Posted on 08/23/2017 1:46:11 AM PDT by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
“Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe had some choice words Tuesday night in response to a question he got accusing him of harboring “white nationalist” sympathies.
Rowe posted a question submitted to him on his Facebook page that accused the TV host’s advocacy for the skilled trades of amounting to anti-intellectualism, and therefore racism.
A man named Chuck Adkins asked, “One of the tenants of white nationalism is that college educated people are academic elitests. Comment? No? I’m not surprised. You never take a political stand because you don’t want to alienate anybody. Its bad for business. I get it. But there is a current of anti intellectualism in this country – promoted by Republicans. Those people love you, and they think your initiative is their initiative. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is kickin our ass academically.”
Rowe, a popular jovial TV personality, went off in a long, brutal response.
“Since we’re being candid, allow me to say how much I dislike your post. Everything about it annoys me – your smug and snarky tone, your appalling grammar, your complete lack of evidence to support your claims, and of course, the overarching logical fallacy that informs your entire position,” Rowe wrote. “What really bugs me though, is the fact that you’re not entirely wrong. It’s true; I haven’t shared any political opinions this week, in part anyway, because doing so might very well be ‘bad for business.'”
“What can I say? I work for half-a-dozen different companies, none of whom pay me to share my political opinions. I run a non-partisan foundation, I’m about to launch a new show on Facebook, and I’m very aware that celebrities pay a price for opening their big fat gobs. Gilbert Gottfried, Kathy Griffin, Colin Kaepernick, Milo Yiannopoulos…even that guy from Google who just got himself fired for mouthing off. There’s no getting around it – the first amendment does not guarantee the freedom to speak without consequences. And really, that’s fine by me,” he continued.
“So no – I’m not going to share my personal feelings about Charlottesville, President Trump, or the current effort to remove thousands of statues of long dead soldiers from the public square. Not just because it’s ‘bad for business,’ but because it’s annoying. I can’t think of a single celebrity whose political opinion I value, and I’m not going to assume the country feels any differently about mine,” Rowe wrote. “So, rather than blow myself up, or chime in with all the obvious observations about the cowardly scum in the pointy hats, I’m going to talk instead about my belief that comments like yours pose a far greater threat to the future of our country than the existence of a memorial to Thomas Jefferson, or a monument to George Washington. Ready?”
Then Rowe started in on Adkins’ insinuations.
“You say that White Nationalists believe that everyone who goes to college is an ‘academic elite.’ You then say that Republicans promote ‘anti-intellectualism.’ You offer no proof to support either claim, but it really doesn’t matter – your statements successfully connect two radically different organizations by alleging a shared belief,” Rowe said. “Thus, White Nationalists and The Republican Party suddenly have something in common – a contempt for higher education. Then, you make it personal. You say that Republicans “love” me because they believe that my initiative and ‘their’ initiative are one and the same. But of course, ‘their’ initiative is now the same initiative as White Nationalists.”
He continued “Very clever. Without offering a shred of evidence, you’ve implied that Republicans who support mikeroweWORKS do so because they believe I share their disdain for all things ‘intellectual.’ And poof – just like that, Republicans, White Nationalists, and mikeroweWORKS are suddenly conflated, and the next thing you know, I’m off on a press tour to disavow rumors of my troubling association with the Nazis!”
“Far-fetched? Far from it,” Rowe continued. “That’s how logical fallacies work. A flaw in reasoning or a mistaken belief undermines the logic of a conclusion, often leading to real-world consequences. And right now, logical fallacies are not limited to the warped beliefs of morons with tiki torches, and other morons calling for ‘more dead cops.’ Logical fallacies are everywhere.”
Not near done, Rowe wrote, “As I type this, a Democrat on CNN is making an argument that says, ‘because Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, those Republicans now opposed to tearing down his memorial are ‘pro-slavery,’ and therefore aligned with the modern day KKK.’ That’s a logical fallacy.
“Over on Fox, a Republican is arguing that ‘any Democrat who has not yet condemned the Senator from Missouri for publicly wishing that Donald Trump be assassinated, is guilty of wishing for the exact same thing.’ That’s a logical fallacy.
“Yesterday, on The Science Channel, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, a noted astronomer, tweeted that the ability of scientists to accurately predict the solar eclipse, was proof that predictions of global warming were also accurate. That’s a logical fallacy.”
Then Rowe turned the tables on his accuser, continuing, “Want to hear another one? Imagine something like this, unfolding over on MSNBC.
“‘Good Evening, America, our top story tonight… Chuck Atkins is a racist! Why? Because he can’t spell. Just look at his grammar! In a recent post on Mike Rowe’s Facebook page, Mr. Atkins, while bemoaning America’s global academic standing, not only misspelled ‘elitist,’ he used ‘tenants’ when he meant ‘tenets.’ He neglected to use a hyphen in ‘anti-intellectual,’ and he misplaced several commas and apostrophes! But why is he a racist, you ask? Simple. Because everyone knows racists are ignorant. Chuck Atkins is clearly a poor speller. Poor spelling and grammar are signs of ignorance. Ergo – Chuck Atkins is a racist! Boom! The matter is settled!”
“There’s not much we can do about the news, but here on Facebook, I think we can do better. This isn’t Twitter,” Rowe said. “We’re not limited to a few inflammatory sentences and a flurry of emojis. Take a moment, Chuck. Think. Make a rational argument. Otherwise, just link us to a cat video. People love those, and they’re almost never ‘bad for business.’ (Unless of course, the cat gets hurt. People hate that.) Just don’t assume that people will care about your beliefs, if you’re not willing to back them up with some relevant facts and a rational conclusion. Here, for instance, are a few facts that matter to me, with respect to my foundation and the recurring charge of ‘fostering anti-intellectualism.'”
