Smearing Obama

Conservative boot sells Obama "Aunt Jemima style" waffles

2008-09-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

A booth at a recent summit of the conservative Family Research Council sold boxes of waffle mix which featured a caricature of Obama, exaggerating his features in a stereotypically racists manner. When asked if the box was racists, the seller replied:

We had some people mention that to us, but you think of Newman's Own or Emeril's — there are tons and tons of personality-branded food products on the market. So we've taken that model and, using political satire, have highlighted his policies, his position changes.

The box brings to mind the racist imagery of Aunt Jemima's waffle and pancake mixes.

Penn. College Republican leader: "a pair of lips so large..."

2008-09-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

The executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans, Adam LaDuca, wrote on his Facebook page that Obama has "a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)" He also wrote that "if sayin' someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we're ALL in trouble."

Newsweek reported the nonapology of LaDuca, who resigned from the Federation, and some controversial past activities of Republicans at his college:

LaDuca said Monday that he regrets posting the comments and understands how they can be construed as racist. "In hindsight, when you read it a second time, it's like, 'oops,'" he said. "It was just a dumb move on my part to make a statement like that public."...

LaDuca is a senior at Kutztown University. Two years ago, Kutztown's College Republicans chapter was heavily criticized for holding a "bake sale" to protest affirmative action in which whites were charged more for cookies than blacks. LaDuca, then the group's spokesman, made a public apology on the group's behalf.

Westmoreland: Obamas are "uppity"

2008-09-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) said "Just from what little I’ve seen of [Michelle Obama] and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity."

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

Limbaugh: "Nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy"

2008-09-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said

It is striking how unqualified Obama is and, and how this whole thing came about with, within the Democrat Party. I think it really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.... I think this is a classic illustration here where affirmative action has reared its ugly head against them.

Sussman: Obama "running for Antichrist" and not Christian

2008-08-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

A guest host on KSFO radio, Brian Sussman, asserted that Obama is not really a Christian: "If Barack Obama were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence for a jury of his peers to pronounce him guilty? I doubt it. I think Obama would walk." Sussman had previously rhetorically asked if Obama was "running for Antichrist."

Lieberman: Obama is "A Good Young Man"

2008-08-10T22:58:00.001-07:00

Recovering Democrat Joseph Lieberman twice referred to Obama - who is forty-seven years old - as "a good young man" in a recent interview. While at first glance this may appear to be a compliment, it is nothing short of racist code. In the South, adult blacks were referred to as children, particularly as "boy," as a means to demean.

Shirt: "“Obama is my slave"

2008-08-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

In a case of what seems to be a concoction of irony, ignorance, and racism, a hip boutique in Manhattan is selling a t-shirt saying, "Obama is my slave." The designer, whose other shirts include “Jews Against Obama,” “Obama = Hitler” and “Who Killed Obama?”, dislikes Obama, but not because of his race. Instead, he says that Obama "reminds me of Adolf Hitler,” and that “he is a Muslim.”

Liddy: "The New Yorker finally got it right"

2008-08-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Conservative pundit and convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy is precisely the type of person whose negative views of Obama were reinforced by The New Yorker cover. On his radio show, he stated that

It's got Obama in his Muslim dress with a turban, and he's there with his wife. His wife has a 'mad at the world' afro, circa 1968, she -- she's got bandoliers and an assault weapon, and there in their fireplace is burning the American flag. The New Yorker finally got it right.

New Yorker: Stereotypes or satire?

2008-08-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

The publication that perhaps best epitomizes the limousine liberal, The New Yorker, published an issue whose cover was a cartoon drawing of Obama in traditional middle eastern wear, Michelle Obama as black power radical, in the Oval Office with a portrait of Osama bin Laden and an American flag burning in the fireplace. As satire, this is excellent, capturing all the caricatures that this blog chronicles. However, as we've noted before, satire needs some context. Most viewers of the cover will merely see the stereotypes themselves, not the ridicule of them.

NJ GOP: "Obama loves America like OJ loved Nicole"

2008-08-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

The website of the Pemberton and Burlington County (New Jersey) GOP displayed a banner stating that "Obama loves America like OJ loved Nicole." Although the chief of that Republican club later denounced it, the banner remained for at least two weeks.

Morris: "Is he pro-American?"

2008-08-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

Recovering Democrat Dick Morris utilized the platform of FoxNews to ask, "[T]he question that plagues [Sen. Barack] Obama is ... Is he pro-American?" In May, Morris suggested that Obama was a Manchurian candidate, a hidden agent of terrorists, by asserting that the election hinges on whether Obama can disprove that he is "sort of a sleeper agent who really doesn't believe in our system."

