because he’s black and white and stinky LOLBBQ
Get it? Of course you do! It’s funny, that’s why!
The Patriot Freedom Alliance, which is based in Hutchinson, Kansas, posted a photo of a skunk on its homepage, stating it had replaced the eagle as a symbol of the president because “it is half black, half white and almost everything it does stinks.”
The image appeared on the group’s website on Saturday but was gone on Sunday, said Darrell Pope, president of the Hutchinson chapter of the NAACP. It was also not on the site Monday, the day after an article about it appeared in the Hutchinson News-Leader newspaper.
“They tried to pass it off as satire, but it was hurtful and malicious,” Pope said on Monday. He said the depiction was racist in its reference to Obama, who was born to a white mother and black father.
Pope said he did not contact the group about removing the skunk, but said it never should have been posted in the first place.
The Patriot Freedom Alliance? That is one seriously patriotic sounding organization. The only way it could sound more patriotic is if it were called the Patriot Freedom Lovin’ Liberty Alliance of Patriots Who Love Jesus Amen.
***Pictured: Obama has summoned his Army of Skunks to attack defenseless white people without warning.
[cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles]
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So when we say ALL Kansas Tea Party members are inbreed hicks who have engaged in unnatural relationships with their mothers it’s only satire and they should just loosen up.
– Enhanced Freedom Loving Patriotic, Liberty enabling Voting Techniques
Linda Featheringill
They were explicitly talking about race. That in itself it not racist. But making fun of Obama’s parents, in this case, is racist.
It’s also very mean spirited. If they wanted to make fun of me because my dad was an asshole and my mom was a submissive doormat, that would also be mean spirited. I didn’t make my parents.
The skunk, of course, was probably insulted, too.
Brachiator
This was also reported in graphic detail in the UK Daily Mail.
It is racist.
It is hurtful and malicious.
It is also satire.
Other than spurring people to want to crush the Republicans and the Tea Party People(tm), there ain’t much else to see here.
Roger Moore
Ah, the good old “why can’t you see it’s just a joke” defense. Of course if you think that’s funny, it says a lot more about your lousy sense of humor and fucked up worldview than it does about whatever you’re trying to joke about.
Linda Featheringill
It probably is satire.
But some of the most disgusting, racist shit I ever heard was told as a joke.
AA+ Bonds
This brilliant shit is going to happen all through the campaign and the Democrats can only benefit.
Linda Featheringill
I do have a question, though.
Is Obama offensive because of the color of his skin or because he is the product of miscegenation?
Yevgraf
I’m reminded of Ann Coulter on this – she’d say something stupid and radical, and then would sneer as if she’d just done a wet shart while saying “it was just a joke”.
cosima
Satire is subjective then. Used to deride/denounce folly & vice? Whether or not our President’s (you effing patriots) actions are folly is entirely subjective. I happen to think he’s done a pretty great job considering the state of this country & Congress/Senate.
What a bunch of a$$holes. Dog save me from patriots.
Warren Terra
@Linda Featheringill:
The Tea Party is an broad-based movement and is welcoming to racists of all stripes – indeed, to racists and bigots of all creeds and colors. Well, except non-whites and non-Christians, of course; gotta have standards.
wrb
Man this insult burns. /snark
Most likely the Kansan who came up with it has been stealing chickens and thought that if people learn that the president is a skunk he’d get all the blame.
Hunter Gathers
Another day, another set of racist bullshit from a bunch of dumbass white people. This shit is seriously getting old. A skunk? Really? That’s the best that they can up with in the 21st century? Not only are these fucking inbred Kansas hicks dumber than a bag of hammers, they lack the creativity God gave the common household sponge. Fucking morons. Come up with some better shit next time. Wankers.
Cluttered Mind
Wasn’t there some Republican group in the South that actually sent out an email or newsletter or something like that several years ago that literally featured a raccoon as an Obama stand-in? I don’t remember the details, it was years ago and unfortunately there has been so much racist bullshit from these people over the years that it all kind of runs together. I do remember the raccoon thing though as a particular example of how disgusting these people are. There really can be no compromise with these people.
