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| Lynn Westmoreland calls Obama 'uppity' | |
| 2008-09-08 | |
| Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday. Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama. "Just from what little I've seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said. Asked to clarify that he used the word "uppity," Westmoreland said, "Uppity, yeah." Other Democrats have charged that the Republican campaign to paint the Illinois senator as an "elitist" is racially charged, and accused them of using code words for "uppity" without using the word itself. In August, Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) told reporters, "When I hear the word 'elitist' linked with Barack Obama, to me, that is a code word for 'uppity.' I find it extremely offensive and John McCain should know better."
The Obama campaign, asked about the quote, did not note any racial context. "Sounds like Rep. Westmoreland should be careful throwing stones from his candidate's eight glass houses," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. Campaigning against the first black major-party nominee has already created some problems for Republicans. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said that Obama's middle name -- Hussein -- is relevant to the public discourse surrounding his candidacy, saying in March that if Obama were elected, "Then the radical Islamists, the al Qaeda, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror." At an April 12 event in his district, Kentucky Rep. Geoff Davis (R) said of Obama: "I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button. He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country." Davis sent a letter of apology to Obama in which he described his remark as a "poor choice of words." Westmoreland originally supported former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. He now supports McCain, but missed an August fundraiser for the nominee because he was vacationing with his family. | |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #21 Bell curve, Broadhead6 dear. Twenty-five percent being morons isn't as bad as it might be. Although yes, it is an awful lot of them. One wonders what they think of us. Lincoln and Douglas, sadly, were an anomaly for their time. Look at the several men who held the office before and after. We must hope, as we do each election, that not only the best man won, but that he will rise to the occasion. I know that probably isn't helpful. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-08 22:25 |
| #20 They are going to be reaching far and making mountains out of mole hills from here on out. It's gonna get ridiculous, they haven't even started yet. And for all the trunks out there: quit buying Sara Palin glasses frames and Palin superhero-ette dolls, that's just as creepy as the Obama-worship stuff. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-09-08 22:25 |
| #19 JFM - Wow, America is better than Europe in this situation? How comforting....(sarcasm/off) Your populous is getting the gov'ts they deserve or will put up with. Unfortunately, so are we. TW - there are roughly 225 million Americans of legal voting age now. Kerry got 55 million votes in '04. If Obama gets near that number - and I have no clue if he will - that's approx 25% of the entire U.S. adult pop. I know only a fraction of these voted for him in the primaries, doesn't matter, if 50 mil are willing to pull the lever to put this assclown in the white house w/a dem congress afoot - my assertion stands - a scary amount of morons. Jack - the opinion of the voters based on what was offered from the two parties (country club rinos vs marxist dems) have given us McCain vs Obama...golf clap. The founders of the constitution were brilliant men, when they put together Article 2, Section 1 I'm not sure they foresaw a complete two party system taking hold of the gov't...or a MSM parroting crap to the people who know more about American Idol or think that since some guy can use a teleprompter - he's articulate (though he does have good teeth) then they do about the constitution that sets up the system in the first place. That's why I call it a twisted beauty pageant/popularity contest. I do like Palin, I think she's good person & way better then the dems by a long shot. Doesn't mean I think she's the best qualified person in the U.S. to lead the country at this time. Douglas and Lincoln used to debate for four hours. As I said before, I hold my bile and put on my gas mask and vote for Sen Mccain. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2008-09-08 20:28 |
| #18 Uppity is uppity. I have heard this term used to describe someone who is putting on airs. Whites or blacks don't have a corner on this term. Jee whiz, this election is enough to make my head spin. The count down for the end of the silly season is on. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-09-08 19:01 |
| #17 So Sarah calls a spade a spade last week and everybody comments on her plain talk, but when A Southern Male Republican does the same he is getting pilloried... doesn't add up to me. You could make a case that 'since he is from the south he just HAS to be a rasict and 'uppity' is only half a word.' Says something about your upbringings, don't it? agre with previous posts, double standard crap has to end, and maybe that will be a side effect of Sarahcuda's explosion on the scene. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-09-08 14:58 |
| #16 Regarding Broadhead6's post: Can anyone tell me the qualifications to be POTUS other than acquiring the age of 35 and be a natural born citizen? They are all in the eye of the voter, nowhere else. So, it is opinion that makes the man or woman qualified to be POTUS, nothing else. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-09-08 12:16 |