Matthews: Obama not regular

2008-08-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

In June and July, MSNBC's Chris Matthews once again regularly asserted that Obama was somehow fundamentally difference from regular guys such as himself.

He said that Obama was not middle class, and did not "have that experience that ... most Americans have."
Using Chicago references, he asked whether Obama was too lower-class or too upper class: "is he too University of Chicago or too South Side Chicago for those people? Which way is he going too far?"
He wondered aloud if Obama "Can Obama now win over the regular folks, white folks," implying that blacks are somehow not regular.

Die Tageszeitung: Uncle Barack's Cabin

2008-08-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

In June, the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung ran a cover of the White House with the large caption, in German, "Uncle Barack's Cabin," a reference to the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. The left-leaning outlet defended the cover as satirical. While properly contextualized satire can be a useful communication medium, a newspaper cover is tricky. Most viewers get only a glance as they pass by in a store or newsstand. For them, the take-home message is likely not one of satire.

Republicanmarket at Texas convention: "will we still call it the White House?"

2008-06-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

At the Texas state Republican convention, a booth by Republicanmarket was selling pins askling, "If Obama is President will we still call it the White House?"

O'Reilly: no "lynching party against Michelle Obama"

2008-06-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Back in February, conservative Bill O'Reilly said that he didn't want to attack Obama's wife until there was relevant evidence. But the language he used was telling:

I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels.

Tennessee Dem: Obama "may be terrorist connected for all I can tell."

2008-06-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

The terrorist smear has been a popular tool among the fringe part of the Republican party. But from a Democrat? Tennessee Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-Pall Mall) has held off from endorsing his party's presumptive presidential nominee, presumably because the constituents in his district overwhelmingly supported Sen. Clinton in the Tennessee Democratic Primary. Fred Hobbs, a member of the state Democratic Party's Executive Committee, said he understood Davis' hesitation:

Maybe [it’s] the same reason I don’t want to — I don’t exactly approve of a lot of the things he stands for and I’m not sure we know enough about him. He’s got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.

McCain: Elecing Obama would not be Judeo-Christian

2008-06-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

In a recent interview with the Christian network Beliefnet, Republican presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain implied that Obama is not a Christian:

I think that, the number one issue, that is in the selection, that , which people, should make of a selection of the president of the United States, is will this person carry on in the Judeo-Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind. I just have to say in all candor that, uh, that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles that, I, uh, that's a decision that the American people would make.

Fox News: Michelle Obama is "Obama's baby mama"

2008-06-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

During a segment on Fox News in which several conservatives asserted that liberals were upset with statements by Michelle Obama, the caption read "Outraged liberals: Stop picking on Obama's baby mama."

For those not familiar with the term, "baby mama" or "baby daddy" are terms used by some blacks to refer to their child's other unmarried parent with whom they are not in a relationship.

Ferraro: defending "racial resentment"

2008-06-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

Just as Hillary Clinton was preparing to leave the race, her supporter Geraldine Ferraro thought it wise to revisit and defend her comments in March. In an op-ed in the Boston Globe, she defended white frustration and fear as acceptable "racial resentment" instead of "racism."

They're not upset with Obama because he's black; they're upset because they don't expect to be treated fairly because they're white. It's not racism that is driving them, it's racial resentment. And that is enforced because they don't believe he understands them and their problems....

Whom he chooses for his vice president makes no difference to them. That he is pro-choice means little. Learning more about his bio doesn't do it. They don't identify with someone who has gone to Columbia and Harvard Law School and is married to a Princeton-Harvard Law graduate. His experience with an educated single mother and being raised by middle-class grandparents is not something they can empathize with. They may lack a formal higher education, but they're not stupid. What they're waiting for is assurance that an Obama administration won't leave them behind.

According to Ferraro, so-called "downscale," poorly-educated, whites are reluctant to vote for an elite, Ivy league black man because he would not understand them. They would, and have, voted for an elite, Ivy league white man. This is acceptable to Ferraro, because this is "racial resentment," not racism.

Marjorie Valbrun has the full take-down at The Root.

Matthews: Obama not really American

2008-06-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

On two occasions in recent days, MSNBC's Chris Matthews expressed concern that Obama's personal history makes it difficult for him to connect with real Americans.

On June 3, he asked:
Does he have that experience that people -- most Americans have? Does he connect on the basic struggling-class level? And I'm not sure he does.