AA+ Bonds
Republicans: they’re racist
catclub
They only claim satire after being called on it.
I bet Jonathan Swift never had to say: “But its just satire.”
Cluttered Mind
@Linda Featheringill: Can’t it be both? They’re equal opportunity racists.
AA+ Bonds
Ann Coulter, for instance, on top of everything else she’s said . . . David Brock reports that she is a semi-public antisemite, and an extreme one at that
salacious crumb
ahah..only a matter of time before ABL was gonna get her panties in a tiff about what some fringe racist group says about Obama and then use that to basically say anyone who objects to Obama’s policies hates black people and Obama.
ABL, don’t you have something worthwhile to do than to scour what fringe groups say about Obama and then getting all upset about it?
and yes I know you are not racist because one of your parent is black and the other is white. well guess what, my best friend is black
Calouste
One of the “achievements” of the GOP and the Tea Party over the last decade or so is that they have manage to completely 1984-ify the word “Freedom”. Whenever you now see an organization that has “Freedom” in its name, you can be 99.9% sure they are a bunch of fascist, racist, bigotted authoritarians.
AA+ Bonds
Let’s not argue about whether this is satire because what it actually is, is the fuckin Ku Klux Klan at work in American politics, through its current instrument, the Republican Party
ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©
Let me know when G.E., Lockheed Martin, J.P. Morgan, etc. begin to oppose Obama’s 2nd term (aka G.W. Bush’s 4th term).
I’ll fall off my dinosaur and get religion.
~
BGinCHI
What’s white all over and empty inside?
The Bearded Blogger
Maybe racists should come out of the closet for the 2012 elections: YES WE ARE!!!
alternatively: YES WE COON!!!
The Moar You Know
I would care more but I suspect that:
1. The “Patriot Freedom Alliance” is about five members strong.
2. All of them are over 65.
3. There’s not a college graduate in the bunch.
4. They meet weekly at a Waffle House, that is when Edgar’s hemorrhoids aren’t acting up.
5. Every one of them will die from obesity-related illnesses.
realbtl
Every day and in oh so many ways the GOP reminds us that yes indeed they really are functioning at the level of 2nd graders.
Really, saying that someone stinks?
wobblybits
@salacious crumb: wait, wut?!?
cosima
Newt’s affairs, Romney’s $10k bet, Cheney’s shooting abilities, etc — all verifiable & based on non-subjective fact — can be satirized.
One person’s (or a collective party of a$$holes in Kansas)”joke”/opinion as to someone’s job performance is completely subjective, and as such cannot be considered satire. You say folly/vice, I say thank you very much for Ledbetter, DADT repeal, etc…
Brachiator
@Linda Featheringill:
Both. Some Tea Party People and other conservatives have a tribal fixation with Obama and his being half white or half black. Along with being Mooslim, this makes him crafty and inherently untrustworthy.
Apparently, Obama’s white half understands the ways of white folks. Knows the signs and even the secret handshake.
But the black half, under the direction of Rev Wright, wants to see whitey dead and America weak and subservient.
And his very existence proves that white women can have sex with black men without bursting into flame, refuting a long held belief of racist conservative nutcases.
The Bearded Blogger
@Calouste: I think it started before that, when austrian economics groupies started conflating free markets and freedom.
catclub
@The Moar You Know: Well, stroke isn’t always obesity related.
High blood pressure, uncontrolled anger…
Chyron HR
@salacious crumb:
Was that part of the post written in invisible ink? Or did you have to use a piece of red plastic to see it, like the cards on the old Transformers toys?
Cluttered Mind
@Brachiator: Don’t forget the Kenyan anti-colonialist half and the Marxist half and the Muslim half and the anti-Christ half. If you say that there are too many halves and that adds up to well over 100%, then I say to you sir that you do not understand conservative math.
gaz
@wobblybits: your confusion is because salacious already had that post typed up before he read this.
