I enjoyed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar getting his ass kicked and killed by Bruce Lee in Game of Death, but everything else? Not so much. I’m not much of a basketball fan and even less of a fan of his insufferable and pretentious leftist opinions. I do however believe that he’s entitled to his own opinions, which is more than he can say for the rest of us. The NBA Hall of Famer is demanding that social media censor and crack down on conservative opinions.
Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Abdul-Jabbar took it upon himself to rip apart conservative actors as examples of the type of thing he’d like to see social media companies censor:
Roseanne Barr had achieved the near impossible, sabotaging her career not once but twice. After she left her top-rated sitcom, she faded into irrelevance with out-of-left-field political musings. Seeking to connect to the Trump demographic, ABC gave Roseanne new life, but her character was killed off after she went on a racist rant.
James Woods, winner of a Golden Globe and Emmy, was once considered a dynamic actor. Now, after his caustic social commentary tweets, he’s viewed as the cranky geezer who won’t let you get your ball from his yard.
Jon Voight, once a shining star among actors, recently posted a rambling video calling the political left “Satan” and promoting conspiracies about the election, reducing him from brilliant Oscar winner to cultural dumpster diver.
Plus he went after JK Rowling for having the opinion that people born male are not women when they put on a dress:
Few are more beloved than J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter books make up the best-selling series in history. Yet her anti-trans tweets may not only damage the Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises, they could end up tainting her entire literary legacy.
And then he threw in Rudy Giuliani as well:
Rudy Giuliani once graced the cover of Time as “America’s Mayor” for his post-9/11 demeanor of calm authority. But the aura began to dim a few years later, and he head-butted the final nail into the coffin of that noble legacy Nov. 18 as he blathered on in a cringeworthy news conference about unproven conspiracies while black streaks streamed from his hair.
Giuliani’s attacks on the integrity of the 2020 elections, without any substantive evidence, has undermined the democratic process.
Then Abdul-Jabbar demanded that social media companies crack down on these conservative opinions:
Social media companies have begun slapping warnings on some messages that are false, incite violence or cause harm to society. But this needs to be done with more consistency and vigilance. Studies indicate that when readers see these warnings, they are less likely to read or believe things. However, as another study showed, there can be a backfire effect in which content that isn’t flagged, even when inaccurate, is perceived as true.
What studies? The ones he made up to justify his fascist demand that opinions he doesn’t like need to be censored?
And finally, without a hint of irony, Abdul-Jabbar justified this call for selective censoring by claiming celebrities are big dummies with shit opinions:
Many Americans imbue stars with political and social intelligence they just don’t have. Great success in one field can lead to the delusion that all your thoughts are great. It doesn’t help to be surrounded by fawning people whose job it is to agree with everything you say. The irresponsibility of tweeting irrational and harmful opinions to millions, regardless of the damaging consequences to their country or people’s lives, proves that those stars deserve the harsh backlash.
Isn’t Kareen Abdul-Jabbar also a star expressing his opinions? Doesn’t that means he’s stupid with irrational and harmful opinions as well? According to him, no:
Yes, I’m aware that I am a sports celebrity, but I have been writing books and articles about history, culture and politics for 30 years to establish my credibility.
He’s as full of shit as he is goofy-looking.
You know what, I like Kareem in Airplane! as well, but I can do without the entire rest of his career in sports and bullshitting.
