Rep Tom Davis Uses Term "Tar Baby" In GOP Memo
By Logan Murphy Thursday May 15, 2008 9:20pm
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.”
Wasn't Davis the one who recently said that if the Republican brand were dog food, it would be taken off the shelves? Ok, so this isn't the end of the world, but Rep Davis, statements like this aren't going to do much for your party in the fall.
Foot In Mouth Disease seems rampant in the Repugs this week....omg..
Well this certainly explains why the republican party is dead in the water. What a bunch of moes!
Tar Baby?!???!
Just when you think they can't get any dumber....
Uncle Remus must be rolling over in his grave.
3 gB Says: Tar Baby?!???!
____________________________________________
It's a new brand of cigarettes targeting infants.
Har, har yet another smear from one of these piece of shit gop racists. Damn them.
Tarbaby is not always a racist term
There is no scandal or story here. You have only succeeded in making yourself look foolish.
Isn't that what they call the child of a Tarheel?
Race card and gay marriage is all they got.
Off topic but I love this, from Kos:
"Obama Fires Back at McCain - Yet Again
by Scout Finch
Fri May 16, 2008 at 05:05:06 PM PDT
Speaking to the NRA today, John McCain called Obama's foreign relations plans "reckless." The McCain quote (courtesy of from Ben Smith at The Politico):
Earlier today, Sen. Obama made a few remarks I would like to respond to. I welcome a debate about protecting America. No issue is more important. Sen. Obama claimed all I had to offer was the ‘naive and irresponsible belief’ that tough talk would cause Iran to give up its nuclear program. He should know better. I have some news for Sen. Obama: Talking, not even with soaring rhetoric, in unconditional meetings with the man who calls Israel a ‘stinking corpse’ and arms terrorists who kill Americans will not convince Iran to give up its nuclear program. It is reckless to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests.
It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don't have enemies. But that is not the world we live in, and until Sen. Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment and determination to keep us safe.
Barack fired-up that rapid response team and wasted no time hitting back (via press release):
"What's reckless is continuing the Bush-McCain foreign policy that has cost us thousands of lives and a trillion dollars in Iraq, strengthened Iran, enabled Hamas to take Gaza, took our eye off al Qaeda, failed to capture Osama bin Laden, failed to finish the job in Afghanistan, and left us less safe and less respected in the world. No amount of utterly predictable fear-mongering and tough talk can change the fact that John McCain is running to continue the most disastrous foreign policy in recent American history," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Holy shit --- that was a WWF style smack-down of McCain. Can you smell what Barack is cooking?"
Had Kerry done this he probably would have won the election. Obama will not be smeared or swiftboated by the Rethuglican incompetent lowlifes!
....#11..I know, Kerry did win the election but I mean by a margin large enough to keep it out of reach of the anti-democratic election trumping conservative activist justices on the Supreme Court.
WhalersFan @ 8:
agree, also can refer to a sticky situation. Which IIRC was the original intent.
Well, I think this is a mountain out of a molehill. The context here is clear.
These people say and do enough dastardly things without trying to stretch this one so thin.
Maybe he wants to sink the GOP faster. More power to him!
Man o Man, this from one of the only Republicans who is not a chicken-hawk, a guy who actually served and now he blows his own foot off with a well placed shot.
That's got to hurt.
It was racist, if anything we've learned about Republicans is their artful, dishonest, ways with language. Fuck them.
I swear they want to lose!
Actually Tar Baby means. . . A situation or problem from which it is virtually impossible to disentangle oneself.
But being a Con used the term we'll make an exception .
Don't underestimate the level of disrespect and outright depravity of these guys. It's like looking for the good side of the Ku Klux Klan. It sometimes just doesn't exist. These personalities are the same who'd wear white sheets in the 1950's Mississippi etc. Or bomb churches with little girls in the 1960's. Don't let the respectable suits and language fool you. They are sick mother fuckers and if you need a refresher on the subject watch the movie Mississippi Burning with Gene Hackman.
Well, nothing really to comment on in here and I have an opportunity to go on a boat ride up the Mekong. I'll check back this afternoon.
Oh, forgot to ask ... is it me, or do most of the republicans have a real pasty look to them?
And what happened to that good news of yesterday about the possible jailing of Karl Rove?
L.A. Confidential @ 19:
IOTIYAR (It's Only True If You're A Republican)?
Dude, don't 'become the thing you hate'.
Gretchen @ 4:
. . . Huckabee makes a "joke" about someone shooting at Obama.
WhalersFan @ 8:
If a repug used the term you know it was meant to be derogatory. You are the foolish looking one to me.
