Romney obviously misspoke, lets not blow things out of

[quinnox]

proportion. I hate it when the GOP takes a quote and twist and turns it and pretends it means something else that was entirely false.

I don't think our side should do it either. Call Mitt Romney a lot of things, extreme religious fanatic, a pretend right winger, a phony, but racist is not one of them.

[RandomThoughts]

1. I was thinking the same thing as your post.

If an issue was made out of it, it would be disingenuous, that is not what he meant to say, nor his feelings on the topic.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. He doesn't have to be a racist to say what he did

Bottom line for me is the right wing blows EVERYTHING a Democrat says out of proportion. It does no harm to play that game right back at them.

[RagAss]

3. Do you know him personally?

[quinnox]

5. No, but

I think its ridiculous to say he really meant he wants to hang Obama, come on.

[RagAss]

8. I don't know the man, therefore I don't know his motivation in using the term.

[Pharaoh]

10. He said that!

He wants to lynch a black man?

Yeah I'd say that might be construed as racist.

[Raschel]

37. Next it'll be "take him out back and whip him", metaphorically of course.

[quinnox]

38. If he says that then I won't defend it in any way

That would be clear enough he wanted to make a racist connection with historical references.

[Raschel]

39. And hanging isn't?

[quinnox]

40. Not in this case

in my opinion. Because first he talked about hanging the "Obama misery index" around his neck, referencing how Reagan did the same thing in his contest with Carter. Then he said his verbal gaffe about hanging Obama. To me it seems this was a clear case of being a verbal blunder from the previous context.

If he had started out saying "hang Obama", then I would not feel this way.

[Raschel]

42. That's what makes it so bad. He mentioned hanging it around his neck and THEN adds hanging HIM.

"We're going to hang him with that, so to speak, metaphorically."

THAT'S what he said.

So which is it? Hang it around his neck? Hang him? Or both?

Verbal gaffe my butt.

[pipi_k]

56. Racist connection?

Not sure if you know this, but during Colonial America Quakers and Baptists were publicly whipped and driven out of some of the Colonies.

Then there were the whipping posts where common criminals (white) received their punishments.


And... there are loads of (white) people who grew up in the South whose memories of their childhoods include being "whipped" out back of the house (in the barn, maybe?) with a switch wielded by their Pappy.


It's not just blacks who were whipped.

[kestrel91316]

41. He only meant to goad his teabag followers into lynching our president.

No harm intended, I'm sure.

We definitely need to give the poor baby a break.

[quinnox]

43. I'm sorry but

that is pure speculation. And I don't think he wants Obama lynched, you are being silly. He just wants him defeated so he can win the presidency. Romney is a politician.

[kestrel91316]

47. Romney is a Mormon. He wants a theocracy in the US. He pretends

to be pro-business, but he doesn't fool me.

I wasn't fooled by the LDS decision back in the 70's to start treating blacks like humans, either. I trust NONE of them as far as I can throw them. And racism is a core part of their beliefs.

[Drale]

4. Generally when people misspeak in a political context

they are saying what they really mean.

[Bluebear]

6. Let's see what the Natl. Black Chamber of Commerce says while you rehabilitate him

That is a very important question to raise about someone who is seeking to become the President of the United States. This nation has a racist pedigree and it took a lot of bloodshed, holocaust and struggle to overcome it. If it is to survive in this ever changing and unpredictable world, it must never return to that flaw for it will, indeed, be fatal. So when I repeatedly hear about this issue of whether or not Mitt Romney is a racist I find it more than coincidental. Things keep popping up on this matter with the greasy haired candidate. Ron Paul voted against giving Rosa Parks a Congressional Gold Medal. He was the only congressperson to do so. That sticks on him permanently but that is all I know about his racial demeanor. But with Romney there is always something new...

Romney as an elected official has been known to make racial slurs. He has recently referred to a construction boondoggle, The Big Dig, as a “Tar Baby” he needs to avoid. Tar Baby - That’s an old school racial slur. It’s not something we want a presidential candidate to say and have such a thought process about...

Very recently, well known Black Republican J.C. Watts publicly complained that the Romney presidential campaign was absolutely void of Blacks, Hispanics or any other ethnicity other than white. It was lily white and this needed to be corrected proclaimed the former Black congressman from Oklahoma. When approached about J.C.’s comments on CNN News, Mitt Romney retorted, “What’s the charge? Is there something wrong with that?” He then explained that he hired only the best workers and if that means an all white staff – so be it. This, my brother and sisters, is “bigot code”. It is the same thing they would say to keep us out of the military, college and professional sports, the better public institutions and corporate offices. It wasn’t because of racism but that we just weren’t good enough and that’s how God made it. It falls right along with the “Cain Curse Doctrine”. Slick haired Romney is starting to appear to be very arrogant for all the wrong reasons. It is an aura about him that smells anti-American and anti-Christian. He appears to be a blast from the past and that is not good for us as a whole and harmonious society.

Is Mitt Romney a racist? Racial slurs, racist upbringing, racist slights, racist hiring and racist excuses – seems like an easy question.

http://www.nationalbcc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=445&Itemid=112

[RagAss]

9. Well said !

[BobTheSubgenius]

34. That smell might be the magic underwear. How long has he had that on?

Just sayin'...

[quinnox]

45. I'm not trying to rehabilitate him

Romney made a verbal gaffe and we should not try and twist it into something he didn't mean. That is all.

[Bluebear]

52. You lectured that we should not call him a racist.

[Forkboy]

7. He's not anything....that's his trouble.

He's whatever you want him to be to get your vote.

