I‘m just wondering what all of you are making of the Harry “No Negro Dialect” Reid comments.
Like many, I find the double standard more than irritating. If a prominent Republican had said this, can you imagine how the left would have responded?
Should he resign as Majority Leader for his comments?
Are these comments better/worse than what Trent Lott said a few years ago at Strom Thurmond’s birthday party?
Does the fact that President Obama accepted his apology change your opinion?
Your two cents, please!
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
:@:)
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
This is crazy. Everyone know’s he supports minorities more than any Republican. These Republicans are just creating a fuss because they’re desparate for anything and everything that could win them seats.
Hypocrisy runs deep on both sides of the political aisle. The real problem with these kinds of stories is that they are a distraction from what is really going on……who really cares what Reid said on this issue? How does it effect our daily lives? IT DOES NOT!
What really is effecting our daily lives is being either ignored or not reported on. Senator Reid is a master at distracting and so are the rest of the Republicans on the other side. Don’t be fooled, there are more important things going on that we aren’t being told.
And Neil Larson is going to milk this for all he can in Little Idaho Falls. Hannity would be proud of you Neil.
Senator Harry Reid said that Obama is a “light skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” What’s racist about that? Besides, it was only the opinion of an old man A N D he apologized (for what, I’m not sure).
Had a Republican made the comment he or she would have had their Visa, American Express and Sears cards burned by Pelosi while Hilary did a war dance around the fire pit. The Demos would have shown that punk!
But it was just good ol’ Harry Reid, and he can be a silly old man. Besides, he’s a Democrat and that means he’s one of THEM — forgiven.
Bless, Bless
While I sincerely believe that Sen. Reid is far from being a racist at heart and I find his comments rather benign…he nevertheless is a Mormon…a Mormon old enough to have been indoctrinated, as many of us locals of that generation may recall, with the belief that the “Mark of Cain” was the black skin of the Negro and the lighter the skin shade , the lesser were his transgressions in a pre-life existence, all the way up to the exaltation of “white and delightsome”.
Perhaps the indoctrinations of Harry’s youth simply bubbled to the surface despite his best efforts to suppress those long abandoned vestiges of youthful brainwashing.
I think the main reason the right wing is making a big deal out of this is to divert attention from something else. That’s what they do best. In this case I believe they are trying to bring this story to the forefront because otherwise people would be talking about what an incompetent tool Sarah Palin is. Not just because of the unflattering picture that was painted in the book “Game Change”, but also because she sold out to Fox News.
I honestly didn’t see Reid’s comments as racist either. I saw some research on this a while back and the term “negro” (assuming it’s used in a positive/complimentary context)is generally preferred by older generation blacks over the term “African American”. I believe if the younger generation was more educated on the history of the civil rights movement, they would choose not to be offended by it as long as it’s used in a positive way. Instead, there seems to be an assumption that all “n” words are the same.
Neil, not all “double standard” are unfair. This is an example of guilt by association.
Sometimes (e.g. airport security) racial profiling is necessary – this too is a double standard. Unfortunately for innocent people affected by it, it’s an example of a useful double standard.
The same is true for a political party or movement: it is true that not all republicans and conservatives are racist. However, it is also true that most racists are conservative and vote republican. This guilt by association makes it more problematic for a conservative to throw the word “negro” around, just as it’s not a good idea for an innocent law-abiding Arabic man to go around making jokes about bombs and 9-11. Trent Lott himself and my own political party has more of a track record of voting against any minority interests, so there is a reason why they are less likely to be given the benefit of the doubt. Two people can say the same thing, but if one person has less credibility on a particular issue, the meaning will not be the same.
Whether fair or not has nothing to do with it. Sometimes double standards are unfair and sometimes they are earned. Sometimes you benefit from double standards in ways that you take for granted, but it cuts both ways.
When did the word “negro” or “black” become taboo? It’s getting to be ridiculous. If you’re black you’re black, that’s the way God made you, deal with it! I don’t walk around telling the world I want to be called a caucasian. People have become so hyper-sensitive about every little thing these days it’s pathetic. Grow up ya bunch of babies and stop yer whinin I say!
I agree McGuilicutty. In fact most black people dont care about this. It’s just more politically correct fake outrage from the republicans whining about double standards etc
Well Neal…
You sure got it right. 2008 was the 10th time I have voted in national elections, and I’ve never seen the losing party ever handle their loss with so much good will, grace, and willingness to join the winning party in advancing America as the Republicans have since they lost this time.
Their restraint has been has been remarkable. I certainly expected some minor name-calling, and some minor grumbling, but to my enormous surprise, I haven’t read or head a bad word about Mr. Obama coming from any Republican. Wow!
And the party’s urge to participate in finding solutions to our current financial woes and pressing international troubles has been even more noteworhty.
I never expected to see such co-operation with all the bills that are putting the nation back on it’s feet.
I expected them to want our President to fail, but the opposite occurred- very remarkable!
The Republicans have proven to be a party who looks forward- their optimism is a shining example of what a great American party should always be.
The only thing that bothers me is you seem to be a member of the Elitist Media. I hope I’m wrong…
boomer
I also agree with McGuilicutty. I get so tired of trying to decide what the ‘politically correct’ term is for.. well, anybody.
