# The Bushistas are now racially profiling journalists **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816 "2004-08-01T05:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 1, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/1 "2004-08-01T05:29:16Z")
[This is fucked up](http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/dailystar/32301.php) If you’re a journalist or a photographer who intends to cover campaign appearances by Dick Cheney, The Bushistas are going to have to know what color you are. > [@](#): > > President Bush’s re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney. > > The Star refused to provide the information. > > Cheney is scheduled to appear at a rally this afternoon at the Pima County Fairgrounds. > > A rally organizer for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign asked Teri Hayt, the Star’s managing editor, to disclose the journalist’s race on Friday. After Hayt refused, the organizer called back and said the journalist probably would be allowed to photograph the vice president. > > “It was such an outrageous request, I was personally insulted,” Hayt said later. There must be a good reason that Cheney needs to be apprised of the melanin content of this woman’s skin, right? Well, here’s the reason: > [@](#): > > Organizer Christine Walton asked for Popat’s race in telephone conversations with two other Star editors before she spoke to Hayt. They also refused to provide the information. Walton told Hayt that Popat’s race was necessary to allow the Secret Service to distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name. > > “It was a very lame excuse,” Hayt said. Yes it was. The photographer’s name is Mamta Popat. That name is spelled correctly, there are no typos. How many fucking Mamta Popats are running around in fucking Arizona? FHow many exist in the world. How many people are even named Mamta, much less mamta Popat? :dubious: WTF? What’s going on here? Could it be that the Bushies are afraid that a non-white Journalist might not be on their side? Or is it something more sinister? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/2 "2004-08-01T05:36:40Z")
So after you guys make race such a big issue over here, with your little check boxes on gov’t forms and whatnot, _now_ you are going to complain? Amazing. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/3 "2004-08-01T05:39:48Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > So after you guys make race such a big issue over here, with your little check boxes on gov’t forms and whatnot, now you are going to complain? Amazing. Who the fuck is “us guys” and what the fuck does it have to do with th OP? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/4 "2004-08-01T05:44:10Z")
Ah, Brutus… are you here to bother us again with your bullshit because Popeye beat your bitch ass for the billionth time\> When will you learn that he’s strong to the finich 'cause he eats his spinach, you pathetic man child? ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/5 "2004-08-01T05:49:02Z")
Uh Brutus…What the Fuck? I think you’ve got some water on the brain. Maybe a cup or two. As to the OP…wow, how fucked up is that? Hmm Mamta…Popat…what kind of fucking moron even needs to ask? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/6 "2004-08-01T05:51:31Z")
Did you ever, even for just a _teensy_ second, that perhaps… Maybe… It really was just some stupid, generic thing that they do for everyone who is given special access to the president? That they have full little profiles of every person who is allowed within a thousand feet of Bush? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/7 "2004-08-01T05:52:23Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Who the fuck is “us guys” and what the fuck does it have to do with th OP? You know, ‘you guys’. Leftists and associated scallywags. Regardless, this was from the ‘rally organizer’, not Cheney. And the photographer is being let in anways. And maybe someone has a ‘Popat’ on a watch list, and was trying to confirm something? It’s not an uncommon Pakistani name. Gosh, people not familiar with the photographic stlyings of Mamta Popat. Whodathunkit? This is stupid ado about nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/8 "2004-08-01T05:59:34Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Did you ever, even for just a _teensy_ second, that perhaps… Maybe… It really was just some stupid, generic thing that they do for everyone who is given special access to the president? That they have full little profiles of every person who is allowed within a thousand feet of Bush? From the article: “Journalists covering the president or vice president must undergo a background check and are required to provide their name, date of birth and Social Security number. The Star provided that information Thursday for Popat and this reporter.” With Popat, they wanted more. Because of her name, they wanted her race. They’ve got her fucking Social Security Number, for fucks sake! Why deny her access based on race? How could that possibly matter? What if she \*was \* Arabic? Black? Eskimo? How could it matter? As I said (in my sinking post on the same subject), I understand the Secret Service’s concern about protecting Cheney. He’s one of the biggest assholes on the planet, and is hated by millions. That doesn’t excuse racial profiling of reporters. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/9 "2004-08-01T06:01:44Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Did you ever, even for just a _teensy_ second, that perhaps… Maybe… It really was just some stupid, generic thing that they do for everyone who is given special access to the president? That they have full little profiles of every person who is allowed within a thousand feet of Bush? From the desk of Maud’Dib, the Kwizatz Hatandcoatrack, we have… _The Muad’Dib litany_(with apologies to Frank Herbert(mostly for that this twit takes the name of an enlightened fictional being and does a Rainman impression with it)): You will not think. Thinking is the partisan bullshit killer. Thinking is the little step that leads to partisan obliteration. I will ignore my thoughts. I will let all thoughts pass over me and through me. And when it has gone I shall blind my inner eye to its path. Where the thought has gone there will be nothing. Only partisan toadying will remain. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/10 "2004-08-01T06:01:51Z")
> [@Danalan](#): > > As I said (in my sinking post on the same subject), I understand the Secret Service’s concern about protecting Cheney. He’s one of the biggest assholes on the planet, and is hated by millions. That doesn’t excuse racial profiling of reporters. Maybe it is more that because you feel that way about him every story like this immeadeatly gets stretched untill it is turned into another horrific outrage of the Bush administration. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/11 "2004-08-01T06:02:37Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Did you ever, even for just a _teensy_ second, that perhaps… Maybe… It really was just some stupid, generic thing that they do for everyone who is given special access to the president? That they have full little profiles of every person who is allowed within a thousand feet of Bush? According to the article “Journalists… must undergo a background check and are required to provide their name, date of birth, and social security number.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/12 "2004-08-01T06:03:30Z")
