ownage. due to the dearth of good music on the radio, i usually listen to talk radio on my drives to and from work. i basically swing between sports talk shows and conservative talk shows, with the occassional paranormal show if it's a really lucky late night. to fill my conservative palate, i listen to rush limbaugh in the mornings, dr laura on the way home, and then this guy, phil henry, at night when he co-opts my sports talk station.

i'm trying to find some information about phil henry online, but i cannot. he's basically a conservative talk show host but jerry springer-like in his ability to incense the audience. verbal fisticuffs break out regularly on his show, most, if not all of it by design. the very first show i heard was about some marine who didn't want to ride in his friend's "beaner mobile." topics usually have to do with racism or sexism or any other -ism. this is the most politically incorrect show i've ever heard. i'm sure even conservatives wouldn't allow phil henry to be placed in their camp.

most recently, phil henry had a guy on who was making an argument for a month to celebrate slave traders/owners -- since we have a black history month. his argument was that without the slavers and the slave trade bringing blacks to america, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to participate in the greatest nation on earth. "black people would still be in africa eating bugs and shit, instead of over here making millions of dollars rapping and dunking (paraphrased)." i mean like wow. what a statement. your first instinct is an angry one of course. what an ignorant statement to say, and worst of all, to believe.

the caller was berated for his inability to see how africa's growth has been stunted by the slave trade, and how america might not have become the powerhouse its been without the benefit of cheap slave labor.

and even though it's a terrible statement, and a highly offensive one, it's kind of interesting because i've never heard anyone say anything "positive" about slavery. i doubt anyone would ever espouse slavery but neither do we ever acknowledge the positives that slavery has wrought for individual nations. i read something somewhere about all great nations rising from the backs of another slave nation(s). without slavery, ancient civilizations like the greeks couldn't have thrived. slaves built the great wall, slaves were once thought to have built the pyramids, slaves have been a part of human civilization since the very beginning.

which doesn't make it right, but it makes it something to talk about. even if it makes your skin curl and your hands clench.