September 10, 2008

"You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called 'change,' it’s still gonna stink."

Said Obama, and speaking of stink, it's raised quite a stink.

Now, I didn't blog this yesterday, because frankly, I considered it absolutely nothing. "Lipstick on a pig" is an extremely common expression, and it doesn't become taboo because somebody else made a wisecrack about lipstick on another animal or because that somebody else happens to wear lipstick.

And I don't like seeing a lot of men jumping to Sarah's defense over some other man's possible sexist slur of her. Excessive chivalry doesn't advance feminism, and women themselves, as Palin famously said, have "got to plow through." No whining.

But I'm putting this post up for 2 reasons:

1. I can see from comments on various other posts that my readers want to talk about it.

2. There's one thing I haven't seen anyone else say that I think needs to be said. Obama did not just mention a pig. He immediately mentioned a fish. That's 2 animals in rapid succession. And both of these animals are frequently used in sexual insults referring to women. The reference to the pig also has it wearing lipstick, which is obviously a female image. And the reference to a fish also has it stinking, which is exactly the aspect of fish that is used when fish are invoked to insult women. I still think it's nothing, but if you think it's something, fairness requires you to consider the remark in context.

221 comments:

1 – 200 of 221   Newer›   Newest»
EnigmatiCore said...

It is a big nothing. Were Obama's motives in choosing that riff pure? Who knows? Palin should say, "I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. Anyone can have a bad day where they trip over their own words" and leave it at that.

Ron said...

Yeah, I'm up to...no reason.

Isn't the 'fish' reference to "old fish" McCain?

Roger J. said...

my take: this campaign, like most others, is devolving into insult and counter insult. I saw it is a political insult just as Obama has been insulted--I think we run the risk of overparsing this stuff.
we can debate how candidates insult each other, but that seems awfully trivial. I do wish each campaign would take a higher road. Aint gonna happen however. I do wish they would be discussing a host of other issues. In a broader context, all campaigns end up like this from an historical perspective. Guess it describes the nature of American politics.

Salt Lick said...

I agree it's nothing. But it sure makes the Democrat campaign look like a monkey f*cking a football.

joewxman said...

it may be nothing but with all the venom thrown down by the left these past few weeks (some of it pretty awful) is it any wonder that the McCain campaign would pounce on this? The left has succeeded so far in driving votes to McCain.

Of course one could accuse Obama of being a pot calling the kettle black...which i'm sure is racist!

Jake said...

Since his talk contained few uhs, he read those statements off of a teleprompter. Thus it was all planned.

It shows Obama has really, really bad judgment.

rhhardin said...

I don't know any fish insults. Fish as a scent is simply descriptive, neither positive nor negative. Paglia says strictly speaking it's herring, which shares some chemical.

There's Catch-22's ``That's a fish dream'' though.

The lipstick line is a good indirect Palin slam and I'm sure he knew it.

To demand he apologize is stupid however; the point of allusory slams is that they're not literal and the listener is allowed to think himself clever to detect them.

You have to demand Obama's audience apologize for getting it.

Stupid because McCain doesn't need it, above all.

Ken Pidcock said...

It is nothing, of course. But it is welcome news for wingnuts worried that there might be a lull in things to go apeshit over.

Althouse commenters, say.

PunditJoe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I believe the 'lipstick' and 'fish' comments were prepared ahead of his speech, and intended to match the barbs in Palin's earlier remarks. Those lines were cleanly delivered in contrast with the balance of his stammering speech.

Obama is a lawyer. He knows the effect of words and nuance. He has also become increasingly desperate as his poll number have declined, witness his headlong rush to the political center beginning in August.

Politics of hope, RIP.

AllenS said...

Obama: "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change,’ it’s still gonna stink after eight years.”

No it won't. Nothing that's been dead for eight years is going to stink. Nothing.

kent said...

Hardcore Hillary fans seem to feel it's anything but "absolutely nothing," if the comments posted are anywhere near even remotely representative.

Another jaw-dropping display of political tone deafness, on the part of Team Messiah. Same as it ever was, really.

PunditJoe said...

Ann has brought up something I didn't think about. I didn't think about how both animals are used as part of sexual insults against women. I had only been thinking of the "old fish"= McCain/"pig"=Palin angle.

Unlike most of Obama's previous gaffs, this one isn't clearly flub. It is debatable as to what he meant with these comments. It is within that ambiguity that this gaff will live on in the minds of the public.

Add to this all the recent personal attacks against Palin and the fact that others have been using "lipstick" as a direct reference to Palin and we have the basis for a gaff with legs.

Ken Pidcock said...

Having just heard the line on the radio, I stand corrected. It wasn't nothing. It was a clever play off an opponent's line. And to say that he called Governor Palin a pig makes no more sense than to say that Governor Palin called herself a dog.

AllenS said...

Once again, Obama says something and we have to try and figure out what he meant. Articulate? I think not.

k38 said...

I think you're wrong. Remember, Obama flipped the bird to Hillary during the primaries. He was playing to his crowd.

George M. Spencer said...

Your Honor, I would like the record to indicate that on this blog at 8:55 a.m. on October 17, 2006 in an item about Presidential hand-sanitization, I was the first person to predict that Sen. Obama has "a glass jaw."

What I did not know at the time, however, was that Sen. Obama would deliver the knock-out blows by punching himself in the face.

Even back then, Joe Klein in Time was remarking on his "sly hipster syncopation" and, more amusingly, his “elaborate intellectual balancing mechanism that he applies to every statement and gesture.”

Ha.

Bob R said...

I'm with PunditJoe on this. I saw it the way he did when it first came out. Seemed like an intentional but deniable insult. I think it is very similar to George Allen's "Macaca" moment in that it's meant to be a mild insult - no deeper subtext is intended. Unlike Macaca, it won't appear on the front page of the WaPo every day for the next month. But like Macaca a lot of people (particularly women) are reacting viscerally. This is the first time they've seen Obama as mean and low. So whether Ann or I see this as a big deal it may have a big effect. It's a gaff by an inexperienced politician who makes a lot of them.

bearbee said...

I don't know if subconsciously the reference was meant to disparage and many may equate the comments here absolving intent as putting lipstick on a jackass, but I agree that it was the usual poor judgment and a lack of imagination to engage in a rapid succession of clichés.

Fen said...

Were Obama's motives in choosing that riff pure? Who knows?

I know. It was the campaign theme of the day:

"Democratic Congressman Russ Carnahan introduced Joe Biden at a campaign event today. Referring to Sarah Palin’s record, Carnahan commented: “There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.

Plying the same theme with respect to McCain-Palin campaign rhetoric in Lebanon, Virginia, Barack Obama asserted...


via Powerline

Bob R said...

Palin did call herself a pit bull. (And as I see it Obama did call her a pig and McCain an old fish. No biggie to me, but we'll see how it plays in PA, OH, MI, etc.)

Harsh Pencil said...

Yes, Palin did refer to herself as a dog (a pit bull) in her original quip. She basically said, "I am a lipstick wearing pit bull.) And Obama did allude to her being the pig in his lipstick on pig comment. The audience roared halfway through it so they got it as well.

But so what? Simple. Calling yourself a dog is self-deprecating and allowed. Calling your opponent a pig is opponent-deprecating and not allowed.

Fen said...

kynefski: It is nothing, of course.

Sure. As another million women voters pick up McCain signs. No big deal. A few more of these "nothings" and Obama will be on the lecture circuit.

KCFleming said...

I had two reactions;

1. Meh. Who cares?
2. Whatta bonehead. What an ultramaroon. Whatta nincowpoop.

Great, Barack, your base 'gets it' and you think you can deny it meant something . I guess that's smart in some books. But I'd ask Harvard for a refund, myself.

Jake said...

This comment on the Hillary forum sums up the rest:

"He is comparing Governor Palin (a pitbull in lipstick,) to a PIG and stinking fish?!!

Is he insane?

No seriously, has he lost his mind?

Is he rapping with Ludacris?

You DO NOT SAY THAT IN REFERENCE TO A WOMAN OR YOUR OPPONENT!!

Please, please, I beg of you.

Do not let this man become my President.

please"

Wow, these women are pissed.

OhioAnne said...

Since the Obama phenomenom began, I have been skeptical of his supposed "soaring, inspirational oratory skills". This statement is just another example of a "tone deaf" choice of words on his part.

Here's hoping that the McCain campaign doesn't overact in hopes of scoring some points. I have little hope that they won't.

kent said...

Wow, these women are pissed.


I thought the one who likened Obama's insult to the infamous "extended middle finger" incident of a few months ago, re: Hillary, hit it absolutely dead bang center.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"Lipstick on a pig" is an extremely common expression

Yep but only a complete fool would think he wasn't directing the statement toward her. But I don't mind. Since she has come on the scene Obama has been in a tailspin and this comment only shows what a piece of shit he really is. Change my ass.

And I don't like seeing a lot of men jumping to Sarah's defense over some other man's possible sexist slur of her. Excessive chivalry doesn't advance feminism, and women themselves,

Really? What defines excessive chivalry? Last month a I changed the tire for a young lady in the parking garage where I work. Maybe I should have told her to buck up and do it herself since it would advance feminism.

rhhardin said...

It's possible that Palin knows about Pit Bulls as an admirable breed.

They used to be that, before media hysteria in the 80s.

A whole book on it by Vicki Hearne Bandit.

One of my most useful books.

Inexplicably the new cover blurb refers to it as a heart-warming story. It shows what happens when an author dies. Insane people take over.

