Hillary Inserts Foot In Mouth
January 7, 2004 7:51 AM   Subscribe

Hillary Inserts Foot In Mouth Bubba supporters like us should say something.
posted by turbanhead (63 comments total)
 
...never meant to fuel the stereotype that certain ethnic groups run gas stations.

Everyone knows that the "runners" of gas stations are equally distributed among ALL the races. It just so happens that the majority of the Indian and Pakistani stations are here in the D.C. area (and perhaps NY).
posted by Witty at 7:57 AM on January 7, 2004


I took the joke to be on the fact that maybe some folks wouldn't know who Ghandi was.

Then again, this post is lamer than a legless donkey on a skateboard...
posted by i_cola at 7:59 AM on January 7, 2004


Who fugging cares. It was a joke, like saying, "Bill Clinton, you know, that guy who worked on the garbage truck." Not funny, not offensive, not anything.

Complete nothing.
posted by Outlawyr at 8:03 AM on January 7, 2004


I had the same reaction as Outlawyr and i_cola.

Would it have been considered a negative stereotype if she'd said Ghandi was a podiatrist? An Indian friend of mine told me there's a stereotype that Indians are doctors. It's revealing of how classist North America is when it's an insult to imply someone ran a gas station, as though there's something wrong with that.
posted by orange swan at 8:20 AM on January 7, 2004


So is the Simpson's tv show in bad taste too?
posted by thomcatspike at 8:25 AM on January 7, 2004


It's revealing of how classist North America is when it's an insult to imply someone ran a gas station

Right, Hillary is the leader of the classist sect in North America.
posted by clavdivs at 8:27 AM on January 7, 2004


Nothing to see here; move along.
posted by wsg at 8:29 AM on January 7, 2004


A turbanhead bubba.

Wow! Only in America.

Is the turban made of a Confederate flag?
posted by nofundy at 8:37 AM on January 7, 2004


By Bubba I think he means Billy-boy.

And what if she said "I ran in to Jessie Jakson, he was picking up some fried chicken...
posted by Mick at 9:00 AM on January 7, 2004


1. It's Gandhi not Ghandhi

2. So if she said something in the vein of a Jewish people being a very good money lenders or Black people being great at basketball it would be O.K. too?

3. The Bubba I speak of is Bill Clinton. I always liked (and still do) Bill. Never was too fond of Hillary.

4. The Apu bit on the simpsons is funny until the 156th time some jackass comes up to you and says "Thank you come again!" or "Does your family own a 7-11?"

As a liberal, I say we give politicans (regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans) equal crap when making such gaffes.
posted by turbanhead at 9:02 AM on January 7, 2004


On the other hand, maybe she has some information that the rest of us don't have. It is true that Ho Chi Minh once worked as a bus boy in a hotel restaurant in Boston.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:06 AM on January 7, 2004


This joke does contain an offensive stereotype, although not the one causing the uproar:

Americans are stupid, and view Indians as gas-station owners.

A subtle difference, perhaps, but an important one.
posted by dvdgee at 9:08 AM on January 7, 2004


Really, I swear to god that until this post came up I didn't even KNOW of the sterotype of Southeast Asians running gas stations. One of the many unintended fortuitous side effects of walking!

Which, come to think of it, Gandhi was pretty good at.

BTW: Right on, T-head!
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:09 AM on January 7, 2004


That's the lamest thing I've ever heard Hillary say. Even in context, as a quick off the cuff joke after a quote, it's stupid.
posted by mathowie at 9:32 AM on January 7, 2004


Dvdgee hit the nail on the head.
posted by Outlawyr at 9:32 AM on January 7, 2004


Yes, turbanhead, equal shit for politicians of all ilk around here would be refreshing..
posted by Pressed Rat at 9:50 AM on January 7, 2004


Regardless... Should we give Hillary a pass as we castigate Trent Lott? Hillary is a classist elitist like all others of her ilk.
posted by thrakintosh at 9:53 AM on January 7, 2004


