Althouse: Megyn Kelly says lighten up.

December 14, 2013

Megyn Kelly says lighten up.

And not in a race-bait-y way:

57 comments:

Wince said...: Kelly's last comment in the video about being a big target was the most salient.; 12/14/13, 10:22 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: "Santa who I joked is a real person." But, Megyn, he is a real person. How dare you suggest otherwise. And what a humbug for Fox to run this War on Christmas season spoiler nonsense year after year.; 12/14/13, 10:31 AM
rhhardin said...: It's insulting that she thinks anybody watches TV.

It's a newsbabe slum.; 12/14/13, 10:38 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: If this is the best we can do for our daily racism outrage, then racism is truly a thing of the past in America.; 12/14/13, 10:42 AM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/14/13, 10:51 AM
gk1 said...: Megyn must really scare the crap out of the left is all I'm thinking at this point. They tried to turn this into the biggest story of the week to detract from President Selfie. Roger Ailes has a genius for talent.; 12/14/13, 10:54 AM
Big Mike said...: Santa is a mythical figure?!?

Tears are soaking my copy of "Yes, Virginia" as I tear it to shreds.; 12/14/13, 10:55 AM
pm317 said...: Obama could have brought in a Black Santa to his tree lighting ceremony (you saw him hug a white Santa in the video snippet) and made his main voting block very happy, especially for Aisha Harris erasing all her bad, bad childhood memories. Why didn't he? Too bad he does not need their votes anymore.

What nonsense coming out of everybody but I object to the racebaiters more. They have cropped up from every nook and corner of this country since Obama was elected. It is distasteful and regressive.; 12/14/13, 10:56 AM
harrogate said...: I wish she had shown the Jon Stewart clip which really was the funniest poke at her segment by far and also had the most substance. It would have shown an ability for her to laugh at herself and to, I don't know, take a stance other than the typical "it's because I work for Fox News, isn't it?"

No Megyn it isn't because you work for Fox News. It's because you went on a stupid rant and got called out for it.; 12/14/13, 10:58 AM
Bob Ellison said...: God is a white guy, so of course Jesus is white, like Santa. Black Peter is black. Doves are white, and vultures are black.

It's not all black and white, though. Satan is red. He might be Native American. Smurfs are blue, so they're obviously socialists. Leprechauns are white, but they wear lots of green. Scots are confused as all get-out.; 12/14/13, 11:02 AM
harrogate said...: Bob Ellison nicely done.; 12/14/13, 11:05 AM
Sam L. said...: Question: Where does the Santa legend come from? Northern Europe. Any black folks up there then? No.

Do Coke ads have black Santas? No. Clearly, we must boycott and shame, shame, SHAME them for this. And all those polar bears? White, too! Discrimination!!!!!!111!!!!!11!1!; 12/14/13, 11:09 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Investing one microsecond in thinking about anything Megyn Kelly has to say will be the most utterly wasted microsecond you have ever spent, unless of course you spent any time thinking about anything her predecessor had to say.

Apparently FOX high command believes that its viewers are mentally comatose between 9 and 10.; 12/14/13, 11:18 AM
pm317 said...: @harrogate, I didn't see her rant, at all.

This was all about going after Kelly. She had better not use the word white in any context from now on. Speaking anecdotally, my husband slowly warmed up to her newscast and liked her. After listening to all the lefty kerfuffle he was influenced enough to tell me he was disappointed. I had to point to him the shrillness of it all. In fact, in the original video, she empathizes with this black writer about her childhood disappointments. As she said, her original question got lost in the kerfuffle, which was that the traditional view of Santa should be changed.

She should stick to hard news and stick it to people like that bastard Zeke.; 12/14/13, 11:19 AM
hombre said...: phx wrote: "Sounds like she doesn't know how to say "I was wrong" without being defensive and blaming others."

She wasn't wrong about Santa and she acknowledged that she "just learned" that the issue of Jesus whiteness "isn't settled." She blamed no one for her statements.

Time for you to stop making stuff up to further the left's war on conservative women and Fox News.; 12/14/13, 11:20 AM
rehajm said...: Megyn's a smart cookie, but it was a blonde moment, a convoluted attempt to regain some high ground, a weak opening for paid opponents to get us to stop talking Obamacare while taking some cheap shots at Fox. The episode felt like the old days of 'Congressional Flag Burning Week' when some member would draw attention wit while the rest of them did something quite unsavory.

Was someone voting themselves a pay raise last week?

"Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog. What's goofy?"; 12/14/13, 11:30 AM
hombre said...: ARM wrote: "Investing one microsecond in thinking about anything Megyn Kelly has to say will be the most utterly wasted microsecond you have ever spent ...."

Megyn Kelly is a successful newscaster/entertainer and an honors graduate from law school. ARM is ....

Oh. Apparently his profile is as empty as his comments.; 12/14/13, 11:50 AM
Bob Boyd said...: You're out slidin' down chimneys all night your face is gonna be black.; 12/14/13, 11:51 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: If we are the ones who should lighten up, why did she bring it up?

The crazy is strong with this one,...; 12/14/13, 11:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Poor Megyn, a casualty in The War on Christmas.; 12/14/13, 11:53 AM
damikesc said...: *snicker*

I wish she had shown the Jon Stewart clip which really was the funniest poke at her segment by far and also had the most substance.

How cute. A dude who STILL thinks Stewart is funny. Must wonder, are you also a fan of the hilarious comedy stylings of Dane Cook?

Sounds like she doesn't know how to say "I was wrong" without being defensive and blaming others.

In THIS country, Jews are "white" officially.

You'd think race-obsessed hucksters like you would notice that.; 12/14/13, 11:55 AM
hombre said...: harrogate wrote: "No Megyn it isn't because you work for Fox News. It's because you went on a stupid rant and got called out for it."

Outside of the stupidity of the segment and the Slate article it was based on, Kelly's comments were neither stupid nor a rant.

The calling out was even stupider than the segment and it surely occurred because she is an articulate conservative woman working for Fox News.; 12/14/13, 12:00 PM
Alex said...: Racist Megyn will be racist.; 12/14/13, 12:04 PM
damikesc said...: I'm stunned that Lefties are attacking a woman over something they'd ignore if a man said it.

Really, this is total amazement.; 12/14/13, 12:04 PM
Alex said...: Nobody but the Aryan power groups believe in a white Jesus. Megyn Kelly just blew her reputation away with one phrase.; 12/14/13, 12:04 PM
harrogate said...: damikesc,

Did you actually see Stewart's response? Or are you just running your mouth?

It really was funny. "Who is she talking to?"; 12/14/13, 12:11 PM
Kirby Olson said...: Megyn Kelley was raised in Albany. Some say the family isn't all that conservative.; 12/14/13, 12:13 PM
William said...: Later in her reign, Queen Victoria took up the idea that too much linen on church altars was a sign of creeping Papism. She felt that it was very important for the Anglicans, a perfected form of Roman Catholicism, to remain vigilant and perfected. Sadly, she really let her guard down on this Santa Claus issue. Do Protestants really want to celebrate some ancient Roman Catholic bishop? Perhaps it would be better to imagine that the ghost of Henry VIII (or John Calvin depending on your religious preference) visited good little boys and girls and leaves them presents on Christmas.......As for blacks, I would recommend that Father Kwanza, a wise old tribal elder (who looks like Morgan Freeman), be drafted to fill the Santa Clause role........; 12/14/13, 12:13 PM
eddie willers said...: I don't know why people immediately believe that Jesus must a swarthy representation of people that live in the area now.

Three hundred years before his time, Alexander came stomping around and left his mark from Babylonia to the city in Egypt that carries his name.

You also had Gauls in Anatolia (Asia Minor) and in Jesus's own time, the Romans had been populating (and repopulating) the rim of the Mediterranean for centuries.

Who knows....maybe Jesus was persecuted for being a little too "light skinned" to be the 'King of the Jews'; 12/14/13, 12:19 PM
Wince said...: AReasonableMan said...
RedState is in total meltdown mode: The Tragic Self Beclowning of Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner is expendable. There are advantages when a political party is not run like a cult of personality.; 12/14/13, 12:24 PM
William said...: I understand that Xmas is widely celebrated across the world and across ethnicities. Do people of Japanese, Hispanic, or Aleutian descent feel left out by a white Santa. If not, doesn't that point more to an inflamed liberal sensitivity than to insensitivity on Megyn Kelly's part. Why shouldn't the master of ceremonies for a Northern European celebration be a Northern European?.....I have never seen a black sushi chef. Do blacks feel subtly excluded from Japanese restaurants because of the paucity of black sushi chefs; 12/14/13, 12:28 PM
Humperdink said...: AReasonableMan said...
RedState is in total meltdown mode: The Tragic Self Beclowning of Speaker John Boehner.

Relationship to the topic at hand?