Hearne is a philosophically fierce author. She takes down the media and everybody associated with it.

tjl said...

Obama's remarks show he's far less sure-footed when confronted by an agressively outspoken opponent. It's a first for him -- up to now, he's been cushioned by the loving care of the media, and Hillary could go only so far in attacking a fellow Democrat.

It will be interesting to see if Obama can handle the cut-and-thrust to come. At any rate, he can't do conventional political attacks without tarnishing the Messianic halo. More missteps like this, and fewer will believe that Obama can heal the planet and make the waters cease to rise.

Rocker 419 said...

Don't be so fooled Ann. Yes, its a common expression, and McCain himself used the phrase himself earlier in the election cycle (referring to policies, not a person). Of course Obama was referring to Sarah and by God, he'll damn well regret it.

Martin Gale said...

This is reminiscent of the Dukakis charge against Bush elder in the wake of Iran-Contra:

"The fish rots from the head."

Dukakis caught some grief from for this as Obama is now. I don't think it's a big deal except that it keeps Obama in the Palin vortex and that's not where he should want to be. They are clearly rattled and are left hoping that Palin will either make a killing gaff or have some weird skeleton in the closet. This is the strategy of an incumbent, not an insurgent, and indicates just how much McCain/Palin have stolen the change theme. (BTW, did Obama ever pick a running mate?)

Anonymous said...

It is amazing that no one in the press has mentioned the fish angle, like Ann did. That was the first thing that struck me.

To talk about a woman and attack her in terms of smelling like fish?

Obama is seriously disturbed.

I talked with a few women last night and all of them were appalled by Obama. A boorish lout one called him.

I remember in his book he wrote about how he was conflicted about white women and dating them but he couldnt because of his racial identity and emerging black pride

Gov Palin is Obama's age and as Obama is a man he almost certainly finds her attractive. I think thats a part of him getting rattled

But to use the fish metaphor about a woman? This guy is sinking fast.

Now, McCain shouldnt over play this, but enough to keep it in the news for a day or so is plenty.

Obama is now on notice and any thing he says from now on about women marks the end of his campaign. for good.

I have to compliment Ann on picking up the fish reference. She's clearly very perceptive.

Anonymous said...

No no!

The "fish" comment is an old Sicilian message. It means "Palin sleeps with the fishes."

John said...

If McCain started using "common metaphors" such as tar babies, calling a spade a spade, etc., he would be pilloried by the Democrats for using coded racist language.

Obama is just getting a taste of his own medicine.

rhhardin said...

Good idea. The perfect response some line about putting lipstick on a jackass.

Guesst said...

Watch closely.

He appears to stumble over the 'pig' line at the beginning of the statement.

Absolutely rehearsed, totally meaningful.

PunditJoe said...

Wow, I'm missing all the angles today. See this quote from a Hillary supporter about the racial overtones of swine when referring to whites:

"white people does not know this but he basically was using a racial slur to white people(most have not heard of the slur.Basically he is calling white people swine.Trust I use to hear Swine everyday when it come to whites."

Yikes! I'm starting to think this gaff will leave a mark. BTW, I don't believe he was making a racial comment, but it sure don't look good.

goesh said...

Yeah, I thought about that scene from the Godfather too, where the wrapped fish arrives after one of Corleone's men gets whacked. Obama has delivered a fish to himself and it's quite a reach to pretend this was not a direct, personal insult calling a woman a pig with lipstick on.

TWM said...

Ann,

I don't know whether Barry meant the lipstick comment as an insult to Sarah or not, but just look at the reaction of the crowd when he said it. They were guffawing and clapping and it is obvious that they believed he was talking about Sarah.

That old analogy wasn't that funny back when it was first used, much less now, and they reacted like it was the first time they had heard it and that is because they believed he was talking about Sarah.

So mean it or not, isn't the result the same thing?

Anonymous said...

also, if you look at what he says before the pig line, about the same tax policy the same karl rove politics, etc... he plagiarized that word for word from a WaPo cartoon a few days earlier.

So he's sexist and a plagiarist. Obama and Biden, the first all plagiarizer ticket!

and why is Obama so obsessed with Karl Rove? It's getting sad. Rove is gone. And Obama still talks about him every day. You never heard Republicans talk about james Carville politics or Bob Shrum politics.

KCFleming said...

Excessive chivalry doesn't advance feminism, and women themselves
It's not meant to. Men do it because that's what men do, or should do. It creates a civil society. The rejection of chivalry makes men unworthy. Ultimately it becomes the rejection of men.

Two sides of that coin: men in youth gangs listening to misogynist rap, men not attending college. Nonchivalrous men find other meaning to their lives, just not the ones you'd hope for.

'Excessive' in modern feminism has mostly meant 'any chivalry at all'.

/rant

rhhardin said...

a lot of people (particularly women) are reacting viscerally. This is the first time they've seen Obama as mean and low.

The feminine failing corresponding to estrogen poisoning is belief in somebody's probably meaning well, where the testerone poisoned guys have written them off from the first word.

It's bad news to lose that presumption, if you're counting on the women's vote.

Bissage said...

This sounds like a job for . . .
Nonsense Rhyme Cheerleader Man!

Lipstick, dipstick, pig and peanut pie.
Fish wrapper, fire cracker,
Poke you in the eye!

Goooooooooooooooooo TEAM!

P Bain said...

Why does this keep happening to Obama? Seems like he flipped off Hillary, too.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice....

pauldar said...

That commnet has my wife and her female family members spitting nails here at our family reunion at the Outer Banks. I don't see it as a "biggie", but O boy, wife, mom and sisters sure do and then some.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Men do it because that's what men do, or should do. It creates a civil society. The rejection of chivalry makes men unworthy. Ultimately it becomes the rejection of men.

Well said Pogo.

MadisonMan said...

The woman I am closest to had the same reaction I did to the phony outrage. An eyeroll.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Now, I didn't blog this yesterday, because frankly, I considered it absolutely nothing. "Lipstick on a pig" is an extremely common expression.

If the shoe where in the other foot, I don’t think Ann Coulter... I mean Ann Althouse would be so kind.

If McCain had said this about Hillary’s plan to revamp healthcare or whatever, the cries of sexism would be heard in nearby galaxies and the McCain campaign would be declared dead on arrival.

P Bain said...

Let's not forget that Obama UNDENIABLY called a female reporter, "Sweetie."

kent said...

New McCain web ad, re: Team Messiah's latest bumble: "Ready To Smear."

rhhardin said...

The woman I am closest to had the same reaction I did to the phony outrage. An eyeroll.

That's Madison.

John said...

I don't trust any of the Hillary comment blogs because I wonder if it is Republican astroturfing. I don't know what to think of this. It was a pretty lame and inartful attack. What does Obama say about it? If he says he did not mean to call her a pig, then I take him at his word. That said, this is how politics is played. You have to be careful about what you say and how you say it. What bonehead in his camp decided that turn of phrase was a good idea? I think it puts a dent in the idea that he is some kind of rhetorical genius.

Meade said...

Bissage said cracker.

How dare he.

bearbee said...

It's possible that Palin knows about Pit Bulls as an admirable breed.

They used to be that, before media hysteria in the 80s.


Amen to that. Some municipalities have enacted legislation banning the ownership of pit bulls.

Larry J said...

To use another fish metaphor, I think Obama just jumped the shark. It'll be interesting to see if his poll numbers take another nose dive in the days to come.

Face it, Obama is just an empty suit. If I were interested in an empty suit, I'd go to a clothing store. I sure as hell wouldn't elect it president.

kent said...

What does Obama say about it? If he says he did not mean to call her a pig, then I take him at his word.

Stay faithful, Michelle.

Automatic_Wing said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sloanasaurus said...

In substance, the comment means nothing. It is very unlikely that Obama was calling Palin a pig as a personal insult. I think Palin would be wise to ignore the comment.

However, the comment is stupid politics and a reflection on Obama's temperment and loose lips. If Obama becomes President and then makes some wisecrack about how Chinese are good at laundry, then people will recall the pig comment.

Obama has a problem of tending to make fun of other people rather than himself. He is a tendency to belittle others with his "come on you can't be serious" responses to criticisms. These are not are not enduring personality traits and it will continue to get him into trouble.

kjbe said...

Phony outrage indeed. Spare me the drama. And this from the newfound Republican guardians of feminism, the ones who spent the spring selling Hillary nutcrackers and Citizens United Not Timid T-shirts.

Priceless.

TWM said...

"The woman I am closest to had the same reaction I did to the phony outrage. An eyeroll."

They probably get pissed when you open the door for them, too. You DO open the door for them, right?

The pig and fish analogy are stupid on another level. Sarah is a babe and comparing her to a pig is nonsense, and frankly in my fantasies she is as fresh as an Alaskan stream so the fish thing is stupid too.

Seriously though, the more I think Barry did mean it as a direct hit on Sarah. It would be stupid of him, yes. It was stupid of him. But damn if Sarah doesn't have him rattled to the point where his whole campaign is making mistake after mistake.

People do stupid things when they panic. This was one of them

Meade said...

And then he called us all dipsticks.

Where is the outrage?!

Tank said...

Obama would refer to this as throwing a stone, then hiding your hand.

You want to make the insult, but not take responsibility. Could you imagine if McCain was running against Hillary, and McCain used this language? Game over. President Hillary.

Automatic_Wing said...

