Obama apologizes for 'sweetie' comment

[Gunny]

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) – Barack Obama has personally apologized to a Michigan television reporter for referring to her as "sweetie" as she tried to ask a question.

The comment came earlier Wednesday when WXYZ reporter Peggy Agar asked Obama at a campaign stop, “How are you going to help the American auto workers?”

Obama told Agar to "hold on, sweetie," and said he would address that issue with her later. Agar said she never got an answer to her question.

According to WXYZ, Obama personally left a voice message for Agar Wednesday afternoon, apologizing for both not answering the question and for calling her "sweetie."

"That's a bad habit of mine," Obama said in the message. "I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Good thing he didn't call her "boy."

 

[Ravi]

Good thing he didn't call her "boy."

lol!

I can't believe he apologized for that. Except, he's not a southerner, hmmmmmmmmmm....................

 

[mattskramer]

Hey! What is CNN doing? I didn’t even know that Obama called someone “sweetie”! The MSM is not supposed to be bringing theses Democrat foibles to our attention! Get back to pro-liberal and anti-conservative biased reporting like you allegedly do!

 

[Gunny]

Hey! What is CNN doing? I didn’t even know that Obama called someone “sweetie”! The MSM is not supposed to be bringing theses Democrat foibles to our attention! Get back to pro-liberal and anti-conservative biased reporting like you allegedly do!

Wait until the primary is over and it's back to Dems vs Republicans. Things will get back to normal for you.

 

[Gunny]

lol!

I can't believe he apologized for that. Except, he's not a southerner, hmmmmmmmmmm....................

Just sayin'

 

[Dogger]

At least he didn't use a racially charged expression:

Tar Baby?

In a 20-page memo on GOP electoral woes, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) repeatedly misspells Barack Obama’s name – it’s one R, congressman, not two -- and then manages to use the racially charged term “tar baby” in a paragraph about Obama and immigration.

“Remember,” Davis writes, “Hispanic voters are a swing group in this election and future elections. John McCain, being from a border state, may be out of sync with many Republicans but he has standing among Hispanics. Barrack Obama has not made the sale to Hispanic voters. Thus, this issue is a tar baby for anyone who touches it, with land mines everywhere.”

The GOP just can't seem to help itself.
Romney Apologizes For 'Tar Baby'
Press Briefing by Tony Snow

 

[RetiredGySgt]

At least he didn't use a racially charged expression:



The GOP just can't seem to help itself.
Romney Apologizes For 'Tar Baby'
Press Briefing by Tony Snow

Thats the best you have? Tar baby? Talk about trying to create something where this is NOTHING.

 

[ReillyT]

Thats the best you have? Tar baby? Talk about trying to create something where this is NOTHING.

I'm sorry... "sweetie" is somehow worse than "tar baby?"

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Tar Baby.

Tar-Baby was a doll made of tar and turpentine, used to entrap Br'er Rabbit in the second of the Uncle Remus stories. The more that Br'er Rabbit fought the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he became. In contemporary usage, a tar baby refers to any "sticky situation" that is only aggravated by efforts to solve it.[1]

and then

Although the term's provenance arose in African folklore, some now consider "tar baby" to have negative connotations revolving around pejorative images of African-Americans.[2] Specific reasons why the term developed negative racial aspects are difficult to identify. In recent years, several politicians who have publicly used the term have encountered some controversy, mocking, and censure from African-American civil rights leaders, members of the popular daily media, and other politicians.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby


So basicly another example of whining and bitching and complaining about NOTHING to try and blame whitey for something. And people like you eat it up. Again in case you missed it before. I refuse to feel guilty just cause I am white, male and 50 years old. And I refuse to buy into the concept that if someone feigns indignation that makes it a racial issue.

 

[ReillyT]

Tar Baby.



and then



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby


So basicly another example of whining and bitching and complaining about NOTHING to try and blame whitey for something. And people like you eat it up. Again in case you missed it before. I refuse to feel guilty just cause I am white, male and 50 years old. And I refuse to buy into the concept that if someone feigns indignation that makes it a racial issue.

All your post showed is that "tar baby" is considered a negative racial comment. That is my understanding as well. In fact, I would say it constitutes a very negative comment.

Perhaps "sweetie" is sexist. I don't mind it when women call me "sweetie" but I can understand why women (especially in a professional setting) wouldn't appreciate being called that by men.

I don't think it carries the same negative connotations as "tar baby" though.

You don't have to feel guilty for being white. Just don't use that term, as it clearly does have negative connotations.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

All your post showed is that "tar baby" is considered a negative racial comment. That is my understanding as well. In fact, I would say it constitutes a very negative comment.

