Althouse: The return of Joe Biden's "slight Indian accent."

January 26, 2012

The return of Joe Biden's "slight Indian accent."

That's our VP.

47 comments:

Christopher said...: Didn't Hillary also make a joke about Ghandi working as a gas station attendant?

I await Alpha Liberal's condemnation of the bigots found amongst this Administration's highest officials.; 1/26/12, 1:51 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: W picked a tough, wise, intelligent VP. He wasn't afraid of being shown up. Obama picked the biggest idiot in the Senate, with the possible exception of my own senator, Barbara Boxer. Enough said.; 1/26/12, 1:53 PM
Christopher said...: That should be "highest ranking".; 1/26/12, 1:54 PM
Alan said...: I'm getting a 404 page from your link, Ann.; 1/26/12, 1:58 PM
Toad Trend said...: Just shows the brilliance of Teh Won.

Pick a complete idiot for your VP and you'll never be upstaged.; 1/26/12, 1:59 PM
Scott M said...: That should be "highest ranking".

You were probably right the first time. It's very difficult to believe anyone can be this stupid. Romney, after beating Gingrich, should file this little factoid away until Obama tries to hit him with "tone deaf" in a debate.; 1/26/12, 1:59 PM
shiloh said...: "Biden gaffes"

Gaffes indeed ...; 1/26/12, 2:00 PM
Scott M said...: Pick a complete idiot for your VP and you'll never be upstaged.

It would be funny if only it were funny.; 1/26/12, 2:02 PM
Amartel said...: It's only racist if it is said by a conservative.

We have always been at war with south asia.; 1/26/12, 2:05 PM
shiloh said...: Althouse finally fixes her link gaffe.; 1/26/12, 2:06 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I didn't change the link. If it wasn't working before and it's working now, it's not because I fixed a "gaffe."

Nice try, Shiloh.; 1/26/12, 2:09 PM
edutcher said...: I guess this means they've written off the Indian vote.

Wait a minute...

Don't they have to apologize for being raaacisssst?; 1/26/12, 2:09 PM
Crimso said...: There's nothing funny about aneurysms.; 1/26/12, 2:17 PM
Curious George said...: If the link is bad, try this one. Pretty much the same thing.; 1/26/12, 2:21 PM
Known Unknown said...: That has to be the worst Indian accent I've heard. He really need to practice.; 1/26/12, 2:22 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: It's painful to watch because he catches himself. All cringe at public displays of embarrassment.; 1/26/12, 2:29 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: shiloh said...

Althouse finally fixes her link gaffe.

The link always worked, and still works for me. But then, I know how to operate my computing-box.; 1/26/12, 2:29 PM
Scott M said...: What elitist-only internet are you guys using that you're getting 404 errors? We bitter-clingers are only getting 101's. 202's if we're lucky.; 1/26/12, 2:33 PM
cubanbob said...: Biden: a catch-all word to describe anything stupid,foolish, tasteless,false,unfunny, pompous,slanderous, miserly and cheap.; 1/26/12, 2:42 PM
traditionalguy said...: I blame Gingrich. He has the Dems shaking in their boots.; 1/26/12, 2:43 PM
Anonymous said...: ..and Palin was too stupid for this job.; 1/26/12, 2:46 PM
Michael said...: One of the greatest of all jokes has the Indian man in the middle of grand central. It has to be done in an Indian accent:

"Excuse me sir, but can you tell me the time or should I just go fuck myself?"

I like every single Indian person I know. They are all hard working, family guys with kids that are amazing. What Biden doesn't get is that the very culture he is mocking is the culture that made us a great country and will make India a great nation. The Indian in the donut shop is not hoping for a raise he is saving to buy the shop. The guy working in the hotel hopes to own it. Amazing culture.; 1/26/12, 2:53 PM
Known Unknown said...: I think he should go full Peter Sellers.

Screw the haters who don't get satire. Right?; 1/26/12, 2:59 PM
Wince said...: Interesting, from Bloomberg.

U.S. investors are rooting for Mitt Romney and those overseas are for Barack Obama. Newt Gingrich is generating little enthusiasm anywhere.

The expectation in markets of every region is that Obama will be re-elected president in November, an outlook shared by 72 percent of respondents worldwide in a quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll of 1,209 Bloomberg customers who are investors, traders or analysts, conducted Jan. 23-24.

As U.S. growth strengthens, global investors are warming to Obama's economic stewardship, with 40 percent of them optimistic about the impact of his policies on the business climate, up from 30 percent who said so just seven weeks ago.

In a potential election match-up between Obama, 50, and Romney, 64, a former private equity executive, global respondents are split, with 41 percent choosing each as better for the world economy. U.S. investors sided 3-to-1 with the Republican and those outside the U.S. 2-to-1 with Obama.