It's no big deal and the McCain camp's outrage is manufactured. That said, I'm mystified by Obama's insistence on attacking Palin himself. If the Dems feel they must attack her, why not let Biden do the dirty work? Obama reduces his own stature and raises Palin's every time he attacks her.

Anonymous said...

There's an old saying - "If you shave a monkey, it's still a monkey".

OK, I just made that up but I'm sure if the Republicans use it there will be at least a little bit more outrage.

Anyway what is it with these Muslims and pigs?

Stephanie Cutter, Michelle Obama's chief of staff, told MSNBC on Tuesday: "The more we learn about her, the more these facts don't add up. We now learn that she's the queen of pork in Alaska."

Now she's "The Queen of Pork"!!

I think that's how you know Muslims are pissed with you. They start making all kinds of pig and pork slurs about you.

They're compulsive that way.

I really hope the McCain campaign doesn't get too divisive on the issue. They should try to educate the American people that Muslims JUST...DON'T....LIKE...PIGS!!

With or without the lipstick.

MadisonMan said...

BTW, I like the last tag -- but only 4 posts qualify? That surprises me.

Sloanasaurus said...

Now, I didn't blog this yesterday, because frankly, I considered it absolutely nothing. "Lipstick on a pig" is an extremely common expression.

Master-Slave is a common expression in the computer world to describe for example which disk drive is main and which is secondary. Do you think Althouse would have the same reaction if McCain described the Biden-Obama as "master-slave" in the context of Biden really being in control.

I don't think so. The comment would be nasty even if the intention had nothing to do with race or history.

This is why Althouse's analysis is plain wrong. The Obama comment isn't okay because it is a common expression, it is "okay" because Obama wasn't intending to call Palin a pig. Obama wasn't making a personal attack, he just made a political mistake by making a comment that a lot of people could and would take the wrong way.

It's the political mistake, which is evidence of Obama's temperment, that is the issue, not whether the comment was a personal insult.

Masterasia said...

"Excessive chivalry doesn't advance feminism,..."

LOL BIGTIME!!!

IF EXCESSIVE CHIVALRY EXISTS THEN THIS WORLD WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN.

A few days ago at Starbucks while going to the washroom, I saw a woman who was visibly in distress looking like someone who is about to pee on the spot.

I was just a few inches away from the washroom door while the woman was like 20 feet away. As much as I am really having the need to pee, I gave way for the woman. You just have to look at the great and thankful smile on her face when she got out, it was priceless. It made my day happier that it already was. So did I just impede feminism?!?!?! ;)

Ms. Althouse iron my shirt!!!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Masterasia said...

...continued

I guess that what happens when things get "written strangely early in the morning."

KCFleming said...

Obama reprises Althouse's Wiley Coyote reference once again.

Sooper Geeeenyus.

Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...

I'd say this is more just Obama whining because McCain and Palin have had the audacity to claim "change" for themselves.

I wouldn't mine it for claims of sexism or any of that.

On the other hand, Obama's people have done precisely that on questions of race -- so I guess they're being hoist by their own petard here...

***

But yes, Obama is stuck in the Palin vortex. Too bad, so sad...

Simon said...

Just to throw in my $0.02, I think that the four issues that strike me are these.

(1) I give Obama a pass when he's trying to extemporize, but the line clearly wasn't impromptu, as others have remarked.

(2) I think that the context of Palin having prominently referred to lipstick makes it harder for Obama to claim that a pre-written line that could be taken as a slam against Palin was just happenstance. That contexr is the crucial difference between McCain using the metaphor to describe Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan: Clinton hadn't given a speech watched by forty million people the week before that referred to her wearing lipstick as a punchline.

(3) He makes a metaphor about lipstick, and then makes a metaphor about an old fish wrapped in change. I agree with Althouse that the two statements should be read together, but I disagree with her reading: taken apart, either could be an offhand metaphor, but taken together, they do look like a slam against Palin (the lipstick) and McCain (the old fish).

And (4) as others have mentioned, to go by their reaction, his audience clearly understood it to be a slam on his opponents. That doesn't count for nothing. People sometimes say more than they intended to say, but ordinarily, people use the words they think will convey their intended meaning, and to the extent that the members of the audience are reasonable (which isn't very far given that they support Obama), the understanding they inferred from that line having heard everything else said hitherto can be thought evidence of meaning.

You add all this up and it could just be an innocuous gaffe, but it seems fishy.

knox said...

Watching it, I don't see how it can be taken any other way: it is obviously rehearsed,the audience gets it immediately and there's laughter and applause.

The Obama camp are obviously struggling to play catch-up, to get some good lines in after Palin laid waste to them in her convention speech. However, this was a very foolish way to do it. The natural conclusion people are going to draw is that he's, however obliquely, referring to Palin as a pig.

Ultimately all it really means is that Obama has really bad judgment. He has erased anything he's ever said about taking the high road in the campaign. Public perception is that there have already been unfair attacks on Palin. And she's extremely well-liked. That's quite a combo. For him to make this comment in that context?? Incredibly stupid and ill-advised.

Unknown said...

Palin should say, "I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. Anyone can have a bad day where they trip over their own words" and leave it at that.

Are you kidding? Yes, I think that the double entendre was intentional. No, she shouldn't whine about it. But she's the perfect personality to offer a better joke in response.

Fen said...

dpent: That commnet has my wife and her female family members spitting nails here at our family reunion at the Outer Banks. I don't see it as a "biggie", but O boy, wife, mom and sisters sure do and then some.


Echo. To me, its just a stupid attack. But the women around me are livid.

Of course, that could still be my fault, not sure what the diff is ;)

Anonymous said...

Watch how nervous Obama is before he delivers the line. He's stammering, he's wiping his forehead with his hand as if he's in an inner debate about saying it, then he says it.

It was a planned, scripted line added to an improvised remark. He knew he wanted to say it, and appeared to be momentarily conflicted about so doing. Then he said it.

I never thought I'd see this happen, but it looks like the Dem candidate and quite a few of his media sycophants are apparently misogynists.

How used must liberal women feel? First they see Hillary dissed by male clownish cable commentators, then she is ignored as a potential running mate, and now the Dem candidate insults women by using barroom metaphors for ugly women.

Have the Dems lost their minds? Geez.

Unknown said...

Ann, I think you are seriously underestimating how this is playing out among a lot of women in this country. To them, this is the last straw in a long line of condescending and sexist comments from the moment Hillary entered the race. My wife gasped when I mentioned this to her. And she's one who thinks Palin's been exploiting her family. Yes, it's an old idiom. but it's clear that it should not have been said.

KCFleming said...

Alot of mud gets thrown in politics. But if he'd had more experience, he'd know not to say things like that.

Anonymous said...

so I guess they're being hoist by their own petard here

I've always had trouble remembering if the phrase is hoist by their own petard, or what.

Is it hoisted or hoist?

Is it by, or on, or with you own petard?

This has troubled me since engineering school 30 years ago.

Spread Eagle said...

I for one am mystified at all the people saying this is a big fat nothing, including you Althouse. This is not nothing. This wasn't Obama merely saying that McCain isn't about change. This was a nasty crack aimed straight at Palin. I'm surprised that you think it's peachy-keen for a male candidate to essentially call a female candidate a pig. And that's only the half of it. There's much more to consider. There's what it reveals. This is an angry Obama still smarting over Palin's zingers about him in her acceptance speech, and him trying to get back at her. So we get a glimpse into the angry, petulant, vindictive Obama, and what he'll stoop to. Then there's the plain fact that it was an utterly stupid thing for Obama to say. Whose vote does he think he wins with it? Where does this score points? We're talking about a male candidate who was already hemmoraging away white women voters. He thinks this kind of remark will get them back how?

Skyler said...

Ann, this has nothing to do with sexism. It's just a simple insult. He called her a pig and he called him an old rotting fish. It was very intentional.

We need to get away from the "isms" of sexism, racism, age-ism, and get back to basics. Calling someone a pig is an insult and immature. It's uncalled for.

It's not a mortal sin, but it's an indicator that Obama has no class. So, he's a marxist terrorist sympathizing rude man who's never had a job.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's the political mistake, which is evidence of Obama's temperment, that is the issue, not whether the comment was a personal insult.

Well put.

Fen said...

katherine: Phony outrage indeed.

What outrage? Point to it. Everyone here seems to think it was a boneheaded move that will cost Obama more female votes.

BTW, can you imagine the "phony outrage" if McCain used "calling a spade a spade" on Obama? It would be 24/7, riots in LA, etc.

And this from the newfound Republican guardians of feminism

Newfound? I was the guy pointing out that under the 1994 Crime Bill, Paula Jones had a right to any information that establishes a pattern of sexual predatory behavior in the workplace.

You and your "feminist" buds were down on your hands and knees, swallowing. Pretending that sexual discrimination is "just about sex"

Priceless.

Indeed. It certainly was.

So don't lecture me about "feminism" until you've wiped Bill's dribble off your chin.

MC said...

I don't think the comment is any big deal on its own, and I say that as a McCain/Palin supporter.

But sheesh, Obama, why don't you think before you open your mouth with this stuff?

If it was just this, it would be nothing, but his snide little remarks and gestures about Hillary are still recent memories, which makes people more sensitive about this. He ought to be self-aware enough to realise his image is already in danger.

kjbe said...

Are you kidding? Yes, I think that the double entendre was intentional. No, she shouldn't whine about it. But she's the perfect personality to offer a better joke in response.

Agreed. They're whining. With their joke, get a spine, as well.

Anonymous said...

