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'Tar baby’ quip lands Mitt in muddle
Boston Herald ^ | 07/31/06 | Laurel J. Sweet

Posted on 07/31/2006 6:33:52 AM PDT by JRochelle

Prominent black Bay Staters are outraged by Gov. Mitt Romney’s use of the words “tar baby” to describe the Big Dig as he stumped for presidential points in Iowa. “Tar baby is a totally inappropriate phrase in the 21st century. If Calvin Coolidge didn’t use it, why the hell should Mitt Romney?” railed Larry Jones, a black Republican and civil rights activist. Tar baby can refer to a sticky mess, but it also has been recognized as an epithet to humiliate black people. President Bush’s spokesman Tony Snow learned that in May when his expression, “I don’t want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program,” raised the hackles of political correctness. “He thinks he’s presidential timber,” Jones said yesterday of Romney, “but all he’s shown us is arrogance.”

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bostonherald.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: hypersensitivity; niggardly; romney; tarbaby
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1 posted on 07/31/2006 6:33:53 AM PDT by JRochelle
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To: JRochelle

Larry did not do as well in literature class as he should have.


2 posted on 07/31/2006 6:35:33 AM PDT by muawiyah (-/sarcasm)
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To: JRochelle

Oh grow a freaking HIDE for gawdsakes!!!!


3 posted on 07/31/2006 6:35:37 AM PDT by mkjessup (The Shah doesn't look so bad now, eh? But nooo, Jimmah said the Ayatollah was a 'godly' man.)
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To: JRochelle
Needless to say -- would be okay had a democrat said it.
4 posted on 07/31/2006 6:35:48 AM PDT by BenLurkin ("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
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To: JRochelle

What does Calvin Coolidge have to do with this?


5 posted on 07/31/2006 6:36:31 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I've always wanted to be 40 ... and it's as good as I anticipated!)
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To: muawiyah
Does Larry's deck of cards only have clubs, hearts and diamonds because the word spade was used for black people?
6 posted on 07/31/2006 6:37:15 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Loose lips sink ships - and the New York Times really doesn't have a problem with sinking ships.)
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To: JRochelle

Tar baby is offensive because...why, exactly?


7 posted on 07/31/2006 6:37:28 AM PDT by cloud8
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To: Tax-chick

Clearly Mitt is not only a racist, he is also niggardly. /sarcasm


8 posted on 07/31/2006 6:37:36 AM PDT by Tulane
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To: JRochelle

When I hear the words "Tar baby" I immediately think Brer Rabbit.


9 posted on 07/31/2006 6:38:02 AM PDT by cripplecreek (If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?)
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To: JRochelle
http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mb060727sw

In a related development, Disney Exec Bob Iger decided against releasing Song of the South on DVD.

10 posted on 07/31/2006 6:38:50 AM PDT by sportutegrl (A person is a person, no matter how small. (Dr. Seuss))
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To: muawiyah

“The best thing for me to do politically is stay away from the Big Dig - just get as far away from that tar baby as I possibly can.”

What offends me more is how he states that it would be better for him to stay away from the Big Dig.
Its his JOB to deal with it!


11 posted on 07/31/2006 6:38:54 AM PDT by JRochelle
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To: JRochelle
Tar baby can refer to a sticky mess, but it also has been recognized as an epithet to humiliate black people.

It does not! It does not! It does not! It does not!

Maybe if I repeat myself, people will listen.

The important thing about a tar baby is that it is sticky, not that it is black.

Maybe we need to start talking about taffy babies, instead.

12 posted on 07/31/2006 6:38:59 AM PDT by gridlock (The 'Pubbies will pick up two (2) seats in the Senate and four (4) seats in the House in 2006)
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To: Tulane

Snicker :-). Actually, if he was niggardly (like Calvin Coolidge?) at least with taxpayers' dollars, I'd be more interested in voting for him!


13 posted on 07/31/2006 6:39:11 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I've always wanted to be 40 ... and it's as good as I anticipated!)
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To: JRochelle

Ignorance equals outrage once again.

A tar baby is simply a sticky trap, it has nothing at all to do with skin color.

Geez! Read a friggin book once in a while!


14 posted on 07/31/2006 6:39:14 AM PDT by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: JRochelle
Tsk, tsk, tsk. "Tar baby" is a slang expression meaning to get stuck in a pit you can't get out of. It has nothing to do with blacks. As a metaphor, it refers to animals that drowned in tar pits thousands of years ago. The idiots of PC should learn a little histoire. As usage goes, its about as offensive a term as niggardly, which of course gets confused with that other word. I don't see where Mitt Romney managed to offend the delicate sensibilities of black Americans. PC politics is all by itself a tar baby to avoid.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)

15 posted on 07/31/2006 6:39:22 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Tulane

And a thespian introvert, or so I've heard.


16 posted on 07/31/2006 6:39:25 AM PDT by LIConFem (It is by will alone I set my mind in motion...)
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To: JRochelle
Well, all Bay Staters ought to be offended that Romney's out of state feathering his political nest while folks who are being detoured around the Big Dig debacle are sitting in traffic sucking in exhaust.
17 posted on 07/31/2006 6:39:34 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: American_Centurion; Constitution Day; NCSteve; clyde asbury

I wonder when "Tar Heels" will become a racial epithet that we're not allowed to use?


18 posted on 07/31/2006 6:40:46 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I've always wanted to be 40 ... and it's as good as I anticipated!)
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To: JRochelle

http://www.ongoing-tales.com/SERIALS/oldtime/FAIRYTALES/tarbaby.html


19 posted on 07/31/2006 6:40:53 AM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life)
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To: sportutegrl

It is hereby decreed that the digging utensile formerly known as a spade shall henceforth be refered to as a shovel.

That is all.


20 posted on 07/31/2006 6:40:54 AM PDT by cripplecreek (If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?)
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