# Another excellent demonstration from the party of tolerance and diversity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228 "2004-11-23T03:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/41 "2004-11-23T15:25:17Z")
I agree. Not all white people are workaholics. Many of us are quite lazy. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/42 "2004-11-23T15:30:07Z")
> [@manhattan](#): > > That’s the line for me. That is a disgusting, racist statement. Considering that we’ve never seen the slightest indication of racism from **elucidator** – indeed, quite the opposite – I’d be much more inclined to see it as ironic drollery (which, of course, he has occasionally resorted to from time to time) taken way past the point of droll and straight on to stupid. So you might just ask for clarification instead of jumping straight to bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/43 "2004-11-23T15:32:08Z")
I characterized the statement rather than the person who said it for a reason. It may indeed may be droll and without intent on the part of the person saying it. The statement, as I said, is disgusting and racist. If a joke, as I also suspect, a very poor one. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/44 "2004-11-23T15:36:48Z")
> [@minty green](#): > > Well you’ll have to forgive us if we don’t immediately recognize which statements, celebrities, windbags, and silly drawings are to be attributed to the Democratic Party, as opposed to merely the individual speaker, celebrity, windbag, or silly cartoonist. And spare us the sneering about “the party of tolerance and diversity” and such until, like, we have some idea what you’re talking about and why it’s our responsibility. As I say, I have acknowledged that what I saw in this cartoon is likely not there. But let’s say that it was – let’s say that Oliphant drew a racist cariacture of Ms. Rice as commentary on her ascendency to the Secretary of State position. I agree, as I said above, that I don’t expect the Democratic party to have a 24 hour tiger team on alert to issue press releases concerning any individual cartoonist. But – if I were to post the cartoon and invite comment, at that point I would hope Democrats reading the thread would explicitly distance themselves from the sentiment, rather than embrace it simply because it attacked Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/45 "2004-11-23T15:42:13Z")
Does that mean you’re putting yourself on constant alert to respond to any demands from the rest of SDMB-land for you to decry any and all rantings from Coulter, Limbaugh, Chick, Falwell, Robertson, et cetera ad nauseam? That’s the standard you’ve proclaimed. I hope you can live up to it. Remember the Rule of Holes, pal. You screwed up with that OP, you admitted it, best keep quiet about it and let it die, okay? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/46 "2004-11-23T15:43:26Z")
Well, hell yeah. When Harry Belafonte called Colin Powell a “house boy” or whatever it was, I think most Dems thought it was pretty uncalled for. Yes, Powell’s individual voice may have been squelched, but race had nothing to with it, as I’m sure the average person could clearly recognize. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/47 "2004-11-23T15:45:25Z")
I suppose I am in the minority here but there do appear to be some racist undertones. Parrots have beaks not lips so exaggerating that feature to make her look like a parrot is stupid. Parrots don’t have teeth either so exaggerating those is also unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/48 "2004-11-23T15:48:08Z")
African Parrot? It’s quite obviously a Norwegian Blue! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/49 "2004-11-23T15:48:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Does that mean you’re putting yourself on constant alert to respond to any demands from the rest of SDMB-land for you to decry any and all rantings from Coulter, Limbaugh, Chick, Falwell, Robertson, et cetera ad nauseam? That’s the standard you’ve proclaimed. I hope you can live up to it. > > Remember the Rule of Holes, pal. You screwed up with that OP, you admitted it, best keep quiet about it and let it die, okay? If someone posts a comment from Ann Coulter that they feel demands either aprobation or censure from the right, and I’m reading the thread, I’ll be happy to reply, sure. I’m not saying there is an affirmative obligation to cruise the boards and respond to each and every thread. I think I mentioned, above, that I agreed there was no “tiger team” requirement for the Democratic party; nor is there one for Democratic posters on this board. But… IF it had been a racist cartoon, AND IF a self-identified Democrat saw it the thread discussing it, THEN I hope that person would be moved to criticize it. That’s all. I don’t think there’s any unreasonable expectation there. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/50 "2004-11-23T15:49:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I agree, as I said above, that I don’t expect the Democratic party to have a 24 hour tiger team on alert to issue press releases concerning any individual cartoonist. > > But – if I were to post the cartoon and invite comment, at that point I would hope Democrats reading the thread would explicitly distance themselves from the sentiment, rather than embrace it simply because it attacked Republicans. Good lord, please let’s not turn GD into a string of threads daring each other to condemn various pointless junk for the sake of scoring meaningless points. I mean, jeez, that’s got **Reeder** written all over it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/51 "2004-11-23T15:50:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But – if I were to post the cartoon and invite comment, at that point I would hope Democrats reading the thread would explicitly distance themselves from the sentiment, rather than embrace it simply because it attacked Republicans. Of course, if you were _really_ seeking genuine comment or debate, you might have worded your OP in a somewhat more intelligent and reasonable manner, rather than making sardonic comments about Democratic “tolerance and diversity.” You might have said, “I think that this Oliphant cartoon is verging on racist caricature. Does everyone else agree?” As it stands, though, i still can’t see a single thing in the OP that explains why you put it in GD rather than the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/52 "2004-11-23T15:54:09Z")
