Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/09/obama.reid/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITI...dex.html</a> Or is it? He apologizes for "racially insensitive" comments he made during the campaign that only now surfaced in an upcoming book. Politicians are supposed to be able to avoid gaffes like this, but in another place and another time this probably isn't so much of a gaffe as someone just giving his assessment of Obama's chances. Because really, despite his choice of words, what did he say that wasn't essentially true? It's likely what a lot of people thought, people who sincerely don't consider themselves a racist, people of all types of races. That said, there's not a small part of me that is for anything which can remove Reid from the national stage. Forget the filibustering GOP, no two bigger impediments exists than him and Pelosi in furthering Obama's agenda in Congress. It's their job to get behind him, not in front or to the side.
Originally Posted By ecdc And as usually, President Obama shows the only class in a largely classless town in how he accepted the apology.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Because really, despite his choice of words, what did he say that wasn't essentially true? It's likely what a lot of people thought, people who sincerely don't consider themselves a racist, people of all types of races. >>> Is it that he used the term "Negro?" Had he said "black dialect" or perhaps "ebonics accent" would it have been less offensive? Or was it the issue that he spoke of the subject at all?
Originally Posted By Wendy Pleakley A poor choice of words perhaps, but he spoke the truth. No doubt that Obama got elected in part because he wasn't "too black".
Originally Posted By Dabob2 What's funny is the Republicans are (predictably) trying to liken this to Trent Lott's comments at that Strom Thurmond tribute, and calling for Reid to step down. I wouldn't mind seeing Reid step down either, but not for this. Obviously what he said was very different from what Lott said, which was essentially that the COUNTRY would have been better off (!) if Thurmond had been elected on a blatantly segregationist platform. He said we wouldn't have had "these problems" if that had happened. And what "problems" are solved by segregation? That's why everyone's jaw hit the floor on that one, and rightly so. He was talking about the bad old days of Jim Crow actually being preferable for our country, not about one specific person's speaking style.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder I agree, I'd like for reid to go, but this doesn't even begin to reach a good reason why. It's incredibly hypocritical for anyone from the GOP to call for his resignation over this, and really kind of proves just how stupid they've become-if he did resign, someone actually competent and much more forceful than Reid as it relates to Obama's agenda would likely step up.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***someone actually competent and much more forceful than Reid as it relates to Obama's agenda would likely step up*** Who'd you have in mind?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Black people don't have a patent on the misuse of the English language, nor are blacks the only folks in America that use "ebonics", speak "ghetto", or whatever you want to call it. Therefore, the comment was racist pure and simple. Had a black representative said that Bush sounds like white trash (which let's admit it, he sometimes does) during his campaign it would have been deemed equally offensive.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Had a black representative said that Bush sounds like white trash (which let's admit it, he sometimes does) during his campaign it would have been deemed equally offensive.*** I'd say he sounds more like a redneck.