You're right, but fuck him. :P

[blondeatlast]

11. Someone who ISN'T racist would not even have thougt to cover such

a statement.

Think about that a minute.

He knew EXACTLY what he was saying--and why.

[Schema Thing]

27. wrong

any sentient person would have caught themselves. Whether or not to "cover" becomes a snap decision, and frankly, he'd have been attacked by the fanatics on our side for use of the word "hang" even if he hadn't covered.



and no, one doesn't automatically think to stop using a phrase like "hang it around his neck" just because one's opponent is black, nor does failing to think about it make one racist.

[fishwax]

50. weren't they planned remarks? Or was he speaking off the cuff?

[Kurovski]

53. He's appealing to his racist base.

[Bluebear]

57. indeed

[pintobean]

12. I agree

Transparent false charges aren't going to help us any.

[Bluebear]

14. "Transparent false charges" - and you know he is not racist how, exactly?

[pintobean]

28. I don't know he is not racist

and his use of common expressions is no proof that he is.

[Arkana]

13. Don't care. They do this to us all the time, and there's no one

more deserving than Mitt the Shit.

[FrenchieCat]

15. Playing on the racism of others is racist, period.

He knows what he said, and he knows why he said it....and so do I.

I'm tired of the fact that for some NOTHING is racist. Not a fucking thing.
So convenient.

[Raschel]

46. I think the President may need more secret service protection from these sick republican bigots

than from the general public.

They push the envelope farther every day.

[AsahinaKimi]

16. What do they call that .. a freudian slip?

The brain is an amazing machine, like a computer sometimes it spits out what goes in...garbage in, garbage out. Obviously that was garbage out..

[The Magistrate]

17. Nonesense, Sir: He Announced His Intention To Murder the President

He should be charged with the Federal crime that is, arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned.

We are at war, for God's sake!

[quinnox]

21. lol

I detect a note of sarcasm!

[The Magistrate]

26. No, Sir: Serious As A Heart Attack

Examples must be made, pour encourager les autres, and this seems a great place to start.

[Kurovski]

54. I wasn't sure on the other thread, if you were serious or not.

I'm glad to see you are. your opinion means a great deal to me. It shouldn't but it does.

[Change Happens]

18. ALL PUKES ARE RACISTS!!! And hate everyone: gays, browns, blacks, women, poor people, homeless..etc.

[Skidmore]

19. Hell, no, that fool does not get a pass for trying to be transparently slick

with his racism.

[Generic Brad]

20. Republicans have been communicating in coded racist terms for years

The "gaffe" Romney committed was the veil being temporally lifted. His regret is that he should have phrased his sentiment in a more coded manner.

[AlinPA]

22. OK, but how do you know he is not a racist?

[quinnox]

32. point taken, I don't

know for sure. I guess I should clarify that from his gaffe alone I don't think it would be credible to claim he was a racist.

[AlinPA]

36. Yes.

[ecstatic]

23. Uh huh. Whatever. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Racism was an article of faith in his religion well into his adult

life. So you mention the religion, are the details of that religion not important? I'd say you need to offer some evidence that he is not racist. His background suggests otherwise.

[BlueIris]

25. Normally, I wouldn't get upset, except that I don't think it takes much consideration

for others, particularly the president, to avoid making insensitive and inappropriate remarks. It really doesn't take much effort to avoid "accidentally" suggesting we hang our Black president. I think it's inexcusable that Romney did make this insinuation, whether he meant to or not.

[kentuck]

29. Yes, he misspoke but...

I'm not sure he didn't do it on purpose, judging from the comments just previous to it.

[CTyankee]

30. It is insensitive that he didn't understand how such words could be taken in the first place.

In American culture, we have certain words and contexts. He should have been more aware of them. It is what I would expect of a president. The fact that he is running for high office, by definition, holds him to a higher standard.

sorry, no slack granted...

[yardwork]

31. I disagree. One, I'm not at all sure that he misspoke. Sounded like a smart ass follow-up comment.

Sounds to me like Romney knew exactly what he was doing. Second, even if he did misspeak, there's no need for us to cover for him. Let his own damn people trot out and make earnest amends. No need for us to do it for him.

Sometimes Democrats really annoy me.

[quinnox]

33. His spokespeople already did

They said he did not mean his comments and it was a verbal blunder/gaffe.

I think we should have certain standards and not make stuff up, there is enough already on Romney to made a bad impression without making things up on him.

[Curmudgeoness]

35. Yep, sometimes Democrats really annoy me too. But then,

I read all the other threads here, and I know that it isn't all of us who are willing to give a pass on such a blatant remark.

[Raschel]

44. Exactly. He actually went further with the second comment.

Another racist cockroach totally revealing himself.

[petronius]

49. That's my take - the hanging metaphor is common (albeit nasty), but the follow-on

about 'got to be careful' puts it right squarely in the dog-whistle category.

As odd as this may sound, if he'd just said the hanging thing and left it there I'd be more inclined to think that's he's not thinking about the president's race...

[Bluebear]

59. +

[Terra Alta]

48. Even if he did misspeak

I'm not letting up on Romney. Did the Repukes let up on Obama after his "57 states" slip-up? Of course not. So why should Mitt be given a free pass?

[spanone]

51. yea, he meant to say tar and feather

[seabeyond]

55. i agree. after reading his whole quote and the dawning. couldnt jump on the bandwagon

myself

[Brigid]

58. Ever heard the term "Freudian slip?"

Unguarded comments are the most telling.