Rowe then defended his charitable work, writing, “mikeroweWORKS is a PR campaign for the skilled trades. For the last nine years, we’ve partnered with numerous trade schools, raised millions of dollars for work-ethic scholarships, and called attention to millions of jobs that don’t require a four-year degree. But that doesn’t mean we’re ‘anti-intellectual.’ We’re not even ‘anti-college.’ We simply reject the popular notion that a four-year degree is the best path for the most people. And we’re hardly alone.
“Millions of reasonable people – Republicans and Democrats alike – are worried that our universities are doing a poor job of preparing students for the real world. They’re worried about activist professors, safe spaces, the rising cost of tuition, a growing contempt for history, and a simmering disregard of the first amendment. These people are concerned that our universities – once beacons of free speech – now pander to a relatively small percentage of students who can’t tolerate any political opinion that challenges their own. And they’re concerned – deeply concerned – that millions of good jobs are currently vacant that don’t require a four-year degree, or any of the catastrophic debt that comes with it.”
Returning to the original attack, Rowe concluded, “Again – these are not the concerns of ‘anti-intellectuals.’ They are the concerns of people who care about the future of the country. I don’t know how many of these people are Republicans, but I can assure you that no one who actually supports my initiative is remotely confused about my feelings on education, because I’ve been crystal clear on that topic from the very beginning. To quote Thomas Jefferson, (while I still can,) ‘If a nation expects to be ignorant and free and live in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.’ On this point, my foundation does not equivocate.
“In other words, Chuck, I have no idea what The White Nationalists think about my efforts, or the Republicans, the Democrats, the elitists, the Italians, the Presbyterians, the unions, or the self-proclaimed anti-intellectuals. And really, I couldn’t care less. My question is, why do you? Mike”
After his long rant, Rowe added two postscripts to lighten the mood a bit.
“PS. Ok, I’ve just re-read this, (in a desperate search for typos,) and I want to apologize for pointing out that you’re a lousy speller. This is probably not the time to trot out The Grammar Nazi, but your tenor and tone pissed me off, and I responded in my own snarky way. Sorry,” he wrote.
“PPS Maybe this is how political correctness begins? Maybe we start by correcting each other’s grammar, and then move on to the business of correcting everything else? Today a missing hyphen, tomorrow a missing monument. Or, maybe not,” he concluded.
I saw this on Liberty Daily. Mike Rowe took down Chuck Adkins in much the same way the Phoenix police took out that antifa protestor by the balls.
Permanent damage.
Dead on funny.
Leftist snobs who look down on blue collar workers because they work with their hands and don’t buy their nonsense.
The disconnect is cultural. Just call middle Americans racist.
Howard Dean and the rest of think if you reject the Democratic Party’s identity politics, you’re a white nationalist racist.
You can just feel their visceral contempt for every one without a college degree.
People who do manual labor keep this country running. Trump loves them.
Look who doesn’t and Mike Rowe is right, we have a lot of ignorant people in this country.
Wow! That was an epic response.
Trump got ridiculed for saying, “we love the poorly educated.”
It wasn’t condescension; it was a compliment.
His opponents still don’t understand why a lot of Americans thought he liked them.
Yep, and unlike the lefties he didn’t hoist himself on his own petard. Was an epic response.
The Left today engages in anti-intellectual paranoia.
They see enemies everywhere and make things up as they go along.
Like dementure. Its impossible to reason with people out of touch with reality.
Bravo Mike! Love him & his show.
That would be similar to what the left is doing except for the fact that it's true.
You bet I'm watching! Tenets! Elitists!
BZ to Mike Rowe. Not sure whether this is an instance of digging deep into or soaring above oneself.
Aside from co$t, my gripe with “higher” education is that it’s more about receiving indoctrination than acquiring knowledge. A line from a movie accurately stated that the cost of a good education was no more than desire and a library card.
The following link to a song from the musical South Pacific came to mind as I read.
You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ve_Got_to_Be_Carefully_Taught
Dayum! There’s a padded room somewhere missing its Chuck Adkins.
I don’t know whether to be more amazed this dummy can use Facebook or form words. Both I guess.
Good job Mike!
Brilliant! I appreciate Mike Rowe doing this.
“Republicans are anti-intellectuals, eh?”
Then why did Diamond and Silk ask the question, that if all the other races are climbing up, why are the blacks being held back, by the so-called leaders? Isn’t that the essence of anti-intellectualism? Isn’t being called “acting too white by having good grades in school” anti-intellectualism? That is a hallmark of Democratic leaders, not the Republicans.
I am a proponent of trade schools, On-The-Job training programs, apprenticeships for technical fields, mentoring in businesses, and all of that WITHOUT any mention of that baneful word ‘unoin’ attached to it.
I was in a ‘business school’, before my time in the U.S. Air Force. While serving, I learned two trades, one through ‘O.J.T.’, and one through a technical school apprenticeship. Later, I pursued a college degree in ‘aeronautics’. Lastly, I attended graduate classes for a degree in Literature.
I was a Libertarian. I listened to the arguments of Diamond and Silk, and arrived at the conclusion, ‘for the good of the nation’, to ditch and switch to the Republican Party.
So, I am not an anti-intellectual elite. I believe there are courses of study and training for everyone, in everything, beyond earning a minimum wage and finding that niche made for them.
Way to go Mike!
Wow! Copied and saved.
Great response by Mike Rowe! Have to save it. Thanks!
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