http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/07/girl-obama-was-staring-at-on.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2289431/posts
Posted on 07/11/2009 12:01:08 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children
By Chris Parry, Vancouver SunJuly 11, 2009 11:01 AM
This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog
"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.
The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."
Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.
Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.
"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.
"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.
Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.
A note on the front of the blog reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."
After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.
"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Thompson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."
"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."
"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."
"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."
Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.
In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.
One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Thompson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"
Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"
But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined." © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
The president's wife routinely dresses, well, a bit ghastly, and that surely should be a fair topic.
The guy walking with her looked like a street thug wannabe although he's probably secret service in his Acme Inc. punk disguise.
The entire Obama / Soterro family seems to believe they have special dispensation to reform world opinion about the USA. Like socialists everywhere, they seem to see society in two levels - an elite that includes them and the unwashed masses that they need to cultivate. I'd bet that there is a heavy load of race hatred in there as well....
But:
Just as Don Imus learned (thinking he was well enough accepted by the masses to get away with borrowing ghetto terms) that some things are simply not allowed.
An Italian can call another a Wop, two Irishmen together are both Micks, I'll refer to myself as a Redneck but humbly request that you do not (unless you is one too).
I'm repeating myself, but if ghetto / trailer trash fits, so be it. On the other hand, trying to use what an outsider perceives as ghetto, or trailer trash, talk, and using it in insults to the individual, is a self inflicted (foot) wound.
It's also pretty lame means of making a point.
Finally, I'd like to thank Mr Thompson for the opportunity to opine.
I totally agree with you. Thank you for saying exactly what I was thinking but didn’t know how to put into words.
“President Obama has a problem as he was caught inappropriately staring at a 16 yr. old’s backside.”
* * * * * * *
Bingo, amiga!
Nope. It's her 17 year old cousin.
While I agree with free speech, if Mr. Robinson actually went on the record saying that even overt racism is OK on his site, I'd be out of here.
I believe we are all G-d's offspring regardless of color or creed, and that shaming or mocking people because of their physical differences or disabilities is wrong. It may be "free speech" to call people ugly names or mock their differences, but good people do not want to associate on a forum that accepts it.
It's not "falling on our swords" to self-police a bit better. It's raising the level of discourse to correctly reflect our deepest beliefs in a Higher Authority and His wishes for our behavior. We can all use a little improvement; no one is perfect.
But does he know how to spell Sarah Palin's name?
‘Yep. Unfortunately I have been finding myself more and more distant with some of the commenter’s here. I am not racist, I do not want my name to be associated with racism. I want it to be associated with conservatism and the retaking of this country from marxists. We are better than the left and we should act that way.’
I agree
Love ya Jim!
I wouldn’t say there were no inappropriate comments, but nearly all the things they classified as racist were merely lamenting the classless nature of Barack and Michelle.
One other supposed racial insult, touched on something the left charged Bush with for years. If the left can dish it out, then they should expect to get it right back when their turn comes.
I think it’s unfortunate when folks address the Obama girls, even if the left did stoop low enough to use an autistic or Downs Syndrome baby in their sick humor.
We should be above using kids for payback.
FR self polices. How may instances of folks laughing at the jokes leveled at the Palin kids, did other sites remove from their forums. And those jokes and folks laughing at those jokes were everywhere. Internet, newspapers, television, those jokes were defended everywhere by leftists and Democrats.
Here we did not defend them. They were removed, and cooler heads said we should use better judgment.
Is there a comparison of the Left to the Right when it comes to moral issues, no. The comments on the leftist sites are extensive, abusive, and defended constantly. Objecting to them gets you booted.
The Right says it stands up for what is right, and it does it’s best to abide by that, even if leftists find some occasional bad things, and post them every place they can on the internet over 24 hours, to try to destroy FR’s credibility.
Well, we’ve got people here who are too good for those charges to stick.
I would just remind folks to please remember that what you say does not stay here. Don’t create headaches for the forum by being intemperate.
Go after the adults like a junk yard dog ON POINT.
They no doubt have thousands of brownshirts reading every word printed on FR.
'Course none of these comments come close to what "zero" heard in the front pew of his chicago church or what has been said about GW and Sarah in the msm or lefty blogs.
the point of this forum and other conservative blogs and internet media is that we no longer care what CNN thinks because A) they are dishonest leftist B) they are becoming more irrelevant by the day.
The Vancouver Sun is simply the usual leftist rag in Vancouver,it is in complete decline. I had the good sense of cancelling my subscription to it a few years back when they actually made David Suzuki the environut Dr FruitFLY an editor for a day or a week or whatever.
The other rag in Vancouver is the Province(just as leftist) which I would not subscribe to, except my husband insist he wants to read the sportspages.....
Si!
Yes, this is what LIBERALS do. It's called the racism of lowered expectations.
We don't do that here. But I think what some of us feel shameful about reading this criticism of us, is that there is some truth to the fact that some posters here have make fun of the Obamas based on racist caricatures of black Americans. It's sickening and wrong.
There are plenty of bigots on the left. Years ago there was a review of a book called Stereotype Accuracy in National Review and that book (which I purchased) shows that a lot of what the left has convinced people about stereotypes is wrong and most people simply use them to improve their ability to predict things about a person they otherwise know little about. Most people know and acknowledge that stereotypes aren't entirely accurate for individuals.
In the course of considering that book and wondering how bigotry fits in, I came to realize that what separates the bigot from the way a normal person uses stereotypes is that (A) the bigot focuses only on negative stereotypes, (B) the bigot refuses to revise their belief in negative stereotypes if they are shown to be false, and (C) instead of revising their predictions about a person to what they know about that individual as they get to know them, the bigot never abandons the stereotype and sticks to that even instead of what they know to be true about the person.
This is why a lot of the comments associating Obama with "ghetto" stereotypes feel bigoted to me. From everything we know about Obama, they are more aloof snobs than people from the 'hood and Obama is more of a geek than gangsta rapper. Yet people insist on fitting them into those negative black stereotypes even though we know better.
"..A reportedly corporate-financed grassroots" anti-tax movement, paid for, planned and promoted by right wing think tanks, corporate lobbyists and Fox News Channel, has failed to bring about the "popular uprising" against the Obama administration its creators had hoped for.
The day of "tea parties" pushed by Republican operatives and partisan advocacy groups such as FreedomWorks, that sought to protest the Obama government's tax and stimulus policies by encouraging people to 'wave tea bags' brought about only a few hundred "tea-baggers" in most parts of the U.S., despite relentless promotion by Fox News TV hosts..."
Bolshevik cud chewer.
Dinna fash yersel
It means do not let it bother you, it is just not worth it. Of course, Freepers like myself, and there are many, exude politeness, knowledge and reasonable discourse.
Ducking quickly and closing out and taking the family dog out to the park. (laughs).
Jim, I love your pride in us!! May we live up to your high expectations every day!!!
(Maybe we should start some star-glittered stock offerings... We couldn’t do worse than the real market! LOL)
I would much prefer the more precise terms, "unelected children", or "the Obama's children, who were not elected" or "the children of politicians, all of whom should be shielded from public scrutiny."
Anyone's innocence is a matter of theological debate. Theirs in particular has yet to be demonstrated by their future behavior as adults.
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