I don't recall when it was, but there was a YouTube video out where Obama was discussing something about Hillary and very deliberately rubbed his nose with his middle finger. The crowd clearly picks it up as an insult, even if unintended. Same thing here--if you listen to the crowd reaction it's clear that the crowd understands it as a Palin reference. This guy makes an awful lot of "accidental" insults for one so smart.

Einfahrt said...

(nto John Lynch)

It sure seemed he was reading and playing the crowd. He waited for the roar as the crowd "got it." Whether he meant the line or not, he sure knew and played the crowd reaction. His look wasn't the look of "oops, I put my foot in it there" it was more of satisfaction of having delivered a barb. Then he moved on to fish. Myself, I took the fish as reference to McCain, not Palin. I had forgotten the fish denigration of women, and the line didn't remind me of it in that context.

Politicians need to give and take insults, this one included, however, it seems juvenile.

The reactions of the undecided are the ones that count, not MadisonMan's women friends, nor the McCain supporters. We'll see if this extends the polling numbers of undecideds in one direction or another. I'm sure it can't help Obama though.

David said...

Not to go all frat boy on you, but the stinking fish metaphor has been used for a long time to describe a lack of vaginal hygiene. However, even Obama's critics have the good taste not to mention that.

I love Palin, and lean to McCain over Obama, but this criticism Obama's statement is silly and childish in the extreme. Lipstick on a pig is common metaphor, and the context makes it clear that Obama was not referring to Palin.

Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...

I've always had trouble remembering if the phrase is hoist by their own petard, or what.

When I stop to think about it, I would use "hoisted". But I'd be wrong.

What can I call this -- "accidental good usage"?

Fen said...

it's an indicator that Obama has no class. So, he's a marxist terrorist sympathizing rude man who's never had a job.

who has a problem with Women.

I'm still trying to figure out if thats from his Muslim background or his adopted Ghetto culture. Niether one has much respect for women.

George M. Spencer said...

If you try to tell someone they are in denial, the result will be that they will get angry at you, and they will say that you are the problem.

Has that ever happened to you?

The Democratic Party has nominated a gentleman who has a unfathomable and rather sad family background, personal history, and career, had a peculiar minister, a rather angry business partner (Mr. Ayers), rejected a powerful potential ally (Sen. Clinton), and keeps making the oddest gaffes, such as "my Muslim faith."

Denial is a powerful force in the human mind.

Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...

What I think is odd is that my Democrat parents & my Republican uncle had the same reaction to the comment -- "he's just lost the election."

I think that that is silly -- Obama made a petulant comment. No more, no less.

But if that's how the older generation feels...

Paul Shetler said...

obama has a long history of making these oddly misunderstod comments about and gestures to women politicians who stand in his way.

remember, this came from the same man who flipped hillary the bird. sure, there's always plausible, but the crowd always understands exaxctly what he's getting at - and his body language shows it's no mistake either.

obama always resorts to trashy insult ("99 reasons," wiping dirt off his shoulder, flipping the bird, comments about hillary's menstrual cycle, etc).when he's rattled - and he gets rattled easily. it's yet another reason why he should be nowhere near the oval office.

that said, it's probably best for the mccain campaign not to make a bog deal over it. obama has mastered the art of passive-aggression and will no doubt use the anger he's stirred up as yet another excuse the play the eternal victim.

rhhardin said...

Never lend out your petard. Make them buy their own.

Mine is safely leaning on the wall in the garage.

Toby said...

I'm not inclined to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on this one largely because the dems have been so quick to accuse conservatives of bad faith and bad will in this cycle. Practically every line of attack against Obama has been labeled as racist.

If they're going to label practically every statement against Obama as racist, no matter how strained the reasoning, their guy gets the sexism charge thrown right back at him, especially when the connection is so obvious.

Crimso said...

"If McCain started using "common metaphors" such as tar babies, calling a spade a spade, etc., he would be pilloried by the Democrats for using coded racist language."

Ding ding ding!!! We have a winner!

Contrast the assertions that it was just use of a common metaphor (never mind her lipstick and pit bull comment of last week; mere synchronicity) with the ridiculous assertion that calling Obama a "community organizer" is actually racist code for "black." Coded terms aimed at the wingnuts are really, really, really difficult to decipher (even for those at whom it is supposedly aimed). Might as well be in Navajo or Basque. Coded terms aimed at the moonbats are apparently in nothing more complicated than (dare I say it?) pig Latin. But everybody knows the wingnuts are both racist and sexist.

al said...

Master-Slave is a common expression in the computer world to describe for example which disk drive is main and which is secondary. Do you think Althouse would have the same reaction if McCain described the Biden-Obama as "master-slave" in the context of Biden really being in control.

There's a story that went around the DOE labs during the Clinton years that relates: A cabinet member was visiting one of the labs an engineer described the what the cabinet member was seeing as a Master-Slave configuration. The cabinet member, being a person of color, was offended, stormed out of the presentation and the lab. Lots of documentation had to change after this event...

This would have probably offended Althouse as well. OTOH I recall that Althouse has written before that she wants to love Obama so I think she's going to take his side in issues like this. I see Obama's statement as an indirect insult at Palin but I also see Obama as an empty suit who's accomplishments don't even merit a second term as senator much less being elected POTUS.

TMink said...

I absolutely LOVE this!

Obama makes an innocuous comment and now the world is angry with him for being a sexist PIG!

After having watched this drek thrown on conservatives for the last 40 years it is really quite amusing and satisfying to see a liberal smeared with false bigotry!

Only adding to my joy and schadenfreude are the comments of the true believers here! Frothing and sputtering, kind of like the Senator off the teleprompter.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Trey

Fen said...

Again, this was not accidental. It was the theme of the day for the campaign - the "lipsticked pig" was rolled out earlier by Team Obama with Biden


"Democratic Congressman Russ Carnahan introduced Joe Biden at a campaign event today. Referring to Sarah Palin’s record, Carnahan commented: “There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.”

/via Powerline

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

100,

It occurs to me that Obama might be well advised to give another speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU

Remind the voters why he is in the ticket and not Hillary ;)

Fen said...

TMink: I absolutely LOVE this!

Sure you do. Thats why you're trying too hard.

Hoosier Daddy said...

But sheesh, Obama, why don't you think before you open your mouth with this stuff?

Because up to now he hasn't really had to. Scripted speeches and tongue bath interviews is all he's been treated to for the past 2 years. Now when he actually being challenged he ends up sounding like Joe Biden. As I said, change my ass.

kjbe said...

McCain/Palin team scores playing the victim card. Film at 11.

Tom Spaulding said...

Ann-
Sorry you missed my post regarding the use of "fish". I even have an Andrew Sullivan reference(!)

http://tomtrel.blogspot.com/

Fen said...

As I said, change my ass.

No kidding. Is this the new "tone" he intends to bring to DC? They already have it in spades.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I learned from my time in the Army that women need to pick their battles very carefully.

This is not the hill I would want to die on.

Anonymous said...

So what do you think would happen if John McCain said at a rally: You can vote for the Republican ticket or, heaven forbid, you can go over to the dark side and vote for the Democrat candidates?

All hell would break loose in the media.

Insult women, no big deal. Say something that can be twisted into a racist insult, bar the door.

It's especially interesting to read commentary posted by self-described feminist women, eager to defend Obama and equally eager to deny the obvious meaning of his lipstick comment. It's the Bill Clinton response all over again.

Hypocrites.

TWM said...

Yeah, it is nothing but a joke. McCain-Palin should just joke back with something about "whitewashing" Barry's record.

That would go over really well since I am sure it wouldn't have a thing to do with race and Barry anymore than this had to do with sex and Sarah.

Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...

This would probably be a bad day for David Paterson to come out and argue that laughing at Obama and community organizers is an expression of veiled racism, wouldn't it?

BJK said...

As a bitter midwestern American - still clinging to my guns and my religion, and who can't vote for Obama because he doesn't look like me - I don't think he meant it as a reference to Gov. Palin.


I'm sure of it. He still hasn't picked up on the fact that people are documenting every step of the campaign....and are smarter than he gives them credit for being. Now that the masses are paying attention to the Presidential election....that's why he's losing.

Sloanasaurus said...

Hip Hop music is filled with despicable treatment of women as whores or objects. Maybe Obama has listened to too much hip hop music.

kent said...

So what do you think would happen if John McCain said at a rally: You can vote for the Republican ticket or, heaven forbid, you can go over to the dark side and vote for the Democrat candidates?

All hell would break loose in the media.

Insult women, no big deal. Say something that can be twisted into a racist insult, bar the door.

Moved and seconded.

garage mahal said...

Good time to occupy time Ann, eh? While the real scandals brew and McCain runs the sleaziest campaign in memory, let's all talk about idiotic hissy fits thrown by children.

Harsh Pencil said...

How should Palin respond?

How about:

"Oh, this is no big deal. I've been called worse,"

(pause, and then sly smile)

"by better."

(or perhaps just leave out the last part.)

The idea is that she should say something that makes it clear that he meant it, but also that she
doesn't think it's a big deal.

Sloanasaurus said...

While the real scandals brew and McCain runs the sleaziest campaign in memory,

Huh? It wasn't McCain who made the lipstick comment. It wasn't McCain who implied that parents of disabled children are hypocrites for not supporting stem cell research. It wasn't McCain who questioned Obama's honor.

And that was all just yesterday.

Henry said...

The denial is rather charming:

Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs told ABC the senator was not referring to Palin. “That’s an old expression,” Gibbs said.

