‘Tar baby’ lawmaker bans protests at his office

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story

The Republican U.S. Representative from Colorado who compared President Barack Obama to a "tar baby" has implemented a no-protesting rule at his Colorado Springs office.

During a radio interview late last month, Rep. Doug Lamborn said that Republicans shouldn't participate in debt ceiling negotiations with the president because they would also be blamed for policies that "failed the American people."

"I don't even want to have to be associated with him," Lamborn explained. "It's like touching a tar baby and you get it, you're stuck, and you're a part of the problem now and you can't get away."

The concept of a "tar baby" originated in African folklore and was popularized by one of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories. In its original context, the term means "something used to entrap a person" but has also been used as a derogatory term for black people.

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/16/tar-baby-lawmaker-bans-protests-at-his-office/

[Lint Head]

1. If I were anywhere near this prick I would protest him immediately!

Free speech must be defended and the People must remain vigilant. That's not my idea but Benjamin Franklin's idea.

Colorado is Devoss country. I imagine he is friends with this SOB. I met Devoss. He is definitely a jerk and a fascist corporate control freak.

[City Lights]

2. Who pays for that office?

What an asshole.

[Cool Logic]

3. It is not clear to me why the term "Tar Baby" is of such paramount importance...

for some.

Many people, including me, were not even aware that it could be construed as being a racist term.

Evidently, the ignorant have a great deal of power; for when the ignorant misappropriate a term, it is considered inappropriate to "steal" it back.