tagged w/ Smear Campaign
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Chicago Tribune writes:
"It's hard to come up with an ethnic slur that has less of a sting than "whitey."
A prevalent yet unsubstantiated Internet rumor has it that Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, used this term at some point in a speech, and the Obama campaign is concerned enough to have posted an online rebuttal.
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It requires them to imagine that "whitey" marginalizes, diminishes and therefore harms white people.
And if they're really that dumb, then I guess they deserve to be insulted."
I can't understand why anyone cares if Michelle Obama said 'whitey' or not. Besides the fact that the Chicago Tribune points out, that it is barely deserving of the term 'insult', the term is often used as a joke. Similar to 'blackie', which I and other people have used to make fun of racism. For example, how in almost every movie, the black person dies first -- "Oh no, they killed blackie!" It sounds like if Michelle Obama did say 'whitey', it was for the similar jesting meaning. If she really meant anything rude or hateful, she would have said 'cracker' or something similar.
And let's imagine 'whitey' really is hurtful. Like men who are starting to whine because women are sexually harassing them at work, it seems ironic and silly for a people who have historically been in control and used those same tactics to victimize the other people, who have historically been abused and never in control, to cry about it. Blacks have had to put up with racism for decades and being called 'n-----', and yet at the first sign of a politician returning a tiny amount of that, they whine?
And don't forget the fact that if there really was any proof she said it, the conservative media would be all over it. Without proof, you just have to ignore it. I can easily say that McCain said he likes to dine on the flesh of infants (and more people would believe me!) without proof that he actually ever said it. If I repeat it enough, will people accept it as fact like they seem eager to do with the Obama campaign?
Chicago Tribune writes:
"It's hard to come up with an ethnic slur that... more
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Barack Obama has fought rumors for months now -- that he's a secret Muslim, that he won't say the Pledge of Allegiance, and some so scurrilous or ridiculous that they shouldn't be dignified with being repeated.
The presumptive Democratic nominee apparently has had enough -- especially after a rumor that says a video exists of his wife Michelle excoriating "whitey."
It is the top item in a new website his campaign has launched, fightthesmears.com, that tries to debunk the rumors.
"The truth: No such tape exists," it says on the website, whose existence was first reported by Time magazine. The "whitey" rumor first circulated on conservative blogs just before the final Democratic primaries on June 3. Obama was asked about it on his campaign plane last week, and it has since been mentioned in places as diverse as Rush Limbaugh's radio show and Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Times. Barack Obama has fought rumors for months now -- that he's a secret Muslim, that... more
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