1Watt @ 13:
I think you are about 99 watts short of a reading lamp.
FOX is State Sponsored TV @ 10:
Well, they can't run on their record of turning Clinton's legacy of peace and record prosperity into record deficits and endless wars. They need to distract their bedwetter base with scary black preachers and homersexuls.
Get a grip, folks. The "tar baby" has nothing to do with race. It comes from an African-American, and ultimately African, folk tale, but it is not in any way pejorative toward people of African descent. I'm not going to bother to explain it, look it up yourselves.
But please, don't go off on a rant about something you don't understand.
Jimmi the Grey @ 22:
Haven't worn a suit since I promised I never would a long time ago. Don't need to worry about that.
He tried working in the phrases 'cotton picking' and 'spear chucking' but it sounded forced.
Tarbaby is not always a racist term- excepting when it comes out of a racist mouth. If they meant 'sticky situation', that is what they'd have said.
Bottom line is still what Obama inherits on January 20th is a giant barrel of shit, and the expectation to turn it into a barrel of roses.
By June 09 people will likely respond w a collective wtf and wonder what just happened.
Sounds like just more dog food to me. That shelf is getting more and more empty. Just like the Republican's "ideas".
Ruthless People @ 26:
Homersexuals? You mean Marge?
WhalersFan @ 8:
When is it not a racial smear? When did it become acceptable to use such references, especially against a United States Senator and probably our next President? It is a racial smear and there is no way for you to 'sugarcoat' it.
The use of the term "tar-baby" by a republican is not shocking. It's like the story of the frog and the scorpion, they simply cannot help being republicans.
MacDaKnife @ 33:
OMG! Sugarcoating a "Tar Baby." Now isn't that as sticky a racial smear as ever hasstuck to a racist Republican?
The term "tarbaby" isn't necessarily racist, but much like the word "niggardly" you are an idiot if you use it.
L.A. Confidential @ 28:
That's a really good promise to keep, and strong foundation. ;)
Just soundin off because I've been seeing some frantic sounds coming from C&L's comments lately and wanna remind us all that we on the left hold to higher standards in these kinda things. I (being politically to the left of the Democratic Party) see this as one of those little 'crap...really wish I'd have phrased that better' moments. Kinda like Mr. Obama would probably rather have phrased the 'god, gunz and bitter' quote differently.
Just keep you're cool everyone, and the WH will be yours*
*Guarantee not subject to unforseen Terrorist Attacks, Un-Varifiable Elections or Declarations of Martial Law. Good in all 50 States and Associated Territories.
Dr. Quasius @ 36:
Almost exactly. While Tar Baby may possibly be used without reference to race i have never heard it used in any other fashion. Niggardly means stingy but is so close to N*gger that it should not be used when stingy or miserly are perfectly good words and are not concievably construed as racist.
WhalersFan @ 8:
you sir/madame are a gop non-reality moron. racists always deny.
How long do you think it will take before the republican leadership sends a broadcast e-mail to their talk radio minions to spread the meme that progressives should cut their membership a little slack for using the term "Tar Baby". They'll point out that it has been a "coon's age" since they last slipped up and used such a blatently racist remark in a public forum. Come monday, Limbaugh and Hannity will be whineing that people who complain about something so trite are nothing but a bunch of nlers who are prancing about like a bunch of sambos to make something out of nothing.
/snark.
L.A. Confidential @ 19:
you are right about the definition, but in the south and i am from the south, it is used
more often as a loose racial slur.
Dr. Quasius @ 36:
I agree. Of all the terms in the English language he could have used, why this one? It isn't one that pops into my head and I don't think it has been commonly used in decades. Davis isn't THAT old.
Ruthless People @ 12:
Surely you mean Al Gore?
As the child of a bi-racial marriage, growing up in the Deep South, I can safely say that "tar-baby" is precisely a racially-charged term, used for effect (division, ultimately). I would hazard a wager that the Rovian tactics squad is turned on the loose over the next few months...
xoites (One White Vote for Obama) defends Constitution @ 38:
Niggardly stems from a Norwegian word. Niggle. Niggling. Sprung up around 1570s. They don't use it anymore. I don't feel a need to stop myself from using it. If there is someone within earshot stupid enough to think it is somehow related to a racial slur, fuck 'em. They need to get an education. That's not my problem.
What a dumb honkey.
Niggardly = double-plus-ungood(?)