He’s got you, **Dio**. Probably go the news clipping from the Star, about you lurking in Loring Park in a raincoat, and jumping out at young schoolgirls and wagging your scally. Look…you knew it would get out sooner or later… ---
**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:** [August 1, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/13 "2004-08-01T06:03:44Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Did you ever, even for just a _teensy_ second, that perhaps… Maybe… It really was just some stupid, generic thing that they do for everyone who is given special access to the president? That they have full little profiles of every person who is allowed within a thousand feet of Bush? Because it ISN"T something they do for everybody, not the race question anyway. You know, ‘you guys’. Leftists and associated scallywags. [/quote] Actually, no I don’t know, and it’s irrelevant to the OP. I never check those fucking boxes anyway. Regardless, this was from the ‘rally organizer’, not Cheney. [/quote] Rally organizers don’t come up with this shit on their own, they’re not responsible for securuty and they don’t usually ask what color somebody is. > [@](#): > > And the photographer is being let in anways. Because the AZ publicized the incident. They didn’t have a choice anymore. > [@](#): > > And maybe someone has a ‘Popat’ on a watch list, and was trying to confirm something? Confirm what? what the fuck would knowing her race confirm? It’s not an uncommon Pakistani name. [/quote] How the fuck would you know? And Pima County is not in fucking Pakistan. How many Mamta fucking Popats are present in Arizona right now? What do you think? maybe one, tops? > [@](#): > > Gosh, people not familiar with the photographic stlyings of Mamta Popat. Whodathunkit? Which completely fails to answer why they needed to know what color she was. This is stupid ado about nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/14 "2004-08-01T06:06:09Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > From the desk of Maud’Dib, the Kwizatz Hatandcoatrack, we have… > > _The Muad’Dib litany_(with apologies to Frank Herbert(mostly for that this twit takes the name of an enlightened fictional being and does a Rainman impression with it)): > > You will not think. > Thinking is the partisan bullshit killer. > Thinking is the little step that leads to partisan obliteration. > I will ignore my thoughts. > I will let all thoughts pass over me and through me. > And when it has gone I shall blind my inner eye to its path. > Where the thought has gone there will be nothing. > Only partisan toadying will remain. 1. You really do not help the Liberal stereotype that they just assume that everyone who disagrees with them is a big dummy not to be listened to or considered. 2. In these threads, although without a lot of venom (which is good), you jump to name calling faster than anyone. 3. When are you going to apologize for calling me a “disingenuous cad” for saying that the Democrats were the ones who proposed the $300 tax rebate? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/15 "2004-08-01T06:08:41Z")
Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity… But, the Malice comes IMO on denying that there was a mistake made, which is SOP for this administration. However, this is fitting a disturbing pattern: I do think the president’s pig head ness on not replacing any of his fact checkers is not funny anymore, from the plagiarized paper on Iraq, the faulty identification of terrorist names (as it happened to the best link the administration had between Saddam and Osama (it was the wrong guy)) to the recent “Cuban hookers” quote misstep, I am beginning to think this president doesn’t care what an ass he has become due to his fact checkers. And the harm that this will continue causing if this nincompoop gets 4 more years. [Super cynical mode:] I am beginning to think the intelligence community is truly disgusted with this guy, and Bush is depending on the second string team to keep himself informed. [/super cynical mode] This is IMO a better reason why not to vote for this yahoo in November: The realization that incompetence will never get you fired in the Bush administration, so it is up to us to fire him in November. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/16 "2004-08-01T06:09:47Z")
Jesus, that’s probably the shittiest coding job I’ve ever posted. Anyway, Bush dfenders, I am open to explanations of why her race was relevant, especially in light of the fact that they already had her SS#. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/17 "2004-08-01T06:10:46Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > 1. You really do not help the Liberal stereotype that they just assume that everyone who disagrees with them is a big dummy not to be listened to or considered. > > 2. In these threads, although without a lot of venom (which is good), you jump to name calling faster than anyone. > > 3. When are you going to apologize for calling me a “disingenuous cad” for saying that the Democrats were the ones who proposed the $300 tax rebate? That article is the ONLY reference I could find through other Google searches. Highly suspect. Disingenuous cad is so slight when it comes to you, oh Ann Coulter revering dickweed. You aren’t a dummy, you’re quite partisan and blind to anything that would go against it. I can see when people do well and are working for their constituency no matter what their political leanings are. I doubt you can say the same. I jump to mocking faster than anyone, and you and Brutus fucking beg for it. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/18 "2004-08-01T06:12:11Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > You aren’t a dummy, you’re quite partisan and blind to anything that would go against it. I can see when people do well and are working for their constituency no matter what their political leanings are. I doubt you can say the same. Glass houses dude. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/19 "2004-08-01T06:13:09Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Anyway, Bush dfenders, I am open to explanations of why her race was relevant, especially in light of the fact that they already had her SS#. They had her SS??, shit! I am getting tired to see my super cynical retorts, about this administration, confirmed even a little… ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816/20 "2004-08-01T06:20:19Z")
Not that neither Muad’Dib nor Brutus has answered the question as to why this woman should have been singled out to be racially profiled. Perhaps answering the question is too hard? Or not possible. Because there was no excuse for this nonsense. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bushistas-are-now-racially-profiling-journalists/257816.md?page=2)