He saw the three letters A-B-L, and then it was a quick copy and paste from his trollfile…
gaz
@BGinCHI:
This is a brilliant honky joke. It doesn’t even need a punchline. I’ll probably end up reusing it – thanks!
Q:What’s white all over and empty inside?
Q: what?
A: Do you *really* need a punchline?
lovely
g
Stay Klassy, Republicans!
kay
I just wish they would drop the “Tea Party” nonsense.
They’re Republicans. National Republicans never denounce them and every single one of the elected reps they back has an “R” after their name.
It’s silly.
I don’t know why the rest of the country has to adopt the meaningless language of marketing gimmicks.
Uriel
@salacious crumb: You are aware that what you typed there is not only sounds ignorant, but it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever in the context of this post, right?
Or are you trying your hand at being ‘satirical’ as well?
BGinCHI
@gaz: I was going for “ping pong ball.”
Now, let’s see how much you wagered.
wrb
@salacious crumb:
Kinky.
Sip that tiff slowly.
Linda Featheringill
@BGinCHI:
A whited sepulcher.
gaz
@BGinCHI: LOL!
Kitty
Patriot Freedom Lovin’ Liberty Alliance of Faith and Family Patriots Who Love Jesus Amen
gaz
@Kitty: LOL
When I read the name of their org, I was thinking that it struck me as the same kind of nonsense that lead to countries like North Korea being titled “Democratic People’s Republic of” (ditto for the congo, etc)
Next thing you know, their will be another rebranding of the republican party. The party of Freedom, Puppies, and Rainbows!
wobblybits
@gaz: ahh! well, obrigada for the explanation.
gaz
another joke
Q: Did you hear the one about the skinhead that was kicked out of a tea party event?
A: Me neither.
badum, groan…
Lojasmo
@Brachiator:
It is not satire. Satire is constructive social criticism, utilizing wit. This meets neither qualification.
Brachiator
@Cluttered Mind:
It adds up if you use cubits, as the Bible directs. And of course is you are a crazy racist right winger.
trollhattan
@Yevgraf:
Yeah, right. Like Rush claiming, “I’m just an entertainer” and Ailes claiming, “Our viewers can distinguish between the news and opinion portions of our programming.”
Roger Moore
@Linda Featheringill:
I think he’s offensive because he’s different. He’d be just as offensive to these bozos if he were different because of his religion, sexual orientation, willingness to stand up for the oppressed, etc. The form the hatred takes depends on which category he belongs to, but the essence of it is that he’s from outside the tribe.
I suspect that some of the reason he causes them to flip out so badly is because he’s different on so many axes. He isn’t just a run of the mill uppity black man or of mixed parentage. He’s also the son of a weird foreigner, grew up in a strange environment, went to Ivy League schools, is a member of the wrong church, runs for the wrong party, and tends to stand up for the wrong people. Tribalists who might be willing to let one or two things slide- ones who could vote for Herman Cain or Mitt Romney despite their “wrong” race and religion- just can’t get past all the wrong categories Obama falls into.
The Bearded Blogger
@trollhattan: Fox viewers can’t distinguish between fictional series like 24 and reality.
gaz
@Lojasmo: Rightwingers think that satire is something you claim after someone calls you out for being a bigot. (kinda like slug-bug)
Seriously, I’m fairly certain the word doesn’t mean what they think it means…
honus
“Patriot Freedom Alliance?”
They are dense enough to name themselves that and then have the conceit to think they can formulate satire?
AA+ Bonds
Im still yukkin it up over CHRISTMAS TREE TAX. Now that is some good trolling right there, they should stick with the secret-Muslim-gonna-ban-the-Bible business because we’re so fucked up on that that it’s considered defensible in public
AA+ Bonds
Obama will steal your presents. He will beat up Rudolph and paint all the Santas brown
AA+ Bonds
I’m wondering if anyone is afraid to call this Kansas Tea Party business here fascism, because it’s most certainly fascism and would be immediately called that in most places in the world.
