Chris Satullo Column Is What July 4th is All About
Chris Satullo of the Philadelphia Inquirer is now bigger than the gossip pages! Now, that’s an accomplishment. Chris has made big news by writing a piece suggesting that we not celebrate the greatness of America this year. You can see it at philly.com, by clicking the philly.com icon on the right side of this page.
Now. Chris, who is moving up to the Sunday edition soon, is one of Philadelphia’s great news writers and journalists The column is what July 4th is all about, and whether he agrees or not, Satullo is actually celebrating July 4th by expressing his views. After all, the freedoms we gained on July 4th, allow us to express our opinions.
Chris’s point: that the torture and excesses okayed by the White House in the cause of fighting the war on terror have given us such a black eye that we don’t have reason to celebrate. I disagree. While our leaders may be at fault, the basic greatness and spirit of humanity of the American people, and our love for freedom, is still worthy of celebration. As far as faulting our leaders: go for it Chris! But just because they may have erred, doesn’t mean we are not a great country or a great people. When our leaders mess up, we vote for change. That’s what happened in 2006, and that’s what may happen this year.
But congratulations Chris! You’ve given the newspaper reason to cheer and you’ve chased Madonna and that glorified “Bonnie” woman off the top of the charts (almost) in online views!
MESSAGE TO READERS:
Some of you complain that I don’t answer a lot of the entries by many of you on the site. I’ve been busy finishing up a novel on TV News, along with my other responsibilities. But to make up for it, I have decided to fire back at some of the more inane and consistently outrageous writers. So take a look. And have a happy holiday weekend.
The defamation of the 4th of July is probably the last straw of the idea that the decline of Western Civilization is being realized. Mr. Satullo has his right to speak because of all the others who sacrficed. He does not know my Uncle Joe, who stormed the beach at Normandy to fight the Germans; he had a different idea of freedom and who had a right to it. He was just a simple Irish Catholic guy who wanted to be a priest,but ended up with parts of his legs blown off and his life changed forever. He didn’t get the opportunites to pusue his dreams, but he didn’t care because his greater service was to his country. He died in 1995 at the VA hospital in Wilkes Barre with both his legs amputated, suffering from infection from gang green. He never complained or felt he was owed somthing for his service. He just died quielty and subordinated his happiness and the chance at a normal life for the greater good of our country and the safety of the world. We have to listen to people like Satullo as a result of his sacrifice. My story is not unique, so the only way to counter Satullo is to respond to him with our own stories and hope he will come to his senses.
Larry, Please don’t suck anymore.
Your points couldn’t be more vacuous and predictable if you screamed out, “Let freedom ring!” after each one.
Do you think you’re breaking new ground with this?
Larry, maybe the way we’ve treated the people directly and indirectly responsible for 9/11 and other terror events is “un-American” but how would you prefer we treat them? Should we question them and release them in 24 hours like the cops shows on TV? Should we just push them out of a plane at 30K feet and not interogate and detain them? Should we execute them as war criminals without a trial? What are you and this leftwing nutjob Satullo proposing?
If interogating and detaining these terrorists has prevented just one further terrorist act, I’m for it. I suspect it has given us insight into a number of potential plots and the Al Queda network. Countless American lives have likely been saved.
The day these low lives declared war on America, they lost their rights to fair treatment and due process.
After reviewing your sharp retorts, you can do better than that, Larry. It is good to see that you are at least reading your own blog.
Happy 4th!
Remember the men and women that are fighting for your freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan like the Patriots did here 330 years ago.
Larry, why don’t you and satullo go
play with a bag of hotdogs?No buns,
just hotdogs? His article was deplorable
just as your behavior is now.Move to a
muslim nation,and take your bag of
hotdogs with you’s.
Thanks for letting us know that Satullo is moving to the Sunday edition. Occasionally when I am bored I will pick up a Sunday Inquirer at the Wawa, but now that I know it’s getting tilted even more leftward with Satullo, I will no longer spare even one dime for that liberal rag.
