U.S. representative apologizes for 'tar baby' comment

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) -- A member of Congress has apologized after saying that being associated with President Barack Obama would be similar to touching a "tar baby."

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, sent a letter to Obama "apologizing for using a term some find insensitive," he said in a statement Monday.

Lamborn made the comment during an interview on a Denver radio station about proposals to raise the nation's debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts.

"Even if some people say, 'Well, the Republicans should have done this or they should have done that,' they will hold the president responsible," Lamborn said. "Now I don't want to even have to be associated with him. It's like touching a tar baby and you get, you get it, you know ... you are stuck and you are part of the problem now and you can't get away."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/02/us.rep.tar.baby/index.html

[Skittles]

1. WTF

:o

[brucefan]

2. A Republican?

apologizing?

[No Elephants]

23. Don't worry. It's a non-apology.

[peacebird]

3. "apologizing for using a term some find insensitive," - really? "insensitive"? How about RACIST?

[no_hypocrisy]

4. The story was probably put into his head when Boehner was whistling

"Songs Of The South" last week.

[Jefferson23]

5. His racist comment gets down graded to insensitive....that's another one for the books.

His constituents should tell him to get away for good.

[No Elephants]

24. Worse. It's an indisputably racist comment, downgraded to something

"some find insensitive." You know, something only a few pc folk mind, as opposed to something that is, on its face, unquestionably racist.

[Jefferson23]

37. You're right, the inclusion of 'some find' implies the use of the phrase tar baby is not interpreted...

universally as racist.

[jwirr]

6. Is that SOB up for election in 2012? I want to add his opponent to my

list.

[kirby]

16. Considering he is a House member they are all up in 2012.

The house members only serve 2 year terms.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. Nope dickhead congressman. That toothpaste isn't going back in the tube. nt

[Devil_Fish]

8. he should resign. A dem just resigned cause of a PERFECTLY LEGAL nude pic. this coment was raceist,

not simply insensitive. If he does not resign, he should be impeached.

[earthside]

9. It is a perfectly legitimate expression.

Lamborn is an idiot ... but only the most annoying 'politically correct' nags actually think that 'tar baby' is racist.

Read Joel Chandler Harris and his 'Uncle Remus' and 'Brer Rabbit' stories.

Read them before you judge.

Harris was one of the first authors to try and capture the actual language, dialect and culture of post Civil War African Americans.

He was a pioneer folklorist.

This controversy pops up every now and then and we always get knee jerk political correctness that only belies ignorance and a shallow understanding of American literature.

[Divine Discontent]

10. the knuckle dragging gop dick meant it exactly the way it appears - a racist dig.

I refuse to give these asshat Congress members the deference your intellect wishes to give them. I know several people in CO who are GOP, and probably adore this guy for that comment.

[Tunkamerica]

12. +1

of course now you're a racist because you don't agree he's a racist for using a term that isn't racist. I get why people (who don't know what the term is referring to) think it's probably racist, but that just shows ignorance.

[SlimJimmy]

18. We use the term at work from time to time. As in:

"That's your tar-baby. I don't want anything to do with that project." It's not racist, it never was meant to be. This is simply PC run amok ... again.

[ehrnst]

21. At my place of employment, that would offend people, just as sure as if

I called a black male co-worker, "boy."

And a public forum is a vastly different place than you and your co-workers.

I might say, "this report is a bitch" to a co-worker, but if I referred to anything by that term publicly, I would expect some offense.

[SlimJimmy]

30. Not even close. The only people offended are those that don't or won't understand the term.

It simply means a difficult problem that is not easily removed or resolved. OTOH, calling a black co-worker "boy" is completely unacceptable no matter the context. I don't see anything close to equivalency between the terms. But with that said, I do understand that using the term in public may be more problematic than using it at work.

[ehrnst]

32. The public is his audience, and essentially, his boss. (nt)

[SlimJimmy]

33. Mountain from a molehill, IMO. We have bigger fish to fry. There, I was

able to squeeze two colloquialisms into the same answer. ;-)

[No Elephants]

27. Context matters. If you're saying it to a black co-worker, you may want to rethink it.

[DissedByBush]

14. Kerry used it too

It was appropriate then, it's appropriate now.

Well, not that its application to Obama is correct, but the context is absolutely proper for the intended meaning.

So which of the most ignorant among us is ready to get on someone who properly uses the term "niggardly"?

[ehrnst]

20. Context is a huge part of communication. Contemporary references

matter, especially in public speaking.

[No Elephants]

26. No comparison with "niggardly." It is not appropriate to refer to associating with a black POTUS as

being like touching a tar baby. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby

Actually, it's probably best to save the whole Uncle Remus thing for someone who is not African American.

[ehrnst]

19. He effectively used a post Civil War racial slur to describe the president.

He was not trying to 'capture the language or dialect' of an era.

[ManiacJoe]

36. That would be a radical interpretation.

On the other hand, the "difficult, sticky problem" definition fits purfectly with the original statement.

[No Elephants]

25. In your opinion. In the opinion of several dictionaries, including the OED, it is a

derogatory term for a person whose skin is "black." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby

I suppose it's coincidence that this fool describes being associated with a black President as being like touching a tar baby.

[marasinghe]

34. read Joel Chandler Harris many times. still think Lamborn's a racist.

granted - as you mentioned - he's an idiot as well.

Mark Twain used the "n" word too - yet we don't have it being associated with prominent African-Americans nowadays,
on the grounds that Twain captured the authentic dialect of Mississippi river folk of the 1800's.

[CBHagman]

11. Oh, so Mr. Defund Public Broadcasting is back...

...and more disgusting than ever.

[Historic NY]

13. So nice to see the "crackers" being caught up with their BS.

[JBoy]

15. He wasn't referring to Obama the person, but to his policies.

Particularly the black ones.

[VWolf]

17. Tony Snow used this line once when he was Press Sec

I think it was along the lines of "I'm not gonna hug that tar baby".

Can't remember the context, though.

[No Elephants]

28. Again, context matters. Was the tar baby to which Snow was referring a black person?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby

[VWolf]

38. No, he wasn't.

I was just mentioning it, as it was the first time I'd ever heard the term used.

[lunatica]

22. If that's 'insensitive' I wonder what would be considered a racist remark

[No Elephants]

29. What a turd.

[ehrnst]

31. Did he send a watermelon with the apology? (nt)

[classysassy]

35. Another racist apologizing

nothing new,they get their point across,their racist followers get the message