Spike Lee’s Ignorance on Full Display [OPINION]

Spike Lee has said many racist and stupid things over his career as a filmmaker and performer, even going so far as suggesting of Charlton Heston in 1999 that someone should "shoot him with a .44 Bull Dog." Heston was serving as president of the NRA at the time.

Lee also referred to Heston as an "angry old man," and suggested Heston was racist for not hiring black actors when filming a movie about the Marines who raised the American Flag at Iwo Jima, even though no black Marines were involved.

Lee told CNN in 2005 that he believed the plight of black Americans was ignored during Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans several months prior.

" It's not too far-fetched," Lee said on CNN. "I don't put anything past the United States government. I don't find it too far-fetched that they tried to displace all the Black people out of New Orleans."

Spike is at it again, suggesting on Saturday during a film festival in Mexico that the recent gains that Democrats made in the House as a result of the midterm elections are somehow like the Allies confronting the Nazis in Normandy.

“We just had the midterms and I’m going to use a World War II analogy: the midterm was the landing of the Allies at Normandy," he said. " So we’re just on the beach."

One hundred and twenty thousand Allied forces were killed between June 6 (D-Day) and July 24, 1944 in the assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. In addition, 113,000 German soldiers also perished.

Spike Lee is not a stupid man. At least he is an educated man, having attended Morehouse College and New York University. He has taught and has earned many awards for his work in film.

But we often confuse book smarts for common sense. Mr. Lee is obviously book smart but doesn't appear to have much common sense. As a successful black man, Lee should be using his success to guide others towards their own success and away from the victimization implied by the frequent use of the race card.

Mr. Lee also has a lot of nerve to suggest that the socialist movement that has taken hold of the Democrat party can in anyway be compared to the heroes who landed at Normandy, and that those who oppose that movement are Nazis.

Spike Lee has made the mistake that many leftists who achieve success and notoriety make in thinking they can hide their lack of class and ignorance behind a fancy house and a bank account.

Tired of being targeted by Lee, Charlton Heston said Lee should "shut his face."

Yeah, what he said.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.