I've never even seen an Indian gas station attendant/owner. I have been treated by lots of brilliant Indian doctors, yet I don't assume every Indian I meet is a doctor. The comment may be seen the way Dvdgee nails it, but it's still a really bad joke I wish I hadn't heard.
posted by dabitch at 9:55 AM on January 7, 2004


I'm sure I'm not the first to point out that there's a difference between a stereotype (clowns are gay) and a negative stereotype (clowns are child molesters). Being stereotyped is part of an ethnic group's transition into American society (Germans are methodical, Irish are devout), and are part of everyday discourse among all ethnic groups. On the other hand, there are negative stereotypes, which can be used against a group to restricts its rights, or weigh against a member of that group in a matter of judgement, such as in a court of law. A negative stereotype would be something like, Puerto Ricans steal, or the Polish are stupid. Hillary's dumb, dumb joke trafficked in an ordinary ethnic stereotype, not a negative stereotype. I mean, if the worse thing you can say about an ethnic group is that they run gas stations and 7-11s, that's pretty good.
And might I add, God bless our wonderful East Asian immigrants. From my experience, I would stereotype them as intellectually brilliant, personable, hard-working, community-minded, physically beautiful and possessed of a marvelous cuisine -- long may they arrive at our shores.
posted by Faze at 9:58 AM on January 7, 2004


Americans are stupid, and view Indians as gas-station owners. Your comment is as lamer than hers.
Whom & Whom feels that way, you. Ever notice the gas station owners are your Neighbors..."Gomer".
posted by thomcatspike at 9:59 AM on January 7, 2004


As a liberal, I say we give politicans (regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans) equal crap when making such gaffes.

Precisely.

Had a Republican politician made the same joke, you'd all be shitting yourselves and the thread would be 300 posts deep. You'd be crying for resignment, a public apology, and no doubt a public beating.

Try and deny the hypocrisy. Please. Just for me. Contort yourself as needed, be dishonest as you'd like. It should be entertaining.
posted by dhoyt at 10:00 AM on January 7, 2004


I think it's offensive. It's also stupid, although at least it gives us more insight into how she thinks. thrakintosh, good point; Hilary and those like her might spout off on 'safe' liberal issues but underneath they're still elitist reactionaries. Can't wait for Hilary v. Jeb in 2008. *sigh* :-(

[on preview; what dhoyt said, too]
posted by carter at 10:04 AM on January 7, 2004


P.S. Indians (and Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, etc.) are *South* and not *East* Asians.
posted by carter at 10:06 AM on January 7, 2004


Clowns are gay?
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:24 AM on January 7, 2004


This is a fine example of one of the leading beacons of tolerance by the Democratic Party.
posted by insulglass at 10:24 AM on January 7, 2004


I'm with those who never heard of this particular stereotype, so her usage don't correspond with well-known stereotypes like Blacks eat fried chicken, etc.

I believe the joke was based on the premise that Gandhi was an important man, unlike gas station owners. If anything, that's classist.

Even if Hillary were a real racist, which I doubt she is, for obvious political reasons she wouldn't use a joke with the premise that Gandhi was a gas station owner because all Indians own gas stations.

On dhoyt's recommendation, I reread the story and put a republican in her place. He's right: I DID perceive more racism. My bad.
posted by squirrel at 10:25 AM on January 7, 2004


I'm with those who never heard of this particular stereotype, so her usage don't correspond with well-known stereotypes like Blacks eat fried chicken, etc.

I believe the joke was based on the premise that Gandhi was an important man, unlike gas station owners. If anything, that's classist.


Please. To quote the immortal Richard Belzer, don't lie to me like I'm Montel Williams. The Indian/Pakistani gas station/convenience store clerk stereotype is a fairly well-known one, at least in the universe I inhabit. Sounds like some people are having difficulty admitting that Hilary's as capable of making a gaffe in racial manners as anyone. That said, it's a pretty harmless one, but she loses points for it not being funny.
posted by jonmc at 10:33 AM on January 7, 2004


Complete nothing.
Nothing to see here; move along.