On June 4, in the summary from Media Matters, he

criticized Sen. Barack Obama's expression of patriotism, asserting that Obama "thank[s] America" because he "got certain things from it," rather than, Matthews claimed, "express[ing]" "that gut sense of Americanism," which, Matthews said, is "a hard thing for someone like Barack Obama ... to express." He also purported to distinguish Obama from "regular" Americans, saying: "People that don't have anything, including beautiful families and Ivy League degrees, know what they got. They're Americans."

E.D. Hill: "A terrorist fist jab?"

2008-06-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

According to Media Matters

Teasing a segment on the "gesture everyone seems to interpret differently," Fox News' E.D. Hill said: "A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? ... We'll show you some interesting body communication and find out what it really says." In the ensuing discussion with a "body language expert," Hill referred to the "Michelle and Barack Obama fist bump or fist pound," but at no point did she explain her earlier reference to "a terrorist fist jab."

Update: Perhaps because the "terrorist fist jab" is so common, including by Republican former presidents, Hill apologized.

Ferraro: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position"

2008-06-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

On three separate occasions, Clinton adviser and former vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro claimed that Obama was doing well only because he was a black man. First, on February 26, on Fox News radio:

If Barack Obama were a white man, would we be talking about this as a potential real problem for Hillary? If he were a woman... If he were a woman of any color, would he be in this position that he's in, absolutely not.

On March 7:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

Ferraro later defended the comment:

Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up. Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?

The Clinton campaign said that the candidate disagreed with Ferraro, but would not remove her from the campaign's finance committee. Ferraro resigned, but did not apologize. That makes senses, as not only did she repeat her comment now, but she almost the same thing in 1988:

If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race.

Bill Clinton: Obama is just Jesse Jackson

2008-06-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

Early in the campaign, Bill Clinton tried to dismiss the Obama candidacy as Jesse Jackson's for a new decade:

Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here.

While not overtly racist, it was a clear attempt to marginalize Obama as merely "the black candidate."

Andrew Cuomo: "Shuckin' and Jivin'"

2008-06-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

Back in January, Clinton supporter and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had this to say about Clinton's win over Obama in New Hampshire:

It's not a TV crazed race. Frankly you can't buy your way into it. You can't shuck and jive at a press conference. All those moves you can make with the press don't work when you're in someone's living room.

"Shuckin' and jivin'" is a racially loaded way to refer to black people make up stories to authority figures in order to get out of trouble.

Hillary Clinton: Staying in the race in case of assassination

2008-06-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Although Obama clinched the Democratic party's nomination tonight, we should recall that a couple weeks ago, competitor Hillary Clinton implied that potential assassination of the leading candidate is among the reasons for her to stay in the race this long.

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don't understand it.

Clinton later apologized. It is true that she did not speak directly of a potential assassination of Obama, and may have been talking of the general need for a second option. But given her skill as a speaker, her desire for the nomination, and the real sense of danger for Obama, such statements should be neither spoken nor taken lightly.

Limbaugh: His "only chance of winning is that he's black"

2008-06-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh yesterday asserted that Obama's "only chance of winning is that he's black." Limbaugh has previously called Obama "an affirmative action candidate" and said that "[i]f Barack Obama were Caucasian, they would have taken this guy out on the basis of pure ignorance long ago."

While many analysts wonder to what extent Obama's race may hurt him in the polls, Limbaugh has made the strange argument that, in a society with a significant degree of overt and subtle racism, a black candidate may somehow do better than a white one.

Luttwak: Obama as Muslim Apostate

2008-06-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

The New York Times published an op ed by Edward Luttwak, of the right-center the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who asserted that Obama is an apostate in the eyes of Muslim. Because he was born to a Muslim father, Luttwak claimed, Muslims would view Obama as guilty of the worst crime, that of rejecting Islam. Thus, contrary to the common view that Obama's Muslim name and roots could improve relations between the USA and Muslim nations, Obama posed a risk. In fact, he would be the likely target of assassination attempts, and the Muslim security officers in other nations would not be able to protect him.

Because no government is likely to allow the prosecution of a President Obama — not even those of Iran and Saudi Arabia, the only two countries where Islamic religious courts dominate over secular law — another provision of Muslim law is perhaps more relevant: it prohibits punishment for any Muslim who kills any apostate, and effectively prohibits interference with such a killing.
At the very least, that would complicate the security planning of state visits by President Obama to Muslim countries, because the very act of protecting him would be sinful for Islamic security guards. More broadly, most citizens of the Islamic world would be horrified by the fact of Senator Obama’s conversion to Christianity once it became widely known — as it would, no doubt, should he win the White House. This would compromise the ability of governments in Muslim nations to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism, as well as American efforts to export democracy and human rights abroad.
That an Obama presidency would cause such complications in our dealings with the Islamic world is not likely to be a major factor with American voters, and the implication is not that it should be. But of all the well-meaning desires projected on Senator Obama, the hope that he would decisively improve relations with the world’s Muslims is the least realistic.