This is just as misguided as the uproar over "niggardly" a few years back. "Tar baby" is a popular cultural reference with the over 50 crowd (of any race) that has disappeared because Disney suddenly and permanently stopped showing Song of the South (as to why they did that--well, I'm not going near that tar baby). It has never been any sort of derogatory word against blacks--it has nothing to do with color. The tar baby was simply a doll made of tar used as a trick against a rabbit. It has no other meaning!
Taking a guess about the word and being uncomfortable is perhaps a natural thing to do. But getting angry over something you don't understand is just foolish. This site (which I normally love) owes this Tom Davis guy an apology.
miss_kitty @ 45:
I agree in principle, however why get something stirred up when it so avoidable? If you use "niggardly" in front of black folks you are almost deliberately trying to create a situation. People may be ignorant about the genesis of the word, but that won't keep you from getting your teeth kicked in.
If you call a black person a "tar baby" you're insulting them, though I've never heard it used that way. In this situation it's clear that the intent was to mean that immigration was a sticky mess that would stick to any of the two candidates who touches it which is probably true: no matter how you approach that problem someone is going to be mad at you. This manufactured outrage is about on a par with the "furor" over Kerry's botched joke and countless other GOP faux scandals. Do we have to prove that we can jerks just like the GOPers?
miss_kitty @ 45:
Well sometimes it is better to avoid the situation you might encounter if someone mis-understands what you are saying, sort of like not messing around with government forms. I had a very bad experience when a State of Georgia Sheriff mis-understood my drunken associate's job of selling "bucket trucks". My efforts to explain to the Sheriff what my associate said resulted in me being thrown in jail. No charges were ever filed and I was glad to get back to Florida the next day.
Rudster @ 48:
There was even a movement recently to change the name of Rhode Island because of delicate sensibilities. The state's official name is State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. So much for context or meaning. Plus, the state is neither a road, an island, nor a plantation. Discuss.
miss_kitty @ 45:
A DC official was forced out of office ten years ago for using it.
MacDaKnife @ 33:
He didn't say that Obama is a tar baby -- he said a particular issue is. Meaning that the more you attack it, the more you get stuck by it.
Obama's foreign policy guru Zbigniew Brzezinski says that he'd create the Muhajadin all over again - to bring about the defeat of the Soviet Union and hasten its collapse.
by extension of the Muhajadin into Al Qaeda, he is also saying he'd accept the losses on 9-11 as collateral damage in oder to bring down the Soviet Union.
source: http://www.the-american-interest.com/ai2/article.cfm?Id=424&MId=19
So let me get this straight- we have people here defending the use of the this term? Anyone who knows history or has been watching history knows that language and inuendo is very much a part of racial slurring- that is not up for debate....Nobody should be giving the Repugs a pass on their bigotted behavior or language- I actually think we are seeing what they are really made of- and it ain't pretty.....We saw during Katrina how it's Dangerous to have Racist Leadership at the helm, or in power....It's time we deal with this problem as a nation, no more ostrich syndrome..
xoites (One White Vote for Obama) defends Constitution @ 53:
So? That makes ignorance OK then?
cervantes @ 27:
When its used that way by the repubs it means exactly what it sound like. Get your shit together, Hispanic (you probably love that term, don't you! I define myself and reserve the right to define those idiots that allow themselves to be defined!)
Saying that the use of the term "tar-baby" is not racially offensive is like saying that the President was not referring to Senator Obama when he spoke of appeasement.
There.
Rebel Patriot @ 55:
Afghanistan was the Soviet Union's Tar Baby. Proper usage of the term, still an idiot to be using it.
chicano2nd @ 58:
"sounds" Just a fat finger. Sorry! But not to you cervantes.
No 57:::Ignorance is indeed part of Bigotry, and so is arrogance....the arrogance of people thinking that this kind of language is not offensive or a problem.....this is not 1958 it 's 2008...and the era of Ooops by Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms is long gone.....Or so I thought...
miss_kitty @ 57:
No. It makes it a sensitive word. Offense can be taken in honest ignorance. Considering the offenses laid upon the black population it makes sense to me to retire the word.
Tar baby... that's still better than being a Repug's baby.
Science @ 54:
Perhaps if he had said the situation was a sticky wicket it would be better received and more in line with the land minds one might find (on the cricket field). In cricket on a sticky wicket, batting is awkward and sometimes hazardous, as the ball will spin, seam and bounce sharply and unpredictably.
No 65....well, the rethugs certainly know about spin....
I'm calling foul, too. In context, he wasn't calling anyone a "tar baby." Hand him his ass in a sling if he does. God knows the GOoPs make a meal of their feet on a regular basis. (Unfortunately, the Dems do, too.) Hit 'em when they do, but let this, and its equivalents, pass.
