The 'culture appropriation' crowd is appropriating America

One of the annoying buzz phrases from the left these days is “culture appropriation.” If you wear a sombrero on Cinco de Mayo and you’re not Hispanic that’s culture appropriation. However, if you dress like a leprechaun on St. Patrick’s Day you’re good. Funny how it doesn’t work for white folks.

Anyway, some idiot set up a petition at Change.org to demand that singer/actor Justin Timberlake be arrested for culture appropriation. Seems he’s just a little too soulful. The guy who set up the petition wants President Obama to do something about it. “Justin Timberlake has made a career out of culturally appropriating his music, looks, and just about everything else from the black community,” the petition reads. “This should be a crime and it needs to stop. It’s okay for white artists to appreciate black music, but they shouldn’t do black music. This is racism and white privilege out of control.”

One signatory said, “I like Justin’s music, but he owes black people money.” Another said, “Obama needs to stop this,” while another said Timberlake needed to be deported. Uh, he’s from Memphis. Which probably explains his soulful style. 

We are a product of our upbringing and our surroundings. Some people mistake me for a black man on the radio. That’s certainly not on purpose. (God forbid I would appropriate someone’s culture) It’s just the way I am. To condemn or, in Justin Timberlake’s case, arrest someone for being who they are is absurd. But the left in general is absurd these days.

Two can play this culture appropriation game, though. Black folks are going to have to stop playing basketball because they stole that from a white man. Same goes for cars and airplanes. Wouldn’t want to be so insensitive as to steal a man’s culture by flying in his invention.

And while we’re at it, let me hold that light bulb. You won’t be needing it in your new world order of political correctness. In fact, cut off your electricity because a honkey came up with that, too.

Look, what makes America great is the famous melting pot. We appropriate cultures from all over the world, mix them together, and make them uniquely American. It’s how french fries, pizza, and hamburgers can be as American as apple pie.

These leftists have pushed multiculturalism for decades yet when we embrace another culture we’re somehow stealing it.

By the way, you did see the latest poll on the Redskins issue, didn’t you? Over 90 percent of American Indians have no problem with a football team using that nickname. This has never been an issue with Indians, only with the hyper-sensitive looney left.

But what about that 10 percent who are upset with the name. They’ll have to get over it. This is the way America works. Majority rules. We’re not ruled by the tyranny of the minority, nor should we allow ourselves to be bullied by them.

The majority these days seems to cower in the corner and allow an incredibly small number of people to push them around. They’re bullies. They’ve learned that all they have to do is accuse someone of racism and they’re putty in their hands. People are terrified of being labeled a racist. Companies pay big money to make such accusations go away, whether they’re true or not.

Will Justin Timberlake succumb and either stop stealing black culture or turn himself over to authorities? I trust he’s not that stupid. The petition as of this writing has a whopping 51 signatures. Fifty more and Obama will probably sign an executive order.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

I'm sorry, we're fresh out of your candidate

So, you’re seated at a steak house and all day you’ve had one thing on your mind: their delicious filet mignon. You’ve almost been able to taste it all day. You know the exact temperature. You can feel the texture in your mouth, that wonderful flavor. The waiter approaches your table and your pulse starts to race. Almost before he even utters, “May I take your order?” the words rush from your lips. “I’ll have the filet mignon. Medium, please.”

The waiter looks at you with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry, sir. We’re out of filet this evening.” Your heart sinks. “All we have left is the New York strip and the chopped steak.”

“But I had my heart set on the filet,” you plead.

“I’m sorry, but the New York strip and the chopped steak are all we have left.”

It’s too late to get a table anywhere else. You’re starving. You have to eat. Leaving is not an option. After a moment of serious consideration you answer. “I’ll have the New York strip, please.”

There. That wasn’t that hard, was it? No matter who you may have supported in the GOP primary, those choices are no longer on the menu. You’re now down to two choices: Trump or Hillary. New York strip or chopped steak.

Some so-called conservatives are finding that an impossible choice. It’s really not that difficult. Oh, but Trump once gave money to Hillary, they say. So, you’d rather have Hillary than the guy who once gave her money? The insinuation is that Trump is too liberal because he donated to Hillary’s campaign. But she’s not too liberal? That doesn’t even make sense.

Look, I feel your pain. I voted for Cruz, but Cruz is no longer on the menu. To not eat is not an option. To order something that isn’t on the menu will only leave me hungry. There are only two choices. Two! Trump or Hillary.

Let’s face it. The appeal of Trump is the illegal immigration issue. He didn’t invent the issue, he just played it to perfection. When all the other Republicans were afraid to be so blunt, Trump had no such fear. He connected with millions of people who are sick and tired of the lip service paid this issue in Washington. They want the problem solved, and they want it solved now.

Trump is accused of being anti-free trade because of his rhetoric toward China and his threat of tariffs. Do you know that we currently have hundreds of tariffs on the books? Some were designed to protect special interests who have high-powered lobbyists doing their bidding. Others are designed to level the playing field.

It’s rather ironic that critics of Trump’s attitude toward China would call it anti-free trade when there’s precious little freedom in anything China does. Too much of their goods are made with slave and near-slave labor. Does that sound free to you?

If I had my way, we wouldn’t buy a thing from China. All we’re doing is propping up an oppressive communist regime with our capital. I’ve long advocated capitalism with a conscience. How well do you sleep at night knowing your sneakers were made by little kids? How happy is your Christmas knowing your Christmas tree lights were made by slave labor in some god-forsaken gulag?

Yes, tariffs on Chinese goods might very well drive up the prices at Walmart, but the end result may mean we stop subsidizing oppression.

So, I ask you once again. What’s it gonna be? New York strip or chopped steak?

