Andrea Mitchell just declared the the rethugs need a WHITE KNIGHT candidate. nt

[mfcorey1]

[Richardo]

1. Doubt she meant it racially

It's a pretty common expression.

[kwolf68]

3. It is...

Too race sensitive here. It gets old. Legitimate racism should be rooted out and exposed, but lets not try to paint everything done as racist...eventually yelling racism losses its point.

[demosincebirth]

22. So true. At Du, especially. Can't say anything borderline without being taken as racist.

[Whisp]

38. what exactly is 'borderline'

you mean you can't say anything that is ALMOST racist, but not quite, or you are called out?

I don't understand, just asking.

[joeybee12]

39. Wrong...he/she meant borderline..NOT almost racist...just like the OP...

People are going to jump on the comment as racist when it's a fairly common expression.

[Whisp]

41. in normal times I would agree, but these aren't normal times

we have a black man in office and we know how the teabaggers and the rw love to blow that dog whistle.

so I don't think the OP is being too sensitive at all, I think these kinds of inuendoes are used with purpose - afterall these are filthy low down fucking animal repukes that we are dealing with.

but maybe it's not so much his being a black man (just thinking out loud here so please take it as that) maybe it's more that Obama is setting some things right and is working against the program, so they use his race as a launch of attack - any way to get at him. But even saying that, there is no doubt that racism is far more prevelant than some people want to believe or can accept. Just as all the other 'isms we have to deal with, it's all over.

[0rganism]

47. 'borderline' is a derogatory slur aimed at Mexican immigrants

there are precious few safe words anymore

[Whisp]

48. there are a lot of 'safe' words, if you have to think about whether it is

then it might not be. I don't see what the big deal about that is. I told my daughter when she was around 8 not to use 'that's gay' in school like her friends did, and explained to her why.
Why was if someone is hurt by a name, just don't use it, that is not going to hurt you not using a couple words.

She got it, no problem. and she was 8.
:crazy:

[demosincebirth]

51. White Knight? Its just what I'm referring to.

[Whisp]

53. I don't happen to believe that Mitchell innocently used that

guess thats the big difference.

but you can't really prove it, and they know it, and use it. and it works.

[demosincebirth]

52. self delete

[Lucinda]

57. +1

[SpiralHawk]

2. Hmmmm?

Republicons really do have some peeculiar, um, desires...

[leftynyc]

4. Oh for Heaven's Sake

It's a popular expression. Do you honestly think she meant anything racial by it?

[demosincebirth]

23. We have many self appointed censors here.

[emilyg]

5. unrec - don't look for sh*t.

[mfcorey1]

7. no one is...it meant they need a hero for the party. Where is your mind.

[Richardo]

8. Keep back-pedaling!

:thumbsup:

[mfcorey1]

11. Never have and never will. nt

[demosincebirth]

24. Exactly.

[Iggo]

6. Why? Is there a black cloud over them right now? (n/t)

[OHdem10]

9. I think we know Andrea was talking about the Republican Party.

White Knight is common language--we do not want
to get too petty and carried away with political
correctness, do we.

The Republicans do need someone to "save" the party
from the Whackos. White Knight is perfectly appropriate.

[gratuitous]

10. And here I thought Rick Perry had come galloping in to save the day

Wasn't it just last week he was the fair haired boy to lead the GOP back to the Promised Land? Wha hoppened? The Insiders grew disenchanted with the latest edition of Prince Charming in what has to be record time.

[mikeytherat]

26. Wha happen? Perry spoke.

"'tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool, then to open one's mouth and be exposed as Rick Perry."

mikey_the_rat

[gratuitous]

28. Amusing, isn't it?

Right after Bachmann won the meaningless Iowa straw poll, there was this plaintive longing for someone new in the field, and a number of the talking chuckleheads opined that Rick Perry declaring would galvanize the race. Then, Perry appears and folks started asking him about some of his asinine positions as detailed in his book "Fed Up." Immediately, his staff intervenes to explain how Perry's positions are a pretty fluid concept, and what he committed to print just last year is no longer operable. Then Perry urges the people who can stand to listen to him to "read his book." And we're back to square one, wondering if the nonsense Perry wrote just last year is really what we want in a president.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Perry. Next!"

[mikeytherat]

43. I'd hate to play Twister against some of these mental cul-de-sacs.

They can twist themselves into positions that would make a contortionist wince.

mikey_the_rat

[frazzled]

12. Unfortunate choice of expressions, Andrea.

And you wonder how racial stereotypes get engrained in the public consciousness. The good guys wear white, while the bad guys are head-to-toe black. It sort of settles in under one's skin, doesn't it.

She may not have intended it racially, but it becomes the kind of racial imagery that ... well, let's just say it has consequences.

[Richardo]

16. She didn't intend it racially because there's not one particle of racial content in the expression.

[frazzled]

25. Oh no?

A white knight is a savior, someone who sweeps in and rescuses/fixes things.

The white knight is brave, powerful, and represents the forces of good. The black knight is a symbol of the forces of evil. Light and dark: they've been enshrined in literary language for centuries, and, as I've noted, these metaphors have consequences.

[Richardo]

30. No.

[dmallind]

32. ...and of course is based on the color of accoutrements not skin

The idea that black = evil predates significant interaction between pale skinned and dark skinned human subgroups in most areas.