It’s very confusing…
Hi, Mcguilicutty…
The Democrats took the remarks just for what they were- simple political facts. Nobody on the left whined about them. If a Republican had said the same, in the same terms, there would have been no outrage, either, from the left. Facts is facts.
But I agree- PC is everywhere, and found on all sides of the spectrum, not only just in politics. I hope it all fades away soon, and becomes just another part of the past century that lingered on for a little while into the 21st.
What the heck is the big deal about Reid’s comment. IT was not racist, nor was it meant to harm anyone…..it was descriptive. Can we not even talk in descriptive terms anymore. This is much ado about nothing (nothing of substance for certain).
My grandpa used the term negro and he didnt have a racist bone in is body. What about the United NEGRO College Fund? THe term African American is stupid. Remember the olympics when an anouncer refered to a black athlete from another country as an African American? What if some white guy from south africa moved to the U.S.? Hed be an african american. If I was a black man who had lived in the US for generations id be offended by the term african american. And along this line, whats up with native americans calling themselves Indians? its all insanity. the more I observe humanity the more I want to find a small cabin in Alaska and let the rest of the world do its thing and runs themselves into maddness.
I can’t remember what show it was on, but it was one of the news channels. The guy was spot on when he said that Harry Reid represents a largely conservative state. He was elected by Las Vegas just like Hillary was elected by New York City. The rest of the states went the other way. Now he’s having to choose whether to represent his party or his state. He can’t do both. He’s in trouble with his constituents because they are mostly conservative. Las Vegas is a train wreck so they won’t be able to carry him through the next election. He can’t win no matter what he does and his comments were just another place to poke at him. For the most part, his comment wasn’t a problem. It was the last little bit that upset everyone I talked to. “He doesn’t have a Negro dialect UNLESS HE WANTS TO.” It made it sound like he was saying that Obama put on the dialect when it was useful. I haven’t seen him do that, but then isn’t Obama like the only President in American history to have such a short politician’s life before being elected? We don’t know what Reid knew about him that the rest of us didn’t, or if Reid was just talking through his hat – again. Another news reporter said he was a huge gaffe machine. Amen to that. And amen to not having to be PC all the time. People need to quit being so prickly and going around looking for something to get ticked off about.
I have a good friend who is an Indian. I simply asked him what he prefers to be called, if his race enters into any of our discussions. He said he prefers Native American, so I use that term with him.
I have another good friend who is also Indian, and I asked him the same question. He said he didn’t care one way or the other. I can remember a time here when the term ‘Mormon’ was disliked among members of their church. The preferred term was LDS.
So what if I used the word Indian for most of my life? Big deal. It’s no major affront to my heritage or dignity if I start using a term one friend prefers and another is indifferent about, it’s no skin off my nose.
Like Bundy said, Reid’s comments were simply descriptive. They person they were directed to responded that he didn’t object to them, and that’s the end of it.
I feel PC has gotten too thick and touchy-feely too, but we are now in the beginnings of a truly color blind society. As Americans, we are well along the way, and doing it a lot better than many other nations are, and that’s to our credit, but it doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be rough scratchings against our past before it’s complete.
If anything, I think the PC tends to hold us back and tends to preserve the racism that still remains. It’s much easier for some people to rail about political correctness than it is to seriously confront their racial feelings.
I also remember a time when any kid with a short haircut was a Redneck, and any kid with long hair was a Hippy. After the country boys fell in eternal love with the mullet haircut, all that nonsense completely reversed itself.
We’ll quit using all those hypen-American titles soon enough.
well my wife is from India, she is an actuall Indian. It seems so stupid to call natives Indians. So under the political correctness, would she be an indian american? or an american indian? talk about confusing
I hope that someday we can just all be Americans.
Obama does turn on his negro dialect when it’s appropriate. I saw a speech of his over the wknd where he spoke to his church congregation which happens to be predominantly black and his dialect was completely different than when he addresses the country as a whole. I thought it very strange.
Not so strange, McGuilicutty…
I can speak Redneck any time I want. I come from a long line of ‘em. It’s just a matter of letting your education show or not.
Boomer,
The question is, why would you want to? Why would Obama use “Negro dialect?” Is he ashamed of his education? Of his success? We know he’s ashamed of America, he’s been running around apologizing to the entire world “for us” and has even signed a resolution apologizing for how “we” treated “Native Americans.” Is he pandering to the group to get their vote? Lots of people think he’s NOT a politician, he’s an idealist, but if he’s putting on the dialect to pander for the vote, then that’s being a politician. An idealist would say, “Look at what I accomplished and you can too.”
We all mimic an accent or dialect when telling a joke, but we don’t really try to get someone else to see us for something other than what we really are, do we? Unless we’re totally ashamed of who we are.
I don’t know about anyone else, but if I talk to someone with a southern accent for very long, I catch myself starting to adopt it. I’ve talked to other people who do the same thing. Maybe what he did was unconscious?
And what does it matter anyway? I’m sure there are a lot worse things going on that need our attention right now than someone letting up their guard on their enunciation.