Well, practically. Just read what this bastard said:
Oh holy shit! I can’t believe he actually said that, practically grabbing the lacy in his swarthy Italian hand and ripping it forth exposing her ivory surgically enhanced bosoms before her husband’s enemies and then along with Obama and a trainload of circus freaks having his way with her one and sometimes two after the other in front of a cheering bacchanalia of the most depraved sorts available on short notice. Figuratively and with words.
Oh wait, let me re-read…
A white actor with a well known preference for black women made a comment that implies Michelle Obama is hot and a good first lady. And mentions the names of the wives of the three GOP candidates.
Gee, first it was Anne Frank, and then it was Emmett Till, and now this. When will the injustice and outrage end?
How the fuck can anybody even pretend with a straight face to find this remotely offensive? I’m not even sure what the grounds for finding it offensive are… is it because rich white women are historically persecuted? Or because the concept of a white first lady is ridiculous… or a black first lady is racist..
Really, help me out here… how the fuck can anybody find this offensive? And yet you can google and see- the GOP bloggers are already editorializing over this.
And Gingrich is demanding an apology. Dude… if that offends you- something that didn’t remotely malign the appearance or the character or the intelligence of your wife, you are REALLY REALLY REALLY in the wrong line of work.
And incidentally Jesus Christ called your wife an adulteress. Repeatedly- he’s quoted as saying so in three different gospels. He didn’t mention her by name, but he had strong opinions on women who married divorced men whose ex-wives are still alive. May want to stand on your moon base and demand an apology for that while you’re at it.
What baffles me is that no one over at CNN (where I read the story on the Political Ticker), either reporters or commentors, seem to recall what De Niro is parodying. “Is America ready for a Black President?” Remember that poll? A poll, by the way, that was responded to, amazingly, with less than 100% “Yes.”
I dunno that he had to mention the wives of the politicians. It wouldn’t have been any less of a joke if he’d said “I don’t think our country is ready for a white president.” Maybe it made sense in context.
Well, obviously it’s OK to hate all women. Once you start mentioning specific women, though, it goes against the GOP’s core beliefs. Unless they’re slutty law students, I mean.
I don’t think it is offensive, and I see the humor he was going for. However, in 2012, you simply cannot make a racial joke/comment/description. That seems to go doubly true for the right, and its not outrageous to demand that everyone be held to the same standard.
Can you think of any “black first lady” comment made by Rush Limbaugh, for example, that wouldn’t cause a giant shitstorm? Neither can I. So what’s good for the goose has to be good for the gander in these situations.
Did you notice how the White House and the office of the First Lady both said the comment was inappropriate? Racial stuff is an absolute no-no anymore.
Yeesh. I’m really getting tired of people seeing, insults, racism, whatever, when it’s not there. Need we put every joke under some high powered microscope with an alternate reality filter and—AHA!—find something that is well, just beyond the pale!!!
Lighten the fuck up, would ya? The good news is that the person looking to fond a transgression like a pig looking for truffles winds up looking like an idiot. In this case, Gingrich.
Oh, is Rush black now? Because if he made a comment about a “white first lady”, I don’t think there would be a shitstorm at all (except maybe among his racist listeners).
REALLY? You don’t think that if Limbaugh was doing the same parody (with the opposite answer) that DeNiro did: Asked, “Is America ready for another white first lady?” and answered his own question “Yes” that the media wouldn’t go bonkers?
But, again, I’m agreeing here that DeNiro did nothing wrong, but it was the left that started putting every comment under a microscope. If they don’t like the response, they can look in the mirror for the cause.
[QUOTE=jtgain]
Can you think of any “black first lady” comment made by Rush Limbaugh, for example, that wouldn’t cause a giant shitstorm? Neither can I. So what’s good for the goose has to be good for the gander in these situations.
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[QUOTE=jtgain]
REALLY? You don’t think that if Limbaugh was doing the same parody (with the opposite answer) that DeNiro did: Asked, “Is America ready for another white first lady?” and answered his own question “Yes” that the media wouldn’t go bonkers?
[/QUOTE]
That’s because Limbaugh has made actual bonafide racist and sexist comments- REPEATEDLY- and hates Obama passionately and anything he said about Michelle Obama likely would be offensive. Can you name one good spirited joke he has ever told about either Obama?
DeNiro is a mostly apolitical celebrity whose only real association with race in the public consciousness is well documented Jungle Fever. (“Going Deniro” is slang for a white man who exclusively dates black women.)
If you claim you can’t see the difference in why it’s okay for DeNiro to make a black first lady joke but not Limbaugh, then you’re too dishonest or too stupid to debate.
NOW, that said, if Dennis Miller, a right wing broadcaster who doesn’t have a history of racist statements, made the comment, then I don’t think anybody would much care.
This is my point exactly. We don’t even know what joke Rush might make about a black first lady. It may be racist as hell, or be benign like DeNiro’s but you have already said that his equivalency argument would be false! How do you know that it wouldn’t be in the same spirit as DeNiro’s? I’m sure that you think that Rush is a closet racist, but maybe he words it “correctly” so as not to come across as racist. But as you already acknowledged, he can’t.
Is it okay to make white jokes, but not black ones?
[QUOTE=jtgain]
I’m sure that you think that Rush is a closet racist, but maybe he words it “correctly” so as not to come across as racist. But as you already acknowledged, he can’t.
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He’s not closeted. The fact he doesn’t wear a white robe and hood and scream ‘Nigger’ into the microphone doesn’t mean he isn’t open in his racism.
Or are you one of those people who really didn’t find anything remotely offensive about ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ and his many other little ‘jokes’?
He’s not racist. We are derailing this thread, but conservative does not equal racist. I guess that’s why we are here, though. The right can’t mention race, but since the left is more pure, it is okay.
DeNiro was riffing on racism. After 44 white first ladies its clear that no one has an actual problem with a white first lady, including DeNiro or anyone else in the room. The Republicans are desperate for a Tu Quoque rebuttal for the charge that they make racist offensive comments, and so they will latch onto anything they can. It’s just like their claims of being a victim of prejudice because people take exception to their bigotry.
I don’t think so. If it was just “Are we ready for another white first lady?” I think the joke would be obvious to everyone as such, since “white first lady” has been the norm for the past 200+ years. I, as a liberal, certainly wouldn’t be offended by it coming from DM’s mouth.
DeNiro can make the white joke because he’s white. Seems fairly obvious.
Really? You don’t think Rush has said anything racist or sexist? Hm. If only there were some recent news stories you could read up on that addressed those issues…