You know damn well white people can’t go around using the n-word like that. 
You ought to tone it down, though.
Ya know what else? You apparently joined the OP in not realizing where this thread or your reply should go.
It is about to be moved to the Pit, but it is currently in Great Debates and you are out of line.
Don’t let this happen again. You’ve been warned.
[ /Moderator Mode ]
Damnit. You’re right tom. I got caught up and let it go into pit-mode forgetting I was in GD. Warning noted and official apology offered. I’ll try to be more observant in the future.
And apologies to anyone else upset this was sent to the Pit.
It was about to be sent to the Pit before I saw your post. I really did not see much of a debate in the OP.
He was probably using the term neighbor in the standard Christian “every man is your neighbor and you should help him if you can” way.
Clinton: “Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of tens of thousands of Americans who need your help.”
GHWB: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
Cut to Chris Tucker looking confused.
Don’t suppose I can get that warning repealed? wink, wink, nudge, nudge
OK, I’ll note the warning.
Man, this is just dumb. Sorry, but the word “neighbor” is not exclusionary. It is, almost by definition, inclusive. Your neighbors are people in your neighborhood: people who are part of your immediate, physical community. Some sense of this may have been lost in recent decades with the rise of individual mobility, and even more recently with the explosion of electronic communications, but historically, your neighbors were the “us” in “us and them.” The only more intimate relationship would have been direct blood family, or marriage. When a president speaks of other nations as our “neighbors,” it is an attempt to invoke precisely this sense of community. There is absolutely no “mistake” in Bush’s word choice, here. It is both accurate and appropriately evocative, and was used to further a goal that is unquestionably noble. To criticize him in this is petty in the extreme, and only serves to undercut your credibility when you complain about genuine mistakes and misdeeds of George the Younger. God knows, I’m less likely to take any gripes you have about George W. seriously, and I’m starting from a positon of visceral, seething dislike of the man.
I thought that it was pretty obvious that the word “neighbors” was meant to emphasize the closeness between the victims of the hurricane and everyone else. “Fellow Americans” sounds distant, especially since it’s been used so often that it’s basically a cliché by now. The phrase “neighbors on the Gulf Coast” emphizes the idea of an American community, and suggests a close relationship between one part of the US and another. It emphasizes that these aren’t just faceless statistics, these are people that we could easily know or be friends with if only things were a little different.
When I first saw the ad, I actually noted the use of the word “neighbors” and thought that it was a particularly good word to use in the current situation.
Um, just curious, before duffer’s comments, what exactly about this thread was pit-worthy?
I can’t take a position which states that GHW Bush said something that could be perceived as indicative of a greater bias? I suppose I called him a dumbass, but is calling a politician a dumbass considered pit-worthy these days? Or is it just because you decided the point was not worthy of debate and against your political views?
I’m calling B/S on this, and I never said anything inflamitory to anyone in this thread, aside from the dumbass comment re: Bush.
Here’s a clue for you Omniscient: Your asinine OP is Pitesque.
Not a mod, and may never have the temperence to be one.
This might be a clue.
I think he’s right. You didn’t ask a question or suggest an issue. You just called GHWB clueless, a dumbass, an elitist, yada yada yada. I mean, look at your thread title.
You can take whatever position you’d like on whatever issue you’d like. However, the contention that the use of the word neighbor is divisive seems unsupportable from the outset and it looked much more like a (polite) Bush bashing post than an invitation to an actual debate. I am not challenging your motives, just disagreeing with your assessment of where the discussion belongs.
As to my moving the thread because of any particular political bias: you’ll have to take that up with the posters who have already placed me among the lib’rul, Bush bashing, Fundamentalist baiting, God hating moderators. When you guys figure out which side I’m really on, let me know.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself.” - some us-and-them asshole.
Oh, and, Tom? Vampire! You’re definitely a vampire, right? That’s a pretty cool side to be on. Or a ninja? Ninja vampire?
He wants you to think that, but really he’s a reverse vampire.
I inject blood into people?
Omni, the OP is stupid and you’re way off base on this one, but I’m curious. Would you have posted the same OP if William Jefferson had used the word “neighbors”?
Well, I thought I pretty clearly articulated the point that Bush’s use of the word under these circumstances is a poor one. That it indicates he seeing the people of the gulf as being apart from those he represents.
I realize its a pretty insubstantial point, and I realize that it’s not likely that any finality would be reached. Nonetheless, I think it’s worth noting, and I’d hoped the subject line would be invocative enough to generate views without being considered a flame.
Why is it pit-worthy to argue that one of our presidents might have said something that indicates a bias? Sure, I made it clear in my OP that I have a pre-existing bias, but nonetheless I argued a point based on the details without taking opportunities to flame Bush. Aside from stating my opinion that the Bush family is prejudiced against those outside of their class, I never made a point of piling on either Bush.
Frankly I went out of my way to debate on the minutiae of the topic without bringing up outside, Bush-bashing commentary.
Look, if you think I have no point on it’s face, fine. Dismiss it outright as a few have done. To call this a pitting (someplace I have rarely, if ever, dwelt) seems slanted. Though, I can see how no debate upon any topic involving the Bush family could remain elsewhere.
Why? Because your interpretation of the simple word neighbor is, to be blunt, from another galaxy. Your inane assertion that his use of the word neighbor is bad form is itself a flame.