Like the “War on Christmas” business, which clearly paints a target on the Jews.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: While screaming Happy Holidays! to all within earshot.
Don’t forget that part, or BillO will choke on his loofa
Brachiator
@Lojasmo:
Satire, especially in political attacks, does not have to be witty or constructive.
Compare the attacks on FDR or particularly Lincoln, which were brutal and often racist because of Lincoln’s stance on slavery.
Thanks to the google, you can look at a very informative site on Racial Satire and the Civil War.
Linda Featheringill
@Roger Moore:
You may have a point there. Too much difference to tolerate all at once.
I am sure they don’t share my opinion that anyone that is different from them is probably better.
Tone In DC
@The Bearded Blogger:
Good one.
Frankensteinbeck
My father is of the Tea Party generation, and had some interesting things to say about it. He said that this was the generation that saw Vietnam and the Civil Rights Act, and they felt helpless and angry at changes in their society they had no power to stop. Now they’re old and things are changing again, and they’ve been told by their leaders that their anger should be let out – and that’s what they’re doing, and that’s the entire motivation of the Tea Party movement. They’re pointing all the anger built up over their lifetimes at Obama.
gaz
@Brachiator: sorry dude:
sat·ire [sat-ahyuhr] Show IPA
noun
1.
the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2.
a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
3.
a literary genre comprising such compositions.
The skunk think missed the satire mark.
misses #1 because of the second half (the folly of being black? the ridicule of being black?)
misses #2 because it was a picture – also, see my previous line above. also too, it’s unfunny.
misses #3 because I doubt these knuckle-draggers could put 3 pages together before devolving into crayon based scribbling, drool, and throwing feces. Also, too: this ain’t literature…
MikeJ
@AA+ Bonds:
St. Nicholas was from Turkey. He probably didn’t look a lot like the guy from Miracle on 34th Street.
gaz
@Frankensteinbeck: That’s fairly sad. What’s the point of growing old if you refuse to learn from your vast lived experiences?
AA+ Bonds
@MikeJ:
He also resurrected three boys who had been slaughtered and pickled for purposes of cannibalism and frankly, I think we need a little of that story back in the season.
I try to keep it traditional, myself, as traditionally, St. Nick is the patron of prostitutes
Benjamin Franklin
I’ve said the same thing essentially. They are angry white folks who are fearful of their emerging minority status.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Chris
@Brachiator:
FDR, too, though not quite to the same extent I’m sure… See also “Jew Deal.”
BGinCHI
@gaz:
Keeping kids off your lawn.
Eating at Old Country Buffet.
Driving a Buick.
AA+ Bonds
The only way to describe the actual piece on the website is as a “racial slur”.
They called the President the N-word, is what that was.
singfoom
“Old White People Misunderstand Satire and Produce Racism Fueled ‘Joke’ About President Obama”, Film at 11.
Yes, their content should be mocked and derided and they should be ashamed. Will they be ashamed? No.
The NAACP observing this process changed it, but our later observations do not.
I am SHOCKED SHOCKED that the Tea Party contains racists.
(Native Kansan here, we’re not all like this)
AA+ Bonds
@Benjamin Franklin:
They’re mostly men and have thus always been a minority
gaz
@singfoom: lol. yeah.
RD
@Brachiator:
Just trying to get this satire thing down.
gaz
@BGinCHI: fuckin lol.
Having been in a few buicks at one point or another, I think I solved the mystery of why people buy one at about the same time they start playing bridge:
The center console comfortably fits a package of depends. At least that’s my theory. Attempts to contact GM about a senior discount for buicks (my other theory) did not yield a response. So I nixed that one.
