# A presidential Candidate So Tone-Deaf That He Leases A Ranch Called Niggerhead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 3, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389 "2011-10-03T00:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/41 "2011-10-04T22:59:12Z")
I wonder about the liberal journalists so incompetent that they missed it all this time. Either that or they were saving it up for the right moment… now that’s not very fair and balanced is it? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/42 "2011-10-04T23:04:40Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I wonder about the liberal journalists so incompetent that they missed it all this time. > > Either that or they were saving it up for the right moment… now that’s not very fair and balanced is it? Is it? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/43 "2011-10-05T00:25:14Z")
Why would that hurt him politically or end his presidential ambitions? The GOP base really doesn’t include black people. In the last 4+ presidential elections the black vote has been at most about 10% republican, except in 2008 when it was only 5% republican. The tea party is 1% black. So its not like the GOPs base is going to be offended by it. It may be culturally insensitive, but its not like he will be affected negatively by it in politics. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/44 "2011-10-05T00:38:27Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I wonder about the liberal journalists so incompetent that they missed it all this time. > > Either that or they were saving it up for the right moment… now that’s not very fair and balanced is it? Yes, and what a brilliantly chosen moment it was. Not when Perry was surging to the top of the GOP primary field … not on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, or the primaries in New Hampshire … not when he was close to securing the nomination … not at a critical juncture in the general election campaign, like before a debate … not right before the election, when it could have been a devastating October Surprise (at least in the minds of the people planning this PR coup) … no, the right moment was _three months before any primary votes are cast, after Perry has already been flopping around for weeks and his campaign had lost momentum because he blew a bunch of critical questions and bombed at a debate_. Yes. THAT is the right moment. It’s so brilliantly incompetent it looks like it was hardly planned at all. I’ll admit I also wondered how it was that the Washington Post covered this story and it wasn’t broken by anybody in Texas. I’m sure there are tons upon tons of hunting retreats down there, but still. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/45 "2011-10-05T00:43:23Z")
> [@Kyomara](#): > > I know you got disciplined for this, but I’m with you. I’m sick of Southern stereotypes being held up as “common sense.” **AbloyProtec** was warned for the “you need to fuck off” part, not his objection to the substance of **Merijeek** ’s post. You can say what you want about his views of Southerners, but insults aren’t allowed. It’s not clear which part of **AbloyProtec** ’s post you’re endorsing, so please choose your words carefully in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/46 "2011-10-05T02:03:19Z")
> [@Algorithm](#): > > To be fair, the other two ranches Perry could have leased were named “Chinkbrain” and “Beanerback”. I’d say his decision to lease “Niggerhead” over the other two speaks volumes to his keen judgment. But then he leased a yacht named “The KikeWop Of The Sea”, so I dunno… ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/47 "2011-10-05T02:18:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ll just make one more post on this little tangent. > > A man condemns the incineration of tens of thousands of innocents in the nuclear attack on Japan. A child applauds the execution of a condemned man. Which, in your opinion, is the better Christian? Hiroshima and Nagasaki were decisions of military necessity not to mention Reverend Wright conveniently ignores the history of Japanese aggression and atrocities in the years during World War II. > [@Marley23](#): > > It may have escaped your notice because it’s difficult to read while rolling your eyes, but Herman Cain was the one who brought this to the attention of the public. The name is vile and it’s tempting to draw conclusions about the nature of the elite GOP old boys’ network that a guy could become a governor and a presidential candidate without even being aware that something like this would offend people. The problem with that conclusion is that the Perry family didn’t own or name the property and nobody seems clear on when the sign was painted over or who made sure the name was covered up (Ray or Rick Perry), so it’s not clear that Rick Perry can be faulted for anything, and it seems the name was painted over years ago- whether it was five years or 30 years. None of which has much of anything to do with GOP talking abouts about Robert Byrd, Jeremiah Wright, or Bill Ayers. I don’t care whether its Herman Cain or the Democrats whose making this nonissue an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/48 "2011-10-05T02:43:45Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Hiroshima and Nagasaki were decisions of military necessity not to mention Reverend Wright conveniently ignores the history of Japanese aggression and atrocities in the years during World War II. …committed by those bombed? > [@](#): > > I don’t care whether its Herman Cain or the Democrats whose making this nonissue an issue. Then why did you make your post rolling your eyes at democrats and liberals when you don’t care about them doing this? And surely, if who the committer of the making nonissues into issues is unimportant, then the logical response is to say to one as you say to all, rather than treating the two differently? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/49 "2011-10-05T02:46:26Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Hiroshima and Nagasaki were decisions of military necessity not to mention Reverend Wright conveniently ignores the history of Japanese aggression and atrocities in the years during World War II. So, the “history” of Japanese aggession and atrocities help to justify Hiroshima and Nagasaki? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/50 "2011-10-05T03:20:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I don’t know. Why don’t you actually post some links to some facts about the story instead of just assuming that the worst version of events you might have heard is the correct one? Fair enough. Here’s the WAPO article that broke this story: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/rick-perry-familys-hunting-camp-still-known-to-many-by-old-racially-charged-name/2011/10/01/gIQAOhY5DL\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/rick-perry-familys-hunting-camp-still-known-to-many-by-old-racially-charged-name/2011/10/01/gIQAOhY5DL_story.html) Here’s a roundup of Perry’s screwups: [Rick Perry’s Spectacular Fall From Grace – Mother Jones](http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/10/rick-perrys-spectacular-fall-grace) > [@Marley23](#): > > I’ll admit I also wondered how it was that the Washington Post covered this story and it wasn’t broken by anybody in Texas. I’m sure there are tons upon tons of hunting retreats down there, but still. Well to some Texans, it doesn’t merit a story. > [@Washington Post article](#): > > “It’s just a name,” said Haskell County Judge David Davis, sitting in his courtroom and looking at a window. “Like those are vertical blinds. It’s just what it was called. There was no significance other than as a hunting deal.” Yeah, I thought the N-word was a 20 Kiloton vulgarity, but according to Judge Davis, it’s just a name. I didn’t know that. According to Mark Monmonier, a geography professor at Syracuse University, such patently offensive names for some reason typically were in areas “…where African Americans were not all that common.” Now admittedly there are some differences of opinion in the great state of Texas: > [@Washington Post article](#): > > The rock was about five feet across and three feet tall, smooth and relatively flat, the word in block letters stretching across its surface, said the former worker from the Hendrick ranch, who said he had seen the rock numerous times over the past 30 years. > > “I was just so taken aback that it was so blatant, so in your face,” said a person from the Dallas area who visited the camp once in 1990 or 1991 and did not want to be named in a story potentially critical of Perry. “It was just, ‘whop.’ It was a big rock, big enough to write that whole thing out.” > [@Miller](#): > > By the time you get down to Rick Perry visiting a ranch that used to be named “Niggerhead,” but they renamed it, except instead of taking down the old signs, they just painted over them, I’m pretty well into “don’t give a fuck” territory. Not visiting. Renting out. For years. And entertaining friends. “Rick Perry was elected to the state legislature in 1985. Soon after, he began hosting spring turkey shoots and other hunts for supporters and fellow legislators.” Perry himself says he hunted there about a dozen times – though his recollection differs in substantial ways from that of about 5 people with regards to elements of this story, so bear that in mind. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/51 "2011-10-05T10:30:03Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Hiroshima and Nagasaki were decisions of military necessity not to mention Reverend Wright conveniently ignores the history of Japanese aggression and atrocities in the years during World War II. That old “thou shalt not kill” and “turn the other cheek” stuff. What kind of Christian believes that crap? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/52 "2011-10-05T10:58:11Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Hiroshima and Nagasaki were decisions of military necessity not to mention Reverend Wright conveniently ignores the history of Japanese aggression and atrocities in the years during World War II. We get it: you disagree with Wright. Guess what? He disagrees with you and there are people who would find your opinion as offensive as you find his. Saying “military necessity” and “Japanese atrocities” does not make his opinion void or unacceptable, and I am fairly sure that Wright knows more about the military and about Japanese atrocities than you do. I’m not fond of defending holy men, but I think you forget that we don’t have some obligation to begin every utterance with “God bless America.” There are people who object to that kind of nonsense for religious reasons as well as for irreligious reasons. > [@](#): > > I don’t care whether its Herman Cain or the Democrats whose making this nonissue an issue. Then you probably shouldn’t have said > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Are the Democrats and liberals so despearte that they use absurd shit like this to criticize Perry? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/53 "2011-10-05T11:28:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not fond of defending holy men, but I think you forget that we don’t have some obligation to begin every utterance with “God bless America.” Very true indeed. I’d like to add that the prophets of the O.T. were not cheerleaders for their particular cities or regions or governments, indeed they were generally quite the opposite. Jonah didn’t lead crowds chanting Nin-e-VEH! Nin-e-VEH!, he told them they had to change their ways. I’m not saying Wright is a prophet, but I think a ministry that shows us where the US is falling short is much more in keeping with Christian theology than the “US can do no wrong” that you might hear from the right wing pulpits. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/54 "2011-10-05T13:16:43Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Are the Democrats and liberals so despearte that they use absurd shit like this to criticize Perry? Democrats? I’d bet my next paycheck that the story was originally promulgated by somebody working for one of the other GOP candiates (“Now, you die, and we all move up in rank!”) or by the party machine (which considers Romney the only one who actually has a shot in the general election). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/55 "2011-10-05T13:30:22Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Democrats? I’d bet my next paycheck that the story was originally promulgated by somebody working for one of the other GOP candiates (“Now, you die, and we all move up in rank!”) or by the party machine (which considers Romney the only one who actually has a shot in the general election). Stop making sense, liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/56 "2011-10-05T14:08:55Z")
Here’s something no one has addressed: Turkey shoots at hunting ranches? What a pack of pussies. If you want to hunt, get yourself a gun and a case of beer and drive out to the woods to look for some wild animals, like back in the day. Being woken by the maid service, going down for foie gras and eggs benedict, and maybe checking out your stock prices on Fox before heading out to the back yard so handlers can throw wingless turkeys at you to blast doesn’t impress me. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/57 "2011-10-05T14:30:50Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > How about if Obama went to Cracker Island or Fuck Whitey Mountain? > [@Walmarticus](#): > > I’d actually laugh my dick off if Obama toured Fuck Whitey Mountain. Damn. You would laugh your dick off. Now I _really_ want Obama to go vacationing at Fuck Whitey Mountain just so this can take place.\* Seriously now, this doesn’t ping my Rick Perry Is An Idiot radar, even though I firmly believe he is an idiot. I like how he single-handedly ruined his shot at the White House simply speaking. Without saying a word, he immediately shot up in the polls, and with every word or fumble in public, voters slowly inched away. “Maybe that Mormon isn’t so bad after all. He is kind of handsome.” Speaking of Perryisms, one of my most beloved is what seemed like some sort of general threat toward Ben Bernanke. [He’d treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.](http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/rick-perry-on-ben-bernanke-we-would-treat-him-pretty-ugly-down-in-texas/) Ass. \*Why is laughing one’s dick off so much funnier than the laughing off of one’s ass, even though they’re equally improbable and absurd? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/58 "2011-10-05T14:52:36Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Here’s something no one has addressed: > > Turkey shoots at hunting ranches? What a pack of pussies. If you want to hunt, get yourself a gun and a case of beer and drive out to the woods to look for some wild animals, like back in the day. > > Being woken by the maid service, going down for foie gras and eggs benedict, and maybe checking out your stock prices on Fox before heading out to the back yard so handlers can throw wingless turkeys at you to blast doesn’t impress me. I don’t know what goes on at his ranch, but a “turkey shoot” doesn’t mean you go out and shoot turkeys. It’s usually a target shooting contest that has turkeys (all ready to cook turkeys) awarded as prizes. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/59 "2011-10-05T14:59:15Z")
Where is Fuck Whitey Mountain? I can’t find it on Google Maps. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389/60 "2011-10-05T15:04:55Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I don’t know what goes on at his ranch, but a “turkey shoot” doesn’t mean you go out and shoot turkeys. It’s usually a target shooting contest that has turkeys (all ready to cook turkeys) awarded as prizes. Christ. That’s worse. Hey, y’all, look what I got hunting … it’s a Butterball! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-presidential-candidate-so-tone-deaf-that-he-leases-a-ranch-called-niggerhead/598389.md?page=4)