"My poor choice of words was regrettable and in no way intended to impugn you or your integrity." Just black men in general and your decision-making ability.

Are you quoting the guy mentioned in this article or Jimmy Carter?

Don't forget this little gem from the Clark County GOP.

It is going to be amazing to see how these right wingers spend the next 4 years trying to destroy Obama the way they tried to destroy Clinton.

I'm sure they have Ken Starr on speed dial so they can ring him after the election.

They are looking for a blue dress as I post this.

What a depressing thought. I think the left needs to step up its media game to level the playing field on this.

The Left has already made great progress since 2004.  The Swiftboat Liars went largely unchallenged, at least in the minds of the greater public.  Now, with the blogosphere and liberal talk radio, the word is getting out there that PalinTwit is lying through her capped teeth.

Nice to see that you support wife-beaters, pet-killers and cops who drink on the job...because that's essentially what you're doing if you're judging Palin on trying to get that trooper removed.

Is that why a bipartisan investigation found that she was abusing her power?

They weren't even investigating WHY!

They weren't investigating "why" what?  That comes off as a non sequitur.

Dex wrote:

>>Nice to see that you support wife-beaters, pet-killers and cops who drink on the job...because that's essentially what you're doing if you're judging Palin on trying to get that trooper removed.

I was unaware that the trooper was a wife beater or a pet killer. But if Palin wants to get  him fired, there are legal ways to do it. The bipartisan commission found she did tried to get him fired in an "unlawful" way.  If you don't believe in the rule of law, then  you could get fired on bogus grounds, and your boss could start bringing up all sorts of  charges, some unture, some exaggerated, and some  having nothing to do with how well you do your job.

Are you comfortable with Palin abusing power? And are you comfortable with her continual lies, almost too numerous to mention here?

Thing is, the man wasn't a wife beater or did they find that he drank on the job. He tasered his son, after his son asked him to do it (not a wise parental move there in my opinion, but I digress). The man was apparently so bad, that, yes, he kept his job.

And as Dex wrote above, it wasn't about lawfully removing him from his position, it was how she went about it, unlawfully, or I should say, trying to get him removed from his job. The investigation was about the head state trooper who got fired, not her former brother in law.

magnolialover wrote:

>>Thing is, the man wasn't a wife beater or did they find that he drank on the job.

That's what Dex is talking about--tasering his son? How is that wife beating, Dex? By the way, the judge in the divorce case was quite irate at Palin for aggressivley attacking the trooper. The judge wrote something like "Don't kill the golden goose," meaning, if the wife wan'ted alimony and child support, don't try to get the trooper fired. The judge thought Palin was way out of line--and that was way before the investigation even started.

Do you think that was in the best interest of the public?

We're supposed to be a nation of laws. Best interest of the public is subjective and premature to the argument. What dem are you willing to cut such slack?

Dex wrote:

>>Do you think that was in the best interest of the public?

What, are you playing troll now by posting short enigmatic statements? What do you mean by "that?" If you mean the judge's statement, I absolutely do believe it was in the public's interest. The judge was acting as a non-partisan, way before any investigation was under way. Do you seriously think it is in the best interest to ignore judges in divorce cases?

By the way, you didn't even bother trying to defend your statements that the trooper was a pet killer or a wife beater. Were you just that wrong?

It is going to be amazing to see how these right wingers spend the next 4 years trying to destroy Obama the way they tried to destroy Clinton.

You can get a preview of it today by listening to the radio pukefests presided over by Jeff Christie, Sean Hannity, and M. Rotten Levin....

I think Corsi's detention shtick is the dress rehearsal for the next 4 years of smears.

No doubt.  As I remember,  PigBoy Limbaugh was peddling fear and loathing all through the 92 campaign, but I don't remember it being quite this putrid.  I think the wheels will come off the GOP propaganda machine over the next few weeks, and they'll be spewing the most incredible lies they can fabricate.  

If Obama wins, the Troglodytes in Congress will be introducing articles of impeachment before Thanksgiving.

Steve King is still at it.  

"I'm thinking Obama doesn't understand this chess game," said King. "If you're a chess player, you don't want somebody to come along and move your bishop for you and then walk away, somebody that's only a checkers player.

"I'm worried about the root of his values and the experience of his life. I'm looking for a place in his lifetime where you'd want to put a young child and say this is how we'd nurture and raise a president. I can't find that place."

Why does "uppity" get flagged as an example. I'm not following that.