Amir Khalid
@salacious crumb:
Others here are criticizing you for being gratuitously hostile to ABL, when all she did was condemn a Tea Party group for racism toward President Obama. Someone might yet deride the lameness and utter irrelevance of your statement “my best friend is black”. But let me praise you for having picked yourself a wonderfully appropriate nym, after a destructive little pest.
Redshift
@The Moar You Know: One of my fellow local Democrats was telling me recently about how he goes to the local Tea Party meetings. He’s of Middle Eastern background, speaks with an accent. He started going early on because he was curious, and has kept going just because he likes to know what they’re up to. He says they know he’s a Democrat, and they don’t kick anybody out, but they have everyone new stand up and introduce themselves, and it’s pretty obvious that anyone who isn’t white or who speaks with an accent is tolerated, not welcomed, and sometimes he’ll be told “no, you can’t sit here, sit over there” when some of them are going to be discussing things they don’t want him to hear.
The most recent meeting, they were rather stunned that in the local elections that were just past, the non-incumbent school board candidates, all of whom ran as Tea Party candidates or as friendly to them (and made wild accusations against the sitting school board), all lost, some badly. There were about forty people there, about half of whom were “guest speakers” from downstate (think Pastor Hagee types, he said.) So, only twenty people at their meetings, but they were sure everyone really supports them locally and they were going to win.
Oh, and there’s never any discussion of dues, or fundraising, or even how transportation and lodging for the “guest speakers” is being paid for. There’s always money. No idea if they even understand that they’re astroturf, and if they ever did something Dick Armey didn’t like, the money would stop flowing.
Fascinating stuff.
Satanicpanic
So funny I forgot to laugh
Lojasmo
@Brachiator:
Yes, this probably would have passed for satire a hundred and twenty years ago. Thanks for pointing out the fact that most racists were less sophisticated back then. Unfortunately, though satire is not a very high bar to trip over, these clowns failed miserably.
Brachiator
@gaz:
Yawn. I provided a link to some of the historical caricatures of Lincoln and the Republicans. Political satire is often ugly. I also noted that the shit is racist, hurtful and malicious.
And the best and most complete way of dealing with this shit is to bury the Republicans in the next presidential election.
These people are not going to apologize or feel bad. Nor are they going to stop just because anybody here rhetorically scowls at them.
Oh, yeah. Historians are abuzz over recently discovered scatological satire directed at Madame de Pompadour.
There is no point in pearl clutching over the antics of these fools.
Redshift
@Redshift: Oh, also, apparently some TP groups in rural VA are making plans to try to pull a LaRouche and take over Democratic committees in localities where the local Democratic Party is weak. No idea if they’ll actually do it (VA wingnuts have a history of talking big and not doing much that requires actual work and thinking), but if they do it and start supporting Republicans, they’ll find out the state party has the power to dissolve their potemkin committee and replace them with real Democrats.
Roger Moore
@MikeJ:
So you’re saying it’s especially offensive to have turkey for dinner on Christmas?
AA+ Bonds
@Brachiator:
Are you this boring in person, I can just see people sliding across the floor away from you at parties like magnets with facing poles
gaz
@Brachiator: The post you described was classic political satire.
Notice I never made being unhurtful a qualifier to satire.
But satire does require a certain eloquence, and doesn’t really hit if it doesn’t expose some sort of behavior.
There was none here – it was all “Obama’s a n—-r”. That’s not satire. That’s ignorant ass racism.
Jon Swift wept.
PS: satire can be racist. but this wasn’t satire. it was *just* racist. (even if it was satire, it’s still racist, so clearly in the Blanket, Bowl & Stick category)
RD
@Brachiator:
Right. Which makes it just as informative as 120 Days of Sodom or Justine.
gaz
Disgusting. Racist. Ignorant. But at least had a modicum of cleverness (in that it rhymed heh – *smirk*). Closer to satire than the kool kansas klowns above could ever hope to aspire to.
