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Earl Butz has died
02/02/08

Posted on 02/02/2008 1:48:36 PM PST by Borges

(The Indianapolis Star can't be posted so I'm paraphrasing and proving the link.)

He was Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon and Ford. He had to resign because of a racist 'joke'. He was 98.

P.S. Hope you liked my Obit style. Maybe I should work for the AP.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: butz; earlbutz; mynameisearl; obituary
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To: Borges

As soon as we saw this thread we knew four things before clicking on it:

1. It would turn into being all about “the Joke.”
2. Some posters would defend “the joke.”
3. Some posters would blame the press for reporting it
rather than the guy who said it.
4. Some posters would use the usual crybaby wail, “If this
had been a Democrat...”

Jeez...where’s that “Same old s____ “ guy when you need him?


21 posted on 02/02/2008 2:36:52 PM PST by BunkDetector
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To: rogue yam

Didn’t he also make the statement, “You no playa da game, you no makea da rules” regarding the Pope’s condemnation of birth control?


22 posted on 02/02/2008 2:42:44 PM PST by Inspectorette
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To: rogue yam
If that is what the guy said, it's not racist. It is obnoxious...

Racism by definition is the belief that your race is superior to others. For example: Nazi Germany.

IMHO, the "R" word is vastly overused and is used for anything that black people don't like to make the Caucasian race feel guilty.

23 posted on 02/02/2008 2:44:13 PM PST by John123 ("What good fortune for the governments that the people do not think" -- Adolf Hitler)
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To: rogue yam

Pardon my naivete, but what is the appeal of loose shoes here?


24 posted on 02/02/2008 2:45:01 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: scrabblehack
Pardon my naivete, but what is the appeal of loose shoes here?

I think the "loose shoes" may be intended to indicate laziness, shiftlessness, unseriousness. That is, being overly concerned with comfort rather than utility. Also the contrast of "loose" with "tight" adds a little poetry to the line as a whole. That's my take.

25 posted on 02/02/2008 2:52:38 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: John123
If that is what the guy said, it's not racist...Racism by definition is the belief that your race is superior to others.

I'm not here to bust on Butz, but the joke is racist. He lumped all blacks together and said that their every desire is carnal in implied contrast to others, presumably whites, who are also interested in higher things.

26 posted on 02/02/2008 2:57:31 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: Borges
Okay, maybe the loose shoes part was racist, but the tight !@#$# and the warm place to #@$% is universal to all men.
27 posted on 02/02/2008 2:58:37 PM PST by Born to Conserve
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To: John123; rogue yam
If that is what the guy said, it's not racist. It is obnoxious... Racism by definition is the belief that your race is superior to others.

Well, the "joke" loses its impact when you try to clean it up.

Here is a link to the exact quote

It is obnoxious.

However, the "I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: .... " is racist by your definition.

"We non-blacks want civilized things, of course. The black animals, on the other hand, only want three things, namely .... "

28 posted on 02/02/2008 3:04:09 PM PST by Polybius
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To: Born to Conserve
Okay, maybe the loose shoes part was racist, but the tight !@#$# and the warm place to #@$% is universal to all men.

What is racist is to imply that, in contrast to other races, this is all that blacks want.

29 posted on 02/02/2008 3:10:01 PM PST by rogue yam
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Fools. All of you.

He was forced to resign because of what some alternative magazine reporter said John Dean said Earl Butz said in a personal conversation, conveniently timed for the 1976 elections.

Yet 32 years later, even after his grave, you continue to slander this man’s name with these leftist media lies. Well, all I can say is that I hope Mr. Butz is resting in peace tonight while everyone slanders his name.

No wonder McCain is going to be the nominee. You all eat the MSM’s garbage right up.


30 posted on 02/02/2008 3:18:49 PM PST by jmyrlefuller (NONE OF THE ABOVE IN 2008)
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To: Borges

His brother, Seymour, was greatly saddened.


31 posted on 02/02/2008 3:19:36 PM PST by Rinnwald (You're soaking in it)
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To: gusopol3

I think Dave Butz played on the defensive line and, therefore, was not a hog. Prayers to Earl’s family. Wow, 98.


32 posted on 02/02/2008 3:21:49 PM PST by rabidralph (Congrats to Redskins' 2008 Hall-of-Famers Darrell Green and Art Monk! Woo-hoo!)
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To: Borges

When he was Sec of Ag, he told farmers to plant “fencerow to fencerow”. Next year (my first year out of college, when I went home to farm because it looked like there was money in it), prices crashed.

That said, he was a good man who was smeared by the left. he should have kicked john dean’s ass. (but then, everybody should kick john dean’s ass)


33 posted on 02/02/2008 3:23:16 PM PST by ozzymandus
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To: HokieMom

Long overdue for Darrell Green. Just about the fastest man in the NFL for a number of years and a great CB. Should have been a first ballot inductee.


34 posted on 02/02/2008 3:29:43 PM PST by SeaHawkFan
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To: SeaHawkFan

Oops, he was a first ballot inductee. Didn’t realize he didn’t retire until a few years ago, but he did play for a loooong time.


35 posted on 02/02/2008 3:31:27 PM PST by SeaHawkFan
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To: rogue yam

That’s “stereotyping”. Not the same as racism. Some stereotypes may be racist but since I want all three of those same things and I’m white....
Everybody can deconstruct what was or was not said and what was or was not implied forever but it’s all just mental masturbation.


36 posted on 02/02/2008 3:31:28 PM PST by Uriah_lost (This space closed for a respectful mourning period...)
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To: jmyrlefuller
Yet 32 years later, even after his grave, you continue to slander this man’s name with these leftist media lies.

Um...do you have a link to Sec. Butz, or anyone else for that matter, denying that he told this joke? Make the case that the remark was publicised for political purposes if you want but it isn't a "lie" to do so unless he never told the joke.

37 posted on 02/02/2008 3:35:16 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: rabidralph

hey, you’re right. How about the other memory I think I have— related to Earl Butz?


38 posted on 02/02/2008 3:36:53 PM PST by gusopol3
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To: BunkDetector

i think you mean the “aww jeez, not this ____ again!” guy.


39 posted on 02/02/2008 3:38:47 PM PST by thefactor
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To: gusopol3

I believe they are related, as you described it.


40 posted on 02/02/2008 3:41:54 PM PST by rabidralph (Congrats to Redskins' 2008 Hall-of-Famers Darrell Green and Art Monk! Woo-hoo!)
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