That's it? Gibbs' explanation is that Obama was just being vague again? Surely he elaborated a bit:

"Obama wasn't referring to anything you would understand at all," said Gibbs. "Anyone who thinks that Obama was referring to Palin, or McCain, or their ads, or this election, had better think again. The guy's a spiritually advanced person. He's the freakin' teleological suspension of the ethical. He'll say whatever he wants to say, and he'll tell you what he means when he feels like telling you what he means.

"So back off, unbelievers."

Fen said...

Ann, Jennifer Rubin has an excellent post looking at how Team Obama's flailing over the last week show he's not ready for a leadership role:

"What is important is that whatever the reason, the lesson of their response should not be overlooked: the Democrats are panickers. As such, one wonders if they are fit for high office.

Obama and his supporters never tire of telling us that we should assess his ability to govern as president by his performance in the campaign. Fine — let’s do it."

Randy said...

Sarah Palin, like other candidates, can take care of herself, or not. Ridiculing another candidate who prides himself on his sensitivity and inclusiveness, and advertises himself as a unifier, for being insensitive and divisive is not excessive chivalry, it is seizing the opportunity to point out yet again that the man does not practice what he preaches, nor does he have much genuine interest in being a unifier. That's just politics.

Roger Sweeny said...

As Sigmund Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

kjbe said...

An insult? No. Pigs are smarter than pit bulls.

On another front, why does John McCain want to protect pedophiles and keep our children from detecting their advances?

MarkW said...

Clearly the right response from Palin, is:

Hey, you know, I was called worse by the old boys network in Alaska. I'm used to it -- I can take it. And I'm sure I'll hear worse when John McCain and I get to Washington after winning the election.

Or maybe Senator Obama and his speech-writer want to plead cluelessness -- that they had no idea this might be taken as a sexist insult. In which case, fine -- any time they want to cop a plea of cluelessness, I'm more than willing to accept it. Although you do have to wonder if that would work as well in matters of international diplomacy...

Fen said...

garage mahal: Good time to occupy time Ann, eh? While the real scandals brew... let's all talk about idiotic hissy fits thrown by children.

Well, if Obama intends to throw these hissy fits from the Oval, we ought to dicuss the consequences.

Swifty Quick said...

This is not the hill I would want to die on.

Nobody's talking about dying. It's Obama's comment, and he needs to have is nose rubbed in it.

iftheshoefits said...

The left built this (PC, sexism, racism) sandbox, and they have clear title of ownership. We're just playin' in it. And at the moment we're the ones throwing sand in their faces.

We all know that there is a segment of the population that takes remarks like these quite seriously, though. And they coincidentally are the voters who could tip this election - the ones whose votes Obama needs the most, and has pissed off repeatedly.

Knowing that, it is our solemn duty to simply make sure that everyone simply knows what he said. The faux outrage isn't needed in this case, the words will do their own damage quite effectively, where that damage is most wanted.

Anonymous said...

"And that was all just yesterday."

Yes. Yesterday was the day Obama spoke to an audience of NEA members about the importance of public schools, and the need for a public school education for each one of America's children.

And the day before yesterday was the day he escorted his two daughters to their first day of school at the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools ($18,492 tuition for grades 1-4).

Anonymous said...

Obama isn't so stupid as to not understand why the crowd rose and appaulded when he uttered the "lipstick on a pig" line. It really wasn't that great, especially if you assume it not to be an insult. If he had been smart, he would have put an end to it right there. At least with one of those "no no no no" lines that he does so well, but instead he just went on.

It was rude, lewd and totally unprofessional ... and it is indefenseable.

Peter V. Bella said...

It demonstrates that Obama is no gentleman. He has no class. Obama comes off as an over educated teenager; a erudite teenager, but a teenager just the same. Do we want a good speaking, clean cut teenager in the White House?

It is also cowardly. I would bet he would never say those things to her face. Do we want a snivelling coward in the White House?

I would expect this kind of behavior on KOS. And since Obama never really apologized for his supporters smear campaign, his behavior fits a pattern.

Fen said...

meg: On another front, why does John McCain want to protect pedophiles -

See? Its no big deal. That must be why the Obamafans are trying to talk about something else, anything else.

Maybe Micheal will swing by with a few more manufactured quotes "by" Palin...

VariableSpin said...

Nobody laughs, cheers, and gives a standing O for a standard turn of a phrase. Obama knew what he was saying and so did his audience.

That being said, McCain-Palin should STFU about it now. The ad was complete overkill. A simple response like "We'll let the voters decide who is the real pig in this election." And leave it at that. Nobody likes a whiner.

garage mahal said...

Well, if Obama intends to throw these hissy fits from the Oval, we ought to dicuss the consequences.

Obama isn't throwing the hissy fits. McCain is. Which of course leads me to believe that McCain's campaign is indeed being run exclusively by wingnut bloggers.

kjbe said...

So, the group-think, here is to use ComedySportz to select our next President?

Is this a great country, or what?

Peter V. Bella said...

Maguro said…
If the Dems feel they must attack her, why not let Biden do the dirty work?


Biden? Who is that? Oh, Joe Biden, the VP candidate that no one has heard from.

Fen said...

Obama isn't throwing the hissy fits.

Yes, he is. He's become unhinged by Palin. Even Team Clinton agrees and are advising him to recompose.

/via Instapundit

Barry Dauphin: "Obama was inelegant in his comment... He's usually a better speaker than this. He and his campaign must be quite rattled. They are playing to their base instead of going after independents. Why are they doing that, unless they are worried about their base? Do they have internal polling showing things to be worse for them than the MSM is reporting?"

Sloanasaurus said...

And the day before yesterday was the day he escorted his two daughters to their first day of school at the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Yeah, Obama is typical. He wants everyone elses kids to attend failing public schools while he quietly enrolls his kids in private schools.

Message to Obama. Stop supporting special interests in the corrupt public school systems. Give everyone else a chance for a good education just like you give your kids, support school vouchers so that schools can improve.

Hoosier Daddy said...

While the real scandals brew and McCain runs the sleaziest campaign in memory,

You have got to be kidding.

Seriously garage, someone mentioned it in a previous thread but you really need to work on your A game. I think Barry spanking your girl in the primaries has really shorted a few of your logic circuits.

Let me know when one of those scandals actually has some meat to it.

AllenS said...

"Oh, Joe Biden, the VP candidate that no one has heard from."

Yesterday, he was thanking a supporter and then asked the person to "stand up and let everyone see you." Unfortunately, the man was in a wheelchair and was unable to stand. That's why you haven't heard from him.

Wonderful, a new day, a new bunch of laughs.

Fen said...

Give everyone else a chance for a good education just like you give your kids, support school vouchers so that schools can improve.

I wonder if Obama's Work Camps also apply to private schoolers?

Christi said...

Long time lurker, first time commenter.

I'm one of the women who was going to hold my nose and vote for McCain come November. The Palin pick changed everything for me. Not because she is a women, but because I like her ideas. In fact, I actually donated to the McCain campaign as a result. Do I think she is an affirmative action pick? Sure, in the sense that she helps with certain key demographics. (And I was ruefully dismayed to find out just how well I responded at a visceral level when those demographics were played!)

About the lipstick comment. Yes, it was a direct smear on Palin, but I really don't want the McCain campaign to focus on it. One of the best things about Sarah Palin is she is not a whiner and doesn't do the angry feminist thing. I don't want her to start.

What this confirms for me is that Obama is definitely not ready for primetime. In watching his campaign for the last several years, I've noticed all the things everyone else has commented on previously - get him off the teleprompter and he doesn't sound so good. Hit him with a tough question (of which there have been precious few) and he crumbles. The Obama camp has no idea how to handle a resurgent McCain and it is not pretty. Throw in some other stuff (like how running for office counts as executive experience, but we are now hearing that fundraising is an issue) and it is becoming apparent to more and more people that the emperor has no clothes.

BTW - probably the wrong thread, but we sure aren't hearing much about what a great job the Messiah did the Annenberg Challenge which is arguably (barely) executive experience that might count. Wonder why?

I've gone on too long but one final comment to Pogo. I agree 100% with your line about chivalry. Thank you.

Revenant said...

It was a clever play off an opponent's line. And to say that he called Governor Palin a pig makes no more sense than to say that Governor Palin called herself a dog.

The obvious difference is that people can refer to themselves in ways that other people cannot politely refer to them. You can call yourself a pig; if I call you a pig, that's an insult. I think Obama was just riffing on the "pit bull" joke and didn't realize how it was going to sound to some of his audience.

Fen said...

You have got to be kidding. Seriously garage, someone mentioned it in a previous thread

Yah. Garage, calling the McCain's the "sleaziest campaign in memory" is jumping the shark.

Unless you have Alzheimers, I guess...

Bissage said...

Feeling deeply conflicted about this latest partisan squabble-over-words, I took the time to consult my Ziggy Archives to look for some sort of precedent.

I was surprised to discover a very, very old saying dating back to the Dutch Colonies of the early 1600s.

It goes like this: “You can put lipstick on a fish but that doesn’t mean it’ll suck your dick.”

Mrs. Bissage laughed but then she called me a pig.

**hits “publish your comment” button**

kent said...

The One "WILL EXPLAIN TONIGHT ON LETTERMAN..." (Headline up on Drudge just now, with explanatory link still to come)>

Plainly, if he's rushing all panicky and pell-mell to "explain" the comment in question on live nationwide television, not even a full twenty-four hours after the fact: HE, at least, has already come to the unwelcome conclusion that, yes, indeedy, he has screwed up.