I heard Tierney go on the radio to try to do some damage control, and he keeps trying to convince is that the papers are not as liberal as they previously where, but I don’t see it. He should be burying Satullo, not defending him.
Look at all the complaints. In business, I’ve always learned that “the customer is always right”. The news business is about the only business that goes by “the customer is always wrong”.
If one of my employees hung out a sign or said something that insulted a large percentage of my customers, he’d be gone.
Listen to your customers Tierney… or you won’t be making that next loan payment either.
JoeD, amen. Only a leftwing, Civil Liberty Union nutjob would agree with Satullo.
Joe D, you are absolutely right. I listened to Tierney’s interview and came away shaking my head. This guy should be selling Ginsu knives on the boardwalk.
His smoke and mirror bob and weave defense of Satullo’s piece was absolutely unbelievable. The Inquirer has now sunken to a new low. How low can they go? Satullo’s piece was not opinion. It was a desperate attempt to garner readers, create some hype, sell some sizzle, create a stir……you know, the same thing the guy selling knives on the boardwalk does…….
Satullo’s an ass
I thought Satullo’s OPINION was a little too high and mighty, but it’s only his opinion. This entire deal was fascinating. I read several hundred of the responses and it seemed that a lot of them were posted by people who hadn’t read the piece. And it turns out, they hadn’t. There was apparently an orchestrated response from talk radio from those who were coached. At the heart of Satullo’s writing was the idea that the citizenry is unaware at best, stupid at worst. We get better response to Idol than to many elections. People are unaware of what’s going on in the most important parts of political life. A lot of the griping about the article was in the line of “you’re un-American, go live somewhere else” This is a response from those who are advocating crushing response that they disagree with - the essence of dictatorship!!!! And people are too dense to see the wretched irony in that. They don’t appreciate that the forum that Satullo has is the same one that they have to respond and critisize him.
I,d responde: If you don’t like Satullo’s writing, move to a country where the government controls what you read.
Look at the responses here- namecalling, insinuation about the loyalty of the writer, nonsense about what we should do with prisoners. There’s nothing in the middle.
We should follow the law. If the law isn’t effective - change the law. We are built as a nation of laws , not men. The current administration like those before it is just passing through. There will be a change this year. There will be a shift in current policy by both of the candidates. Does this equal overthrow of the current government? The founding fathers did just that. They were accused of treason because the advocated separation and disobedience of the lawful authority of the time. And we hail them today as the real patriots. I’m starting to think that the real patriots are the malcontents and the cranks.
Hope everyone has a great day. And enjoy the freedom to write your ideas in a forum like this.
Joe D…you nailed it. While I agree with larry on the the concept that columnists have the right to express an opinion, I also let me wallet express the opinion by not buying a paper that seriously is out of touch with me as a customer. I read the column (on line) and listened to Tierney dance on his response. Jack summed it up best, “Satullo’s an ass”. Say anything to make yourself relevant and get some attention because few bother to read what he writes. Larry, if you think he is great writer, you really have exposed yourself as a fool.
Larry, will your retorts to the “inane” commenters feature fewer grammatical mistakes than your main posts?
How can your “novel” about the news compete with real events at CBS3, home of the ridiculous bloated-ego newscasters for entertainment value? Anyway, if you need someone to proofread your novel–and I’m sure you do–drop me a line.
p.s. The reason we’re not a great people is that we borrow a lot of money to buy cheap crud. And we complain about everything instead of sucking it up and getting on with life. I’m still waiting to see whether the results of the investigation of 3% price deviation from gas station to gas station unearths price gougers. If it does, we’ll be a proud nation once again.
hello Larry,
the american people didn’t screw up,the goverment leaders did,the writer is a obama supporter and is beating around the bush,I can care less if a few terrorist get ruffed up,you do what it takes to protect your home and people,the writer is very unpatriotic and the stinkquirer stinks,any chance of the Bulletin making a comeback..
also a few days ago in denver co. city council had a young lady prof.singer (rene marie)perform the national anthem,the only problem she sang -lift every voice-the so called ‘black national anthem’ well my friend there is no substitute for the national anthem,she did not apologize and will not,the singer is very unpatriotic..where’s the outrage??