Disgusting how frequently some of you deal out the "get your head out of your ass" card to conservatives who defend fellow conservatives on charges of Racism (Lott, Thurmond, et al), but don't mind looking the other way when it's a figurehead of the Democratic party. My favorite, too, is when you accuse the aforementioned conservative as being partisan--that's rich! Really really rich.

But hey, in a situation like this it's best to be detached and blasé, right? "Been there, done that". I mean, it's Hilary Clinton, there's no way she might be an elitist or bigot, right? It's simply not in her wiring.

And for those of you who are pretending to have never heard the stereotype about Indians running gas stations, I have someone you may want to meet.



How utterly full of shit some of you are.

(And what jonmc said)
posted by dhoyt at 10:38 AM on January 7, 2004


i resent dhoyts picture portraying men whom pull there pants over their "jubber tummy". and the stereotype of the long collared shirt half buttoned to expose chest hair.
posted by clavdivs at 10:55 AM on January 7, 2004


Hillary's lucky Arkansas had gas stations at all, or she wouldn't have been able to ride around in Bubba's El Camino with the astroturf in the back.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:35 AM on January 7, 2004


I really am trying to learn here.
- Black people eat fried chicken = bad... stereotype
- Mexicans eat tortillas = not a stereotype?
- Indians eat curries = ?

I would expect one to argue that there is no stereotype that Mexicans eat tortillas because, well tortillas are part of Mexican cuisine. Can that not be said about soul food, black cuisine? There's a recipe for fried chicken in both soul food cookbooks I own. Did someone just decide one day to invent a stereotype about black people eating fried chicken in hopes that it would stick and everyone would buy into it?

"Well Witty, not all black people eat fried chicken"... true. But not all Mexians eat tortillas. I work with a Mexican gentlemen that admitted to me the other day that he and his family rarely eat their native cuisine, opting for more of an American diet and it's many ethnic influences and choices. But I would still imagine him to be a rare exception to the norm.

If someone were to call Al Sharpton a "chicken-eater", I would call that an insult simply because it was meant to be.
It still remains a fact that, of the gas stations and 7-11s I frequent the most (some of which I visited today on the way home from work), all of them are owned and operated by Indians and Pakistanis. The stereotype is invisible to me.

If someone were to try insult a Chinese man by calling him a rice-eater... I mean seriously, I don't get it. Chinese people eat rice. That undeniable. Either the Chinese guy should laugh, wondering what the insulter could possibly be thinking or he should kick his ass just because the guy was trying to insult him anyway, regardless of the lame attempt at doing so.

Besides, isn't the stereotype generally aimed more at the type of establishment and not at the people. "All gas stations and convenience stores are run by Indians" is different from "All Indians work in gas stations and convenience stores". I think the latter is an inaccurate description of the stereotype, while the former doesn't seem directed at a people.
posted by Witty at 11:54 AM on January 7, 2004


full disclosure - I'm a card carrying Indian, and in favor of the Clintons.

I hadn't heard the gas-station thing either. Now if she had said motel, or 7-11 . . . (which, btw, is what Apu runs).

Without apologizing for a stupid joke, there are a few problems with the article. It's not clear exactly what she said. It *could* have been stupid and classist -- "har har I'm quoting some blue collar worker, except I'm totally not , it's GANDHI, who is the complete opposite of a blue-collar schlub."

And finally, I personally am more likely to jump all over someone who makes a stupid joke like this if they have a history of acting in a racist manner. Hillary really doesn't. In fact, her husband is known to go out of his way to build ties with India. He supported and helped the Indo-American Arts Council with an auction in NYC to benefit victims of the Gujrat quake in India. The republicans offered their deepest verbal condolences to the victims - the Clintons helped send money. I realize that doesn't mean *she* helped, but at least that's the camp she's from.
posted by synapse at 11:58 AM on January 7, 2004


dhoyt, I conceded your point about my stereotyping republicans as more inclined to racism. A little grace would suit you and might serve you better.