Badly.

Couldn't happen to a warmer, more deserving fellah. Seriously.

Peter V. Bella said...

Ben (The Tiger) said...
I think that that is silly -- Obama made a petulant comment. No more, no less.

Petulance is cute in children. It is annoying, but expected of teenagers. It is not welcome in an adult; especially if the so called adult is running for an office that requires gravitas- a word the Democratic pundits and media keep saying Obama needs to develop.

Unknown said...

Hmm, this is interesting. One of Obama's defenses is that he (and McCain) have used that phrase before. Why, yes, he has. Here's Obama's usage:

"I think that both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are capable people who have been given an impossible assignment," Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday in a telephone interview. "George Bush has given a mission to General Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig."

You know, that phrase just doesn't seem to work out too well for him, doesn't it?

As for McCain's usage of the term, here's the full context. To be it's very obvious that no double entendre was intended. In particular, he said "they put lipstick on a pig", and the context makes it clear that Hillary is among the "they", so she's certainly not the "pig". And of course, the reporters knew exactly what he was talking about.

I owe someone a hat tip here but for the life of me I can't find it all of a sudden.

Henry said...

Garage wrote: Obama isn't throwing the hissy fits. McCain is.

Is this what you're refererring to?

It's a counterpunch. Big deal.

Personally, this is pretty unimportant stuff, but I do enjoy the ruckus.

I actually found Obama's condescension more unpleasant than his insults. At the end of his statement -- the part that isn't in the video clips, he says:

Sarah Palin is an interesting story.” The crowd booed. “No, she’s new!” Obama said. “She hasn’t been on the scene, you know, she’s got five kids and my hat goes off to anybody who’s looking after five. I’ve got two and they tire Michelle and me out!”

At least he didn't yap about her "special needs" child.

Revenant said...

That being said, McCain-Palin should STFU about it now. [...] Nobody likes a whiner.

I'll second that. They needed to publicize the remark a little in order to make sure all those Hillary supporters and female independents heard about it, but now that the word's out they need to drop it.

If Palin's smart -- and she certainly seems to be, where politics are concerned -- she'll magnanimously "forgive" Obama during her upcoming interview.

Anonymous said...

Well, Obama is certainly not trying to change the image that Democrats are people that preach about equality and helping the poor while sending their own kids to the best private schools around.

I wonder when the poor are going to catch on and stop passively playing along every time a Democrat wants to "help" them.

FairWitness said...

Ann, "feminism" was seized by the radical left long ago. I have no interest in promoting the cause of feminism, it has ceased to be about ending discrimination against women. The National Organization of Women doesn't give a rat's petoot about women, NOW's only concern is with the radical left's political power.

What I am interested in, as a Conservative woman, is advocating equal opportunities and mutual respect for all, regardless of gender. That's my definition of feminism, but it sure isn't what the various political organizations practice. The acquisition of power isn't compelling to me unless the power acquired is righteously wielded.

The comments Obama made about lipstick and stinky fish were planned Democratic talking points he delivered to counteract Sen. McCain's & Gov. Palin's soaring success and rise in the polls. However, the remarks completely missed their target. In fact, they were stupid, they blew up in Obama's face. The delivery and context were idiotic.

On Monday, the polls showed a 20 point shift of white women to McCain-Palin. The Obama campaign is in panic mode. Democrats' solution? They decide to further irritate & insult women voters by making thinly-veiled, anti-aged / sexist attacks on their opponents? Not very bright campaign tactics, IMHO.

What exactly is their message there? Obama says he was trying to say McCain & Palin are not going to "change" the Bush Administrations policies. Why didn't he say that, then, instead of inserting all the nuanced, mean-spirited, personal insults? Answer: because he's getting his clock cleaned and he's pissed about it.

Fen said...

Obama isn't throwing the hissy fits.

Forgot the main point: Obama's lipsticked pig remark was in response to McCain's Change[tm] message.

Obama's been whining in interviews that "they stole MY message!". So yes, he had a hissy fit and caused an own goal. Not ready for prime time.

BTW, when did Change[tm] belong only to Obama? What arrogance.

*Hillary nods*

Oh boy. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in her office. I'll bet she breaks into fits of laughter without warning.

Fen said...

Obama said. “She hasn’t been on the scene, you know, she’s got five kids and my hat goes off to anybody who’s looking after five. I’ve got two and they tire Michelle and me out!”

Doesn't Pelosi have 5 kids? He should try his little woman meme on her.

Henry said...

fairestwitness wrote: Obama says he was trying to say McCain & Palin are not going to "change" the Bush Administrations policies. Why didn't he say that, then, instead of inserting all the nuanced, mean-spirited, personal insults?

Actually, he did say that. He had a pretty good speech going until he screwed up the punchline.

Randy said...

If Palin's smart -- and she certainly seems to be, where politics are concerned -- she'll magnanimously "forgive" Obama during her upcoming interview.

If she's even smarter, she'll do it at an event today before he goes on Letterman tonight ;-)

Hoosier Daddy said...

Yesterday, he was thanking a supporter and then asked the person to "stand up and let everyone see you." Unfortunately, the man was in a wheelchair and was unable to stand. That's why you haven't heard from him.

Well I'm sure if Obama had asked the chap to stand up, he would have been filled with the spirit of Hope and Change and began doing cartwheels down the aisle.

Biden is just a false prophet.

Fen said...

/yes, Pelosi had 5 kids

"She began raising a family, and was the mother of five by 1969, the same year the family moved across the country to San Francisco.

Pelosi was a homemaker for a number of years. Her youngest daughter, Alexandra, told People that she and her siblings were not an easy crew: "We were like the kids from The Simpsons—she couldn't get anyone to babysit." No matter how busy she was at home, Pelosi always volunteered for the Democratic party during election campaigns. In 1976 she worked for the presidential campaign of California's popular governor, Jerry Brown (1938–). Because of her political connections back in Maryland, she was asked to organize a "Brown for President" campaign there.

...In 1977 she became chair for the northern section of the California Democratic Party, and four years later became the chair for the entire state. She later served in a national party post as the finance chair for the 1986 congressional elections."

http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ow-Sh/Pelosi-Nancy.html

Maybe Obama will tell Pelosi to resign: "The daughter of a small town mayor should focus on her family and local community first. Leave national politics to the Big Boys".

garage mahal said...

Yah. Garage, calling the McCain's the "sleaziest campaign in memory" is jumping the shark.

Jumped in the sewer more like it. Anyways I enjoy it to a point, I hope Obama has the good sense to unleash the 527's, and it makes me more motivated to ridicule fundies like Palin. Seen this video on Palin's church? Demons, witchcraft, speaking in tongues, end of days. Pretty weird eh? See now if I was running Obama's campaign I'd be running this video on a loop up until Nov 7th.

Hoosier Daddy said...

She hasn’t been on the scene, you know, she’s got five kids and my hat goes off to anybody who’s looking after five. I’ve got two and they tire Michelle and me out!”

Wow, only two kids tire him out? How the hell is he going to run the country if he's too tired after taking care of his kids?

Maybe Palin can provide him and Michelle some sound advice on simultaneously running a government and raising a large family.

Fen said...

As long as her church wasn't invoking God to damn America, or craving "a God that participates in the destruction of the White enemy".

We just finished with Obama VS Palin on Experience. Our gal knocked you out.

You really want to go back Black Liberation Theology?

Fen said...

I’ve got two and they tire Michelle and me out!”

Hey, at least Obama didn't slip and say I’ve got two and they tire Michelle out!

[Don't they have a nanny?]

Hoosier Daddy said...

See now if I was running Obama's campaign I'd be running this video on a loop up until Nov 7

Garage, I could only hope you were running Bambi's campaign. I'd be betting the farm on McCain.

zeek said...

He stooped to calling his opponent a pig. If this wasn't intentional it shows terrible thoughtlessness. You can't use a line so similar to her famous convention line and pretend it's a coincidence.

This sidestep is nothing new. For example, in the PA Dem primaries the last TV ads from each candidate were Clinton's ad about gas tax relief (an actual issue, regardless of what you thought about it) and Obama's ad about how Clinton was taking the low road and using personal attacks. That itself WAS a personal attack ad, but it masqueraded as being against such things.

So here he calls Palin a pig and pretends he didn't. What's worse is that he's going after number two because she has a better resume than he does. He couldn't even get hired as Donald Trump's apprentice.

I am a lifelong Democrat and this guy, and the way his disciples react to him, gives me the creeps. He knows people respond to him. He knows he can work a room. He knows he can work a crowd. He knows he can analyze and articulate issues and give a good speech. But he also knows he has little management experience and yet he wants to apply for the hardest management job in the world. Where's his famous judgment?

Arianna Huffington is smarter and more articulate than Arnold Schwarzenegger, but when she showed up the same time he did to register to run for Governor of CA (in an attempt to glom on to his publicity) she was wandering around the scene looking like a lost debutante. And look who eventually won. Talking the talk and walking the walk are two very different skill sets. And Obama is getting scared and loosing the ability to talk.

The Dems really screwed up picking this guy. And it's their election to lose. After 8 years of Bush the Dems should be way ahead in the polls not tied or behind.

Automatic_Wing said...

Pretty weird eh? See now if I was running Obama's campaign I'd be running this video on a loop up until Nov 7th.

Yeah, real genius advice. The last thing Obama needs is to make the rest of this campaign a referendum on who goes to the wackiest church.

kent said...

