What the hell do you call a post-racial black guy running for president? Everything anybody says seems to offend somebody else. Not Obama, though, he doesn’t seem to care what you call him. Which is not surprising, really. I mean, when you’re “post-racial” do racial epithets even apply?
Some white Republican guy from Georgia, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, doesn’t think much of Obama or his wife:
“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity.”
Supposedly, Obama, “took no offense” but when his people called Wetmoreland out on it, Westmoreland’s people pushed back:
“He meant the Webster’s definition of uppity, he didn’t mean anything racially tinged or anything used as a code word,” Robinson said in an interview. “He never heard the term used in a racially derogatory sense. He used the word as a synonym for elitist, which he stands by. He thinks the Democratic nominee has an inflated sense of self esteem and is snobbish. He is sorry if it was offensive to anyone who took it in any way that it was not.”
Sounds to me like Westmoreland said it and was glad. Doesn’t that mean the Obamas really are “elitist,” though? When another white Republican, Rep. Geoff Davis , R-Ky., criticized Obama in April, there was a mini-uproar then ,too:
“That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said. “He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.”
The article says Davis apologized but doesn’t specify if he was sorry for the “boy” part of the statement or the “he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing” part. Probably doesn’t matter, Obie didn’t seem to mind, either way. The article lists all the familiar white Democratic racial transgressions against Obama, too, Bill Clinton compared him to a black man, Jesse Jackson, (horrors!) Geraldine Ferraro called him a black man, (it was probably the “he wouldn’t be where he is” part that rankled, though) John Kerry not only agreed with Ferraro, he basically implied it was Obama’s one and only virtue, (?) and Joe Biden said he was “clean, articulate and good-looking” (the nerve!). Through it all, even though people made a big deal about it in the media, Obie chilled. Wasn’t offended at all. In fact, he made Biden his running mate. What a guy, huh?
No, it’s other people who get upset when people call Obama the wrong thing. The black chick, Donna Brazile, had a problem with Bill Clinton using the word “kid.”
For him to go after Obama, using ‘fairy tale’, calling him a ‘kid,’ as he did last week, it’s an insult. And I tell you, as an African- American, I find his words and his tone to be very depressing.”
Never mind the fact that Bill Clinton didn’t call Obama a “kid,” Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor, Catherine Baker Knoll,did, it still ticked Donna B. off.
“So, we’re up against a new young kid, who’s a nice young kid. I’m only saying: think it over, tell your friends and your neighbors and your family. There’s nothing like experience,” Knoll told the crowd.
Not a peep from Obie himself, though. Now, the Obama Racial Defenders of the Press are ticked off about the fact that Sarah Palin and Rudy Guiliani disparagingly called him a “community organizer.” Does that get a rise from the One Who Is Above it All?
“I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except that you have actual responsibilities,” Palin added later in the night. The line drew cheers and derisive laughter, but not from Obama.
Obama’s response?
“I’ve been called worse on the basketball court,” he said. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
Given the fact that Obama’s community organizing days met with limited success, at best, and that the lessons learned during those days might not exactly be what one might imagine, maybe “community organizer” is a worse insult than, “clean, articulate, boy.”
But, I guess it depends who you ask.
And if you say it on the court.
Doo-dah.
PUMA
Just Say No Deal