The logical conclusion from Luttwak's claims is that Obama is "damned if he is, damned if he isn't" a Muslim.

Today, the public editor of the Times reports that, after some fact-checking, Luttwak was wrong, and the paper should not have published the piece.

Hillary Clingon: Obama not a Muslim "as far as I know"

2008-06-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Obama's shief competitor in the Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton, was asked about the rumors that Obama is a Muslim:

“You don't believe that Senator Obama's a Muslim?” Kroft asked Sen. Clinton.

“Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that,” she replied.

“You said you'd take Senator Obama at his word that he's not…a Muslim. You don't believe that he's…,” Kroft said.

“No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know,” she said.

Obama or Osama

2008-06-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

Many public figures and media outlets have switched the similar names of Obama and Osama (bin Laden). While some of these are surely accidental, others are surely intentional slips:

Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio host
CNN's graphics
Mitt Romney, Republican former governor and presidential candidate
John Ashcroft, Republican former attorney general and senator
MSNBC's graphics
William Dean Singleton, Associated Press director

Undoubtedly, we'll be seeing and hearing more of this.

Marietta, GA: Obama as a cartoon monkey

2008-06-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

bar in Marietta, Georgia recently began selling t-shirts showing the face of Curious George, a cartoon monkey, with "Obama in '08" below it. While the owner of the bar admits that he is mocking Obama's appearance, he insists that his intentions are not racist.

Although it is true that many critics of George Bush compare him to a monkey, we assert that there is, in fact, a fundamental difference between calling a white person and black person a monkey.

Noonan and Parker: Obama is not a real American

2008-06-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker, prominent conservative columnists, both recently argued that Obama's greatest challenge is that he is not a true American.

Noonan, of the Wall Street Journal, claimed that

Hillary Clinton is not Barack Obama's problem. America is Mr. Obama's problem. He has been tagged as a snooty lefty, as the glamorous, ambivalent candidate from Men's Vogue, the candidate who loves America because of the great progress it has made in terms of racial fairness. Fine, good. But has he ever gotten misty-eyed over . . . the Wright Brothers and what kind of country allowed them to go off on their own and change everything? How about D-Day, or George Washington, or Henry Ford, or the losers and brigands who flocked to Sutter's Mill, who pushed their way west because there was gold in them thar hills? There's gold in that history.

Her message is clear: Those from the left are not real Americans, because they unlikely get "misty-eyed" over symbols of American pride that conservatives value. (Her inclusion of Henry Ford in this short list is notable, given his anti-Semitism and admiration for Nazis.)

More recently, Parker of the Washington Post Writers' Group was more explicit in asserting that Obama is not a real, "full-blooded" American:

"A full-blooded American." That's how 24-year-old Josh Fry of West Virginia described his preference for John McCain over Barack Obama. His feelings aren't racist, he explained. He would just be more comfortable with "someone who is a full-blooded American as President."...

Full-bloodedness is an old coin that's gaining currency in the new American realm. Meaning: Politics may no longer be so much about race and gender as about heritage, core values, and made-in-America....

It's about blood equity, heritage and commitment to hard-won American values. And roots....

Full-blooded Americans get this. Those who hope to lead the nation better get it soon.

Liz Trotta: "Somebody knock off Osama , umm, ah… Obama"

2008-05-29T19:26:00.001-07:00

Fox News contributor Liz Trotta joked that someone could, or should assassinate Obama. She even "misprononounced" his name as "Osama" in the process:

…and now we have what some are reading—as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama , umm, ah… Obama, well both if we could…haha…

Trotta later apologized.

Mike Huckabee: Obama assassination joke

2008-05-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee "joked" that a loud noise during his talk to the National Rifle Association was an assassination attempt on Obama:

That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair. He's getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he -- he dove for the floor.

Huckabee apologized the next day.

Geoff Davis: "That boy"

2008-05-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

As we launch this blog, primary season is winding down, and the general gears up. We'll be catching up on some classic Obama Smears (TM). In April, Geoff Davis, a Republican Congressman from Kentucky, used the phrase "that boy" to refer to 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.

For audio, click here (MP3).

Davis later apologized for his "poor choice of words."