Larry, you inspired me to write a novel. It’s called “War and Peace What Is It Good For” ….absolutely nothing say it again. I heard through the news vine that your “novel” has already been considered for a movie. Wil Farrel is supposed to play Larry Mente and Sandra Bullock is getting Alysha Lane’s part. Mel Gibson will of course play you. Anyhow gotta go….It’ time to make the burgers. See you at the fireworks tonight. I hear the Inquirer is having a moment of silence prior to the first explosion. No Communion just a good old fashion reminder of guilt.
BTW Larry if you and a bunch of your cronies are hanging out by the pool looking at your blog instead of reading excerpts from your new book, someone might mention that I stole the title of my new novel from a Seinfeld episode. They would be correctamundo. It’s a shame, nothing is sacred anymore.
ed-’not that there’s anything wrong with that’.
ed-karen heller not my type,i prefer blondes.
george-that was a touching story,my father came back in a wheel chair,and before he went to war,he played a season minor league baseball for the wash.senators,he never complained and wore his red white and blue colors all the time,but he loved baseball and was a phillies fan to his final days.
FJ, I have to admit that I reacted to the Santullo story without reading it first as you suggested some did.
I took the time to find it and read it. I still believe Santullo is a naive, blind, civil liberties endorser. His point that we are (or should be better than this) is valid. The fact remains the world has changed. Jihad is on. We have the right to defend ourselves. If this is what it takes in the 21st Century, then our forefathers would likely be okay with it.
Samuel Johnson famously defined patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels. More than one hundred years later, Ambrose Bierce refined that definition and pointed out that it’s more accurately defined as the first refuge of scoundrels.
The Nazis were patriots, too.
Don’t believe the sweet lie of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
LB, aren’t you being just as cynical as Santullo on Independence Day?
The only freedom worth fighting for is free air at the gas station.
“Give me free air or give me death” - Patrick Henry
OOOJ, the popular American brand of patriotism is what I heard one conservative describe as a deep reverence for symbols accompanied by a complete lack of understanding of the ideas for which they stand.
I tend to agree with Larry when he writes–and I’m paraphrasing here–that the act of expressing one’s opinion is a core American activity. Shouting people down because their beliefs aren’t square with the orthodox line is very much the fascist approach. People who savage Satullo for merely expressing his opinion have a lot in common with those thugs who wore jackboots and goose stepped around while throwing straight arm salutes to their country’s symbols of power.
True patriots are those who question their leaders, especially when those leaders expand and wield executive power in such a way as to flout the mandates of our country’s Constitution. If no one feels safe asking questions or voicing dissenting opinions, then the United States has pretty much become the equivalent of the English kingdom the colonists rebelled against. Only with NASCAR and apple pie.
Larry, hope you don’t mind but i wanted to write Mr Satullo a letter. I’m too lazy to write him directly .
Dear Sat,
I read your column this morning and needed to respond to a few points you made. Before the “RUSH” to judgement you noted that e-mails were running 50/50 for and against you. What you fail to realize is most sensible people that read your piece simply wrote it off as a “wacko” doing what wackos do. As they say in Wayne’s World, your not worthy, your not worthy.
Secondly you dared anyone to question your patriotism. Lets see. We are at war, paying over $4 for a gallon of gas,
losing our jobs, facing a major recession
yet you take the ONE day out of the year when Americans can celebrate and feel good about their country and try to turn it into a “guilt fest”. I want to thank you for that Mr. Iama Patriot.
Leo, I couldn’t agree more with your comments, but for the swipe at NASCAR. The Southern American culture that enjoys NASCAR should not be sterotyped, disparaged, or marginaized. I’m flying a Confederate Flag this weekend to honor the brave Civil War Veterans who fought for their beleifs and independence, they were Americans who loved their country too and stood up for themselves and disagreed with the Federal goverment and the politicans of that time. I also don’t give a flying F- what my neighbors think, they will pay a very dear price if they touch that sacred symbol of American freedom or think they can deprive me of expressing my view. I also think i should have the right to burn the American flag if my view changes becasue of our governments actions.