Apu runs the QuickieMart, not a gas station. While the "Paki" convenience store operator is a well-known stereotype, most convenience stores have no gas pumps. At best, the leap is aerobic... as well as opportunistic and hypocritical for those who condemn such leaps made against republicans.

(Aside: jonmc, I just watched that pilot episode of Homicide last night! Freaky.)
posted by squirrel at 11:59 AM on January 7, 2004


I never thought that Apu had any gas pumps at his store. Also (and of course I live in a state that's 97% white) I didn't realize that Indians ran gas stations. I thought the stereotype (and it's true) was that they owned motels.
posted by LeLiLo at 12:16 PM on January 7, 2004


Actually, the Kwik-E-Mart does have gas pumps, as seen is in the episode ("Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield") where Marge buys the Chanel suit.
posted by turbodog at 12:24 PM on January 7, 2004


most convenience stores have no gas pumps.

I never thought that Apu had any gas pumps at his store.


Ah yes, because the real issue here is not Hilary's potentially racist/classist gaffe or its implications, but the distinctions between gas stations vs. convenience stores.

Again, contort yourself as needed...
posted by dhoyt at 12:26 PM on January 7, 2004


Indian doctors [ "I have been treated by lots of brilliant Indian doctors" - I've got a brilliant Indian doctor, a woman, as my primary care physician currently. I switched from my previous primary care physician, who was also a female Indian doctor, because she was atrocious - dullish, incurious, depressive, and all she ever did was to recommend Benadryl - for virtually anything. A friend of mine, (who I don't consider too prejudiced because he's got a Japanese wife and his neighbors, whose kids his kids play with, are Turkish, Pakistani, American Black, WASPish blue collar cops, and so on) has several horror stories about atrocious Indian doctors. He thinks it might be tied to Brahmin caste culture, and that, also, all the smart Indian doctors leave his HMO to go into private practice. ]

Hillary can get her foot in her mouth? What - she's been taking Yoga workout classes with Jane Fonda, or something?

________________________________________________

A little known fact : Gandhi actually did work as a gas station attendant, but for the Crown Petroleum Corporation, in Baltimore, MD. It was to promote Indian gasoline self-reliance. In between pumping gas, he would work at his spinning wheel and and weave cloth. The gas station owner, who let Gandhi sleep in a run-down little room in the second floor of the gas station building (it actually was an old converted fire station) thought Gandhi both weird, suspect, cool, and somewhat unnerving - less for Gandhi's preferred personal garment (which seemed to be some kind of strange loincloth) which the frail looking Indian wore in his free time, than for the trio of young, nubile sari wrapped Hindu women, slender and graceful, who came in tow with Gandhi - as part of the package it seemed - their dark, soft eyes shyly demurring, amidst richly shimmering hair, itself the flower of youth, and a delicately frangrant musk which seemed to waft off their saris and stroke the senses with a beckoning promise of fertility.

From across the cluttered gas station room, as the tired shafts of sunlight struggled through dusty windows to droop over the fan belts, quarts of oil, the old stacks of invoices, as the gas station man and Gandhi haggled over terms of employment, Gandhi's women sent the pulse of the Crown station owner racing. Hot.....Hot.... He was fifty, and overweight but still very much a man. So he began to perspire, quite profusely, and asked Gandhi to step outside with him, for air, to conclude the agreement in private.

Those women were too hot.

"Please understand," explained Gandhi - as he addressed the other man's obvious agitation, "I do not myself engage in the procreative act with these beautiful young women who assault your senses, though we do all share one small bed. I sleep with the women that I might better develop my discipline and my resolve, so as to be able to prevail in my nonviolent struggle to liberate my beloved India from the British colonial occupiers.....