| #15 Or two negatives multiplied make a positive! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-09-08 10:32 |
| #14 No, but two Wrights can make an airplane. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-09-08 10:29 |
| #13 The problem with going into the gutter to fight double standards is that two wrongs don't make a right. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-08 10:11 |
| #12 Oh jeezs.... Uppity isn't racial. Typical MSM trying to smear as much as they can. How about this MSM? Obama is a elitist, out of touch, snobbish, boorish, stupid, boring, arrogant, communist fool. And you can quote me on that, turdheads. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-09-08 10:08 |
| #11 Not quite so many, Broadhead6. Obama is the candidate of the Democratic party because he gamed the primary system -- not because he actually carried the states that are will be in play in November. It will be interesting to see whether the party muckety-mucks decide to change that for next time. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-08 09:47 |
| #10 Broadhead Did you vote in the ptimeries? No? At this point I could tall you to put up but I would tell you that you should consider yourself fortunate to live in America instead of Europe: our candidates are still worse than yours and in adition they are selected by a few tens of thousands (at best), memebers of politrical parties in a process who is anythoing but transparent and then we are told to go to vote for teh guy our betters (the Party memebers) have selected. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-09-08 09:44 |
| #9 I would've said he's a lightweight empty suit that can give a good speech with a teleprompter - far more on point...but that's just me. The "uppity" thing is a double-standard I've witnessed blacks saying that to or about each other. Race and gender politics make me nausious. The whole presidential race of today is nothing more then a twisted popularity/beauty contest. I respect Palin and McCain. I strongly dislike a lot of McCain's policies and stances in the past. The sad thing is almost none of these people honestly should be anywhere near the white house. The fact that Obama has made it this far is proof positive that there are a scary amount of Americans that are morons. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2008-09-08 09:15 |
| #8 foolish thing to say, and we need to stay out of the race card debate. There's so many many many other valid things to despise Obama over. Elitist? Yes. Uppity? Ixnay |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-08 08:33 |
| #7 My late father used to say why is it bad when I say nigger and and it's not bad when black say nigger. I said: It sounds better when they say it. |
| Posted by: Ebbinter the Rasher of Bacon4084 2008-09-08 08:13 |
| #6 Yeah, there's a double standard, but this was still a stupid thing to say. He could have said, "they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're better than the rest of us" and it would've gotten the point across better. |
| Posted by: Mike 2008-09-08 08:03 |
| #5 I don't know about you guys but I'm damned sick of the double standard. Here's a quote from three days ago taken from a 'Burg story about Mexico undergoing a "legal revolution." Judges — not juries of peers — will still determine guilt or innocence. "This is not a copy of the gringo system," Gonzalez told the class. It's fine for whites to be called gringos, is it? Let's change that sentence and its attribution and see how it sounds: "Judges — not juries of peers — will still determine guilt or innocence. "This is not a copy of the spick system," Buchanan told the class." Think that still would have flown by without comment on Yahoo!? If this Westmoreland guy wants to call Obama not just "uppity" but an "uppity nigger," he certainly can. Would doing so be helpful, clarifying or beneficial to anyone involved in the debate? No. Nor was Gonzales' remark about gringos. It was a flippant, off the cuff, racial insult by someone used to insulting whites without any repercussions. Seems like there's a lot of that these days. The difference is that if Westmoreland actually did call Obama an uppity nigger there would be hell to pay in the press while cracks about "gringos" simply go totally unremarked. The double standard couldn't be more blatant. That's a crock. If racial epithets are going to be taboo, then they damned well need to be taboo for EVERYBODY, not just those favored by the left. If the "rules" aren't going to be enforced evenhandedly, or enforced only against whites, no one has any cause for being surprised when whites decline to play patsy for racists from other ethnic groups. Either ALL of the epithets are out of bounds, or none of them are. It's long past time the nonwhite racists got a taste of their own, politically correct medicine. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini 7800 2008-09-08 07:06 |
| #4 "articulate and clean. A storybook, really" /Plugz |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-08 06:11 |
| #3 Perhaps snobbish or arrogant may have been better choices. (Both from the dictionary under "uppity"). |
| Posted by: Gladys 2008-09-08 06:05 |
| #2 Westmoreland is conservative, pro-Life second term Congressman. In the State of Georgia when referring to the Obama's, the word "uppity" might be described as a .... charitable term of endearment. At least anywhere outside of Fulton County. Westmoreland's got a considerable amount in common with the Palin family as far as his beliefs, upbringing and background. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-09-08 03:12 |
| #1 what an incredibly stupid thing for her to say. Did the Obama campaign pay her to say it? I'm no fan of Obama, but even I am deeply offended by her comment. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-09-08 00:41 |