Reading comprehension not your strong suit? Gratuitous slap because you have nothing to add?

Help me here.; 12/14/13, 12:55 PM
sakredkow said...: Megyn Kelly is a successful newscaster/entertainer and an honors graduate from law school

And yet you tell us "she 'just learned' that the issue of Jesus whiteness 'isn't settled.'"

That's funny.; 12/14/13, 1:14 PM
sakredkow said...: I could respect "I messed up. Lash me with a wet noodle. Let's move on."

Instead everyone else are race baiters. Even if that were true you need to embrace the suck until next time.

Or do what you did and show how bush you are.; 12/14/13, 1:19 PM
Michael said...: I have statues of a white Nelson Mandela so my kids can feel good about themselves.; 12/14/13, 1:34 PM
Lydia said...: The Crack Emcee said...If we are the ones who should lighten up, why did she bring it up?

Bingo.; 12/14/13, 1:40 PM
Michael said...: If I want you to lighten up I do not keep that to myself do I? I tell you to lighten up.

Bingo?; 12/14/13, 1:48 PM
hombre said...: phx wrote: "And yet you tell us "she 'just learned' that the issue of Jesus whiteness 'isn't settled.'"

I'm not quite sure how her acknowledgement that she just learned something alters her status as " a successful newscaster/entertainer and an honors graduate from law school," or diminishes the positive implications of those accomplishments.

Lefty logic I guess.

Actually, I think the admission was just to calm the waters, since Jesus was by lineage and God's placement a first century, Middle Eastern, Semitic Jew. In this country, for example, the US Census characterizes as "white" any "person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa." Also, unless my lyin' eyes give way to political correctness, the hue of Jesus's successors, 21st century Jews, whose lineage is purer than most, falls between Billy Crystal and Issawi Frej, ergo, white.

Anything else?; 12/14/13, 1:52 PM
Brando said...: Jesus' race is up for debate, depending on his lineage. Jews can be of different races, though I don't know whether Mary's family was part of a darker lineage or lighter. As to His father, I guess whether you're Christian or not you'd have to look at Joseph's or Gods lineage. And iif you want to argue about Gods race it'll take all day!

Now, Santa was obviously conceived as white by the Germans who invented him so that's pretty clear. But if blacks (or other non whites) want to tell their children Santa is black or whatnot, in order to not have awkward questions, like why we need a white man to come bring us presents every year, or why the mall Santa looks Mexican, then why ruin that? It just seems tacky to take the Yuletide season and use it to score more points. Be glad we're living in a time when the Solstice is celebrated with food and gifts and decorations rather than human sacrifices to bring back the sun god.; 12/14/13, 2:21 PM
William said...: This just serves to mask a far more disturbing episode of racism in the entertainment industry. SNL, despite being on the air for two generations and having its own Senator, is only just now auditioning for its first female black cast member. Other comedy revues have had black females for years but Saturday Night Live has not. I don't know whether this is due to racism or sexism on Lorne Greene's part, but it is one or the other. He should apologize and Al Frankenstein should resign.; 12/14/13, 2:40 PM
iowan2 said...: Kelly's response (rant?Please!)was to the original whinny complaint about Santa always depicted as white.
Well, Santa is depicted the way he is depicted. The lefty whiner was just called out for a stupid classless factually unsupportable screed. Needlessly inserting race into Chrismas required a response.

I don't understand why Kelly is under fire for positing her desired cultural paradigm be left alone.

As far as the "facts", While anyone can claim the fictional Santa to be any "color" they want, there is no logical discussion that supports any thing other than what is currently used. Aisha-Harris is the one advocating for the elimination of the always white Santa (Aisha-Harrris never claimed him to be any other color) and replace him with a penquin.Aisha-Harris is the one going off on a stupid rant.
And Christ.
Caucasoid, negroid, or Mongloid.
Yep you got. Christ IS white.; 12/14/13, 2:43 PM
damikesc said...: Did you actually see Stewart's response?

Yes.

Again, do you also find the comic ability of Dane Cook impressive? He seems like he's right up your alley.

It really was funny.

You hoping to convince me or yourself of this?

And yet you tell us "she 'just learned' that the issue of Jesus whiteness 'isn't settled.'"

Again, in today's society, can you point to a single example of Jews being listed as non-white?; 12/14/13, 2:50 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Whoever is interested in making a big deal about gradations of whiteness within the category of Caucasians, please declare yourself.