...Not all is as it seems."

The gas station owner, who was black and used to reading between the lines, thought he understood pretty well what Gandhi was up to and greatly respected the thin, sun burnt and bespectacled old man for it. It didn't quite make sense, but the business owner believed in tolerance. And he was hoping for some tips.

"Damn," he told his drinking buddies at the neighborhood bar - after knocking back a double of whiskey chased by a healthy slug from his National Bohemian beer, "he's this little scrawny old guy, but he's got these three FINE bitches in tow, and they never talk back to him, ever - like he's given 'em everything they need! Little skinny old man! He says he's a vegetarian. I'm thinking about it myself. I like meat and all, but Goddam! - Three fine assed bitches......."

In his free time, Gandhi would ride the Baltimore trolley system downtown to the Enoch Pratt Library, to research the distillation process by which crude oil is refined into gasoline.

He left the gas station after about three weeks, and went back to India. "Thank you, you have been very, very kind," effused Gandhi, a little twinkle in his eye, "but now I must go, for I have learned that the time for indigenous Indian gasoline manufacture has not yet arrived. May you be blessed with speedy release from your own wheel of Karma."

At this, the gas station owner took Gandhi by the arm and asked for a word in private, apart from the ever present and ravishingly beautiful three young sari-wrapped Hindu women.

"Mr. Gandhi, I don't mean any offense - I really don't - but between you and me, as one man to another, how do you do it? You and those three women - no, no, no, no! - I'm not asking how you DO it! - What I mean to say is, how do you keep them so happy? I could take care of three women when I was a young man, sure, but you're over sixty! Are their any special secret Hindu methods you can lay on me before you go? Seriously. I won't tell anybody."

Gandhi, the twinkle in his eye turning to delight, said very patiently and kindly - "Ah, I see you do not believe me! That is just as well. I have renounced those pleasures and so can surround myself with them, the better to battle with temptation. But this question you ask - it concerns the word which in English, I believe, is potency. Yes, there are methods. A diet free from most animal products - meat, and not too much milk...much of rice, legumes, vegetables, green, nuts...a little fish sometimes....you must eat little, never gorging. And I was perusing one of your medical journals, JAMA, at your wonderful public library. It informed me that preliminary research shows zinc to be very, very important for the male generative organs. But - most importantly", said Gandhi, adopting a tone slightly sterner or somber even, "you must always conserve your vital essence. This rule I never break, although these women ever tempt me. And now, with your leave, I will go back to my beloved India - which calls me back. If you wish to delve more into the mysteries of what I have just told you, you would profit, perhaps, from reading of about those whom, among the Taoists, are called The Immortals. There is a book also, called "The Secret of the Golden Flower". You may find it helpful. Due to the proximity of these women, I do not find it necessary to practice the "Deer Exercise", and also - my goals differ from those of these practices. But for your vitality, and if your wife is no longer sufficiently stimulating to you, you may find these practices quite beneficial. May your days be filled with peaceful vitality."

And, with a light whispering of his humble sandals on the hot Baltimore summer pavement, amidst the smell of gasoline and diesel and the impossibly beckoning fragrance' siren call of saris fading into the night, Gandhi left Baltimore and America, never to return.

He did, however, send a postcard to Baltimore the following Christmas, in respect of local Christian traditions.
posted by troutfishing at 12:31 PM on January 7, 2004


Here's what I like about this: Indians & other South Asians are so absent in popular culture that there's a debate whether this is a stereotype or not. Craploads of S.A.'s working in emergency rooms and motels, and they're so invisible that we haven't even created stereotypes for these roles yet. Why?
posted by ssukotto at 12:37 PM on January 7, 2004


The Indian/Pakistani gas station/convenience store clerk stereotype is a fairly well-known one, at least in the universe I inhabit.

