Posted on 03/16/2007 4:47:56 PM PDT by buccaneer81
McCain opposes shared parenting reform, then makes racial remark
By John Dias
John McCainToday, Republican presidential candidate John McCain was asked at an Iowa town hall meeting what he would do to reform family law to ensure children are guaranteed equal access both to their fathers and mothers, following a divorce.
A questioner asked McCain whether as president he “would be bold enough to address the issue of equal access to children for fathers that have gone through divorce.”
The Republican presidential candidate responded, “I’m sorry to disappoint you, I am not going to overturn divorce court decisions. That’s why we have courts and that’s why people go to court and get a divorce. If I as President of the United States said this decision has to be overturned without the proper appeals process then I would be disturbing our entire system of government… For me to stand here before all these people and say that I’m going declare divorces invalid because someone feels that they weren’t treated fairly in court, we are getting into a, uh, uh, TAR BABY of enormous proportions.”
The term “tar baby” is considered by some to have racist overtones. According to Wikipedia, a “tar baby” is metaphorically any “sticky situation” that is only aggravated by efforts to solve it. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby
McCain later apologized — not for allowing babies to be separated from their fathers, but rather for using a racially-charged phrase about a tar baby.
McCain squandered a golden opportunity to open a discussion about the devastating effects divorce has on children, and the need to use the democratic process to seek changes in the nation’s family laws. How could this be perceived as “disturbing the entire system of government?” McCain took the question to mean the intervention in family court decisions. Could not the question have been answered as a call for legal reform? Is family law so sacrosanct that even democratically enacted reforms (or merely advocating for them) cannot be explored? Is the stability of the “system of government” that McCain cites more of a priority to him than the fathers and children that need each other so dearly?
Children of divorce are routinely denied access to their fathers. These children think of their fathers as an equal part of their identity; they came from Dad, and in divorce are now separated from him as a matter of course. When fathers are torn away from their kids, a part of the child’s identity is also torn. This is corrosive to the child’s emotional health, and exiles fathers to the periphery of their kids’ lives. McCain just won’t get involved — won’t even discuss family law reform — because this might upset his apple cart: the support which he thinks he will derive from women voters. Do male voters have no memory, that they wouldn’t reject him because of this?
See the video of this doofus in action:
I will not vote for McCain either. But not for this comment. One of the reasons I won't vote for him is because he will not be niggardly with tax dollars.
You mean he will "gyp" the taxpaying CITIZENS of this country?
I won't beat up on him for the remark but I won't vote for him simply because he's a nut. Also I'm still waiting on my $50 an hour lettuce pickin job.
I won't vote for him because of the travesty that is now known as Campaign Finance Reform, just one of the many knives he's stuck in the backs of Conservatives and President Bush alike.
Heck, I'd vote for Rudy before I voted for McCain.
McCain simply meant the common, Wikipedia-referenced "sticky situation" definition. His critics are being niggardly in doling out compassion.
re: The term “tar baby” is considered by some to have racist overtones
Is it ever going to end? How in the world do we find a way to put a stop to the incessant efforts of people to find ways to be offended? It just seems to be getting worse and worse.
I am not a McCain fan. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and his service to this country. And I have even more respect for him in view of what he had to endure as a POW for all those years. But he is simply not the man I think best suited to lead our country at this time. I certainly thank him for his support of the President and the war on terror. We need another thousand just like him, ready to take the battle to the enemy.
But as for this little drummed up offense, give us a break.
The Republican presidential candidate responded, “I’m sorry to disappoint you, I am not going to overturn divorce court decisions...
McCain is an idiot. The question wasn't whether he would overturn court decisions, it was about whether he would "address" the issue of equal parenting.
If we're all lucky, neither of those options will be available to you.
NIGGARDLY?!!?!?
ALLLLright you two!!!
OFF to rehab you go, you will be sharing quarters with Ann Coulter, that'll teach ya!!!
Good Grief. Tar Baby isn't a racist term.
It's not about the so-called racial remark. It's about kids being with both parents equally and fathers actually being able to see their kids more than a few days a month.
Thank you for "getting it."
I saw "Song of the South", too. My problem isn't with that. It's the shared custody deal. He's no better than the feminazi 'Rats.
Sounds like a real young human offspring covered in viscous black liquid derived from the destructive distillation of organic matter.
I wouldn't vote for McCain either, but the reference to an Uncle Remus tale is hardly racist. They tried this on Tony Snow too when he made the same reference.
LOL! Do you ghostwrite for Al Gore? ;-)
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