He's apologized, but I don't care. I want him to explain why he did it. Why is he editor-in-large at Time if he can't explain things as accessible to him as his own mind?
Am I the only one who takes more offense at the blurted phrase "Oh my God" (by Joe Scarborough) than the use of the word "dick" to explain the President's behavior? I think insulting the President is rough political discourse, but saying "Oh my God" is taking the Lord's name in vain.
You know, I bet Halperin was reverting to a style of speech that he uses with his colleagues, off-camera, and he thought he could stick it in, perhaps with bleeping or a comic reference to bleeping that didn't happen. But he's out of touch with the segment of the morning TV audience that experiences "he was a dick" as way off the norm. I mean, I am too.
I'm trying to guess whether that segment is also disturbed by "Oh my God" the way I am. I really don't understand how anyone who believes in God (or has respect for people around them who believe in God) can say use "God" as part of a casual exclamation.
But calling people a dick. It's rude, but actual dicks aren't able to take offense, and even if they were, they wouldn't determine your fate in the afterlife.
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«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 255 of 255If my understanding is correct, then Joe isn’t guilty of using the Lord’s name in vain.
According to Dennis Prager:
“…The Commandment widely translated as "Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," is imprecisely translated. The original Hebrew literally reads, "Do not carry the name of the Lord thy God in vain."”
Follow the link for more from Dennis, but my understanding that carrying the Lord’s name in vain is to do something wrong or for yourself while claiming it was for God.
"Oh my God! Anyone who sees Obama as a "front for their progressive movement" has got to be a really stupid dick!"
Did he leave a note, Rob, or just throw a fifty on the nightstand :)
I would imagine there was a time when Jesus was at someone's house, when there was a knock on the door, and the owner of the house said these words: "Jesus, it's your dad".
Ever read "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal"? There are some great little scenes between Jesus and Joseph. Aside from how a young Jesus would bring a lizard back to life, only to have one of his brothers smash it dead with a rock, only to have Jesus bring it back to life, etc, etc. Excellent book if soap-opera-watching angels are your thing.
Yeah he shoulda been all like, "Oh. Em. Gee."
/eyeroll
lol @ Darcysport
Although, I think, technically, one is a turd sandwich and the other is a douchebag.
Althouse--
I think you're being rather lawyerly here about the whole "explain yourself". As several commenters have pointed out, he called Obama a dick because that's what he was thinking: Obama's a dick.
Why does that need further elaboration?
Thanks, blake. :)
This story reminds me of my sister in law recounting a work story in front of my whole family. She blurted out - with regard to her boss: "He's such a dick!"
Total silence for a few seconds and then embarrassed giggles from some of us.
My dad's name was Dick. Awkward turtle. :)
You believe in God? And are prickly enough about it that you find a bit of Valley-Girl speak offensive? Like, oh my God's dick!
How is Halperin's calling Obama a "dick" different than Bill Maher's calling Sarah Palin a "twat"? And if the one warrants an apology, why not the other?
Because she is Sarah Palin. Duh.
Interestingly though, bringing her up, is that she seems to say "gosh darn", etc. a lot as a replacement for a similar phrase with the same first letters that many find offensive for the reasons discussed above.
One point is that there really are people who don't swear, as most of us understand it, but instead limit themselves to expletives that have been traditionally accepted in Christian society. As opposed to those who talk nice in public, but swear like prostitutes in private (remember the LBJ stories?)
Also, it is a reminder that this sort of thing really probably does offend a certain part of the population. Likely the bitter clingers. Of course, many of those people would never vote for Obama anyway, so...
Darcy said...
My dad's name was Dick.
That's why a person should always use the word prick. I know some Dicks, and all of them are good people.
People talking that Yahweh is the name of God are forgetting that there are in Judaism 78 names of God and the 3 most common are Yahweh, Elohim and Adonai (the only Feminine name of God).
That aside the "take the Lords name in vain" is about using Gods name for purposes that bring discredit to God. Some even go so far as even bringing God to witness oaths does this.
