Yea for Orpheus.

Am I hallucinating, or was there moments ago a post saying that Bon Jovi was added as a Jazz Fest headliner?

Boo for Jazz Fest.

There truly is some good and humanity in this world.

Oh noes, here we go, some folks got their hiney hurt over a joke! Carlos Mencia is a COMEDIAN, you can’t take what he JOKES about as serious. Holy cow, the man slams every race when doing his ACT, mostly JOKING about Hispanic people! Look up the word “joke”, its not to be taken seriously. Plus, and this is HUGE, he comes here to HELP rebuild, spends his money to open a restaurant, put people to work, and help the economy. Was the only PROBLEM that got people upset was the fact that he joked about black folks? Hmmm, if that’s the case we are really in trouble, can’t joke about a certain race in this country anymore? People need to lighten up, it’s a JOKE!

[...] Here is a photo of Carlos “The Asshat” Mencia, which I pilfered from the BestOfNewOrleans blog: [...]

I agree with paragoat but the tone of his comment is exactly why Orpheus probably decided to do this. Carlos Mencia riding in the parade wouldn’t have bothered me. Black comedians have said worse about Katrina and we laugh right along with them.

However, we have some irresponsible people in our local media. They would have written about it and talked about it in a way to stir up all the emotions they could on every side. Once it hits talk radio which is always out of control here, we have all kinds of drama for nothing. I think Orpheus decided they didn’t want the trouble of becoming involved in an unnecessary story that could split the city for no reason.

The real problem here isn’t Carlos. The fact is that any discussion involving race in this area gets out of control because people don’t know how to express themselves respectfully. We can’t take a joke anymore because there have been too many real insults. Sure, that routine was funny when Carlos Mencia said it but what about the 500 people that say the same thing on NOLA.com who are not comedians?

“Carlos Mencia is a COMEDIAN.”

Carlos Mencia is to comedy as Chef Boyardee is to Italian food.

Mencia sucks. He’s not funny, so that should be the reason he’s not in the parade. He’s terrible.

The worst part of the story is Orpheus’ rationale for uninviting Mencia. Rather than say they found his jokes offensive, they mealymouthed. From the T-P:

Based on those remarks, “we thought it was best for all concerned — best for him, best for the club, best for all the citizens — for him not to ride this year, ” Orpheus Captain Sonny Borey said Thursday. “We want to put the best positive light on the city.”

The piece also said Sonny Borey was concerned about Mencia’s safety. That’s the same sort of cowardly rhetoric we heard when Endymion replaced marijuana enthusiast Woody Harrelson as its grand marshal.

And one last thought: is the best possible light Borey wants to cast the city in one that doesn’t tolerate impertinent questions from comedians? New Orleans: The City That Can’t Take a Joke?

I disagree with Clifton and Paragoat. I don’t think everything said can be excused as a joke; it first has to be funny, and part of what makes it — topical comedy, or political satire, or whatever you want to call it — funny is that there is some truth to it. I didn’t find that in Mencia’s commentary on Katrina. And, yeah, I just don’t like his style.

When I first heard Mencia’s Katrina barbs, my family and I were living in an apartment until our house was rebuilt. His schtick infuriated me: laughing at our pain and mocking us for choosing to rebuild New Orleans. Maybe Mencia then took the government to task — wow, there was a wealth of material available — for their buffoonery, but by then I’d turned the channel.

I think Orpheus made the correct move, but I don’t think it’s so much a pr move as the right thing to do. I believe the media should report a story like this and I don’t think it’s irresponsible to portray the emotions involved. Don’t stir it, but definitely tell the truth, which Mencia seems in this case to have avoided.

New Orleanians survive by making jokes at our own expense.

However, saying that Katrina was valuable for providing proof that black people can’t swim? Hilarious.

[Link for D W-S] http://www.wdsu.com/mardigras/18653787/detail.html

Maybe we could get a 9/11 joke about jews that can’t fly?

Perhaps I’m a little senstive, but comedians with “jokes” like that fall squarely within the realm of “fighting words.” My wife is again happy she can ride without worring about running into this ass clown.

Carlos Mencia is not only a terrible comedian, he steals his jokes. Case in point: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7841918711943453918

Wow…..I guess we shouldn’t be looking for the Carlos Mencia guest blogger feature anytime soon….LOL