See now if I was running Obama's campaign

... you'd lose, 57 states to 0.

FairWitness said...

Henry, Obama did make that assertion. Why didn't he leave it at that? Why did he need a punchline there? He didn't. The lipstick / old fish jibes were planned and their intent was very cynical, totally calculated.

The Obama campaign did the same thing to Hillary Clinton in the primaries, not that I'm here to defend her. But why would her own party turn on her like that? It's untoward, improper. Bad, bad form.

This isn't change we can believe in. It's change that's being rejected. Obama is turning his own prospective voters off. The Democrats need to get off this tack, it's doing damage to their own cause and pissing off a lot of voters.

garage mahal said...

... you'd lose, 57 states to 0.

Haha. Better than 49 states. Much more inclusive, doncha think? Here is Secessionist Sarah in 2008 in front of a 49 star flag. Alaska first!

Pastafarian said...

I'm sorry, Ann, but the old expression I've heard is "perfume on a pig". No, the choice of lipstick here was an intentional insult to Palin. Biden was also quoted referring to "putting lipstick on it" on the very same day, referring to the GOP tarting up their ticket and platform.

They made the conscious decision to use lipstick as a metaphor because of the fact that Palin is a somewhat attractive female, and because of Palin's lipstick line in her speech. They want to portray Palin as a shallow beauty queen selected only for her pretty face. Obama had the remarkably bad judgment to put two more little barbs on his speech by using the 'pig' and 'fish' quips. This fits into a few patterns with Obama: His tendency toward sexism and generally holding women in low regard (writing a book about his absent father and ignoring the woman that raised him); his habit of subtley flipping his opponent the bird in front of his supporters; his way of making underhanded, deniable insults.

And I don't know why men shouldn't be able to call him out on his stupidity -- I'm calling him a sexist and a lout, and this does not reflect on Palin's ability to defend herself. Should someone say something racist, I also reserve the right to criticize them on that, despite my pasty complexion.

Indeed, if women are to remain above making such accusations of sexism, no matter how obvious, then if men can't call the sexists out, I guess no one will, and they'll skate on any slur that they want to throw out there.

Maybe somewhere the expression "lipstick on a pig" is common, but I've never heard that variation. Maybe Obama figures that we typical white people usually spruce up our pigs with a little make-up before sodomizing them, with banjo music gently wafting in the background. He was speaking in Virginia, after all...in a strange new southern accent, interestingly enough.

Come to think of it, maybe his venue was part of the reason that Obama decided to add the "pig" and "fish" references: Since he was speaking in front of a largely white, probably uneducated and inbred, crowd of bible-and-gun-clinging mouthbreathers who never went to Harvard, he really had to spell things out for them, lest they miss his subtleties and wit.

Sloanasaurus said...

Obama's response today was essentially "you are all stupid for paying attention to this issue. We have real issues to discuss."

Again, Obama needs to learn to say something like " I apologize to anyone who took my comments the wrong way.." Instead he doubles down and calls everyone stupid.

Obama - the next Dan Quayle.

rhhardin said...

I can't let this go by. Actually I snarfed something way back up there and have forgotten what it was. Let's see...

Hip Hop music is filled with despicable treatment of women as whores or objects. Maybe Obama has listened to too much hip hop music.

Oh yeah, I remember.

It strikes me as more a poetic expression of the male dilemma; here he's got this itch to be interested in females, through no fault of his own; and gets treated like dirt everywhere.

It's an expression of that interest but cloaked in being able to be a guy mastering it.

I was never on the despicable bandwagon, which always struck me as pure PC.

Obama may indirectly suffer from it but it plays no part in the pig reference.

Incidentally I've never understood lipstick. None looks fine, and it's like kissing soft wax when that comes up.

PS when it says ``conflicting edits'' does that mean it's been posted or not been posted? No doubt a reason for doubled posts.

(opens new tab, loads fresh Althouse to see if the comment's there. Nope.)

rhhardin said...

Also racism isn't sexism.

Sexism is probably, on the whole, good. The sexes differ in interests and dilemmas.

Getting them described well and truthfully is the path to such harmony as attainable on the matter.

Not complete harmony, but a working level of it. You don't want complete harmony.

Bring this up at the next mandatory workplace consciousness raising seminar. I did.

A little ahead of my time, is all.

Robert Cook said...

Greenwald has it right this morning, as he usually does: this ludicrous foofaraw is simply an illustration that our national discourse consists now of nothing but teh stupid.

Obama, of whom I'm no great fan, due to his betrayal of principles and his typically Democrat centrist (i.e., spineless) dithering, used two common vernacular sayings to say that presenting unattractive or old ideas in new rhetoric does not make them either new or attractive.

Given the old, unattractive ideas and dishonest claims of McCain/Palin, I'd say Obama's fault is in not speaking more directly and unambiguously to the meretriciousness of their rhetoric. Why not just say outright they're full of shit?

Chip Ahoy said...

Ha ha ha ha ha.

Your many views cheer me.

zeek said...

Why is this considered sexist anyway? On the Senate floor Dick Cheney told Patrick Leahy to "Fuck yourself." This is the big league, folks. If Palin can't take the heat she should get out of the kitchen. (Oops!)

Of course, you opponent has to admit he said what he did first and Obama hasn't. Maybe Cheney was just using a variation on that old common expression, "Be fruitful and multiply."

Unknown said...

This is depressing. I'm a political junkie, and I can hardly watch the TV anymore. You've got Steve Doocy on one channel and Joe Scarborough on the other ranting about this. This! Joe should know better, but he just loves to hear himself talk. Meanwhile, none of them will dig up the clip of McCain calling Hillary Clinton a pig. Oh, I'm sorry, it was clear he was talking about her health plan. But with Obama...

And besides, when did Palin corner the market on using the word "lipstick"? Did she come out with a patent in the last 10 days? The double standards the Republicans are allowed to get away with sickens me!

Revenant said...

Here is ... Sarah in 2008 in front of a 49 star flag

Imagine that; an old 49-star flag at an anniversary celebration of the 49th state's admission to the Union. That's some really damning evidence there, garage.

You do realize that every time you make a nonsensical attack like this you make it that much less likely that anyone will take you seriously if a real scandal comes along?

PJ said...

This would probably be a bad day for David Paterson to come out and argue that laughing at Obama and community organizers is an expression of veiled racism, wouldn't it?

Heh. I heard him on he radio this morning backing off that position and saying Sarah Palin hasn't been treated fairly. I think they're catching on.

Greenwald has it right this morning, as he usually does

Next . . .

Revenant said...

Oh, I'm sorry, it was clear he was talking about her health plan.

Obviously it was, since it didn't occur to anyone to claim he had been talking about Hillary until after Obama made his gaffe. :)

Robert Cook said...

To the poster who asserts Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment had to be an intentional insult to Palin as a woman because he/she has never heard this variant of the phrase, but was familiar only with "perfume on a pig," I'll reply with: I've never heard the "perfume" variant.

"Lipstick on a pig" is exceedingly common and if a variant of that is what is used in your part of the country, that's all it is, a regional variant.

(I was puzzled when a friend of mine, who at one time aspired to be a writer, gave me some stories of his to read, and I notieced he several times used the phrase "all of the sudden." I corrected them each time to "all of a sudden," which, of course, is the only form of that phrase I had ever heard or read.

I was certain my friend had misheard the phrase all his life, but I later heard someone else use "all of the sudden," and it struck me only then that perhaps this was a regional variant of the more common "all of a sudden.")

Don't assume your familiarity with vernacular terms or phrases reveals anything but your own personal (i.e., limited) exposure to vernacular.

Revenant said...

"Lipstick on a pig" is exceedingly common and if a variant of that is what is used in your part of the country, that's all it is, a regional variant.

"Uppity" is a common expression, but use it to refer to Barack Obama and -- oops!

William said...

"Words, just words." For all his praise of the power of words Obama has spent a great deal of time splaining the meaning of his words. I honestly don't know if this was an inept expression or a plausibly deniable insult. In either case it does not make Obama look good. If Palin makes too big a deal about this, it does not make her look good. She should express sincere sympathy for his stammer and lack of intelligibility. Coals of fire: Univ of Idaho offering a helping hand to Harvard Law.

Cedarford said...

Fen said...
kynefski: It is nothing, of course.

Sure. As another million women voters pick up McCain signs. No big deal. A few more of these "nothings" and Obama will be on the lecture circuit.


Fen's got a great point. It's perceptions and the dumbness of Obama making fish and pig allusions about a lady.

Later, he properly railed on a self-proclaimed feminist who claimed Republicans had no moral authority because they never joined in any fights as career woman champions or defenders of women in the workplace before by noting the complete collapse of "feminists" over saving Bill Clinton.

Coarsely, but accurately:

Katherine - And this from the newfound Republican guardians of feminism.

Fen - "Newfound?....

You and your "feminist" buds were down on your hands and knees, swallowing. Pretending that sexual discrimination is "just about sex"

Priceless.

Indeed. It certainly was.

So don't lecture me about "feminism" until you've wiped Bill's dribble off your chin."

At the time it certainly was amusing watching all the Stalinist feminists, many the actual Jewish red diaper babies of communists, all falling on their swords for Clinton after wrecking a few Senators, CEOs, and nearly Clarence Thomas over the same "transgressions" they defended Bubba on.

The best might have been Gloria Steinham grappling with the number of allowable unwanted, but intially "OK" gropes a (democrat progressive) was allowed.

