condemning Sterling's remarks (everyone did), Obama added this: "I will make just one larger comment about this. The United States continues to wrestle with the legacy of race, slavery and segregation." That's quite a generalization from a few words from a single individual. And where was the "wrestling?" Everyone condemned Sterling's remarks - not just blacks. I think Obama might consider wrestling with his own attitudes - "If I had a son he'd look like Trayvon." And what about his inappropriate criticism of the Cambridge Police with regards to the incident with Professor Gates? Obama makes racial issues even when none exist.

* I wonder what we might hear as a fly on the wall in some NBA locker rooms; or in the privacy of the players' homes. Comments about women maybe, or gays, or other races? Or does any reader believe all NBA players are pure in thought and deed? I am not making excuses for Sterling's comments. I am, however, disturbed by the immediate and widespread attacks on him. The media had no interest in privacy issues. It was a juicy story, and as my brother likes to say, it sells papers. The main issue here is not a single 80 year old making a few racist remarks; the main issue is privacy.

* The NSA has the capability of monitoring all electronic communications - cell phone calls, emails, what have you. But that is not enough for some on the left. Recall the proposal, subsequently dropped, that the FCC monitor every TV and radio station and even newspapers (over which the FCC has no authority) for content. The idea was to see what stories are developed and which ones are not; amounting to the monitoring of speech for content. The proposal by the Obama Administration was an outrageous assault on the First Amendment. Now along comes US Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass) with a proposal to "examine the prevalence of hate crime and hate speech on the Internet, television, and radio to better address such crimes." Hate speech? Are we now making speech a crime?

* Who will do the monitoring and determine what speech qualifies as "hate speech?" There are any number of liberals who believe that criticisms of Obama are racist and "hateful." Many believe those who do not support gay marriage are bigots and "hateful." If you do not support abortion on demand you "hate" women. If you oppose amnesty for illegal aliens (or even dare to use the phrase "illegal alien") you "hate" Hispanics and others. And don't even think about criticizing Islam or anything or anyone Muslim. This blog would not last very long under leftist standards. Should the blog be shut down and should I be arrested for "hate speech?"

* You see, these attacks on "hate speech" all tend to be one-sided. And that was the downfall for Donald Sterling. If he had only attacked Republicans, this would have been a non-story. After all, Democrat leaders and pundits can say anything they want about Republicans with no consequences. They will even have the mainstream media back them up. Congresswoman Maxine Waters: "As far as I'm concerned - the Tea Party can go straight to hell." Howard Dean, when head of the DNC, said: "Our moral values, in contradistinction to the Republicans, is we don't think kids ought to go to bed hungry at night." But let's not forget Bill Maher calling Sarah Palin the "C" word. How come he gets to keep his sponsors for his TV show? How come he gets to keep his ownership interest in the NY Mets?

* Have we arrived, a little belatedly, at "1984?" With today's technology, can we implant a chip into everyone's brain at birth to monitor their thoughts for "hate?" I could tell you who I hate...but I'd better not.