Ass Hysteria

[babylonsister]

Street-gangster language? Who among us has ever used 'that word'? Raises hand.


http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024203.php

ASS HYSTERIA.... It's been a few days since President Obama's interview on the "Today" show, and most of the political world has moved on. NBC's Matt Lauer suggested it is "not the time to meet with experts and advisers" about the oil spill, but rather, it's a time to "kick some butt." The president explained, "I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick."

I figured just about everything that could be said about this has been said, but that was before I saw Jeffrey Kuhner's column in the far-right Washington Times. Obama, Kuhner said, has "degraded the office of the presidency" by "being vulgar."

Mr. Obama should be ashamed of himself.... Mr. Obama occupies a sacred and noble position entrusted by the American people. His comments convey utter contempt for the office he occupies. This is street-gangster language more befitting a community organizer in the South Side of Chicago than the leader of the Free World.

Kuhner, a Times columnist, right-wing radio host, and think tank chief, wasn't kidding. His hysterical tirade was inspired entirely by the word "ass."

This three-letter word -- which didn't make the George Carlin list and isn't problematic to the FCC -- is, in Kuhner's mind, evidence of a president who has degraded his office, brought shame to himself, demonstrated contempt for the presidency, and with just a pinch of racial animus, reminiscent of "street-gangster language."

And in case the subtext wasn't clear enough, Kuhner's column added that Obama "has been part of the nonproductive segments of society, the parasitical elements living off the wealth of the private sector."

All because of the word "ass."

There's a hysterical wing to the Republican Party, and it's strikingly odd.
—Steve Benen

[Mz Pip]

1. DId Kuhner

complain about "Bring it on."? I doubt it. He probably thought it was cool and macho.

Kuhner is an ass.

[JackintheGreen]

2. Well, in the words of VP Dick Cheney

Go fuck yourself.

[sui generis]

3. No, it's just the party puppet masters looking for another meme

The thing is, the LAST president who couldn't stay on his tricycle without getting a boo boo and almost choked to death on a pretzel with a beer bottle up his "ass" degraded the "sacred" office of the presidency just by continuing to breathe.

the best response to this latest hysteria? Don't even acknowledge the wannabe attack.

[babylonsister]

4. Great advice, except practically every talking head I've seen

has brought it up ad nauseum. And I think I just found out what this is all about:

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201006110009

What makes you think right-wing media are freaking out over Obama and race this week?

June 11, 2010 10:18 am ET by Eric Boehlert

I mean c'mon, just because these were some of the names and phrases that were instinctively thrown around by right-wing commentators in the wake of Obama's "ass" kicking comment:

-Suge Knight

-Urkel

-"Gangsta Obama"

-Carlton Banks

-"South Side of Chicago"

-Jay-Z

-"Chicago thugs"

-"gangsta"

-"street"

Or just because this week AM talker Bill Cunningham announced the media give Obama a "free pass" because "he's black"?

Sorry folks, I don't see how those dots connect. (And neither does Bill O'Reilly!)

[sui generis]

6. except that "kicking ass" has little to nothing to do with anything

gangsta.

That expression predates the black civil rights movement, ironically, and the funniest part in all of this is the attribution to the white WASP understanding of black culture via music video stereotypes, which is a bit like a June Cleaver on an airplane offering to translate jive.

from Wiki: Airplane!

"Several other cameos add to the humor by casting actors against type. Barbara Billingsley, best known as June Cleaver from Leave It to Beaver, makes an appearance as a woman who announces she "speaks jive" and can translate for two African-American passengers. "

Method #2: mock these idiots until they weep.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. Bush and Cheney used the F word frequently and the ass word

[geek tragedy]

7. George HW Bush: "I kicked a little ass." nt

[hedgehog]

8. There is nothing new under the sun

Manure. Always an earthy talker, Truman once offended a friend of his wife's by referring repeatedly to "the good manure" that must have been used to nurture the fine blossoms at a Washington horticulture show. "Bess, couldn't you get the President to say 'fertilizer'?" the woman complained. Replied Mrs. Truman: "Heavens, no. It took me 25 years to get him to say 'manure.' "

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910501-4,00.html#ixzz0qYcSDXkK

[jaxx]

9. Looks to me like only the real asses are worried about the word ass.

Sniveling repukes, they don't know kick ass from a hole in the ground. All they know how to do is bitch and whine. I'm sick of them and their f'n family values.

[Cha]

10. Prissy little gNOps pricks. nt