We ought to give Dog a second chance (Daily Trojan)

Daily Trojan ^ | 11/13/2007 | Joshua Sharp

[panther33]

OPINION COLUMN

We ought to give Dog a second chance

By: Joshua Sharp
Tuesday Opinion Columnist
Daily Trojan

It's always a good day when "Dog: The Bounty Hunter" is on TV. Bored by the prostitutes and stab victims on "Cops," I enjoy watching Duane "Dog" Chapman and his family hunting down meth-crazed fugitives on the Hawaiian Islands.

The long-haired strongman, accompanied by his trademark sunglasses and busty wife, usually ends each arrest by giving fatherly advice to his capture and offering a cigarette ­- if that's his or her thing.

But production of the show is now suspended indefinitely after the bounty hunter's estranged son, Tucker, recorded a private phone call where Dog repeatedly used racially charged language. Tucker then sold the tape to the National Enquirer for a reported $15,000.

In the call, Dog was chewing out his son for his relationship with a black woman whom Dog suspected was leading recently paroled Tucker back into trouble.

"I heard this girl was maybe not being the best for Tucker - and I'll leave it like that - so I tried to interfere," Dog explained on "Larry King Live." "I don't care if she is black at all. He's on parole for a 20-year sentence, and if he messes up, he goes back."

Dog's recorded rant was an angry, obscenity-laced tirade. But what's worse, Dog used the n-word to refer to the girlfriend.

Over the past two weeks, Dog has been rightfully vilified in the public sphere for using such indefensible language. But knowing Dog's track record of compassionate public service, and after his repeated, presumably sincere apologies, we need to forgive and move forward. ...

Continue reading "We ought to give Dog a second chance," by Joshua Sharp in today's Daily Trojan...

[Badeye]

Chapman is viewed as a cartoon character by those in the industry. Ask one of them, they’ll tell you the truth.

He and his wife should return to the trailer park that spawned them.

[Albion Wilde]

He is in a very unusual position in that using the N-word really is part of what makes him successful in his field.

I vehemently do not agree with you on that.

[gridlock]

Well, since he is the only bounty hunter making big bucks on TV these days, and he happens to be vulgar and rough, I think it is a fair inference that being vulgar and rough is part of his commercial appeal, and thus his success.

Using the N-word, and apparently other vulgarities, is part of that success.

I don’t like it, but there it is. People tune in to see that sort of thing.

[apocalypto]

Your last paragraph of your lecture is so stupid that surely you yourself do not believe it. Also, you assuming to read Dog’s mind as to what he was implying is silly. You just want to agitate.

[Albion Wilde]

Your last paragraph of your lecture is so stupid that surely you yourself do not believe it. Also, you assuming to read Dog’s mind as to what he was implying is silly. You just want to agitate.

Actually, newbie, I stand by every word of it.