Perhaps "sweetie" is sexist. I don't mind it when women call me "sweetie" but I can understand why women (especially in a professional setting) wouldn't appreciate being called that by men.

I don't think it carries the same negative connotations as "tar baby" though.

You don't have to feel guilty for being white. Just don't use that term, as it clearly does have negative connotations.

No it does not. So as I understand your argument, All one need to do is feign disapproval to ANY term for any reason and suddenly it is derogatory? I wonder why that does not work when us WHITES are offended by comments, statements and accusations by blacks?

 

[ReillyT]

No it does not. So as I understand your argument, All one need to do is feign disapproval to ANY term for any reason and suddenly it is derogatory? I wonder why that does not work when us WHITES are offended by comments, statements and accusations by blacks?

Not exactly. There are cultural dynamics and socially accepted reference points. If you referred to someone as "black," and they took offense, I don't think you should have to worry about it, as it is socially acceptable to the population at large. If you call someone a "spade" or "tar baby," you are almost certainly in the wrong, as it is not socially acceptable. This is the way it goes with pretty much all slurs and curse words.

If you were called a "honky," I think you could legitimately feel offense, as that is not a socially acceptable term for whites (unless we are talking about comedians, who get a pass on lots of this stuff). Context is your friend.

 

[TopGunna]

Davis is my local congressman, and he's pretty well liked here in the more liberal part of Virginia. It's pretty clear to me that he was talking about the immigration issue as the "tar baby," not Obama. Likewise, I don't think he was suggesting that Obama is covered in land mines either...

As for the sweetie comment... maybe it was a tad condescending, but Obama apologized to her personally. Not in a statement in front of fawning media, but in a personal voice mail.

For the record, I never thought the "that boy" comment was that bad since it was in the third person. At least in my opinion, that context is much better than yelling "Get over here, Boy!" to someone in the first person.

 

[midcan5]

""He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun w'at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be. En he didn't hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit pacin' down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity -lippity--dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low." Uncle Remus

When we were kids they sold tar baby candy, small black figures, I have to say I never thought of it as racist, just a good buy for a penny.


http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/remus/tar-baby.html

 

[rayboyusmc]

No it does not.

Not to you, to some it does.

Also, calling a female "sweetie" in the military is considered sexist. I saw it done to a female 0-6. She told the Admiral that she didn't appreciate it and preferred being called Captain like anyone else her rank.

He called her Captain after that.

 

[Annie]

Way too much out of nothing. I'm sure he'll be much more circumspect in the future, but really...

 

[Gunny]

At least he didn't use a racially charged expression:



The GOP just can't seem to help itself.
Romney Apologizes For 'Tar Baby'
Press Briefing by Tony Snow

Right calling an issue a tar baby is racist. Obviously you don't know what an actual "tar baby" is.

tar baby
–noun a situation, problem, or the like, that is almost impossible to solve or to break away from.

Also, tarbaby.

[Origin: after the tar doll used to trap Brer Rabbit in an Uncle Remus story (1881) of Joel Chandler Harris]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tarbaby

This is just an poor attempt to deflect from Obama making a gender-biased reamrk.

 

[Gunny]

I'm sorry... "sweetie" is somehow worse than "tar baby?"

Look at the definition I provided. Addressing a woman as "sweetie" is a gender-biased comment.

The term "tar baby" on the other hand has nothing to do with race, nor was it used in the context of race.

 

[Gunny]

All your post showed is that "tar baby" is considered a negative racial comment. That is my understanding as well. In fact, I would say it constitutes a very negative comment.

Perhaps "sweetie" is sexist. I don't mind it when women call me "sweetie" but I can understand why women (especially in a professional setting) wouldn't appreciate being called that by men.

I don't think it carries the same negative connotations as "tar baby" though.

You don't have to feel guilty for being white. Just don't use that term, as it clearly does have negative connotations.

You're kidding. right?

 

[Gunny]

Not exactly. There are cultural dynamics and socially accepted reference points. If you referred to someone as "black," and they took offense, I don't think you should have to worry about it, as it is socially acceptable to the population at large. If you call someone a "spade" or "tar baby," you are almost certainly in the wrong, as it is not socially acceptable. This is the way it goes with pretty much all slurs and curse words.

If you were called a "honky," I think you could legitimately feel offense, as that is not a socially acceptable term for whites (unless we are talking about comedians, who get a pass on lots of this stuff). Context is your friend.

Look at the quote. A situation was referred to as a tar baby, not a person, with the proper context of the term's actual definition, not some revisionist racial crap.

Had he referred to Obama himself as a tar baby, then you'd have an argument. As it stands, you don't.