The "Oh my Lord" to me is a colloquial call on the Lords name to show disfavor or disgust, therefore taking it in vain.
Ha! Mika Brzezinski threw it out there this morning, too:
"I’m saying there are people who get media coverage that maybe shouldn’t?"
Of course, nobody picks it up - not Joe Scarborough or their guests anyway - and that's partially because it can't be picked up or the so-called "opinion makers" (who are mostly wrong-headed posers) would be under the gun.
Anyway, we've got a meme! I'ma be watching to see if it's got legs because it should:
Get rid of the people who don't know what they're talking about!
"Did he leave a note, Rob, or just throw a fifty on the nightstand :)"
Sorry, Deborah, I don't understand your joke.
Commentator-guy thought he was a member of the Algonquin round table, and it was a different age.
Can we get back to analysis and journalism that's got content and an opinion, vs. fodder and an agenda? (Content teaches you something about the world. Fodder is selected to support a prior conclusion. Opinion is what you found. Agenda is what you set out to bolster, facts selected to fit. One is useful for understanding the world. The other ... not so much.)
Can we dispense with the Kabuki-theater of denouncement and calumny dressed in lofty abstraction and pseudo-politeness? Obama has engaged in dickish behavior throughout his presidency. Maybe before without the spotlight, but I don't know. When he has someone down, so they can't respond, he goes for the slimeing.
So, the commentator called him out, in what seems like a badly miscalculated, improvised on-air joke. But it's what everybody with a brain was thinking. (This is independent of the administration's policies and priorities. One could call the previous administration the most arrogant and secretive in history ... until this one came along. So, over-achiever, right?)
Anyway, any collection of brilliant scathing from the Algonquin's or other wits would show how far we have declined. Any one of them could have flayed the lightbringer beyond recovery in a single, brilliant phrase. "Dick" is for us mortals - although no less true.
This whole incident reminds of this scene from "Jerry Maguire"
I put this on the level of Jon Stewart calling him "dude". It's casual "bro" vernacular for anyone under 50, especially from the West Coast. (Think Sean Penn (now 50) as Jeff Spicoli in "Fast Times in Ridgemont HIgh"
He just slipped into casual talk. I wouldn't even call it rude. This type of thing really bothers my mother, but there you have it. The CalSpeak won out, end of conversation.
"How is Halperin's calling Obama a 'dick' different than Bill Maher's calling Sarah Palin a 'twat'? And if the one warrants an apology, why not the other?"
How would it be different if Scott Pelley on the CBS Evening News did the same sort of shtick that John Stewart does on The Daily Show?
Halperin is purportedly a serious news analyst on a purportedly serious news network, while Maher is a comedian on HBO known for his vulgar topical material. The impropriety is not in calling Obama a dick but in the person calling the name and the venue where it took place.
Martha said...
Calling Sarah PALIN a twat is more offensive than calling Obama a dick. Calling anyone except Andrew Sullivan a TEABAGGER is also more offensive than calling Obama a dick
==============
I don't see why, other than women have decided the standards should be different.
(ie. calling a man a dumb prick is almost acceptable in everyday conversation but similar language associating dumbness and female genitalia slang (stupid twat/ one dumb cunt!)is ABSOLUTELY BEYOND THE PALE!!
I've known US females to go in near vapor-lock outrage on their first trip to the UK - where "cunt" is a casual vulgarism common in the vernacular of all classes, by their rules of cuss language etiquette.
Nice satire, Ann. Joe should have just said OMG!
"Obama is a dick."
Conservatives agree and say what is the big deal? It's just a casual word.
"Reagan is a dick."
Conservatives freak out....
Face it, people, it all depends WHO is using the word and WHO they are directing it towards.
It's all politics.
OMFG, over 200 comments on this?
I once heard that the expression "dick" as in a "jerk" was just a shortened form of a "Railroad Dick" i.e. railroad police - the people that rousted hobos out of railyards and boxcars. So if someone was being a dick, they were being mean to someone else for no real reason.