PS Mr. Satullo for Christmas are you going to write a column that urges us to
forgo celebrating the birth of Christ and to spend that day repenting America’s inability to include every religion in the holiday. Let’s take the
Christ out of Christmas! Mean spirited Christian Americans can no longer monopolize an entire day out of the year for their own celebratory purposes. We leave those non christian people to fend for themselves. This is not right. So those of you who celebrate Christmas repent! for the wrath of Satullo may be upon thee. Only time and the circulation of the Inq. will tell.
Larry,
I’ve decided to rename myself to honor your brave stance & your sacrifice for the local community.I hope my own sacrifice is appreciated.
Y(F)AP, you’re a man of few words. Not prone to filibuster or harangue. That’s what I like best about you. This whole pirate thing I’m not sure about though.
George, it’s my empirical observation that many of the knee-jerk “patriots” who shout down anyone with whom they disagree about “loving America” are also testosterone drenched NASCAR fans.
Still, maybe they’re on to something. I hear that NASCAR drivers get FREE AIR in their tires in the pit.
Leo, why don’t you have the courage to denounce Islamo-facist, or radical black natioanist who shout down reaonable moderate opinions everyday? Perhaps you’re afraid of them, and in the liberal Northeast Coast you feel smart and safe to mock people you don’t know in the south. Perhaps you want to stereotype them as less intelligent than you, because maybe you’re not as succesful as many of your local peers and people like me; you feel good when you marginalize them and reassure yourself that they are the idiots. I can can tell from your writing and logic you’re no Rhodes Scholar. You probably finished college, perhaps the five year plan, and work with computers and live in a world where you think you know it all and those around you are afraid to disagree. Leo, I think you actually know it all, and I don’t know jack shit- thanks for educating me!
NASCAR + beer + Billy Bob + ribs + confederate flags + pickup trucks + tattooed women = FREE AIR!!! This important discovery was made by the famous professor John Nash of Princeton whose biography was depicted in the award winning movie “A Beautiful Mind.”
Forget global warming, forget the energy crisis, forget world peace. This recent mathematical equation will once and for all quiet all the complainers who hate paying for “free air”. Amen……. The only side effect of this solution is that you will want to have sex with your sister.
George, there’s no need to apologize for the heterodox opinion coming from a marginalized group. That’s diversity in the marketplace of ideas. Why not denounce the Jews who challenged Hitler while you’re at it, George? Then Larry could legitimately call you an anti-Semite as he strikes back against inane commenters.
p.s. George, it’s lonely at the top, but it’s comforting to look down upon everyone at the bottom. Thanks for playing.
Leo, as long as I’m at the top looking down at you- I’m good!
George, Leo is a teenager sitting in his room pulling his pud and trying to get a rise out of the masses. When he pops his last pimple then maybe he will have a sense of reality. Until daddy stops paying for his existence he will continually act like a pseudo intellectual.
Ed, you sussed me out. You’re too clever to be alive. Respond substantively if you can. I doubt that’s possible for you or “George.”
Well Ed, you’ve summed it up. Sometimes less is more, I have nothing to add.
Leo, there is only one thing I can say. Read Roger Penske’s post. If you value anything sacred in life read the side effect of John Nash’s equation for free air.
Boys, please play nicely.
Nothing in life is free including air.
The King
‘Freedom’s just another word for nothing left loose’.
Summer, are you sure you are not LB or Janis Joplin?
hey guys change the subject,we can all agree to disagree,lets try not to be so personal and act like grown-ups.Now I have a question,Since I no longer live in Philly,some of my family and friends,send me the daily news,I just read an articleby Minister Ari S.Merretazon who is a board member and Northeast representative of the National
Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America,he says there is a bill HR 40,that President Obama will sign and goes on to explain.I don’t want to take up space here,but I suggest you read it.It’s dated Friday,June 27,2008,on page 25.
pat,
sorry to say my copy of the Daily News dated June 27th 2008 page 25 now resides at the bottom of my bird’s cage.
