U.S. representative apologizes for 'tar baby' comment by Niki2

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U.S. representative apologizes for 'tar baby' comment

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Thursday, August 4, 2011 20:27
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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 10:19 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
A member of Congress has apologized after saying that being associated with President Barack Obama would be similar to touching a "tar baby."

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, sent a letter to Obama "apologizing for using a term some find insensitive," he said in a statement Monday.

Lamborn made the comment during an interview on a Denver radio station about proposals to raise the nation's debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts.

"Even if some people say, 'Well, the Republicans should have done this or they should have done that,' they will hold the president responsible," Lamborn said. "Now I don't want to even have to be associated with him. It's like touching a tar baby and you get, you get it, you know ... you are stuck and you are part of the problem now and you can't get away." (The rest at http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/02/us.rep.tar.baby/index.html)

I LOVE their non-apology apologies: "some find insensitive". They do it over and over again, and it's such a clear message to their base: "I'm not really apologizing, 'cuz I know it's only over-sensitive idiots who were offended".

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 10:58 AM

BYTEMITE

...Is this a term? I've never heard of this phrase.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:18 AM

MINCINGBEAST

Please feel free to use the following form apology whenever necessary:

Dear Sir/Madam, if you are so emotionally brittle as to find offense in my charming comments, I am sorry for the flaw in your nature that makes you a sissy.

Sincerely,

Cool Guy

this is, of course, the subtext of all "i'm sorry if you're offended apologies."

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:25 AM

MINCINGBEAST

addendum: some find the term "tar baby" "insensitive", and some are not black.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:31 AM

BYTEMITE

They need to make that into a dinosaur comics web card.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:31 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Cus its only ok to make racist comments if your are NOT white.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:41 AM

MINCINGBEAST

Precisely.

Its only racist if you're a lily white cracker eating honky.

Otherwise, its justice.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 1:56 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Cus its only ok to make racist comments if your are NOT white.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

Didn't get a chance to watch these, but were they by any chance videos of Congresspeople making racist comments?

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 4:54 PM

KANEMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by mincingbeast:
Precisely.

Its only racist if you're a lily white honkey eating crakers while sitting on a tar baby.

Otherwise, its justice.

Fixed that for ya.

I've never heard the term 'tar baby' and I consider myself a top notch racist.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 5:05 PM

KWICKO

Of course Boehner will join with the rest of the GOP in calling for his resignation.

Right?

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 2:08 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
...Is this a term? I've never heard of this phrase.

The "Tar Baby" is a "character" in one of the Uncle Remus tales originally written by Joel Chandler Harris. Br'er Fox makes a baby out of tar and turpentine and leaves it where Br'er Rabbit is bound to see it. When Br'er Rabbit can't get the Tar Baby to respond to his conversation, he hits it and gets his fist stuck in the tar. Pretty soon he's completely caught.

Here's a version of the story.

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/brer_rabbit_meets_a_tar_b
aby.html

Here's the Disney cartoon of the story, which pretty much gave the term 'tar baby' racial overtones.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 6:03 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Okay, prize for the first snort of the day goes to Mincing:

Quote:
Dear Sir/Madam, if you are so emotionally brittle as to find offense in my charming comments, I am sorry for the flaw in your nature that makes you a sissy.

Sincerely,

Cool Guy

At least I was eating my banana, so my keyboard was spared a soaking in ice tea. Banana's easier to pick out of the keys.

The world is obviously moving on without me, I was surprised there were some who didn't know the term. Guess a lot more people who didn't know, know now.

Mike, all that deserves is a snorted "Ha!", as we all know the truth.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 1:24 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Geezer -

" tar baby " , as show so clearly in the Disney cartoon, is exactly what the Congressman was describing, and wasn't in the least bit , in any way , intended to be a negatively 'racial' comment towards the President.

But as so few people ever knew, or still think of the term by that definition, it's not hard to see how some may get the wrong impression.

Especially after the Dems and the MSM have been branding the Republicans and all those "typical " white people as being racist, for even daring to oppose Obama , on any issue.

Kinda curious to see the noise over this harmless poor choice of words, when, at the same time, top members of the Democratic party have flatly stated that the members of the GOP, the TEA party conservatives, are in no uncertain terms - terrorists, or having gone to the " dark side ".

I've not seen any apology coming from the other side of the aisle. Maybe I missed it? Hope so. But there's no double meaning, or misinterpretation of the terms used by the Left, as there clearly is, with the Right.

If anyone is owed an apology, it's those on the Right.

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 3:38 PM

KWICKO

Of course, by Rappy's logic (see the posts on Anthony Weiner's wiener for proof), since this guy apologized, that proves that he meant it that way and knew what it meant when he called President Obama a tar baby.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 3:59 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Can't stick w/ the topic at hand, and thus you must use unrelated, disconnected comments, which have zero to do with this issue, to some how fabricate a convoluted false logic.

Because something was said about that topic, then that means it MUST equate to exactly the same thing here...

Try to keep up, son.

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:05 PM

KWICKO

But he apologized!

That means he knew it was racist and insensitive when he said it!

(Of course, Mitt Romney said it and immediately apologized for it as well, proving his racism...)

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:18 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Geezer -

" tar baby " , as show so clearly in the Disney cartoon, is exactly what the Congressman was describing, and wasn't in the least bit , in any way , intended to be a negatively 'racial' comment towards the President.

It was the stereotypical accents and actions of the characters in the cartoon that got it branded, I'd say pretty accurately, as racist. I agree that the Tar Baby, in itself, isn't racist, but the association with the cartoon tars it with the same brush. It ends up in the same boat with words and phrases like 'niggardly', 'renege', 'call a spade a spade', and even 'tarred with the same brush', which have nothing to do with Blacks or prejudice against them, but still upset folks who are looking to take offense at any perceived slight.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:27 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Geezer -

Not disagreeing with any particular point. And the 'niggardly' example is a good one. Not in the least big racist, but so close to what folks THINK they're hearing...why even bother with confusing anyone in the first place ? Just steer clear of it, and save yourself the headache.

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011 8:54 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Well its one of those things that one has to watch when one is in the spotlight, plus it just sounds mean so he shouldn't be talking like that.

On the other side of it, I said something that I thought was cool and my friend, well she's mad at me right now because she's ultra liberal and everything that comes out of my mouth seems to offend her, she thought it was racist and unsavory. I've never seen the word used by anyone but me, I thought I invented it, and looking online didn't produce any results, so I'm not giving up saying it, I'll just not say it around her. Its a word that embodies a concept that I think is kind of cool since I like the idea of people choosing their own culture because this is America and most of us don't have one of our own.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, August 4, 2011 3:36 AM

BYTEMITE

PM me. Also, I think this is the same girl that misuses psychology terms to describe you, so label me unimpressed about her opinion about what's offensive and what isn't.

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Thursday, August 4, 2011 8:27 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Byte, I'm talking about my friend Wyn, but I don't remember her misusing psych terms about me. She does let me say touched around her, she thinks its cute and its a good thing too, because if she said I couldn't say that word around her I'd not be her friend, that's just too inconvenient since it figures into what I want to do with my life in running my establishment someday. I need to go talk to her and cowtow so she'll be my friend again, it isn't advantageous for her to be upset with me, even if she can be a pill sometimes. She has lots of good things about her so I want us to get along.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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