"Romney's financial bona fides might seem like a natural fit for these investors, yet he has not convinced them his stewardship would be better for the global economy than the current president," says J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., the Des Moines, Iowa-based company that conducted the survey for Bloomberg.; 1/26/12, 3:08 PM
Rusty said...: Joe Biden Rawks!!
Dumber than bag of hammers and batshit crazy!
Best VP evah!; 1/26/12, 3:13 PM
coketown said...: I studied Hindi for a while and got such a kick out of speaking because the only way a native speaker can understand you is for you to affect a stereotypical Indian accent. So many of their phonemes fall between our own, so there's a consonant between our /l/ and /d/ sound and another between our /d/ and /t/ sound. Not to mention four different 'n' sounds. Very amusing, I thought.; 1/26/12, 3:28 PM
Scott M said...: Not to mention four different 'n' sounds.

Ugh...and I thought the soft "t" in Russian was bad...; 1/26/12, 3:30 PM
Martin L. Shoemaker said...: Michael said...

I like every single Indian person I know. They are all hard working, family guys with kids that are amazing. What Biden doesn't get is that the very culture he is mocking is the culture that made us a great country and will make India a great nation. The Indian in the donut shop is not hoping for a raise he is saving to buy the shop. The guy working in the hotel hopes to own it. Amazing culture.

When I talk to Indians about their home, I am reminded of American culture before the Me Generation. The emphasis on hard work and education and sacrifice for the good of the family is palpable.

I'm sure there are negative aspects that I never hear of. I know there are political problems and poverty problems. But what they tell me gives me a lot of reasons to respect them.; 1/26/12, 3:33 PM
Lipperman said...: I don't have a problem with him imitating an Indian call-center worker. Most of them speak with a heavy Indian accent, and I happen to find it charming.
Until the 3rd time they ask me to reboot the router.; 1/26/12, 3:39 PM
Rialby said...: “As I heard it, my chances of surviving the surgery were certainly better than fifty-fifty,” he wrote. “But the chances of waking up with serious deficits to my mental faculties were more significant.” - Joseph Biden; 1/26/12, 4:05 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: This makes me like him more for I too am taken in by the alluring Indian accent.

I heard Apu Nahasapeempetilon say to Homer Simpson,

"I.told.you.to.shut.up.and.
you.are.not.shutting.up!"

Then I went around saying that like he said that for the rest of the night.; 1/26/12, 4:07 PM
machine said...: What a maroon...; 1/26/12, 4:08 PM
deborah said...: People should lighten up, it's just an accent. It's not like Rosie O'Donnel going 'ching chang chong.'; 1/26/12, 4:10 PM
Rialby said...: I will make a point in his favor... why is it unacceptable for him to do an Indian accent as the call center rep he is citing certainly has BUT it's acceptable for every news anchor in America to lapse into a Charo-impression every time they pronounce a Spanish surname?; 1/26/12, 4:16 PM
edutcher said...: machine said...

What a maroon...

And he's all yours...; 1/26/12, 4:22 PM
rhhardin said...: Imus's Bernard McGuirk doing a Pakistan accent was a high moment real audio, Jun 2 2002

Everybody is so sensitive now.; 1/26/12, 4:28 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/26/12, 6:05 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: What's funny is that Biden was probably referring to this commercial, which makes fun of overseas call centers, but in a PC, non-racist way, because......the call center workers are WHITE! So it's OK to laugh at their broken English or something.

Biden tries to reference the PC-safe ad and gets slammed for being racist towards Indians. Haha.

You just can't win with PC, ya know.; 1/26/12, 6:12 PM
KCFleming said...: I mean, you got the first mainstream white Senator who is inarticulate and dim and clean and a stupid-looking guy.

I mean, that's a storybook, man.; 1/26/12, 6:21 PM
Known Unknown said...: What about Peggy?; 1/26/12, 6:40 PM
Known Unknown said...: He also referred to Peggy as "Nancy" which is the more egregious gaffe.; 1/26/12, 6:42 PM
Sorun said...: I always find Obama's "typical white person" accent to be amusing.; 1/26/12, 7:07 PM
Mark B said...: My wife, who is Japanese, refuses to speak English with an American accent because she thinks it's like making fun of Americans. As a result, she is incomprehensible to most people around these parts. Similarly, when I speak German using my best General Burkhalter accent, most native speakers of German are utterly charmed.; 1/26/12, 8:28 PM
Mark B said...: nonetheless... I like to call clueless Joe "Vice President Bob Uecker" after the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers.; 1/26/12, 8:31 PM
JAL said...: So the mayor of that CT town is getting covered up with tacos by offended Mexicans, and Biden can be equally silly and everyone yawns.

Probably including Bobby Jindal.

I won't ask why, because it's answered pretty much daily here.; 1/26/12, 9:07 PM
William said...: I think there's a difference between being a fool and being a bigot. Biden is frequently foolish, but his gaffes have never seemed malicious. When people call such offenses bigoted, they simply make people cynical about charges of bigotry.... The most bigoted, hatred inducing stereotypes one sees in movies nowadays are directed against Christian and Republicans.; 1/26/12, 11:21 PM
Rusty said...: So what you're saying ,William, is that legitimate criticism of our current resident isn't racist. Do I have that right?; 1/27/12, 6:54 AM