I was only half listening to the news when I heard something about a politician from California saying something inappropriate while on a photo op with kids at a school. I missed what he said. Anyone know?
Here’s a link to the story.
Thanks. I had done a search but couldn’t find it. That guy is a toolio.
You’re welcome. I agree- I wonder what he was thinking?
I have to wonder what that child’s name was that he ‘misheard’ it as La Cochina Estupida.
Hey oceans_11. Fellow Santa Barbarian checking in.
I just read the report in the local paper and there was nothing about the kid’s name. That comment truely is hard to believe.
Especially since Riordan is usually such a nice, level-headed guy in public.
Howdy hajario! The News-Press didn’t mention anything about the kid’s name? Not suprising…
The Santa Barbara Independent (sort of like the Reader) reported that the girl’s name is Isis.
Get this:
Haj
The Smoking Gun has a video clip of Riordan’s faux pas; I had trouble trying to figure out the context of his remark from the news articles I read- the clip makes it more clear to me.
So I guess it depends on what the meaning of Isis.
‘supreme Goddess’ is mentioned on pretty much all the sites I goggled.
Kinda far away from what he said !
I LOVE that line! Good one!
Actually, the L.A. Times (not noted for being a bastion of conservative politics) just ran an article about how this story became yet another story about the story and the reactions, and not about the incident. The child and the parent said they were well over it, but lots of activists and opposing politicians had to scream.
I’m not saying that Riordan said something great. But as the paper said, it’s much more likely that it was a man of “a certain age” teasing a chlid the way he would have 50 years ago, and forgetting not to do it to only to children he knew very well.
The Times pointed out that there was even one CA politician who said it came down to race, and asked if he would have said something like that to a white girl.
Isis is white. So much for stereotyping.
There is the possiblity that this is something of a giant tempest in a tiny tea pot. In context, it would appear that the whole class, filled with laughter and chatter, had been on a long string of joking and horsing around. And given Riordan’s record and personal commitments with respect to children and education, it does not seem likely that he intended to be mean.
Based on his past and the context of the discussion this seems to be true yes, but I can’t see the answer “It means stupid dirty girl.” when a 6-year old asks you what her name means being funny now or 50 years ago.
Sure it’s being blown up but could he have expected anything else after saying that?
It might also be significant that Riordan is a very moderate Republican, diverging from the conservative base on such prickly issues as abortion and gun control. There was some panic in the recent California recall election over a Riordian candidacy by that base, and thus the official backing of the Arnold (himself a moderate, but not quite so much) was born. I recall that Riordan’s glowing endorsement of Dianne Feinstein had been the last straw. I’m not saying that Republican power-brokers leaked this story or anything, but I don’t think they’re fretting over watching him squirm.
Probably not, but again, the video clip (linked above) seemed less alarming to me than the news headlines.
if Arnie given his track record with treating women thinks they are bad, then they must be!
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a longtime friend of Riordan who appointed the former Los Angeles mayor to his cabinet, said in a statement that the comments were “unacceptable in any context”
That’s just…it’s…too perfect! :eek:
It’s like all the forces of history conspired just so you could make that joke! 
The clip makes is clear that the kid wasn’t bothered and took it as a joke. If she were crying over it, it might have been worth an issue, but this is a tempest in an inkpot. It was just the type of silliness that kids usually love.