> [@minty green](#): > > Good lord, please let’s not turn GD into a string of threads daring each other to condemn various pointless junk for the sake of scoring meaningless points. I mean, jeez, that’s got **Reeder** written all over it. I agree, and that’s certainly not been my habit here in nearly five years of membership. But Oliphant is a relatively respected political cartoonist for the left, and if he offers up a racist caricature, it wouldn’t be quite in the category of “pointless junk.” ---
**Author:** ![HealThySelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@HealThySelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HealThySelf)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/53 "2004-11-23T16:06:54Z")
Why would a never married woman refer to her boss as “my husband”? I think that FS deserves some kind of award. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/54 "2004-11-23T16:16:29Z")
Golly gee, beginning to think **Manny** doesn’t like me very much, what with the “liar”, “asshole”, “piece of shit”, and so forth. Good thing I have my therapist on speed dial, lest I spend another night crying myself to sleep. Laughing is good for you, laughing at yourself is _very_ good for you. When Richard Pryor does his “how white folks talk” shtick, he is both hilarious and enlightening. Because there is no malice. Worry about malice, **Manny** , it is an enemy worthy. Start with the man in the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/55 "2004-11-23T16:19:54Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Of course, if you were _really_ seeking genuine comment or debate, you might have worded your OP in a somewhat more intelligent and reasonable manner, rather than making sardonic comments about Democratic “tolerance and diversity.” You might have said, “I think that this Oliphant cartoon is verging on racist caricature. Does everyone else agree?” > > As it stands, though, i still can’t see a single thing in the OP that explains why you put it in GD rather than the Pit. Well, that’s a reasonable observation. I phrased the OP as I did out of ire: what I saw was a racist cartoon that was, I was sure, going to get a pass from Democrats. That is, Democrats in general would refuse to condemn it because it attacked “Repuglicans” Bush and Rice, and when the target is “Repuglicans,” then it doesn’t matter if it’s racist… witness Harry Belafonte calling Powell a house boy. Obviously, those assumptions were misplaced - the commentary was not “They deserve it,” but rather “What are you talking about?” Nor did I get the impression that anyone was being disingenuous… the reactions were sincere in simply not seeing the racism. So I re-examined my own perception and had to conclude that the most likely explanation was that I was seeing something that just wasn’t there. If I had been right, it would have been Pit-worthy, perhaps, but it ALSO would have been GD-worthy… “Why is a racist attack generally unacceptable, but on a Republican acceptable?” is a perfectly reasonable GD topic. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/56 "2004-11-23T16:25:13Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I agree, and that’s certainly not been my habit here in nearly five years of membership. But Oliphant is a relatively respected political cartoonist for the left, and if he offers up a racist caricature, it wouldn’t be quite in the category of “pointless junk.” **Bricker** : I generally agree with you on issues political and legal, but I do think a GD thread deserves a well thought out OP and an actual debate being offered. Your track record over 5 years might be quite good, but this current thread and [this other recent GD thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287296) might be the beginnings of trend you would do well to nip in the bud. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/57 "2004-11-23T16:33:09Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You might have said, “I think that this Oliphant cartoon is verging on racist caricature. Does everyone else agree?” If that were the question I’d probably agree, though the line is fuzzy because caricature consists of exagerating those features that already stand out. Were I to caricature Secretary-Designate Rice I would exagerate her pursed lips, perpetual scowl, and deeply angry eyes and depend on wings, perch, and squawking to deliver my message. Then, at least, there be a chance people would recognize her without need for labling her. But Oliphant’s talent has been on the wane the past ten years and I’ve stopped expecting much from him. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/58 "2004-11-23T16:41:27Z")
Could it be that you thought this worthy of debate because it was presented on _Hannity and Colmes_ as a racist cartoon? You might do well to remember that just because Ann Coulter appears on a Fox TV show and decries Democratic racism in political cartoons, she may not be accurate and the charge may not be true. In fact, if you have any one of those criteria Ann Coulter, Hannity & Colmes or Fox, you should probably regard whatever you hear as false, or at least painfully biased. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/59 "2004-11-23T17:11:15Z")
You are speaking of last nights portion of _Hannity and His Bitch_, yes? Saw it as well. Used this cartoon and another to segue into a segment of Sean displaying his full High Dudgeon regalia while berating Ted Rall (whom I dearly wish would change his political orientation toot damn sweet). Nothing more than a set-up so Hannity could display his righteous indignation at the “pro-terrorist” left, while wrapping his warped opinions in Old Glory. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228/60 "2004-11-23T17:18:34Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Could it be that you thought this worthy of debate because it was presented on _Hannity and Colmes_ as a racist cartoon? You might do well to remember that just because Ann Coulter appears on a Fox TV show and decries Democratic racism in political cartoons, she may not be accurate and the charge may not be true. In fact, if you have any one of those criteria Ann Coulter, Hannity & Colmes or Fox, you should probably regard whatever you hear as false, or at least painfully biased. Nope. I’m not a Hannity & Colmes wacher. Sometimes O’Reilly, but that’s it for Fox commentators. I had no idea this was featured there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-excellent-demonstration-from-the-party-of-tolerance-and-diversity/276228.md?page=4)