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Romney, McCain and "Tar Babies"
July 18, 2007
"The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can." - Mitt Romney, July 2006, Ames, Iowa. Regarding: A troubled construction project in Boston.
"We are getting into a tar baby of enormous proportions and I don't know how you get out of that." - John McCain, March 2007, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Regarding: Federal involvement in custody cases.
It's understandable that political figures occasionally make verbal blunders. By nature, they talk a lot. Often, that's all they do.
However, it's unusual when two major candidates for the President make the same racially-insensitive blunder. In both situations, the candidates made public apologies and, in both cases, it seemed clear that they were not referring to "black children", as "tar babies" are defined in Wikipedia's List of Ethnic Slurs.
The now-politically-incorrect reference stems from an Uncle Remus story by Joel Chandler Harris. In the story, a fox and bear construct a doll made of tar to catch a rabbit. Once the rabbit came into contact with the doll, he struggled to get away only to become more entangled by the sticky tar. Thus, the term "tar baby" became popular to describe "a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it".
"He was unaware that some people find the term objectionable and he's sorry..."
- Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney Spokesman (July 2006)
“I don’t think I should have used that word and I was wrong to do it.”
- John McCain (March 2007)
There may have been no real racist intent, but Romney and McCain were guilty of something else. Both men showed a complete ignorance of current events.
In May of 2006 - just two months before Romney's statement, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was widely criticized for using the term "tar baby" in regard to a terror surveillance program. He said, "I don't want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program -- the alleged program -- the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny."
In fact, the term "tar baby" had been on any sensible politician's banned list since 1992 when it was reported that advisors for John Kerry called the Iraq war a "no-win tar baby".
If Mitt Romney and John McCain are unable to learn from the mistakes of others, they would be well-advised to look through Wikipedia's List of Ethnic Slurs. Americans no longer say "tar baby". People are not "Moon Crickets", "Spaghetti Benders" or "Teapots". People are people. We are American people and we want a President who will define our times with a dictionary of decency and hope. The word "tar baby" is not in the dictionary of a brighter tomorrow.
Also see: McCain Calls Vietnamese "Gooks" (07/04/07)
Presidential Candidate Mr Breakfast will continue to point out the foibles and goofs of all the candidates (regardless of party) until they reveal a position on the importance of breakfast.
Posted on July 18, 2007 3:48 AM | Permalink
July 18, 2007
"The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can." - Mitt Romney, July 2006, Ames, Iowa. Regarding: A troubled construction project in Boston.
"We are getting into a tar baby of enormous proportions and I don't know how you get out of that." - John McCain, March 2007, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Regarding: Federal involvement in custody cases.
It's understandable that political figures occasionally make verbal blunders. By nature, they talk a lot. Often, that's all they do.
However, it's unusual when two major candidates for the President make the same racially-insensitive blunder. In both situations, the candidates made public apologies and, in both cases, it seemed clear that they were not referring to "black children", as "tar babies" are defined in Wikipedia's List of Ethnic Slurs.
The now-politically-incorrect reference stems from an Uncle Remus story by Joel Chandler Harris. In the story, a fox and bear construct a doll made of tar to catch a rabbit. Once the rabbit came into contact with the doll, he struggled to get away only to become more entangled by the sticky tar. Thus, the term "tar baby" became popular to describe "a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it".
"He was unaware that some people find the term objectionable and he's sorry..."
- Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney Spokesman (July 2006)
“I don’t think I should have used that word and I was wrong to do it.”
- John McCain (March 2007)
There may have been no real racist intent, but Romney and McCain were guilty of something else. Both men showed a complete ignorance of current events.
In May of 2006 - just two months before Romney's statement, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was widely criticized for using the term "tar baby" in regard to a terror surveillance program. He said, "I don't want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program -- the alleged program -- the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny."
In fact, the term "tar baby" had been on any sensible politician's banned list since 1992 when it was reported that advisors for John Kerry called the Iraq war a "no-win tar baby".
If Mitt Romney and John McCain are unable to learn from the mistakes of others, they would be well-advised to look through Wikipedia's List of Ethnic Slurs. Americans no longer say "tar baby". People are not "Moon Crickets", "Spaghetti Benders" or "Teapots". People are people. We are American people and we want a President who will define our times with a dictionary of decency and hope. The word "tar baby" is not in the dictionary of a brighter tomorrow.
Also see: McCain Calls Vietnamese "Gooks" (07/04/07)
Presidential Candidate Mr Breakfast will continue to point out the foibles and goofs of all the candidates (regardless of party) until they reveal a position on the importance of breakfast.
Posted on July 18, 2007 3:48 AM | Permalink
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