There's some significant baggage with that word, especially when used to refer to someone with any African ancestry.  In many parts of the country, that has been a word commonly used to describe a black person who does not know his or her place, i.e. one who is not seen to be appropriately deferential to whites.

Although I'm white, I unfortunately have witnessed some examples of this - I can see why that would be flagged.

Here you go.

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/opinion/stories/2008/09/10/westmorelanded.html

I could not have (and therefore did not) say it better.

Why does "uppity" get flagged as an example. I'm not following that. Yes, Bruce, I'm sure they mean to use uppity in the best of all possible lights.  I'm sure they're not using the first definition below. Bruce living under rock. Jeeze. Ah, maybe they've just internalized their racism and don't recognize it as such. And you don't either. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're a young person who's never heard of this term being used to denigrate black people (and women).  uppity negro     Main Entry: up·pi·ty ne·gro
Pronunciation: 'up + -ity 'nE-(")grO
Function: proper noun
: a fearless black person who by social definition is "not in their place”
:a Black person who is committed to reversing the crimes of self-refusal, self-denial, and self-hatred that are endemic to the Black community and detrimental to the Black psyche
: UNAPOLOGETIC. VAINGLORIOUS. MULTIFARIOUS. JUST AUDACIOUS.

Nelson Mandela, Zora Neal Hurston, and Frederick Douglas are some examples of the uppity negro.

"No one wants a black president more than I do, just so we can stop walking on egg shells".  Ann Coulter from above

Poor Anne. Who feels sorry foe her?

It makes you wonder - if she's been walking on eggshells, what's she like when she isn't walking on eggshells?   

Julia, I was not aware that "uppity" had racial overtones.  To me it simply means "snobbish".  I never claimed that it wasn't a criticism.

Then buy a clue. It's been used ubiquitously for many years to subjugate both blacks and women who "get out of place". I'm sorry, ignorance is NO damn excuse. I know you're usually a good guy, but damn man......! Get out of that bubble. Sheesh. Being uppity here. :-0)

uppity

The adjective has one meaning:

Meaning #1: presumptuously arrogant

This meaning is what I know, and it does not have racial or gender overtones.  Obviously people have used it that way as I have been shown.

But here's the thing Bruce: Barack Obama is an equal, a citizen. Proof that anyone of any background and any race can (and probably will) be president. BUT, he's still black....and more so to the left and his supporters than everyone else. If Barack Obama was an oppressed, disenfranchised African-American, I can see why using the term "uppity" against him would be stupid and slurish...but he's not, he's got a 5-point lead with 3 weeks to go in the Presidential election. So, if I think the content of Obama's character is "uppity" (and we're using MLK's desired criteria on who a person is), it doesn't matter what the hell his skin color is.

If Barack Obama was an oppressed, disenfranchised African-American, I can see why using the term "uppity" against him would be stupid and slurish...

Sorry, Dex, what you just said made absolutely NO sense. It's precisely because he's not disenfranchised (or whatever you're attempting to suggest) is the reason that the lablel is being applied. And just because you're in your 20's, no you don't get a pass. Why not try getting informed to have a better understanding of the world. Many examples have been posted here. Read them at least. 

He's "more" black to his supporters than to everyone else?  Like everyone else has this Colbertesque inability to see race or something?  And how on earth do you think that being ahead in the election justifies the use of a racially-charged term?

It's not a racially-charged term unless you take it like that...the word can and is used for whites, asians, polynesians, etc etc that act pompous and arrogant.

No, it's a racially-charged term.  Do you ask a bunch of black guys if they want fried chicken and watermelon?  People of all races might eat that, but it has a specific connotation for black people.  It's the same for "uppity".

I'm not sure it's that easy to sweepingly declare it a "racially charged term."  Although I would be reluctant to use the word "uppity", because my experience cautions me that it is a racially charged term, it easily may not be so for others.

I used to think the phrase "lets call a spade a spade" always was taboo, until I heard it used by people who weren't racists at all and used the phrase in contexts that had nothing to do with race.

In fact, my former employer used the phrase all the time, and she was then a 62 year old black woman from the south (well, from as far south as Baltimore). She used it to "cut to the chase", so to speak, or when she thought others were full of sh!t.  It originally struck me as odd that she used the phrase so frequently, but maybe it's something her father used to say, or her neighbors, or whoever, and it stuck with her.  One thing for certain, she didn't employ the phrase with the intention of promoting the use of a racially-charged term. . ..

I still don't use the phrase, but I'm definitely reluctant to condemn so quickly others who do . . . .