Perhaps it was Naiomi Wolf making the Clinton marriage into a "misunderstood" poetry of understandable pursuit, reconciliation before Wolf publicly accused her Yale Advisor of sexual harassment 25 years after the "terrible period" and of course after "the Hope for feminism" was out of office.

=======================

Where this leaves Obama is without a fig leaf defense from the old feminist camp whose credibility (as Fen said) dribbles from their mendacious mouths...Other than trotting Hillary out as the battered woman Team Axelrod casts as Obama's "credible defender" to her PUMAs...who like Hillary, but not as the desperate woman with two black eyes showing up screaming at the cops how much she loves and needs her lover, even after the beatings..

The biggest damage to Obama was in the public seeing for sure all the media folks they suspected were in the bag for Obama "out themselves" as near-hysteric Palin attacks in fear their Black Messiah might actually lose.

Now the illusion of the cerebral, all-knowing Harvard man is also disappearing as his well-concealed (by the media) lack of past accomplishment and alliance with radicals is finally hitting the main street. The general public now sees the manipulation the media has done to advance him, and are seeing away from the teleprompters and Axelrod writer team, there ain't too much to Obama except a peeved little elitist not ready for Primetime.

And lastly, the race card is used so much, that outside the Dem primaries where 50% of voters are blacks, hardcore Left, and guilty liberal Jews to start with - use of the race card in the general electorate causes more damage from backlash than it does raise any support. So Obama doesn't get to use it but perhaps once - against a war hero and a woman married to an Eskimo.

UWS guy said...

And so, early this morning 1 million internet ronins girded themselves for battle. Taking great care, these anti-sexist soldiers squeezed their lard into the plate armor+5 and hoisted their halberd of +3 furious typing over their shoulders.

For the vestal MILF sara was beset on all sides by democrat dragons.

Robert Cook said...

Really? "Uppity" is a common expression? Tell me, when and how often in your life have you ever used the word "uppity" in any context?

I have never used the word in my life and I have never heard anyone I know use the word (and I grew up in Florida); if I were going to refer to someone who I thought was presuming too much or acting too big for his britches, (to use a vernacular phrase), I'd say he or she was "presumptuous."

For some asshole Georgia Congressman to refer to Obama as "uppity" is clearly a racial dig.

William said...

Ms. Althouse seems distrustful of chivalry. Well, chivalry is not a monolithic response. Some women inspire it; others do not. Some women are nice ladies whom a decent man wishes to protect against the sharp edges of life; other women are the sharp edges of life.....I think some nice ladies make civilization seem like fun. When men protect such women, they are acting in their own enlightened self interest. Other ladies make civilization look as repressive as a whale stay corset. The proper response to such women is not chivalry, but to light out for the territories....Incidentally, to offer a sexist homage, Ms Althouse has a civilized sense of fun and inspires a chivalrous response.

UWS guy said...

...and magic-users as the arch-mage Obama attempting to cast a polymorph spell which would have turned the VPILF into a swine.

bleeper said...

"Whale stay corset" is sexist and weightist. Perhaps you were going for "whale bone stay corset".

And I will avoid calling a whale a fish, unlike Melville, who really should have known better.

dave in boca said...

I agree with Katie Couric that there is a sort of subliminal sexism at play with Obama. His months of arm-wrestling with Hillary only to encounter an even stronger woman obviously rattles him.

He is being forced, or tricked, into engagement with Sarah, who will probably pit-bull him out of an election victory.

Crimso said...

"The double standards the Republicans are allowed to get away with sickens me!"

Well at least we now know they'll no longer be able to use "community organizer" as code for "black." You guys must have a real Rochefort cracking these codes.

'"Lipstick on a pig" is exceedingly common'

But not as common as "calling a spade a spade" or "the pot calling the kettle black." I'm sure no, but NO ONE, on the Left would notice if McCain used those terms to reference anything remotely connected to Obama. Sorry. Really, really hate it for you guys. Your side is the one that has been crying wolf for decades. It is both comical and deeply pathetic to see you now accusing others of doing the same thing. As the song goes: "It's your game, the rules are your own, win or lose."

Chip Ahoy said...

rhhardin, conflicting edits have not been posted. I believe the comments editor received simultaneous commands, you and another poster, a remarkable coincidence indeed given the speed of these things.

Carefully prove this to yourself: Page back. See your original post still in the editing box. Select message and Copy it so it's safely stored on your clipboard. Refresh page. You'll get a "are you sure you want to leave this area?" message. A logical question because who would want to leave a page with a message sitting there? Click on "Yes, do, let's." Page refreshes. Scroll down and note your message is not there. Paste your message you wisely saved. Post again.

vbspurs said...

Isn't the 'fish' reference to "old fish" McCain?

Yes, I took it as such. Equally, it could've referred to "Barracuda", the now-famous nickname of Palin's.

Look, something is on his mind. He treats women dismissively when he's on the spot. He brushes them aside, makes finger gestures, calls them sweetie, and thinks he can slide.

I'm tired of him sliding on this issue. Let him ignore it and not clarify it: fine.

But I promise you, women have noticed his attitude -- seconded by a rather old-fashioned, jokey sensibility on the part of Biden ("she's drop dead gorgeous. And she's got a doctorate, which is a problem").

The link I provide is from a blog called Feminist Philosophers.

This is what they said about it:

Damn, I really want to like Joe Biden. And there are things to like a lot, like his writing of the Violence Against Women Act. Why does he have to keep saying stupid things? Why oh why? First there was that fabulous remark that Obama was the first “clean” and “articulate” African-American candidate. Now he says his wife is drop-dead gorgeous. And has a doctorate, which is a problem. I KNOW it’s meant to be a joke. And maybe it’s necessary to make such jokes in order to make voters comfortable with a woman with a doctorate. (But I doubt it, since Dr Rice should have them used to it by now.) But… Sigh. Why does he keep doing this sh*t? Legislative actions are indeed more important than utterances like these, but these do matter, and I don’t like them.

A lot of people want to like Barack Obama. Despite everything, I do too. But they make it real hard with crap like this.

Cheers,
Victoria

UWS guy said...

happens when two people hit publish at the same time. just hit "show previous page" and resubmit.

Revenant said...

Really? "Uppity" is a common expression? Tell me, when and how often in your life have you ever used the word "uppity" in any context?

Considerably more often than I've used the expression "putting lipstick on a pig". :)

kent said...

chivalry is not a monolithic response. Some women inspire it; others do not.

Oh, I am SO stealing this.

Robert Cook said...

Crimso said...

"Well at least we now know they'll no longer be able to use "community organizer" as code for "black." You guys must have a real Rochefort cracking these codes.

'"Lipstick on a pig" is exceedingly common'

But not as common as "calling a spade a spade" or "the pot calling the kettle black." I'm sure no, but NO ONE, on the Left would notice if McCain used those terms to reference anything remotely connected to Obama. Sorry. Really, really hate it for you guys. Your side is the one that has been crying wolf for decades. It is both comical and deeply pathetic to see you now accusing others of doing the same thing. As the song goes: "It's your game, the rules are your own, win or lose."


If McCain were to use these phrases and be accused of racism by "the left" (sic)it would be just as stupid and dishonest as the fake outrage over Obama's "pig" and "fish" comments.

Let's be frank: no one really believes Obama was making coded slurs against Palin's gender with his remarks. As with so much Republican rhetoric, it's a fraud, a fabricated tempest intended to distract voters from real issues and to depict the Democrats--who have PLENTY of real faults--as being "bad, baaaaaaaaaaad!"

I assume Republicans, being human beings, are pretty stupid, but no one could be so stupid as to genuinely believe this make believe uproar.

Chip Ahoy said...

* searches: +rochefort +code *

Meade said...

"Poke you in the eye" is code, people.

And now he's calling us all cock sucking lipstick wearing fish.

Wake UP, People! Bissage. is. a. meanie!

UWS guy said...

Quote: chivalry is not a monolithic response. Some women inspire it; others do not.

Oh, I am SO stealing this.


really? What women don't inspire chivalry? bitches and whores? promiscuous women? Women who make more money and don't ask you to pay for dinner? Ugly women who don't wear lipstick?

that quote is probably the most sexist thing said today (well that's what DTL would say if he were awake).

Revenant said...

Let's be frank: no one really believes Obama was making coded slurs against Palin's gender with his remarks.

That's a smart tactic; tell the angry women that they don't really believe what they're saying.

Hoosier Daddy said...

For some asshole Georgia Congressman to refer to Obama as "uppity" is clearly a racial dig.
Well of course it is. Just like community organizer is code for ‘black’.

In other words, no say bad things about Obama or you’re a racist.

Really? "Uppity" is a common expression? Tell me, when and how often in your life have you ever used the word "uppity" in any context?

Don't assume your familiarity with vernacular terms or phrases reveals anything but your own personal (i.e., limited) exposure to vernacular.


Pot, meet kettle.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I assume Republicans, being human beings, are pretty stupid, but no one could be so stupid as to genuinely believe this make believe uproar.

I don't know, I think you Democrats were pretty stupid thinking Bill Clinton was playing the race card when we said that Jesse Jackson won South Carolina.

I mean the man has offices in Harlem for God's sake.

TMink said...

iftheshoefits wrote: "The faux outrage isn't needed in this case, the words will do their own damage quite effectively, where that damage is most wanted."

Well, you are of course correct. It is not needed. Nor is pie, but I sure enjoy some every now and then!

Trey

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