Anthony Mundine - Victim of the Media, or First Class Dickhead?

In an attempt to combat the boredom that seems to be coming to some people with the sudden realisation that social is actually crap at the moment (just a joke, settle down ), I've decided to throw a discussion topic onto the table.
As I'm sure most people are aware by now, the other morning on the Today Show Anthony Mundine made some controversial comments regarding the September 11th World Trade Centre collapse. The statements he made basically blamed America for "bringing it on themselves", because they didn't understand the Islamic religion. For more information about the remarks and his subsequent retraction he made later that night on the Ray Martin show, check out the online news sources...
My question for discussion is: Did the media tear him apart without thinking about what he was trying to say (did he have a valid point that was just very badly expressed), or was Mundine truly a great big twat for saying what he did in front of a national audience? There's probably some good arguments supporting both sides of that proposition if we think about both sides objectively...
What do you think?

the guy has talent.. that 4 sure...
but he really needs to keep his mouth shut..
i vote for 1st class dickhead... but i'm not gonna be the one to tell him...
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tits

Dont know what to think, But im sure he is a twat he was on the news tonight saying that and i quote "I dont condone any sort of violence" Huh, this dudes a boxer aint he. And what is it with all these muslim boxers anyway, I think they are all trying to live in Muhammed Ali's shadow. But i can see what he is trying to say, I think it goes somthing like this. A country like America throws its weight around, It has to expect some sort of retaliation. that is just what i make of it anyway.

he's a dickhead.
"is it because i is black?"
No, Anthony, you're just a dickhead.

first class dickhead...
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... "wisest is he who knows that he does not know" ... "someone prove i exist" ... asparagus? ...

I'll take a bet each way...
Yeah, he's a royal dickhead - but his comments aren't without merit..

He's a boxer, he calls himself 'the man'(way to go, buddy) and he says inflammitory comments yet lacks the requisite articulation skills to get his point across. A dickhead, yes. But a genius publicist... The media loves his arse because he acts like a prick, and then beats people up. There is some serious dosh in that sort of action. I guess there IS no such thing as bad publicity.

I guess all the sense has been knocked out of him?

Backflips and a big mouth, what more could a publicist want really
In all seriousness though, if it weren't for Mundines aboriginal heritage and conversion to the faith of Islam do you think public/media outcry may have been somewhat different compared with say a cricketer getting up and making similar comments regarding September the 11th?
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One more hour.
[This message has been edited by Prometheus (edited 23 October 2001).]

Unfortunately, Anthony gets hit around the head a lot. Listening to him speak on TV is down right painful.. Im sorry, but the kid dun sound too bright. He makes Jeff Fennik (sp?) sound like a genius!
Anthony, keep your fists up and your mouth shut. I do not wish to meet you in a dark alley because, yes, u would "kick ma arse" but son, what u lack in brain power you make up for with muscle.
I vote ANTHONY MUNDINE #1 Dickhead!
[This message has been edited by blufluffybunny (edited 23 October 2001).]

what he said had some truth to it, but fuct if he knows anything about the situation or has the capacity to argue his point across.
he's arrogant yes but i wouldnt call him a first class dickhead. just a stupid coont who shot himself in the foot.
btw its 'fenech'

BOTH!
ehehe
yeah hes a wank, but still, the media know this and they prey on it by asking him questions to which they KNOW he will make a dickhead response to, thereby generating further controversy!
ehehe but then again i could be wrong
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*insert funny quote here*
[This message has been edited by CuTiFuL* (edited 23 October 2001).]

My dear Mr Mundine......
He is trying his hardest to be a role model "for all youse out there who have been supportin' me and stuff, 'n all that", but comments like this just make me think that all footy-heds and especially footy-hed turned boxers need just a slight education... somewhere... in..... their footy...... ahh shit forgot.... ummmm, lives!
yeh that was it! he wins my #1 dickhead award and has done for the last 2 years... something about his rankness and stoopidity that shits me.

He's obviously trying to be controversial be he has no tact and therefore yes: Dickhead all the way
I found what the chariman or something of the Islamic Sociey said: "Anthony seems like a nice man, but he is no Islamic scholar"
Rocked!