[Richardo]

34. I was trying to think of a cogent way to say that.

Thanks :thumbsup:

[Whisp]

50. day and night, white (light) and dark.

the dark is mysterious, exotic and unknowable, and

well, from Kenya!

:crazy:

[joeybee12]

40. And as such represents day; the DARK knight is enshrined in literature...

as in night, darkness...

[frazzled]

46. Yes indeedy, but you miss the point

Metaphors are not static: they, like languages, live and morph through time. The idea of lightness/white representing good and darkness/black representing evil took on meanings across time and in specific environments.

There is a reason, in the U.S., that the Ku Klux Klan wore WHITE robes and that the TAR BABY came to symbolize African Americans (or Maori, in New Zealand).

In addition, the context in which White Knight was uttered here was quite specific: a political analysis in which the Republican party is looking for someone to sweep in and save the country from the (Black) president. It was a real boner. Face it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. Actaully, the earliest written reference as a metaphor in English is from 1895

according to the OED:

white knight n. (a) (with allusion to a character in Through the Looking-Glass), an enthusiastic but ineffectual person; (b) a hero or champion; spec. (Stock Exchange slang) a company that comes to the aid of one facing an unwelcome take-over bid.
1895 M. Kingsley Diary 23 May in Trav. W. Afr. (1897) vi. 110 The chief‥bows with a jerk that causes the pantaloons to faint in coils, like the White Knight in ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
1981 Guardian 30 Oct. 15/1 Thomas Tilling‥emerged yesterday as the white knight appointed by Berec to save the Ever Ready battery maker from the clutches of Hanson Trust.

And it should be noted the opposing chess side in Through the Looking-Glass was Red, not Black (and the OED is correct that he is in Through the Looking-Glass, not Wonderland).

I can't think of an instance of a White Knight in literature before the Alice book.

[Shandris]

55. Why do we go looking for shit to make up as racism?

Isn't there enough real racism in the world for you?

I HIGHLY doubt that the reference to a common term for a literary vessel in use since the FOURTEENTH CENTURY was ACTUALLY meant to be read as a term that has existed only as part of a singular name of a racist entity for a few decades.

Or does someone mean 'Nazi' everytime the use the word 'socialism'? I mean yeah, socialism is a much older word, but hey you know those Nazi's had 'socialist' in their title.

This is as dumb as the black cloud of debt reference. A more cynical person might point out that (given that I never would have noticed if Andrea Mitchell used the term because, oh hey, I'M NOT A FUCKING RACIST) that the more one looks for a reason to be offended, the more on is FOCUSING on race...a very portion of the definition of racism.

This kind of shit annoys me to no end, because it makes us look DUMB.

[librechik]

13. let's just ignore the full significance of the phrase. Andrea obviously did

But what is she doing pushing for one side to have a heroic rescuer appear to save us from the guy we elected? I thought she needed to be fair and balanced?

[Richardo]

17. I suspect the content was a white knight to save the GOP from themselves.

But I did not see the piece.

[EFerrari]

37. Racial comments are almost always 80% context.

Just because an expression is cliche doesn't take it out of the running. But with Andrea, you can't rule out gobsmacking stupidity, either.

[pennylane100]

14. Well I am sure she didn't mean anything offensive when she said it

but why must we always be the ones to take the high ground. The repugs are very successful at throwing as much shit as possible at a wall just to see if some of it sticks. and we will never beat them if we play by a different set of rules. To those who say "We are better than that", well of course we are, but lets not tell them that.

[Brother Buzz]

15. To early for Jeb

Oh, but to be a fly on the wall.

[SoCalDem]

20. Maybe not.. Part of him would love to have both parents alive

for the photo-op with the caption:
GHWB..president & father of TWO presidents
Babs..First Lady and mother of TWO presidents

they long to be a real dynasty

[Brother Buzz]

31. I don't disagree, but timing is everything

As the dynamics evolve, and as the GOP Stalking Horses continue to do their job, Jeb will jump in when the time is right. 2016 is just too far away for the BFEE's comfort.

[SoCalDem]

18. perhaps she should have said "knight in shining armor"

or perhaps she should have said NOTHING!!! :rofl:

[Erose999]

19. Is the White Knight above or below the "Grand Dragon"? I'm not too versed in racist hierarchies...

[sfpcjock]

21. Her biceps are getting bigger as Comcast begins to drool at the political TV ad $$$.

[jannyk]

27. Jeb to the rescue?

[ecstatic]

29. I happened to see the clip, and even she realized how it sounded

right after she said it. I chuckled, because they are hoping for a WHITE knight to rescue them.
The people on this thread who say otherwise either didn't see the clip or are in denial about the way certain comments are interpreted by others.

[JoePhilly]

42. Maybe she meant "Great White Hope" ??

[proud patriot]

33. sitting here stunned jaw agape

:wow: what a horrible thing to say

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

35. You mean Chimp The Second isn't cutting it?

Maybe a little more moronic strutting and grunting will do the trick.

[EFerrari]

36. Still an idiot. n/t

[apocalypsehow]

44. Oh, good grief.

:eyes:

[Motown_Johnny]

45. Maybe she was suggesting Alan Greenspan

delusional bitch



Why is she still employed?

[LaydeeBug]

49. YAWN. nt

[rucky]

54. I guess Grand Dragon would be too obvious.

[applegrove]

58. And the old time Republicans are sufferring greatly as the tea party candidates dominate the

coverage of the primaries. LOL!