Hungry Joe
The racism will likely increase as it becomes ever clearer that Obama is going to be re-elected. “I can suck it up for four years, I can stand it, I can hack it, just four years, I can do this, I can do this … ” And now, “WTF??? Four MORE years?” The prospect is driving them insane, and the shield they’d been forced to erect to screen their hatred is melting from the heat.
gelfling545
@MikeJ: “Santa wears a red suit. He’s a Communist. Has a beard & long hair must be a pacifist. What’s in that pipe that he’s smoking?” Arlo Guthrie
trollhattan
@gaz:
If you nail down the center console strategy to your satisfaction, can you please work on the mystery of the always-engaged left turn indicator? THX!
Brachiator
@RD: RE: Brachiators use their arms to move from tree branch to tree branch
Beat you to it a long time ago.
One of the points of my handle was a rebuke to creationists who can’t get a brachiator’s grip on the fact of evolution. That, and an affection for orangutans and gibbons, championship brachiators (and that abandoned double major including anthropology).
I’m your momma, I’m your daddy, I’m the brachiator in the alley.
You can never really use racist and sophisticated in the same sentence. But racism is going to be part of the political discourse with Obama, because the racists can’t help themselves. Similarly, sexists just had to creep out from under their rocks to attack Hillary Clinton (and even some from the left attacking Sarah Palin).
Yutsano
@gelfling545: Grandma got run over by a reindeer. Also. Too.
gaz
@trollhattan: heh. Lol.
My only theory on that is that many are already so far to the right, that left is the only way they can go.
Also, too:
I suspect that buick just hardwires the left turn signal to the on position in order to cut down on complexity that these people will never use.
Brachiator
@AA+ Bonds:
As long as I am never as boring as you, I am a happy man.
@RD:
Great movie by Pasolini. Been banned and condemned. Many find it tough to watch. And best of all are those who whine that it has no redeeming social value.
@gaz:
Yes.
RD
@Brachiator:
I sincerely appreciate your insight.
I now understand the roots of PUMA bitterness more than ever.
Hungry Joe
@Brachiator:
Ah, a fellow physical anthro major. Primatology rocks. “You don’t like gibbons, you suck. Gibbons … fo’EVAH!” (Apologies to “Drinking Out of Cups.”)
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
Yeah, this kind of crap really pisses me off. There are enough valid reasons to criticize Palin that nobody should have to get into stupid sexist crap. Using it just makes you look like an idiot and gives people an excuse to ignore you if/when you move on to all the valid reasons she should never be allowed into the same area code as the reigns of power. The same is true of sexist attacks on Hillary and racist ones against Obama; they give people an excuse to ignore any of the valid criticisms that might come from the same mouth as the venom.
handy
@RD:
I wouldn’t say that sexist attacks on Hilary and Palin aren’t really the root of PUMA bitterness. They make for nice cover, though.
Elie
OMG!! — calling the President a black and white skunk.
Now REALLY…. It ends up just being silly stuff from a bunch of loosers… NYA NYA from morans… like who Fucking Cares???
Honestly, what age are these folks and did they complete elementary school?
handy
@handy:
Wow double negative fail. That first “wouldn’t” shouldn’t if you catch my drift.
RD
@handy:
Indeed. Donatien Alphonse François would have a tough time choosing between Hilary and Palin.
Historians are abuzz over the fact that he’d rather fuck a rooster.
John - A Motley Moose
A post condemning racism has several comments denigrating seniors and no one here calls out the hypocrisy.
Lojasmo
@Brachiator:
Some sexists, sure. Truthfully, though, Clinton said some seriously boneheaded shit during the primaries, and Palin is simply fucking stupid.
PUMAs gonna PUME.
Elie
@John – A Motley Moose:
Your point is true, but your grandiose sense of righteousness may make it difficult to admit…
Its not easy to be reminded how to be a better person from a wax winged perfectionist who of course, never makes any faux pas him or herself…
How about a lighter hand, bro or sis?
