Senator John S. McCain offered an apology in Cedar Falls today after he used the word “tar-baby†in response to a rather arcane question from an Iowa voter about federal intervention in divorce and custody cases. The phrase is considered by some to be a racial epithet.
In response to the question, Mr. McCain said that he was not going to take a position that it was proper “to declare divorces invalid because of someone who feels they weren’t treated fairly in court; we are getting into a tar-baby of enormous proportions and I don’t know how you get out of that.â€Â
When told after the event that the word was viewed by some as a racial epithet, Mr. McCain responded: “I hope that it’s not viewed that way.†A moment later, he apologized. “I don’t think I should have used that word and I was wrong to do it.â€Â
One of Mr. McCain’s rival, Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, apologized last year for using the word in referring to the troubled “Big Dig†highway project in Boston.
Thanks to Adam Nagourney. I’m not going to get into the fair use question because that would be a simulacrum of an infant human made out of a sticky substance sometimes associated with road construction.
update: Jeff’s previous discussion of the use of “tar baby” found here; video of McCain here.
Tar Baby
Guess Who
Well I never been much for putting up with crap,
That’s why it’s so hard not to say
That I’m had it to here fed up with your foolish insanity
And if it please Your Highness on a sunny day sometime
Can I take your picture at the protest I support the troops sign?
(Chorus)
Tar Baby
Crazy little nutroot moonbat goofy dumbass mama singin’
Tar Baby
Whiny little quagmire self-regardin’ machine
I’ve never been much good at keepin’ a secret
So it’s easy for me to say
That I’m laughin’ my ass off about the stupid shit that you say to me.
And if it please Your Highness on a sunny day sometime
Can you just IM me, babe?
I’ll tell you what I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
(Chorus)
Well I saw you last night on that Larry King show
And now it’s easy for me to say
That I’m not really sure which of you won that round of inanity–
And if it please Your Highness on a sunny day sometime
Can you take me drivin’ maybe blow me in your Prius, yeah?
(Chorus)
Curt at Flopping Aces on Plame’s testimony.
Lee adds meat to Astros’ order
Freaking vegetarians.
Gore gets signatures for climate change
And if we get enough of them, it will be real! And that would be coo . . . er, hot!
Adam Nagourney? Accusing a Republican of insensitivity? What IS this world coming to?
The appropriate response, rather than an apology, would have been “It’s not my fault some people are stupid.”
So my chances of being elected even dog catcher are slim to none, I’d say.
Is there any word that isn’t viewed by someone as a racial epithet?
I mean, if you’re determined to be outraged, you will find a way.
TW: french56. Outrageous!
Someone should explain to John the federal government’s role in creating that tar baby that he now wants no part of. See the previous thread.
Oh, and if you don’t like the term, please go fuck yourself and read Uncle Remus. Your failure to understand does not equate to insensitivity on my part.
You do know that a tar-baby is nothing more than a doll covered in tar with a little turpentine?
People need to lighten up. That was a good use of the term, and he’s right that’s a nasty legal quagmire that it is best to avoid.
I think the Iraqis should start objecting to the use of the word “quagmire” as racially insensitive. I think the MSM would have a collective nervous breakdown.
I am offended by the use of quagmire. It is a slur against the character of soft miry land.
If we hadn’t created it, there’d be nothing to avoid. Ignoring the problem will not solve it, and it needs solving.
Yet another reason I won’t vote for McCain. Rushing to apologize for something it was clear he didn’t mean is an example of ceding control over your words to an interpretive community that—once they have been priviliged—may pick and choose whose speech to demonize and whose to accept.
In short, untethering meaning from intent (nobody believes McCain’s intent here was to be racially insensitive) enables meaning to become whatever the interpretive community says it is.
Why so niggardly in your commentary?
McCain was rushing to respond to his real base—the press.
But is Barack Obama “sticky” enough?
At least they’re not a bunch of Bible-thumpers.
There you go again. Tweaking the good Dr Hagerty and his merry pranksters.
Issue a statement fully supporting the unfettered right of anyone to retract their tar baby statement using Federal funds.
Problem solved.
It’s kind of crass for McCain to perpetuate the “enormous proportions” cliché.
Dr. Egon Spengler: Well, let’s say this tar-baby represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning’s reading, it would be a tar-baby thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.
Winston Zeddemore: That’s a big tar-baby.
Yes, we’ve been over this “tar baby” thing before, and, the pity of it is, “tar baby” is at some times a very apt metaphor that is not the same thing as a “quagmire”.
However, as I said to Jeff last time we perused this endless line of human stupidity, in a political context it’s better not to use terms that you have to explain. For this reason, I wouldn’t use the term “tar baby” myself, in a POLITICAL context. It gets one off message.
It goes without saying that anyone (“some people”) who consider “tar baby” a racial epithet are ignoramuses who contribute nothing to the Republic but their hurt feelings.
I believe the PC term is “Christo-fascists”.
Are they the ones who keep covering our parks in gaudily colored material against our wills, Robert?
Shut up, you @#$!ing quaggot!
The term is a cultural artifact. People are using the opportunity to take offense, becuase thats the currency of victimhood.
When the cultural artifacts are physical things they become highly collectible. Picaniny post cards, signs with exaggerated racial features, i.e. black features, stuff like that brings a premium. The more offensive the better.
and everyone collects them, black and white, who knows the reasons.
This might be OT, but I just found out about it and thought it was funny as Hell, and it is language related so shut up.
Como?
Macht Nichts.
What about Briar Patch? Are you allowed to say that?
As for whether they speak English in Georgia, last time I was in Macon I only understood one word, and that was qaalude.
American chicks are so giving.
tw why69 this is getting out of hand
Littering is a CRIME!
If you kick the h out of **phie, you get **pie.
“turpintine” is too close to serpentine. That makes it a code word for a slur on lawyers. I am outraged on John Edwards behalf! Hissssssssss!
tw: report15. That is all.
Good reason. If he’s that quick to see himself at fault here, he wouldn’t enjoy being President anyway.
But who is the next Republican President going to be? What are your options?
I’m involved in a top-secret program to clone Ronald Reagan, but without the polyps.
Disney won’t release “Song of the South” in the US because the boomer generation has declared it “racist”. They sell it in Japan, however, and you can meet Br’er Rabbit outside Splash Mountain at Disney World.
And there’s an all-black remake from another studio; same story, but apparently this version’s “acceptable”.
So what I’m saying is, I’m utterly confused at what’s “racist” and what’s not anymore.
Yeah, Robert, but where’s Br’er Faux?