WhalersFan @ 8:
I agree. "Tar baby" means easy to get stuck, hard to get free, as Br'er Rabbit found out. There's plenty the Republicans do and say that's worthy of criticism - let's focus on the real wrongdoings, and not be following their bad example by making false smears.
John Q. @ 68:
Let's see, what's the term? Oh yeah, naivete!
IMHO, they misspell this type stuff on purpose...I give you the "Democrat" party, as an example. Childish little asswipes is what they are.
It's outrageous, but even more outrageous are racists on this thread making excuses for this punk racist's language.
I must confess: I've used the term, "Tar Baby" before. I didn't know the origins of the term until just now, and had no idea it had racial connotations. I assumed that its meaning, "A situation or problem from which it is virtually impossible to disentangle oneself," was derived from the stickiness of tar, and that's all.
And of course, Sade had a song by that name - one whose lyrics were so opaque that I still don't know what they mean.
So as much as I hate to, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give ol' Tom a pass on this one.
No67 :
No we should not "let it pass", we have a Candidate running for president that is indeed a Man of Color, and if we turn a blind eye to Bigotry , even in the smallest racial slur we are basically tolerating an ignorant arrogant bunch of bigots to continue their dominance over our government and our language...Just like Huckabee's "JOKE" at the NRA....it creates Ripples and grows to something much uglier and more dangerous....I said earlier it is 2008, not 1958, time for real Americans to speak up .....we have a problem...when the repugs leave DC doesn't anyone wonder how many pillowcases we might find ?
They're just getting started.
Dr. Quasius @ 60:
Yes, and those who make up the definition in their own head and get angry about it are the smart ones.
Because Brawndo's got electrolytes.
xoites (One White Vote for Obama) defends Constitution @ 63:
Well we disagree. :)
Thanks for the racism Tom!
This ass-hole is just another water carrier for the fascist son of a bitch that now illegally occupies the White House. How can anyone put any credence into anything this dimwit says?
Will someone please post a link to an image of the tarbaby from Disney's Song of the South?
Don't forget it's a mixed metaphor too.
Is our children learning?
Tar Baby may not be a racist term by origin, but he snuck it in there deliberately as an indirect slur; just as O'Reilly and Limbaugh snuck in the lynching term. N*gger isn't always a racial term, either, but it's overuse as a slur has "tarred" it as offensive. These bastards know what they're doing, no one should be apologists for them. If you're in politics for any length of time, you know how damning language like that is and you avoid it unless you mean not to.
naschkatze Hussein @ 23:
inspired by Hillarys sniper rifle mailer perhaps ?
cervantes @ 27:
If it comes out of the mouth of a CCC white Republican, then its suspect.
raker @ 52:
from the Dutch "Roodt Eylandt" meaning "red island"
Rudster @ 48:
and the word that applies to you is "stoopid!"
L.A. Confidential @ 19:
[deleted. Flame baiting. Site Monitor]
A Porch Monkey is just a monkey that hangs around your porch, collectin your mail and sweepin up and whatnot. Who cares if everyone with half a braincell knows that it's used as yet another slur in America's long history of denigrating and exploiting blacks. The racists can just use it as racist code when they're talking to other racists and then act all innocent and say "it actually means blah blah blah" when someone calls them on it.
[Look, I've asked you repeatedly not to post in all Caps, Yet you continue to keep on doing it. Say Bye Bye Dick.]
I'm really tired of ignorant people.
I'm disgusted by the utter lack of education and cultural knowledge displayed in the comments here. Davis didn't call Obama a "tar baby"; he made a reference to Joel Chandler Harris' story, Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, a uniquely American parable with no literary equivalent.
The vast majority of comments here -- with the notable exception of Rudsters' -- display the most vile PC gnashing of teeth and the same modus operandi which the Republican Propaganda Machine is so famous for: finding something meaningless to complain about and doing so loudly.
Also, the word "niggardly" while related to "niggle" and "niggling" came to the language from the Old Norse "hnøggr"; in modern Icelandic it's the similar (if you know about language shifts) "nískur". It has nothing to do with the corruption of the Spanish/French word for "black" which entered common usage in the English language more than a century and a half later.
The lot of you are clearly as proud of your ignorance as any Bush or McCain supporter earning less than $1M/year. Learn your damned language and culture, morons. And before you complain about the story written in dialect, note that Chandler and Twain have been praised by linguists and literary scholars alike for publishing and preserving a particular vernacular which would've otherwise been lost.