Intent has nothing to do with it.  If you use the phrase without knowing of the racist nature of its usage, it's still racially charged.  The nature of reality doesn't end at your fingertips.

I disagree, but you touch on the point I was trying to make.  Like my former boss, it's quite conceivable that to many people the word "uppity" or the phrase 'call a spade a spade" do not by themselves have a "racist nature" and are not, standing alone, "racially charged."  They're words whose dictionary definitions likely contain no reference to race, or if they do, have multiple other definitions as well. They're "racially charged" to many people only because of the intent with which they've used them, or have heard them used.  The "reality" is, they're not slurs in and of themselves.

The perception from the group that finds it offensive is what determines the nature of it, not the intent of the person saying it.  If you used the term "uppity" to a black person unknowing of its racially-charged nature, you'd get hell for it.  You could possibly convince that person that you didn't know, but you couldn't blame that person for being offended.  That's the key.  It's not like you could say "screw you, in the dictionary it says..."  No.  Black people find it offensive because it was used as a code word for black people who wouldn't all but declare themselves inferior to white people.  Therefore it's racially-charged, whether it's intended to be or not.

I see your point.  But that being the case, at the end of the day I see no offense, in most cases, if someone were to use the word "uppity" or the phrase "call a spade a spade" but their non-racial intent was misconstrued as racist.

I hate to keep harping on my former employer, but I'll use what I said above as an example. As mentioned, she frequently used the phrase "lets call a spade a spade."  It usually came during someone's drawn out explanation for something or an otherwise BS excuse. Now if I were to use that phrase in front of her, I'm quite positive that she would've taken no offense to it as a black woman.  But say that, speaking to my former boss, I did use the phrase and another black individual was present who did take offense.  Does that make my use of the phrase in poor taste or pernicious?  I don't think so, and I likely wouldn't feel all that guilty that he or she misconstrued my intent. It would be an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Anyway, like I said, I definitely see your point above, and this last post likely isn't written very well, but I gotta log off and go home . . . .  Have a good one . . . 

I'm not sure "call a spade a spade" has the same sort of history, and so I'm not sure it's as distinct in meaning.

In any event, you really can't blame that person for taking offense, whether you feel guilty or not, whether it's just an unfortunate mistake or not.  There's certainly some subjectivity there.  Circumstances, frequency of use, location, personal history and other factors make a difference.  I recognize "whip" as a racially charged term, but when McCain uses it while talking about the next debate, I can say that might not mean anything.  Taken by itself, it's understandable that someone might say that without giving any thought at all to racial connotations.  Back to "uppity", when you're talking about a man who grew up in Georgia in the 50's, you can bet all you have that he knows full damn well what that word means.  Both have racial connotations, but "uppity" is particularly distinct.

What group finds it offensive? Angry white liberal blog posters?

Black people.

If we're at a picnic and that's what there is to eat, then yes, I'm going to ask them that, idiot.

You know what you're really doing with all this? What the total effect will be? Desensitization....like the boy who cried wolf. If everything is a racist term, nothing will be.

You can change the circumstances to make anything seem reasonable, idiot.  I'm not talking about a picnic where those two things are the only food available.

You can also deny the existence of racially-charged speech, but it is out there.  Unless you feel some need to express that sort of speech yourself, I don't know why you're so defensive about it.

Maybe it's a regional thing, and "uppity" isn't racially charged in all communities.  That makes sense; but in Georgia, coming from him, the meaning is clear to those for whom it was intended.  Code isn't effective unless it has plausible deniability.    

I think certain people forget that the term originally was "uppity n*****". People think that by dropping off the second word that the entire meaning changed, or that we've moved beyond Mark Twain and the tales of huckleberry finn, but the fact remains uppity by itself is used for the purpose of derision. It has typically been followed by a noun to exaggerate the effect, like uppity women, but the point here is I've certainly never heard it used to describe joe sixpack. It boils down to intent, doesn't it? Do people really think they were assuming Barack or his wife were just an average joe when they heard someone call them uppity?

You're right - I agree that some have forgotten the original complete insult.  I don't think Westmoreland and his ilk have forgotten, though. The question is intent and the intent is there.

I've recently discovered that the racial interpretation of "uppity" isn't as universal as I thought.  I've long associated it with race, but when the Westmoreland thing came up my wife asked about it.  She was acquainted with the word, but didn't connect it with racism.  It surprised her a little that it had that association for so many.

Maybe it's a Minnesota thing.

