# "Obama is a chimp" Tea Party Republican is sorry if anyone was offended by her harmless satire. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 30, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320 "2011-04-30T21:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/61 "2011-05-01T06:09:41Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > So, if the president was a Hispanic it would be ok to portray him as a monkey? What about if we have an Asian president in the future? Would it be ok then? How about a Polynesian? What about if the president was a Jew? It seems to me that you’d be in the same boat with any of those, since in the past racial slurs have been used against all of them, and photo-shopping them as a chimp would be highly offensive to any of those groups. So…does that then make them off limits? It’s only ok if we do it to white people? It’s only funny if we do it to white people? Only white people have a thick enough skin to take the heat in that sort of satire? > -XT Personally, I enjoyed the Bush digs because I hated him so much, but looking back now I see that it was not a good thing to do for a variety of reasons. Among them is that it cheapened public discourse to the point that ad hominim attacks have almost entirely replaced policy discussions. But given that, there are certain characterizations that are specific to certain races, ethnicities, and religion. Calling a Jew a wetback and putting a sombrero on him does not have the same meaning that it would on a Hispanic. Rich white people do have the disadvantage that the stereotypes of them are not as “off limits” as they are for some other groups. Molly Ivins’ famous retort that Bush was born on third base and thought he hit a triple does not have the same impact as drawing a hook nosed Jew with a moneybag. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/62 "2011-05-01T06:41:38Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > Among them is that it cheapened public discourse to the point that ad hominim attacks have almost entirely replaced policy discussions. So the Bush Monkey meme was entirely responsible for that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/63 "2011-05-01T06:49:14Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > But to me, this applies to only a sliver of the American populace (like people in Hollywood). I have no doubt that this woman, given where she lives, her socioeconomic status, and her political affiliation (granted, this is all assumed, but I feel safe in making these assumptions) will not suffer in the slightest being outed as a racist. The opprobrium headed her way she’ll no doubt filter as “PC leftist socialists,” and she’s played the God card - and by standing her ground she will gain the admiration of red-blooded 'Merkuns who think it’s great that she had the courage to criticize our foreign-born, Muslim, Nazi-influenced president. Who is also a negro. Orange County is, or will soon be majority non-white, so things are changing. However I believe that she is not a county official, but a Republican one, so being a racist isn’t going to hurt her at all. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/64 "2011-05-01T06:52:56Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > All comparisons of black people to apes or monkeys are racist, always. And no comparison of a non-black person to an ape or monkey is fully comparable, ever. I’m sorry, it’s fucked up, it’s not “fair,” but this is the reality of the American context. Not just the American context. When I lived in the Congo a fairly high level UN official (from Europe) playfully called a Congolese assistant a monkey. (I think it was playful.) This caused a government wide crisis, and the guy had to resign and was kicked out of the country. When I worked for AT&T an employee magazine, in an article about undersea cables, had a cartoon with cartoon figures representing different continents. The artist used a monkey for Africa. It too caused a stink, and the editor, who hadn’t noticed, resigned. Oh, perhaps XT, like Colbert, just doesn’t see race. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/65 "2011-05-01T07:45:20Z")
In my life I have heard simian comparisons to a number of people. Hairy women, sports figures, stupid people, big people, black people, and a kid who kept climbing the school building. Most of these people (including the kid) were not black, and I’m pretty sure none of them would have appreciated knowing they were being compared to monkeys or apes. I honestly don’t see anything worse about comparing Obama to a chimp than comparing Bush to a chimp. The message here seems to be, well, black people are overly sensitive because of past discrimination, etc., etc. I admit I don’t know how any black people feel about it, but as a non-black person I think everybody should get over it. Not to do so makes me think they must want the perception of racism to continue, for some reason. This is not to say that I don’t think there are racially motivated slurs, and in fact I’m convinced the birthers were racist but latched onto that because they didn’t want to appear openly racist. I still think everybody should get over it. To acknowledge it as racist and say it shouldn’t happen seems to imply that black people (or any other group who could be targeted, which is anybody other than white European-descended Americans, apparently) is just not tough enough to deal with it. Because of stuff that happened in the past. To, in most cases, other people. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/66 "2011-05-01T07:58:53Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > The message here seems to be, well, black people are overly sensitive because of past discrimination, etc., etc. If you think that’s the message here, you really don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/67 "2011-05-01T08:15:29Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > If you think that’s the message here, you really don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Well, you think shit like this needs to be called out; I think its stupidity stands out on its own. But thanks for being there for the defenseless underdogs. (By “here” I meant “this message board” BTW) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/68 "2011-05-01T08:40:10Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I admit I don’t know how any black people feel about it, but as a non-black person I think everybody should get over it. Not to do so makes me think they must want the perception of racism to continue, for some reason. This is the best combination of user name and quote that I’ve seen in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/69 "2011-05-01T10:46:02Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > …All comparisons of black people to apes or monkeys are racist, always. And no comparison of a non-black person to an ape or monkey is fully comparable, ever. I’m sorry, it’s fucked up, it’s not “fair,” but this is the reality of the American context. Actually, non-black persons _have_ been compared to apes in a racist way; those “persons” were Irish immigrants. I don’t agree with this blogger but [the images](http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2009/02/sharpton-steals-chimp-image-from-irish.html) are historical. However, Bush isn’t Irish but the WASPiest of WASPs. And he really does look like a chimp. Yes, we were being rude to\* him\*. The woman in the OP? Just another lying, racist Tea Partier. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/70 "2011-05-01T11:45:51Z")
It seems to me that had anyone compared Condolezza Rice to a chimp, surely there would have been at least this big of a stink? It’s just different than the usual partisan mockery. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/71 "2011-05-01T11:59:46Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I honestly don’t see anything worse about comparing Obama to a chimp than comparing Bush to a chimp. The message here seems to be, well, black people are overly sensitive because of past discrimination, etc., etc. Look, It’s really simple. There just are certain places _you just don’t go_ as they are so loaded there is no stepping into that field without getting your leg blown off. Portraying Obama as a monkey is about the worst thing you can caricature a black person as. It would be comparable to drawing a Jewish guy with a hook nose, horns, and eating a baby; or an Asian politician as a “yellow devil” type cartoon from the ww2 era. There is no real way to read such an image that ISN’T racist. There is wealth of political satire out there without needing to play the atomic bomb of race baiting. I"m hardly the most sensitive of folks, and maintain that PC-ness is way out of control, but this is just nasty racism nothing more. Obscuring it with false equivocations does a disservice to everyone who has fought to eliminate it over the years. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/72 "2011-05-01T13:17:50Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I admit I don’t know how any black people feel about it, but as a non-black person I think everybody should get over it. Not to do so makes me think they must want the perception of racism to continue, for some reason. This is not to say that I don’t think there are racially motivated slurs, and in fact I’m convinced the birthers were racist but latched onto that because they didn’t want to appear openly racist. I still think everybody should get over it. **To acknowledge it as racist and say it shouldn’t happen seems to imply that black people (or any other group who could be targeted, which is anybody other than white European-descended Americans, apparently) is just not tough enough to deal with it**. Because of stuff that happened in the past. To, in most cases, other people. This. Makes. No. Sense. You don’t now how black people feel about it, but your opinion as a non-black person still should convince them about the wonders of “getting over it”. What humilations have you and your ancestors “gotten over”, praytell, that would make your opinion mean squat to anyone? This isn’t some crazy lady off the street. She’s an elected official who has the power of the legislative pen. In other words, she’s a Power That Be. If people can’t get worked up about a racist dictating policies that will affect their lives, then when exactly are the appropriate times for people to get angry? Really, I need to know when I should get offended so as not to cause the unflappable white folks not to roll their eyes at yet another hypersensitive black person. The bolded part of your post is just…wow. It must be wonderful to live in such a la-la land where hate is harmless and pointing out blatant instances of its occurence is actually a bad thing. Seems to me it’s like you want to sweep incidents like this one under the rug, so that when someone asks, “Is racism still around?” you can say, “What? Oh, hell no! Look around. Our house is clean.” Yeah, that makes LOADS of sense. FYI, I can handle all kinds of racial nonsense without going into a fit of rage and yet still be bothered by its existence. If most black people couldn’t do the same juggling act, then we would have died out four hundred years ago. When come back, bring some sense. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/73 "2011-05-01T13:49:43Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Maybe in the morning after you slog through all the posts you can tell us what this means. Pending **gravitycrash** ’s auspicious return, I will attempt to translate. > [@gravitycrash](#): > > Shame on her for assuming that any e-mail will remain private. Let’s not lose sight of who the true victim is here. Granted, this is the year 2011, and Davenport is an adult with at least a passing familiarity with how email works—still, it’s not like she could’ve _dreamed_ that her racist joke might’ve been forwarded on to less sympathetic eyes! Would you fault the reciter of a nigger joke if, despite their duly glancing around before telling it, a black person happened to overhear? (And what’s that person doing eavesdropping, anyway?) > [@gravitycrash](#): > > In the mean time, call the thought police, someone needs re-education. Yeah, I did a book report on _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ once. Well, on the Cliff’s Note. B minus, so I think it’s pretty obvious I know what I’m talking about. > [@gravitycrash](#): > > Also I predict this thread will be 6 pages by the time I wake up in the morning. Get all good and outraged guys because this is the most important thing ever. Anyway, I have much more important shit to do than hang around on this lame message board with you losers. I’ll probably be back tomorrow just to point and laugh at everyone, but not because I, like, _give_ a shit or anything. _Peace out!_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/74 "2011-05-01T15:06:21Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > And had all this happened before the Bush presidency I’d say you are right. But that well has been so completely poisoned and so much hate and venom were released during those 10 years that it’s going to be hard for me to see the moral high ground here. I DO get that showing Obama as a chimp is a racial slur. And for all I know that’s exactly what the fuckheads who commissioned this had in mind. But under all that is the question…why was it ok to do this continuously about Bush for years on end, but it’s not ok to do it against Obama? Because Bush is white anything goes? Because Obama is black he needs to be treated with a different standard of political attack and satire? Why? > > So, if the president was a Hispanic it would be ok to portray him as a monkey? What about if we have an Asian president in the future? Would it be ok then? How about a Polynesian? What about if the president was a Jew? It seems to me that you’d be in the same boat with any of those, since in the past racial slurs have been used against all of them, and photo-shopping them as a chimp would be highly offensive to any of those groups. So…does that then make them off limits? It’s only ok if we do it to white people? It’s only funny if we do it to white people? Only white people have a thick enough skin to take the heat in that sort of satire? > > Horseshit. It’s almost like you guys are saying that because Obama is black he should be immune from this sort of thing. I say that he wanted that top spot…he has to play with the big boys. If Hillary had gotten elected, she’d have to take her lumps too from the folks who would want to make fun of the fact that she is a woman. And if a Hispanic ever gets elected, he or she will have to take their lumps too…or an Asian, or a Jew, or a whatever. > > That said, I have no problem with tearing the folks who did this a new one. I think they WILL get torn a new one over this in fact, and I hope they choke on it. But the level of hypocrisy here is sickening to me. > > -XT The issue, as I see it, is whether the target is being attacked as an individual or as a member of a ethnic group. It’s okay to attack Obama or Bush or Clinton. But it’s not okay to attack black people or white people or women. And the context does matter. If Bush or Clinton are portrayed as a monkey, nobody is going to think that it’s intended as a statement that white people or women are all monkeys. But some people will claim that all black people are like monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/75 "2011-05-01T15:13:22Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Pending **gravitycrash** ’s auspicious return, I will attempt to translate. I find it easier just to refer to the [manual](http://www.cracked.com/funny-3809-internet-argument-techniques/). I just check off whichever items apply. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/76 "2011-05-01T15:40:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think these two lines are the key. There’s probably dozens, if not hundreds, of emails like this being sent around in Tea Party circles. This one just happened to escape. Those stood out for me, too. She’s not sorry she did it; she’s just sorry as hell that she got caught. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/77 "2011-05-01T16:08:25Z")
This reminds me of Palin and her assasination jokes. All good satire, right? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/78 "2011-05-01T16:25:56Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > This reminds me of Palin and her assasination jokes. All good satire, right? Not familiar with them. Did they get much play? I saw nothing about it. But if you are a fan and especially sensitive, you might have thought they were a big deal when the rest did not notice. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/79 "2011-05-01T16:32:26Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > Those stood out for me, too. She’s not sorry she did it; she’s just sorry as hell that she got caught. To me, her apparent surprise by the size of the public response indicates she didn’t think she was doing anything unusual. She wasn’t trying to be shocking. And that, to me, suggests she lives in a setting where people tell and hear racist jokes on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320/80 "2011-05-01T16:33:43Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Not familiar with them. Did they get much play? I saw nothing about it. Is this a whoosh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-is-a-chimp-tea-party-republican-is-sorry-if-anyone-was-offended-by-her-harmless-satire/580320.md?page=5)