I must inhabit a different universe; I'd never even heard of the stereotype, much less seen it in the wild, until this thread came along. Where I come from, everybody knows that all Indians are software programmers, and are usually pretty good at it, too.
posted by Mars Saxman at 1:07 PM on January 7, 2004


After listening to the Rightwing windbags on the radio frantically trying to blow this into a scandal I don't think I ever felt more confident that the GOP is running scared and vulnerable.
posted by RavinDave at 1:21 PM on January 7, 2004


Troutfishing hit the nail on the head.

Dhoyt, I think you're a little obsessed with contortionists. You keep accusing everyone of contorting everything in a thread about a woman putting her foot in her mouth. Get help. Or join the circus. But stop badgering people just because they are more nimble minded than you.
posted by Outlawyr at 1:30 PM on January 7, 2004


I'd never even heard of the stereotype, much less seen it in the wild, until this thread came along. Where I come from, everybody knows that all Indians are software programmers, and are usually pretty good at it, too.

In other words, since I'm not personally familiar with the Black People=Lazy stereotype, for example, and it doesn't resemble any African-American I currently know ("In fact, the ones I know are quite productive!"), then the discussion is moot and I am free to suggest publicly that Black people don't like to work. It was just a joke, get it? Case closed. Nothing to see here.

But stop badgering people just because they are more nimble minded than you.

I'm badgering hypocrites such as yourself. If being partisan and hypocritical requires a "nimble mind" have at it, fast as you can. I'm not interested. I twice voted for Clinton and never disliked Hilary, but I call bullshit on anyone who virulently attacks conservatives for similar comments while yawning at Hilary's.
posted by dhoyt at 1:40 PM on January 7, 2004


"I'm badgering hypocrites such as yourself. "

I'd like to know how I've been hypocritical.
posted by Outlawyr at 1:55 PM on January 7, 2004



Here's what I like about this: Indians & other South Asians are so absent in popular culture that there's a debate whether this is a stereotype or not. Craploads of S.A.'s working in emergency rooms and motels, and they're so invisible that we haven't even created stereotypes for these roles yet. Why?


Bingo! Words outta my mouth.
posted by anildash at 1:56 PM on January 7, 2004


I'd like to know how I've been hypocritical.

I'd like to know specifically how those I am "badgering" are more "nimble-minded" than me. In fact the opposite seems true since so few (other than squirrel, turbanhead & Pressed Rat) are willing to challenge their own subjectivity.
posted by dhoyt at 2:05 PM on January 7, 2004


This is a pretty standard public speaking convention -- the idea of quoting someone notable, then pretending to brush them off as no one: "..but he was just some farmer from the sticks." It's not a necessarily clever ploy, just a cliche that I've heard used before. I would imagine it started out as the technique of downplaying someone's origins ("Some old peanut farmer told me about that one, I think his name was Carter"), but then changed into a quirky misrepresentation for comic effect.

The rub comes in the fact that Hillary chose a career that apparently that nationality (ethnicity?) is known for. If she had said wheat farmer, we'd all be ok. She apologized and called her own attempt lame, so what's the problem? Find me an incident of a republican making an off-color comment that they've immediately apologized for, if this is so partisan.
posted by mikeh at 2:13 PM on January 7, 2004


Advantage: mikeh.
posted by squirrel at 2:17 PM on January 7, 2004




Having never voted for a Republican in my life, it's not easy to post links about racist scumbags who've apologized. They deserved the criticism they got.

I'm just curious and amused, though, why some of you attempt to defuse the discussion by skewing the arguement, downplaying the remarks, claiming to have never heard the stereotype, and otherwise offering a limp defense on behalf of someone who doesn't deserve it.
posted by dhoyt at 2:41 PM on January 7, 2004


dhoyt: Yes, but in which of those cases was the offended party used as a quote in context? I'm pretty sure McCain didn't say "Hey, this insightful quote is from Pat Robertson, such an asshole." The fact that Clinton used the quote as a positive seems to lead a different context to the even, at least to me.

