DAN RATHER... OBAMA IS A NICE PERSON BUT......

[Abracadabra]

DAN RATHER: Part of the undertow in the coming election is going to be President Obama's leadership.....Listen he's a nice person, he's very articulate" this is what's been used against him, "but he couldn't sell watermelons if it, you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic."   

ttp://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2010/03/08/dan-rather-articulate-obama-couldnt-even-sell-watermelons

[Parnelli]

Okay, how is that NOT racist? Why because the Obama lover Rather said it. If a conservitive (Sean Hannity, Rush, Mark Levin, or one of the countless others) had said the same thing someone would be asking for their head on a platter.

[deb]

You're both missing the really important story

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/black-barbie-sold-white-barbie-walmart-store/story?id=10045008

Now, what part of the Rather's remark was racist......articulate or watermelon?  For the record, articulate means that a person can put his thoughts into words and communicate effectively, it has absolutely no bearing on one's ability to read from a teleprompter.

Let's make a list of things that supposedly offend black people....

1.  The rebel flag
2.  Watermelon
3.  Fried Chicken
4.  RC
5.  Moonpies

I personally like to sit on the patio, rebel flag blowing in the wind, eating cold fried chicken, cold watermelon, a chocolate moonpie (I just happen to like the chocolate better than the others - nothing racial about it unless you can convince me that black people taste like chocolate or unless you have the IQ of New Orleans mayor Nagin then there'll be no reasoning with you) and a cold RC cola (they're generally cheaper than the other brands and taste just as good).

This whole thing has gotten out of hand.  We all live in this society, and some things are a fact of life - and those facts include the rebel flag, watermelons, fried chicken, rc cola and moonpies.  Sometimes a white person will mention one of those things in conversation.  To the blacks that are overly sensitive, get over it.  Believe it or not it is NOT all about race.

By the way, the barbie doll crap - retail 101.  If a white doll doesn't move, you free up the real estate and put it on clearance too.

[grantpk]

Another (mis)quote taken out of context.  Dan rather was explaining what arguments the GOP might use in this fall's campaign to induce independents to vote Republican.
See Fox News article.

[Parnelli]

Deb - it's racist in the same way as the statement that got Howard Cosell in trouble. Do you remember his outburt of "look at that monkey run." Now, the guy running just happened to be black ahhh African American, um, Negro, however you want to say it. Howard was basically taken off the air for saying that.
So, yes, the statement Rather made linking the Obidiot with Watermelons and being Articulate is racist no matter how much honey you put on it.

[deb]

Is the statement racist, or have we become a society that allows everyday language to be labeled racist by an overly sensitive group of people.

Unless it is my intent to degrade another person based on their skin color, to treat them less than I would another white person, my statement is not racist.  I call my white granddaughter "monkeybutt", BFD, she's three and knows she isn't a monkey butt, and we have adults offended by the words articulate and watermelon, and people getting their panties in a wad because Wal-Mart puts a doll on clearance.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend the rest of my life walking on egg shells to keep from offending some group of people who lack a command of the English language that allows them to know the difference between colloquial expression and an insult.

This has just gotten too ridiculous. 

[Abracadabra]

Another (mis)quote taken out of context.  Dan rather was explaining what arguments the GOP might use in this fall's campaign to induce independents to vote Republican.
See Fox News article.

Sorry, it is not a mis-quote nor was it taken out of context.

Of course, you as a liberal would use this liberal line....and you should have used the second liberal line that usually following this line.... that being "what he meant to say was....."

Rather was trying to put words in the mouths of those who claim to be republican or independent and trying to show he was a smart liberal. More like smart-*ss!

[Parnelli]

I am not PC by anyone's measure. What I was trying to say was that if what Rather had said was said by a conservative, the GCMSM would have asked for his or her head. Since it was said by an Obama lover then Rather got a pass.
You can't have it both ways even though the media would love you to think that.