All who want to attack Kelly for saying Jesus was white must make this declaration or explain in detail why they do not need to.

I think there is an explanation, but people who just want to hate on Kelly are not going through the analysis that is needed.; 12/14/13, 2:58 PM
Jon Burack said...: It is astounding and dismaying that even on Althouse's site, so many of you actually think Megyn was "ranting" about this or taking any of it seriously. Or that she has anything to explain or account for to any of you. The collapse of humor or any capacity for irony at all is complete. Go to your rooms, all of you. You've been bad. Santa will not be visiting you. He's got diversity counseling to attend to.; 12/14/13, 3:06 PM
Beldar said...: Megyn Kelly kicks ass. It's with a very feminine, very fashionable shoe. But she definitely kicks ass, and did in this segment. Only the humorless, shameless trolls will fail to appreciate that.; 12/14/13, 4:16 PM
The Godfather said...: Score one for Kelly. She got ink (or electrons or photons or whatever the internet equivalent of ink is), and she got it twice, once with the original broadcast and then with her response to the critics. So I'm sure she's grateful to Althouse and to all of you who are posting about this (and that of course now includes me).; 12/14/13, 5:09 PM
Marty Keller said...: I'm curious. Is there one troll on Althouse going by various names such as "A Reasonable Man," "phx," and "Inka," or do they all drink at the same bar? The uniformity of both their points of view and their attempts at sarcasm make me wonder. OTOH, he/she/they certainly inspire some hilarious ripostes (pun intended).; 12/14/13, 6:05 PM
pm317 said...: @Marty Keller.. they are paid Obama operatives, at minimum wage, of course.; 12/14/13, 6:26 PM
cubanbob said...: I rarely watch and when I do I hit the mute button so I can just watch.; 12/14/13, 6:27 PM
B said...: @Marty Keller

There are some defining differences.

For Inga, its always about what's in her panties.

phx can carry a conversation and defend his opinions when he's in a mood to.

ARM is a marching moron type who tends to try to make every thread about whatever fuzzy point on some looney lefty site that last caught his attention was. Or Bush.; 12/14/13, 6:48 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Ann Althouse said "people who just want to hate on Kelly".

That sounds deliberately stupid. Don't cheapen the language.; 12/14/13, 7:31 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Bob Ellison,

"... white, as is Santa..."

Santa may be white on the outside, but don't forget he wears a red suit!; 12/14/13, 7:58 PM
Anonymous said...: What color is Jon Stewart? If I were Megan Kelly, I'd have shown a clip of Jon Stewart and then said something like, "Thanks Mr. Stewart. I always imagined Jesus the Jew to be as white as you."

And then, for effect, get a rim shot in the background.

Anyway, while watching that all I could think about Megan Kelly was, "What a classy lady and a solid way to handle that controversy."; 12/14/13, 9:10 PM
From Inwood said...: Meg delenda est.

About five years ago, I made some statement about some issue to a friend in Queens.

Said friend challenged me on my facts.

I cited Meg's show.

Friend: She's just another dumb FOX Blonde.

Me: actually she's a lawyer & shows her legal education to her advantage in her shows.

Friend: (apparently thinking that this was a trump card): She's a grad of Albany Law School!

In 2010, another Albany law grad was running for Gov in NY. So, I e-mailed asking if said friend wuz gonna vote for this obviously unqualified person.

No reply. Go Figure.; 12/15/13, 10:53 AM
harrogate said...: eric,

Though you doubtless think you have a witty rejoinder to Stewart, it is clear that you didn't watch his clip. He ignored the "Jesus was White" stupidity and focused on other stupidities instead.

Again, who exactly was Kelly thinking she was addressing in that clip? That's a good question, the answer to which might lead to further interesting discussion.; 12/15/13, 1:48 PM
Wince said...: SNL, despite being on the air for two generations and having its own Senator, is only just now auditioning for its first female black cast member.

Ellen Cleghorne is an American actress and comedian, best known for being a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1995.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Cleghorne; 12/15/13, 8:13 PM
Drago said...: harrogate: "Though you doubtless think you have a witty rejoinder to Stewart, it is clear that you didn't watch his clip."

Wow.

It's very very important to harrogate that you watch the Stewart clip!

Very!!

Of course, it would be more educational to discuss this issue along the lines Ann pointed out earlier in the thread.

But that would require significant upgrade in lefty logic and consistency.

And that ain't gonna happen.

So, let's all just see what Stewart has to say about this!!!

That's the ticket..; 12/15/13, 8:57 PM