This is not the misogyny you’re looking for
So, Barack Babe Obama said: You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.
People decry it as sexist. That’s just dumb. It’s just an expression and a riff on the pitbull in lipstick remark made by Palin. Nothing to see here. But if you want some real sexist commentary, go here.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Watch the video. Note his pause for crowd reaction half-way through the phrase. When he gets reaction he finishes.
Are we really to believe that this type of vernacular just slips from the mouths of Harvard elites?
He knew EXACTLY what he was doing.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Yeah, I didn’t see the big deal either.
In the video I saw, he was a) Making it up as he went along, and b) talking about McCain and McCain’s claim to being able to change Washington.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Please. If she can use the expression, he can use it. There’s nothing sexist here. Not even close.
While idiots like anonymous are trying to spin straw into fool’s gold here, we’re not talking about real issues like the RKBA, energy independence, tax rates, education, Iraq, Afghanistan, urban blight, farming issues, etc.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:42 am
And while I have no great love for the man, you gotta be a goddamned fucking stupid idiot if you think BO is sexist. I mean…come the fuck on.
Idiots.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Yeah, his campaign never got involved in the overt sexism used against Hillary for example.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Sebastian, I think Obama is whatever he needs to be to win. If that means tossing a little sexism disguised as a joke, playing the race card, praising his enemies, etc. then so be it.
Do I think he walks around looking down on women as a general rule? No. But I don’t believe the man has enough scruples to avoid using sexist remarks if he thinks it will advance him in any way.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Robb,
While I agree that the guy is malleable like any politician and they’re all guilty of saying things from a policy point of view that they think we want to hear…
…that’s a far, far cry from saying “he’d be a sexist in order to win”. First of all, your position posits that making a sexist joke would help him win. Obviously, it wouldn’t. Secondly…WHAT THE FUCK, DUDE? He was using a common idiom that McCain has also used. He was OBVIOUSLY discussing McCain’s policy stances.
Where’s the sexism here? There isn’t any. Have you noticed that nobody’s bothered to actually explain where it might be?
Love ya mean it…but gimme a break dude.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I only look at others’ speech in one way – You meant what you said. I don’t subscribe to the “that was a poor choice of words, I know you didn’t mean it, BUT…” school of thought.
Obama and his supporters like to come off how great of a speaker he is, how ‘attuned’ to others he is and how that ability to transcend blah blah blah makes him the best candidate.
If that is true, then he knew damned well what he was insinuating. The phrase is standard, but being that Palin used the lipstick shtick previously, it would take a complete moron to not see the connection.
I just have a hard time believing he’s that stupid. Well, not really, but either way he either meant a tie in or he’s an idiot. I can deal with both scenarios.
And yes, he’s already thrown out the race card enough times to require him to purchase a new deck, sexism isn’t any less beneath him.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Oh, and I’m not claiming he is sexist any more than claiming I’m racist just because I’ve used disparaging words or jokes. Sometimes you do things for effect.
Is sexism bad for his campaign? Yup, so just don’t make it blatant. It’s red meat for the masses (or, blue meat in this instance).
Besides, it gave me some funny material to work with 😉
September 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I don’t believe “macaca” should have destroyed a political career, but it did.
I don’t really believe Trent Lott was praising racism, but that’s how his remark was portrayed.
Sauce for the gander, I say.
Let’s beat that idiot poseur over the head with every stick he gives us.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Even if we posit that he wasn’t just riffing on her use of the phrase for popular effect (which is pretty obviously what he was doing, she made political hay with the phrase and he was light heartedly referencing that) and we assume you’re right, then what you’re essentially saying is that he’s saying that the pig in question is Palin and not McCain’s Bush-like policy stances.
Uhm…ok, even if that’s rude, how is it sexist?
I’ll ask again, this time for the short bus crowd: where’s the sexism?
Come on, homey…obviously it’s the former, but the media is running with the latter because it drives ratings and I have to believe you’re smart enough to see that and not be duped…show me some sign that you grasp how silly the media is being here.
Not sure how those things are equivalent–not that I’m defending the race card play, but I don’t think addressing that sort of thing even when you shouldn’t necessarily means you’re willing to use sexism as a tool (which would be stupid since it would only hurt your campaign anyway).
So I leave ya with…where’s the sexism? It ain’t there. Not that I’m trying to be an Uncle sycophant…but geeze people, this ain’t hard.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I can lean towards “stupid!”, that’s fine. He probably didn’t see how that would have applied to Palin, I can agree there.
Doesn’t mean I’m not going to have a laugh at his expense though 😉
September 10th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I’d also lean towards “stupid” on his part. How he could think that it plays well with the average voter though is the amazing part. Then again, the prevailing standard seems to be that if you’re a Democrat it’s only racist or sexist if it’s directed towards you.
Eagle 1
September 10th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I think that it is ridiculous that Obama is being raked over the coals for using a common idiom, and he is totally right about telling the press and republicans to knock off the silly criticism. In a spirit of cooperation, I believe that McCain should say that all old idioms are not sexist or racist, and follow it with this quote, “Mr. Obama says he is for the individual right to keep and bear arms, but I have to call a spade a spade!” I mean, that’s an equally old expression and has NO racist undertones whatsoever….right? That would be perfectly acceptable to Obama supporters and couldn’t possibly be construed as anything other than an old idiom that has been commonly used in the past in reference to white people, and has nothing to do with Obama’s race…right?
September 10th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Uhm…hello? Earth to Eagle1? It’s also the prevailing standard that it’s not sexist to use the phrase as far as anyone can tell…so once again, I’ll give you the shortbus version:
WHERE IS THE SEXISM HERE?
We won’t be holding our breath waiting for you to remove that boot from your craw.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Oh, and how exactly is it “stupid” to use an idiom that everyone with an IQ near room temp knows isn’t sexist?
I’m no Obama lover, but goddamn if I can’t see that the only stupid thing here is the fact that the McCain campaign is taking us down this road.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
What’s hilarious is watching the GOP talking heads trying to defend the “he called her a pig” stance on Chris Matthews.
Hilarious.
Guys…I’m no Obama fan, but seriously. Drop this.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Obama has used it in the past:
So has John McCain, when speaking about Hillary Clinton:
This is a completely manufactured outrage by the same people who were silent when people were selling Hillary nutcrackers and Citizens United Not Timid shirts just a few months ago.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
What it boils down to is Team Swift Boat suggesting that BO was saying Palin was a pig. Uhm…ok? Next.
The sad thing is the media was gullible enough to waste an entire day on it. Fifty-odd days till the election and people are worried about whether he’s name calling.
Geezus Effing Christ on a farking stick, people. Grow the fuck up.
September 10th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I’m inclined not to care. I do think Obama knew how it would play while giving him plausible deniability, but so what?
He has hurt himself with it. Seems fair. But don’t we all have better things to do than get upset over this? I can think of at least half a dozen worse things he has said. Things that could be used to beat his candidacy to death with.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Did I say THIS was a sexist remark?!!!!! No, I said it was stupid. Getting all defensive about double standards are we? Hmmm? Speaking of grow up……..
Eagle 1