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

The real motivation behind the transgender bathroom movement

Who would’ve thought in 2016 we’d be questioning where people go to the bathroom? I’m not even sure why this is an issue, but it is. And a big one.

North Carolina legislators responded to a Charlotte ordinance that would allow people to choose which public restroom based simply on which gender they identified as. Not which gender they were, which gender they felt like they were. It was nuts and the state legislature acted quickly to clarify the state’s position. If you’re a man, you use the men’s room. If you’re a woman, you use the ladies’ room.

But what about all those transexuals? It’s important to note what percentage of the population in the U.S. is actually transexual. Transexuals are those who’ve transitioned from a man to a woman or vice versa. The percentage of transexuals in the United States is 0.00013. Yeah, it’s that small.

Now consider that the North Carolina law allows transexuals to use the restroom of their newly-assigned sex and what are we left with? Crossdressers. No person in their right mind thinks that just because a guy dresses up like a woman that he should be allowed to use the women’s restroom. But those people aren’t really who the NC legislature is worried about.

They’re concerned about perverts who will ‘identify’ as a woman just to get in the women’s room. We already have too many men being caught in restrooms and dressing rooms trying to video women in various stages of undress. The only barrier to stopping them is the fact that they’re not supposed to be in the women’s bathroom. Take away that barrier and there’s no telling how many perverts will camp out in stalls in women’s rooms. Their only fear would be someone seeing their camera. They would have no fear of simply being caught in the wrong room.

I have it on good authority that the liberals who run the Democrat Party in North Carolina planned the Charlotte stunt so that the Republicans in the legislature would take the bait. My sources also tell me that the Republicans welcomed the issue for this year’s governor’s race involving the sitting governor, Pat McCrory, and the sitting attorney general, Roy Cooper.

What’s not widely known is that the organizer of this movement in North Carolina is a convicted sex offender. Yeah, Chad Sevearance-Turner was the president of Charlotte’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce. They were the ones who pushed the Charlotte ordinance through. He was arrested in 1998 and charged with a “lewd act, committing or attempting a lewd act upon a child under 16.” Once his arrest was outed, he resigned as president of the chamber.

This whole bathroom confusion issue is part of a longer-range plan by people like this sex offender in Charlotte. The next frontier is age of consent. These sick individuals want to eventually challenge age of consent laws as unconstitutional. You think that’s a stretch? The Justice Department is already suing the state of North Carolina for violating civil rights under the Civil Rights Act. There’s nothing in the Civil Rights Act about even transexuals, much less crossdressers. And remember, transexuals are not adversely affected by the NC law. Only weirdos and perverts are. That’s what the radical LGBT people are trying to normalize.

Don’t be surprised in the not-too-distant future when some radical Democrat in the White House is pushing to overturn every age-of-consent law in the country. You don’t believe it? I bet just five years ago you never dreamed we’d be arguing over bathrooms.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

The anti-Trumpys are getting hysterical

Columnist George Will thinks Donald Trump will lose to Hillary Clinton and take the Republican Party down with him. He says the Republicans can’t let him win the White House. Radio talker Glenn Beck asked the country to fast with him and pray for God to intercede, essentially to save us from Donald Trump. The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol is pushing Gen. Jim Mattis — no offense, but a general no one’s ever heard of — to run as a third party candidate.

What is wrong with these people?

Look, Trump was not my first choice, and I get it that he rubs some people the wrong way, but he is going to be the nominee. Not only that, he’s racking up votes like no Republican has ever done in a primary. He’s also attracting voters no other Republican candidate could attract.

I have a family member who has voted Democrat his entire life. In fact, he’s a Bernie Sanders guy, but if Hillary gets the Democrat nomination he’s voting Trump. Why? Because he sees Hillary as being bought and paid for. He’s sick of the two parties carrying on as usual. He thinks Trump can’t be bought and it’s time to shake things up. I would have to disagree a little. Trump can probably be bought, too. It’s just that nobody can afford him.

Let me tell you where I think George Will is coming from. He sees Donald Trump and crass and tacky. He thinks he’ll sully the image of the Oval Office. He thinks he’ll redecorate the White House like a Trump casino. He thinks Trump is high-dollar trailer trash, Elvis money if you will, and he thinks it’s worth putting Hillary in office to keep Trump out.

Bill Kristol’s in much the same boat. I’m not quite sure where Beck is coming from.

I think their fear and trepidation are misplaced. Yeah, Trump can be a tad on the crass side but that’s the appeal to the working class. I’ve heard him referred to as a blue collar billionaire. Think about that for a moment. How many people who live like Trump can appeal to everyday workers? I don’t know of any and that leads to the salient point in all of this. Trump is redesigning the base.

Back in 2008 and 2012 both McCain and Romney lost because they couldn’t jazz the base. That base consisted of hardcore conservatives who saw both gentlemen as hardly an alternative to Obama. They weren’t worked up enough to get off the couch and go vote.

Trump’s base is different. It’s a nice chunk of those disenfranchised conservatives, but it’s also people like my relative who are sick of Wall Street puppets and business as usual. How many other candidates can draw from Bernie Sanders, Ron Paul, Reagan Democrats, and rock-rib conservatives?

The latest Rasmussen poll has Trump pulling ahead of Hillary in a hypothetical matchup. I think that gap will only widen. That is unless Hillary is indicted. If she enters the November election under indictment she’ll win. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s the only thing that will gin up her base. Right now the Democrat base is rather indifferent to Hillary, but nothing gets them fired up like a perceived victim.

Of course, this is just a snapshot of today. Anything can happen in American politics. Right now Trump has the enthusiasm. He also has the dregs of society foaming at the mouth in protest against him. Notice how they’re not protesting anyone else. If they’re against him, can he really be all that bad?

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.