No Big Deal, Sen. McCain

John McCain wasn’t being smart when he used the term “tar-baby” when speaking to some folks in Iowa the other day.  I’m not offended by this because I think McCain was being incredibly stupid, but that’s about it.  This certainly wasn’t an attempt on his part to be racist, nor do I think this is an indicator of whether he is or not.  Bad choice of words, but that’s it.
Now, if I’m going to take umbrage with anyone on this, it’s the gentleman that wrote the blog that I liked to.

Senator John S. McCain offered an apology in Cedar Falls today after he used the word “tar-baby” in response to a rather arcane question from an Iowa voter about federal intervention in divorce and custody cases. The phrase is considered by some to be a racial epithet.

Get it straight, sir.  People consider “tar-baby” to be a racial epithet because it is one, just like “coon” is a racial epithet.  But if someone’s talking about a coon-skin cap, there’s no need to call Jesse.  That said, you wouldn’t say that some people “consider coon to be a racial epithet.”  It is a racial epithet, just like “tar-baby” is.  It just wasn’t one in this context.
Also, if you’re looking for a template to use when you mess up and say something silly, check the way McCain manned up on this one.

When told after the event that the word was viewed by some as a racial epithet, Mr. McCain responded: “I hope that it’s not viewed that way.” A moment later, he apologized. “I don’t think I should have used that word and I was wrong to do it.”

That’s how to do it.

7 thoughts on “No Big Deal, Sen. McCain”

  1. I think that when politicians ‘mess up’, it’s sometimes a calculated risk they take to get their ‘true’ message out. Ie, Sen. McCain wanted to remind certain people who he really is when he said what he said. Just as Rev. Jackson did whe he stated he wanted to cut off Sen. Obama’s testicles!!! These guys have way too much experience to make ‘mistakes’ like those. I believe they know exactly what they are doing. (No, I’m not a conspiracy theorist…just telling the truth as I see it).

  2. Not offended at all by the phrase, because it definitely didn’t apply to me or anyone I know and love.
    But as previously stated it’s just his way of showing us who he really is.
    I think it goes something like this, “Out of the desires of the heart the mouth speaks.”

  3. The main issue is that the term is reflective of Senator McCain’s geriatric era. We all have grandparents that slip up due to dementia from time to time; mine shouldn’t drive and McCain shouldn’t be president.
    Of note, this wouldn’t even begin to take root if McCain weren’t hiding his quite dark-skinned Bangladeshi daughter Bridget away from press coverage. It’s most interesting to me that he hasn’t used her more to silence any claims of racism other than the fact that she’s a lightning rod for conservatives that are ignorant enough to think she’s Black.

  4. Someone done got Rex’s panties all up in a bunch. And over nothing, at that.
    If there’s one Republican or one comment to get pissy over, this ain’t it. Calm down and focus on things that matter, or be prepared to be written off entirely.
    An unqualified apology from a guy with no apparent or glaring history of racist behavior should be good enough the first time out. If it’s not, then most thinking people won’t take the offended party too seriously, so it’s all sort of a wash in the end.
    Rex – if I didn’t know that you were in the same age group, i’d accuse you of ageism. You’re safe for now my friend.

  5. I, for one, was more concerned with McCain’s inability to step up for the soldiers who are forced to serve year after year, and then come home to find they have been divorced, their kids have been taking away, and due to the fact that had been in an actual war for 12+ months they will probably never gain custody of their children.
    *sigh* they never address the issues do they…

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