Yars truely,
BB
pat, I once visited phila many many moons ago. The winds were stiff and the current was swift. It really didn’t take much time at all. After docking at Penn’s landing I looted and pillaged all that I could. Some of the citizens asked if I could smuggle bones. I asked What do you mean smuggle bones. One of the citizens responded “If you have to ask then we can’t tell.”
Pat, your comment has nothing to do with patriotism or FREE AIR. I expect Larry to hit you with a smackdown in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . .
BB, perhaps you should focus on booty. Better luck finding that in center city on Vine St…
Larry has left the building with Elvis. He’s taking advantage of his free weekend pass on SEPTA. God bless America.
Richard, I get all the booty I want, that’s what being a pirate is all about. I need help is finding women…Arggg
Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest NO ho, ho, ho, just a bottle of rum.
Wow! These neocon wingnuts are getting more shrill as the election draws ever closer. It is a sure sign that they are scared to death that McCain is going down in flames in November.
It will be interesting to see if they are still spouting their BS after Obama is elected President.
AHG, what makes you so sure Barry Obama will get elected? Don’t put too much stock in today’s polls. Lots of skeletons will emerge from Barry’s chest, Matie.
hey Summer are you sure you’re not Leo in drag?
It is actually Hillary Clinton in a stunning blue pantsuit
Hey, Larry, I have an idea for your store. Have a t-shirt with 2 old people sitting in front of a computer with this caption:
MY GRANDPARENTS FINALLY WENT ON THE INTERNET AND ALL THEY FOUND WAS THIS LAME WEBSITE
Hey Pat the Peace maker! It’s the end of the holiday, and the beauty of it is that we all got to express ourselves. And for any Philadelpians who might know what that means; we are a point in history, no matter how small, that Americans in 2208 might exaimine our words and try to figure out what it was like back then…,
Larry Kane will not be here in 2208,but he provided a forum for us. Larry should at some point start using his real name so people in the future can trace themselves back to him and his family. Larry there is no shame in your real name, the world has changed and I encourage you to introduce your real name so geneoligist can find you in 200 hundred years. This whole paranoia about being perceived as “hooked nose Jew” in the media went out in the 1970s, be yourself and respect your ancestors by now adoptopting your family name as your professional name! Even if you have to hy-fenate Kane, it is something you should do to show real respect to your father and those who went before him.
You should not carry an Irish surname, you never earned it and its not who you are. In fact you should celebrate your Jewish surname becasue in the end that is your historic identity, and when people look back they should really know who you were, becasue you did make a big impact in Phildelphia!
Captain Hook: You should write for a living. You are so creattive.
George: You are so foolish. My name was changed when I was 8 years old and for good reason. Your assumptions that I don’t use my birth name for certain reasons is the worst kind of ignorance.
There is almost no one who doesn’t know that I’m Jewish and proud of it. So. George my name is Larry Kane. That’s it. It was changed by my parents and their names were Kane.
George your letter is filled with such disgusting and ignorant assumptions.
This site is not about me. It is about free expression, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you George to malign me based on ridiculous assumptions.
By the way, George, people don’t earn names. They earn respect.
By the way George, where did you just discover the word “hook-nosed Jew.”
Find a new blog.
George, are you obsessed with Larry or what? Good thing for Larry you don’t know he lives on Elm st in Haddonfield or else you would be over there hasseling him about his ethnic backgroud.
Wow,I didn’t see this rancor coming.I take a day off & all sorts of faux pirates take over.
George, by the way I have a goalie mask and some sereated finger extentions if you need them. Call me, my number is 666-insane.
Larry, in defense of George, most Kanes that he knows are Irish. When he found out your given name was Lipshitz or Finklestein his fuse went off. You know how the Irish are when celebrating a holiday. Ouch !!! that makes me sound like an ignoramus. Oh well, I’ve always known what your religion was from the early 70’s when I worked at Radnor Valley
My memory of you and your white tennis outfit still brings a chuckle. I never did get to see you play, but gauging by the size of your feet it took a while for you to cover the court.