A very reasoned response to Bruce's honest question, thank you Bill........instead of slapping at him under the rock he was living under.  :)

Tommy, do you know how hard it is to slap somebody living under a rock....hurts! Ouch. :-0) 

That's what sledge hammers are for, JJ!

Whatever Julia. Maybe you should get into a bubble that will make you not worry if every word is a racist, discriminatory, hurt-my-feelings slur. You'll be a lot happier, I'm sure. Or, you're already just full of it and will say/do anything against non-lefties.

Ignorance is a great excuse; some people use it to get into college.

See my reply to you above junior. It has nothing to do with political leanings.  

Oh and I am full of it! :-0) Everybody here knows that. :-0)

Hey Dex,

You must not have read many of Julia's posts at this site. She is hardly "full of it" nor will "she say/do anything against non-lefties". Julia is a very reasonable & fair poster. She has never refused to listen to the other side of an argument. I should know, we've been debating back & forth for awhile here.

She happens to be correct here.

Ignorance is a great excuse; some people use it to get into college. - dex

Why bring Bush into this?

Duh, Bush was a legacy, that's why he got in.

From an essay about lynching at PBS.org, a supplimental to the American Experience documentary on the murder of Emmet Till:

Killed for Being "Insolent"
Although rape is often cited as a rationale, statistics now show that only about one-fourth of lynchings from 1880 to 1930 were prompted by an accusation of rape. In fact, most victims of lynching were political activists, labor organizers or black men and women who violated white expectations of black deference, and were deemed "uppity" or "insolent." Though most victims were black men, women were by no means exempt.

COULTER: No one wants a black president more than I do, just so we can stop walking on egg shells.

I have no idea what this is suppose to mean.  Anyone else understand it?

she feels oppressed by the historical ill-treatment of African Americans -if the US elects a Black Man as president, then she hopes that this will erase the entire history of a lighter skin human oppressing darker skin humans. 

Of course, she's wrong, but she doesn't understand that either. 

Cue the Repugnant apologists. 

Is anyone keeping count of how many times someone in the McCain campaign has had to issue a statement of correction or apology for the inflamatory and inappropriate comments being made in regards to Barack Obama's character? First they throw the meat to their rabid followers and then they ask for forgiveness. Seems like a premeditated tactic to me.

Now you know.

That's the problem with racists - they can't or don't recognize what racist speech is. That's just normal everyday conversation to them.

I'm sorry bruce but you must be joking. Unless you are under 18 or have ignored tv for the last 20 years if you are over 18 you are really trying to say that you have NEVER heard the word "Uppity" in it's context as a derogitary term fo black people in the US? Hell, I have heard it used on US tv films and shows and mini series such as "Roots", "North And South" and the films "Mississipi Burning" and "The Long Walk Home".

That's correct, I have not.  I have now been shown that it does have a racial history.

Unless you are under 18 or have ignored tv for the last 20 years if you are over 18 you are really trying to say that you have NEVER heard the word "Uppity" in it's context as a derogitary term fo black people in the US? - ukobserver

I find it easier to believe now than I would have a few weeks ago.  Please see my earlier reply to bruce.

I find it very interesting that this has been turned into a race issue, when most of those critical of the Republicans have not actually used the word race. We are worried about a more inclusive form of hatred that seems to being fed by the right, race is only one part of it. This goes far beyond the McCain/Palin Campaign. The hate mongers in the media, Fox News especially, the evangelical churches and the current administration have made it a practice to associate anyone against Republican ideals with terrorism for quite a while now. We have less to fear from foreign terrorist than we do from another Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph thanks to these right wing fear mongers. Lets rememberwho was fanning this hatred the next time some right wing religious nut bag blows up a Planned Parenthood facility or a federal building killing 100s of innocent people and make sure we hold them responsible as well.

I do not watch H&C for I don.t want to puke in front of the kids,But I'm hoping that Barack beats JohnnyMac in a landslide,I will watch that station all day on Nov 5th,to see the "CROW"feast.

Hey! There's Ann Coulter. I was almost beginning to miss her.

Off topic but want to make note of this.  I'm listening to the replay of Hannity's radio show.  He noted the 900 point rise in the stock market today, and then next said that "free markets will correct themselves". (This after the massive amounts of money pledged to correct the markets; including trillions over the weekend by the Europeans to their banking system.)

I really don't think Hannity is all that bright. 

Who are these "extreme left-wing" democrats? I'd like to see who these people are because I never see anyone who reflects what I would call an extreme left-wing democrat. I'd probably vote for them if I could