This isn't to say it wasn't dumb. But I'd still say it's lame humor more than bias, since it was a quote that is seen positively in the context of the speech.

I'm defending this because it doesn't seem right. The context is all wrong. If she'd said he was a doctor, maybe it'd be a stereotype because that title implies the intellectual elite, but even that's a stretch. You don't use a quote from a role model to support your point then backhandedly dismiss them.
posted by mikeh at 2:49 PM on January 7, 2004


dhoyt; "nimble minded" was a play on words. Contortionist, nimble minded. Get it? In any event, if you are saying that you called me a hypocrit, not because I am one, but because I think other people are more nimble minded than you, I think that makes very little sense.
posted by Outlawyr at 2:52 PM on January 7, 2004


God, you people are funny.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 3:09 PM on January 7, 2004


Find me an incident of a republican making an off-color comment that they've immediately apologized for

I merely linked to what you asked for, mikeh. Google wasn't exactly short on "Politician Apologizes" stories, both from Democrats and Republicans equally.
posted by dhoyt at 3:13 PM on January 7, 2004


God, you people are funny.

who is "you people" referring to?
posted by mcsweetie at 3:51 PM on January 7, 2004


He was actually praying, mcsweetie. He used "you" instead of "your" as part of an Al Jolson joke.
posted by squirrel at 4:25 PM on January 7, 2004


I think it was a lame attempt at a joke that was obviously in bad taste and did offend others. I doubt Hillary stereotypes Indians as QuikiMart/gas station running folks, but I'm pretty sure she stereotypes them into some sort of political demographic as I see her as a very political person. No problem there, just a gaffe that she should and did apologize for. Certainly doesn't raise to Lott status, since his statement wasn't a gaffe, it was his racist viewpoint.

The thing I was surprised about was that I saw some NewsMax guy on MSNBC during prime breakfast time this morning babbling about this and other instances of her "racist jokes" for like 5 minutes, a looong time during that high viewing time. ( He said she called D'Amato Senator Tomato when he was running against Schumer in NY and said that was anti-Italian. She might be bad at jokes, but she ain't stupid enough to attack Italians in NY. (D'Amato sounds like the alternative pronunciation of tomato to me and a good line.) Anyway, this looong bullshit attack seems to me to be something that we can look "forward" to in 2008. Seems really weak to me. But why the hell did MSNBC go with it?
posted by superchris at 5:22 PM on January 7, 2004



Find me an incident of a republican making an off-color comment that they've immediately apologized for


And you haven't yet. Not one of those incidents was apologized for immediately, but only after days of pressure was applied. Of course, neither did Sen. Clinton.

The notable fact, of course, is that in all five cases, the pressure was applied by liberals.
posted by eriko at 5:22 PM on January 7, 2004


also, I'd like to submit this incident as proof that all democrats are racist.
posted by mcsweetie at 5:23 PM on January 7, 2004


dhoyt: you completely misunderstood me. I'm not defending Clinton or anyone else; I'm mocking the situation and everyone involved. Thanks to Metafilter, I get to hear about all kinds of bizarre ways to offend people, based on ethnic tensions that simply aren't part of my life; this is a new one, and it sounds just as silly as all the rest. It's such a lame thing to get worked up about that all I can do is make fun of it.
posted by Mars Saxman at 6:09 PM on January 7, 2004


The notable fact, of course, is that in all five cases, the pressure was applied by liberals.

Whaaaa?
/Jon Stewart


A whole hell of a lot of the pressure on Lott came from conservative bloggers.
posted by Mick at 8:42 PM on January 7, 2004


in less urban, car oriented cities and areas, convenience stores and gas stations are almost always one and the same.
posted by centrs at 11:43 PM on January 7, 2004




"...and in the 'What Were They Thinking?' category the nominees are..."

Man, I can't wait for her to run for President.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:57 AM on January 8, 2004


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