I had a feeling that "dickhead" was going to be the option most people chose! Good responses so far!
As another interesting side note that's come from this, what do you all think of the way The Today Show had "technical difficulties" causing a drop out of the satelite? Do you think that this was just an unfortunate coincedence, or did Kerry throw the switch on him? Did Channel 9 have the right to cut him off (assuming they did) because what was being said was not what the station stands for? Or should Mundine have been allowed to say his piece regardless of how much he was digging his own grave?

He is most certainly a dickhead....
Remember when he said Canterbury Bankstown was "A racist football club..." LOL.

i beleive he's a victim of the media, If you've listen to his entire interview instead of the paraphrased crap in the media, you'll see what he said wasnt that bad... I agree with him to a point (about the US bringing it upon themselves), he never said the actual citizens brought it upon themselves... I applaud him for having the courage to say something like that.
Not saying anything bad about the US is freakin becoming like in the 50's where no one could say anything in support of communism in fear of reprisal...
good on you anthony, you may be a dumb fuck, but at least you got balls
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Dont enter my floor space or you will "Get Knocked Da Fugk Out"!!!!..."and you know this Maaaaaaan"

well he's a dickhead for bagging canterbury.... NO ONE BAGS THE DOGGIES!!!
even if boom boom barry is a bit of a racist...

I think Mundine's comments have beend eliberately misinterpreted by the media and that he was led into a trap up by tabloid journalists keen to discredit him as a symbol of Aboriginal pride.
His statement can be interpreted in two main ways:
That American foreign policy has marginalised and oppressed islamic minorities and put them in a desparate position that led them to seek militant revenge, and that those events could therefore have been predicted.
That the victims of the attacks somehow deserved what happened.
I believe Mundine was attempting to explain the first viewpoint: he just isn't sufficiently articulate to express that unambigously. The idea that the victims deserved their fate was the media's knee-jerk reaction to the original comments. His choice of phrase "they got what was coming to them" is certainly unhelpful... but remember, this is a boxer, not an essayist for the London Review of Books.
There are any number of well respected left wing intellectuals who share the later view: Susan Sontag, Noam Chomsky and Edward Said amongst others. Mundine's views may have been inexpertly articulated, but those views cannot be dismissed out of hand.
(These writers share 2 qualities: they have been widely regarded as pillars of liberal thought... and they have all recently been condemed as traitors)
Secondly I feel the journalists led Mundine into a trap and knowingly solicited these comments from him to generate headlines and to discredit him -- perhaps as punishment for his aboriginal pride.
Mundine is nearing his goal of challenging for a world boxing title, and is keen to promote himself. He is well known for talking first then thinking later. A member of a marginalised sector of society... and a recent convert to Islam. There are complex personal and historical reasons for Mundine to identify with muslims and oppression. There are plenty of reasons why he would say what he did. And the journalists who asked him knew full well what to expect.
I think that Mundine is disliked by a sector of Australian society... there are those who do not like his self-assured style, his determination to succeed and his pride in his ancestry. I think there are some who would rejoice in his failure.
I believe he walked right into a trap set by channel 9 journalists.
It is a standard approach by the tabloid media to exploit known "hot-heads" for their extreme views... and they took the opportunity to discredit Mundine and damage his reputation by shamelessly leading him into a trap. It is disingenuous and should be beneath the dignity of the "journalists" who organised it.
I feel it is an example of journalistic manipulation simillar to the images of Palestinians "celebrating" the WTC attacks repeated ad-nausiam in the days afterwards. Clever use of a camera can cause ordinary people to make statements they don't really mean.
I think Mundine was a victim of hatred and racism backed up by journalistic manipulation.
BILL
--
What do you get when you chop up a baby? A line of baby powder.

Yup, you took the words from my mouth stylin.
I agree with what he said. True, he could have worded it a little better, but as stylin said, its as if we're not allowed to say anything publicly derogetory against the yanks without being hung. Um.... what gives?
yay for mundine.