On the positive side you know what they say about those who have big feet…..
Ahoy, YAP, pirates are ubiquitous in Philly these days. Sir Larry is about to walk George off da plank. Argggh, Matie.
BTW, Larry, the dark blog box gives you kind of a Darth Vader mystique
Larry, I’m sorry that my post made you so angry or struck an uncomfortsble nerve burried in your closet. It’s clear you do not want me on this blog anymore so I will leave. Thank you for the forum.
Pat, the article was not a news item but an opinion piece by a minister from outside Philadelphia. He is something of an activist and is a small time mover in reparations theology. It was a “wish” piece that was printed in several places, blogs among them. If you follow the trail, he doesn’t have a lot of belief behind him. There is nothing that Obama has riding on this and it will probably not see the light of day in the real world. Fear not, it is not part of the New Order. Focus on the positons Obama has on the national level.
George, if you’re bring up the “Jewish” thing AGAIN, it didn’t disappear in the 70’s. Give it a rest, man.
George,
Come back. I love you.
LK
Larry can be both “good cop” and “bad cop” in same blog. He is amazing.
A favor? He threw my hand to a crocodile, the beast liked it so much, it’s followed me ever since, licking its lips for the rest of me… YOU CALL THAT A FAVOR?
Da Da, DA Da, Da Da Da Daaaaaaaa.
“Good evening everyone this is Larry Zapalinskihorowitz. War breaks out millions are dead,But the Big story tonight is ………….
George are you happy now?
I’m not a baby, I’m a MAN, I am an ANCHORMAN.
Stay classy Philadelphia!
RB
Somehow I can’t see Stede Bonnet or Henry Morgan throwing the word ubiquitous around.
Larry, I’m late to the show. I don’t know that there’s much to say here other than that I hope your holiday was enjoyable. And it’s time to change the blog topic. The crazies and the anti-Semites are coming out of the woodwork.
What about the termites?
Ron, unless they ate George Washington’s wooden teeth, the termites are not relevant.
I’m throwing a party for all of you pirates in the Philadelphia area. It’s a come as you are affair. Puffy shirts allowed. Shoes optional. Be prepared to smuggle some bones.
Party? Party? I’ll be there if Captain Morgan is invited, Matie… Will that be at the Tomb of the Unknown Pirate in Pennypacker Park?
Can I bring anything to the party?
i’ll bring the piraat,careful with that grog.where is pennypacker park ? s.philly ?
TTC, Willingboro, NJ actually
I meant Pennypack Park in NE Philly, Matie.
Larry, I checked out Helen Keller’s blog today an realized Imay have been a bit premature in crowning her queen of the blogs. All weekend and all she got were four comments. That can’t be good for the ol ego.
Speaking of ego, I finally tuned into your show last night. What is with that enormous desk? Stalin never had a desk that big. I think a couple of chairs would do nicely. My luck I had to tune into a rerun. The blond was a knockout. I would sit on the tarmac with her for hours any day. Just my two cents…….
Puffy shirts ? Smuggled bones ? Tomb of the Unknown Pirate ? These ain’t your Father’s pirates.
YFAP,
LOL
Thank you to returning some life to this tired blog. What was the original topic anyway?
Ed, blonds are men. Blondes are women.
Have fun with that blond.
Sir Larry, time to put on your puffy Pirate shirt and come aboard, Matie.
Larry, your blog has been overrun by pirates of dubious origin and manners. These ruffians would sooner steal the air from a man’s tires than look at him. Please change the blog topic and drive them back to the horse latitudes.
Has it been three days? ‘Tis true, Peter, time does fly. And so do you, I see.
Larry, Leo and the Lost Boys are bored with this topic.
Another souvenir shirt idea for your store. The front of the puffy pirate shirt has nothing but frills. Caption on the back says:
AHOY MATIE! PLENTY OF BOOTY FOR EVERYONE ON LARRY”S SITE. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BLOGGER.
You’re all gay. Find another blog.
LK