I'm sure it could also be because dicks/penises "fuck" everything, but I'd prefer to think that our bastard tongue has a slightly more genteel - even romantic (via hobos riding railcars) - etymology than "dick" coming from penis.
Am I the only one who takes more offense at the blurted phrase "Oh my God" (by Joe Scarborough) than the use of the word "dick" to explain the President's behavior? I think insulting the President is rough political discourse, but saying "Oh my God" is taking the Lord's name in vain.
Who is this Lord you speak of?
"Obama is a dick."
Conservatives agree and say what is the big deal? It's just a casual word.
"Reagan is a dick."
Conservatives freak out....
That's not true. There are a number of comments upthread that, while they may dislike Obama, don't believe the office or the office holder should be disrespected in this manner.
Even tho I check your site several times a week, I haven't been sure whether I like it or not. When you wrote that Joe's use of the Lord's name offended you, I can only decide: I do like your site and agree completely with your commentary about it.
The British have lost the finer meanings of cunt, using it for everything.
Barthelme, proper American usage and the finest example in English.
The British have lost the finer meanings of cunt, using it for everything.
But keep in mind that they had it long before we did as a word. It appears to be of Old German/Norse descent, which means that it likely predated the Norman Conquest.
And, I think that an argument can be made that it is we, the colonists, who are misusing the word, and not our British brethren (and sistren?)
I credit Beck with getting GE to dispose of MSNBC in their Fire Sale of NBC
I read that last time you posted it, rh. Brilliant. Is the book that good throughout?
I'm a Ronald Reagan, Carl Sagan, San Diegan Pagan. -cp
(although mostly I'm a practicing Frisbeetarian)
wv: "brion," -our sacremental cheese.
This comment thread is way to theological for me--i thought scholastic disputations went out in the 15th century
lets go back to wisconsin supreme court mud wrestling--or maybe even climate change nee global warming--
and no sarah palin thread for a week I think
we are truly in the end times.
The etymology of dork is similar (Yiddish "penis"), which is why I'd rather be a nerd. -cp
wv: "bornoni," -fetal pasta
OMG not so much, but "Jesus!" often elicits a comment about him not being in the group playing. :-)
Regards — Cliff
It's a bit of a myth that The 3rd commandment is broken by someone saying "OMG." A biblical scholar I've read says that in the time the commandments were being handed down, it was common for people to invoke their deity in a "vain" way. For example, my god supports me in this property dispute or some other personal, earthly matter.
That said, many people also falsely believe it is never correct to end a sentence with a preposition. Because the hiring manager may see your correct usage as a mistake, when you're writing your cover letter, don't break the preposition "rule."
Similarly, show your Christian friends some respect. Fair or not, the casual OMG marks you as an insensitive jerk, or worse, to quite a few.
I just think it's funny they told him it would be bleeped, and they'd have his back if it wasn't.
It wasn't, he's suspended, and I bet all the kids who said "you jump first" will still show up at work tomorrow.
I haven't scanned through all of the comments yet so forgive me if this point has been made but I don't see how you can characterize Obama's behavior as anything other than being a dick.
He chastises Congress for not working hard enough and then refuses to meet with them. Indeed, he has announced his intentions to negotiate with both the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood just this week but he can't take time to meet with the opposition that he just castigated for being lazy.
This is on top of the fact that he touted his own work ethic by saying he appointed Joe "BFD" Biden to handle the negotiations in his stead while he goes out to fund raise for the next election.
To this point his contribution towards solving the problem has been to propose a budget for which NO ONE in either party voted and to propose that accelerated depreciation be removed on corporate jets which was a provision of his own stimulus package. Then in the same speech he goes on to praise an Aluminum manufacturer who makes material for... airplanes. We won't even mention the trillions of dollars thrown away to no good purpose.
Calling Obama a "dick" is a very, very kind way of characterizing his behavior.
I have said this before but this guy can't go from one paragraph to the next without contradicting himself in some fashion. It is like each of the paragraphs of his speeches are completely separate entities who do not acknowledge each other's existence in any fashion.