RD
@Brachiator:
Please. I was this close to taking you seriously.
Keith G
@AA+ Bonds:
No
Not every odious racially based behavior equals fascism. Sounds more like a small collection of idiotic zealots.
John - A Motley Moose
@Elie: I’m a wax winged perfectionist for pointing out that no one called out those comments. Got it. So everyone in this thread making fun of the teapartiers in Kansas are…?
Keith G
@John – A Motley Moose: Now, now give Elie a break. I am sure she knows enough about you to be certain that you think that you “never make any faux pas” yourself.
She is scary good like that.
maryQ
Can’t we just ignore them?
Pretty sure it’s racist, but who cares at this point.
We compared W to a chimp. This is just what happens.
Just walk on by.
Michael Bersin
@gaz:
Fixed it for you.
Elizabelle
@Elie:
I know.
If they were younger, you’d consider taking away their allowance.
And no TV until the weekend.
El Cid
I like “LOLBBQ”.
A Humble Lurker
@maryQ:
If you are serious, you can fuck right off. And if that offends you, feel free to walk on by. This is just what happens.
maryQ
Wow. Ok, it seems I owe the community an apology. I could certainly have explained my position better. Simply stated, I honestly believe that reacting to incidents like this is unproductive.
It’s clear that there is good overlap between Obama critics and racists. Some of Obama’s racist critics are motivated simply by racism. Others are motivated by a kind of knee-jerk anti-government activism, and thanks to Nixon and Lee Atwater, this kind of ignorant knee-jerk anti-government activism is a proxy for racism. And also, thanks to Nixon and Lee Atwater, such activism and racism often presents as visceral hatred of Democratic politicians. So Obama is a trifecta or these people. And since they tend to be ignorant and unable to articulate their opposition in terms of anything resembling consistent and legitimate policy terms, they make racists statements.
This is not OK, and I do not mean to imply that it is OK. But it is getting so that each and every day, a racist idiot in some “conservative” or “anti-government” or “Republican” group makes a racist anti-Obama statement. I sometimes think that they are doing this because they know it drives us crazy, and they want to provoke us into calling them racists. When we engage in this endlessly, we lose.
You may have noticed that our President has effectively avoided getting pulled into this cycle, despite the best efforts of conservatives and their media stenographers. This is the kind of thing that allows a President who has presided over record unemployment to maintain a mid-40’s or better approval. We might take a page from his book.
As for the W-chimp comment, again, I could have been clearer. President W Bush looks like a chimp-her really does. I could not stand him. While I like to think that most of my objections to him were based on his policies and politics, and to a large extent his character, I sometimes resorted to calling him a chimp, or sending e-mails to my friends in which the president was depicted as a chimp. I would bet, maybe $10,000 if I had it, that many posters on this site have done the same. I agree that this is not the same as the obviously racists commentary coming from President Obama’s opponents. But it is also juvenile, and not particularly enlightened. But such things are a part of our national political discourse. They are not right or correct or justified, but they are part of the way we deal with our frustrations and disagreements with our public figures.
And on this particular incident-well, Obama as a witch doctor is offensive on a very deep level. Obama as a skunk is kindergarten-level attempt at humor. It’s not funny and not even clever. I am having a hard time getting offended by this-not because it is not racists (it is), or even because it is not offensive on some level (it is). But with all of the real outrage we are trying to address, this does not deserve notice. I really believe that we cede ground by reacting to this.
Finally, I would like to ask you, Humble Lurker, for an apology. I have been reading this site for years, and have commented several times. I find Balloon Juice commenters to be among the most intelligent, and most entertaining people around. And what I love about the site is that there is so little of the behavior that you have just displayed. Lots of opinions here, not much “just go f*ck right off”. So, I would humbly ask you to apologize, not to me, but to the community. And next time you want to understand the content of my or another’s comment, or determine whether we are really serious, just ask.