http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/on-the-ground-with-lamont_b_26316.html
Posted on 08/02/2006 10:27:42 AM PDT by Jeff Fuller
See my original commentary at "my Iowans for Romney blog entry"
******* Boston Herald columnist, Virginia Buckingham, recently wrote a peice titled "Mitt unduly tarred with Mel’s brush". It represents a semi-apology to Romney, and, if not that, at least a well-reasoned defense of his use of the term.
It’s a coincidence that Gov. Mitt Romney is taking heat for what some see as a racial slur in the same news cycle as Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant.A voice of reason coming out of Boston? I thought Romney was the only capable of that!But it would be a real shame if there was no distinction made by the guardians against discrimination between Romney’s common reference and Gibson’s disgusting tirade.
All slurs are not created equal.
Romney quickly apologized for his use of the term “tar baby” to describe his involvement in the Big Dig political mess. If unintentional bigotry loves company, Romney has plenty of it including Sen. John Kerry, The Boston Globe editorial board, the Boston Herald editorial board, White House press secretary Tony Snow and WBUR’s “On Point” host Tom Ashbrook.
In a June 2003 Boston Globe profile, Kerry described his leadership of a congressional committee on missing soldiers in Southeast Asia as a potential “tar baby.”
In a 1994 editorial, the Globe described U.S. dealings with Iran as resembling a “tar baby” and even articulated the term’s assumed meaning in a 1998 editorial on China’s censoring of the Internet: “The Communist rulers of Beijing ended last year tangling with a tar baby. The tar baby - passive, sticky and invincible - was played by the Internet, which the leaders want to censor.”
The Herald weighed in on Romney’s Turnpike merger proposal in a 2004 editorial noting “What lawmaker wouldn’t want to pass this tar baby to the guy who may be running for re-election in 2006?”
More recently, in May, the White House’s Snow colorfully refused to comment on a government surveillance program saying that doing so would “hug the tar baby.”
And Ashbrook, as well as Romney apparently, missed the resulting brouhaha since the WBUR host also used the term in a June 16 broadcast to describe the Guantanamo prison issue.
I personally have used the term tar baby, at least in conversation, if not in writing (though I’ve done that, too) plenty of times in my 19-plus year career.
And I confess not only did I not know of its racial implications, I also didn’t know of its origination as a literary trap for Br’er Rabbit. The Boston Globe’s language expert, Jan Freeman, filled me in on that in a June column.
Ignorance isn’t an excuse, it is only an explanation. I assume most, if not all, of those who were offended by Romney will accept his explanation and apology and, more, understand his comment in the spirit in which he offered it.
Seriously though, Romney was immediately denounced by the "race baiters" community and painted as a racist for using the term. I commented before how they seem to give Democrats/Liberals a pass when they use the same term. Where was the public outcry when John Kerry used it? How can the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald use the term without even a ripple, but when Romney says it to a small group in Iowa, it's major national news? How can the term be used in this Massachusetts Magazine article JUST TWO WEEKS AGO without any public outcry (Hat tip: Jason Bonham at Illinoisians for Mitt for this last one) . . . I mean Romney is NOT the first person to refer to the BIG DIG as a "tar baby". To quote the article:
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: At first blush he appears to be a winner, as he calmly rolls up those white shirt sleeves and takes control — but not so fast. Mr. Clean may have gotten national credit for purging the Winter Olympics of scandal, but this ceiling panel thing could prove a tar baby for him yet.Funny how they can refer to the BIG DIG as a "tar baby" without repercussions but Romney cannot.
I mean, Sen Biden said some pretty racist stuff while being unknowingly recorded about Indians running gas stations and largely got "a pass" from the MSM . . . now Romney means no offense and gets lambasted for it. Utterly amazing!
HILLARY said some pretty racist stuff while being recorded about Indians running gas stations
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/on-the-ground-with-lamont_b_26316.html
The phrase "tar baby" is just another name for quagmire. It's reference comes from children's stories.
Really? I'd love to see a source on that one.
It seems to matter which ethnic group you bash I guess . . . Again, the hypocrisy really bothers me.
Agreed, this whole issue is pure silliness!
IMHO, if we're planning on surviving and being victorious against our real enemies, this country will need to stop looking for and magnifying slights.... develop a thick skin and focus on the task ahead of us all.
The white folks over at the Globe are pretty sensitive about certain words.
Romney should not have apologized.
No, he shouldn't have,and neither should have Trent Lott-why are Republicans so easily intimidated by those who have no moral authority to do so? It's frustrating. Apologising for nothing only validates their hypocrisy.
Where was all their indignation with Je$$e Jack$on and "Hymietown", for just one example?
Good (yet, sad) point.
I don't have a source but she was drunk and mentioned Gandi owned some gas station in St. Louis - it was a couple of years ago.
I tell ya Jeff, it's really easy to take shots at people from Boston (and MA in general). From afar, I understand the way this place is viewed. But the truth is, this place is like an American version of Lebanon or Fallujah. The majority of the people (moderates and conservative) are held captive by a radical liberal minority. People here are more like Col David Hunt of Fox (from Scituate, MA) than they are like John Kerry or Ted Kennedy.
It took about 100 years for it to happen but the control is now complete because they control the elections through corruprtion and massive patronage.
"tar baby" is a character in a fictional book that is a metaphor for intentionally putting oneself into a situation they cannot get out of.
It has NOTHING to do with race.
The hypocrisy combined with the abuse of our language hits two of my pet peeves! Communication is not dependent on a single term. I hold the listener responsible for the communication failure when they ignore context to focus on a single term, which ironically, then demonstrates their own ignorance.
"marshmellow creme baby"
Think of how many poor white children would be scarred by such a term...oh, well maybe not.
I have to agree with you here . . . He didn't hold a press conference to apologize and didn't even offer his own words . . . just his press secretary who said:
``The governor was describing a sticky situation," said Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor's spokesman. ``He was unaware that some people find the term objectionable, and he's sorry if anyone was offended."
Sort of the "I'm sorry you misunderstood my meaning you idiots" kind of response.
You shouldn't have to apologize for other people being brainless.
Agree with you on how overblown the Trent Lott thing went . . . he should have had more support from Republicans on that one. He should have offered an "apology" similar to Romney's and stayed in his job.
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