It is infuriating that our supine and co-opted press can't be bothered to point any of this out.
If it was Scarborough who told him to go ahead, and if anyone should be suspended, it should be Scarborough.
Apparently President Obama is a big enough "dick" that his entire economic team jumped ship...all except li'l Turbotax Timmy. That appears to have taken a new twist.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has signaled to White House officials that he’s considering leaving the administration after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit, according to three people familiar with the matter.
not condoning the comment made but I'm pretty sure that the President has been called worst before during and probably after his presidency.
Halperin's probably disappointed because 'The One' hasn't rounded up all the NRA members and Christians and had them shot or sent to a gulag. Let's not delude ourselves into thinking this represents any kind awakening of judgment or understanding.
Ann, why did you throw the OMG issue into this? It only muddies the comment thread waters. People here can concoct enough opinions on a single issue. With multiple issues the threads become too much to follow.
I'm not a fan of serious pundits on tv calling the president a dick. That's going to get you in trouble every time. It's hilarious to me the White House felt they needed to comment on it, though.
Obama was a dick yesterday, though. I hope the WH wasn't too busy being offended to take note of the apt observation.
If it walks like a dick, sounds like a dick, and looks like a dick, it's made for Titus.
I read that last time you posted it, rh. Brilliant. Is the book that good throughout?
A couple other chapters are.
Dear Mr. Quistgaard
and a chapter not in the preview on being on the leading edge of the trash phenomenon.
lol thanks. I think I'll get the book just to read the third chapter.
Would he have been canned if he said that about Nixon? Just askin'
"Am I the only one who takes more offense at the blurted phrase "Oh my God""
Yes
Thank you ever so much for speaking for everyone else on earth Marshall. However, some will disagree with you.
"Am I the only one who takes more offense at the blurted phrase, 'Oh my God?'"
No you are not.
My dad's name was Dick too.
My sons called him Papa Dick. I still call him Papa Dick when I'm talking to my sons.
Halperin came close, but I'm afraid that we'll just have to wait for another little boy or girl who's not afraid to speak up.
Gaah, that's what I wish for, somebody with the courage to stand up for himself and defend their speech.
What a glorious moment that would have been. They get Halperin back on the air, and he shocks them all by saying, "Yeah, that's right, I said it, I meant it, I'm not sorry for it, and I'll say it again: Barry was being a ****, and you all know it but haven't got the guts to say it." Heads would start exploding all over America. It would be like a Scanners invasion. They would have bum-rushed him right there on camera, before the shell-shocked producers could recover enough presence of mind to cut away to a toothpaste commercial.
Hearing the Lord's name taken in vain makes me cringe. It's the way I was raised, to respect and revere the Lord, even in casual conversation. I'm amazed by the number of people who think it's entirely appropriate and I'm also amazed at what else is considered appropriate. When I was teaching, a 6th grader told me how "pissed" off she was at a grade and I nearly fell off my chair. She thought nothing of it.
Who's the dude with fetal alcohol syndrome brow sitting next to halperin at the end? Weird looking goof.
Late to the party on this one, but it's compoets bullshit that the producer couldn't work the delay. Every studio I've ever been in (admittedly not MSNBC), the delay or dump button is a big red button, impossible to miss.
Did Scarborough (or his producers) set Halperin up?
If there is an all knowing, infinitely powerful god, how could we have the slightest understanding of this god (including its likes and dislikes)?
Christianity was created out of thin air a couple of thousand years ago in a part of the world that epitomizes fanaticism, when people understood very little about how this world works (let alone the rest of the universe). Why would anyone think that Christianity is reality based?
The real sin here is calling black jesus a 'dick' on the altar of progressivism (MSNBC). For this, Halperin has sinned and must be punished.
@Steve Koch, yawn, cubed. Card-carrying democrat? Scientologist? Green ghoul?
Dick move.
"Am I the only one who takes more offense at the blurted phrase "Oh my God" (by Joe Scarborough) than the use of the word "dick" to explain the President's behavior?"
No, you are not the only one.
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