The Swamp

Can't Wait For The World Cup

This was taken at a parade in Sochi at an official event in advance of the Confederations Cup. Welcome Cameroon!

I saw the context he used it in. The 'house nigga' joke set itself up when Republican Ben Sasse says, in a completely honest way, says "you can come work in the fields." There was even a long pause and audience laughter because of how that sounded. His only real crime in using the word was that he didn't commit to the delivery of it.

So, I get the Tweet. But really, I didn't find it to be a big enough deal.

Obviously, I'm a white guy, so I don't have any authority to excuse Bill Maher, but isn't the way he used "nigger" about as innocuous as it gets? "House nigger" is an actual term. And he was talking about himself, not someone else. I don't know. Getting outraged over this seems similar to getting mad at a white guy for rapping along with the Wu Tang Clan.

Maher sucks so I'm not wasting any energy defending him regardless of the context.

I just love that the outrage machine always gravitates to comparatively pointless shit.

brian wrote:Maher sucks so I'm not wasting any energy defending him regardless of the context.

I agree. He routinely uses his show to give a big platform to anti-Muslim bigotry. Also, I don't think it's an unreasonable view (and I have friends who feel this way) to say that white people should never use the n-word, not even "ironically" or in an attempt at humor.

Well George Carlin and Louis CK would disagree there. And Jim Norton used it in his recent stand up to zero outrage.

But I get your point -- only to a certain extent. I'm not going to call Jason Whitlock the term, but I will vigorously agree when Charlamagne does. So all that attitude does is remind me that political correctness is a bullshit mind control tactic rather than being able to call a spade a, spa....errr, shovel.

We're having the same thought but I'm wrong because I'm white. And that's garbage.

brian wrote:Maher sucks so I'm not wasting any energy defending him regardless of the context.

Yeah, I go back and forth on Maher. I like a lot of his stuff, but I find his show often hard to watch because he can be so insufferably arrogant.

I think his comment was a mistake, but from a quick look at Twitter, it seems to me the Internet Rage Machine is overreacting, as always.

For sure. And I'm not adding to it but I secretly/quietly am enjoying him being hoisted by his own petard.

It was a hack joke hinging on a term that shouldn't be used by a 60 year old "liberal" white guy to his white republican senator guest and it wasn't even the right fucking reference given that its not the 1800s but 2017 when the actual field workers are being deported by Sasse's party. The defense of Maher is by (1) people who desperately want the green light to use the term because rappers get to, (2) conservatives who want to kill "a left "icon"", (3) people who are so fucking knee-jerk "anti-PC" that they've completely lost view of the offenses themselves and (4) Maher super fans who will defend every "edgy" thing he does until it's finally over. Somehow, group (2) feels like the most reasonable of the four here.

Johnnie wrote:Well George Carlin and Louis CK would disagree there. And Jim Norton used it in his recent stand up to zero outrage.

But I get your point -- only to a certain extent. I'm not going to call Jason Whitlock the term, but I will vigorously agree when Charlamagne does. So all that attitude does is remind me that political correctness is a bullshit mind control tactic rather than being able to call a spade a, spa....errr, shovel.

We're having the same thought but I'm wrong because I'm white. And that's garbage.

There's a big difference between thinking an insulting or derogatory word and saying it. Also, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote a column a few years back on why he thinks it's okay for black people to use the n-word when it's offensive for others to. He made the point that the appropriateness of terms often depends entirely on the speaker's relation to the subject. A nickname or term of endearment that might be okay for a significant other, family member or close friend to use would be unacceptable for a boss or professional colleague to use. That's an obviously acceptable and appropriate example of a "double standard." Similarly, Coates argues that racial terms can have entirely different levels of appropriateness depending on if they're used by a member of the group in question or not.

I'm pretty sure I don't fall in any of those 4 categories. That said, I wouldn't put forth a lot of effort defending him, but I honestly don't think this is a case of racism. He used the term in an accurate fashion, and he used it to refer to himself. Of course, he should have known the risk of making that joke and decided not to. That's where his arrogance burned him.

I don't attribute it to racism, just the self-important ignorance of Bill Maher thinking Bill Maher is above the fray because he's Bill Maher, the dude who supersedes the fray.

Joe K wrote:

Johnnie wrote:Well George Carlin and Louis CK would disagree there. And Jim Norton used it in his recent stand up to zero outrage.

But I get your point -- only to a certain extent. I'm not going to call Jason Whitlock the term, but I will vigorously agree when Charlamagne does. So all that attitude does is remind me that political correctness is a bullshit mind control tactic rather than being able to call a spade a, spa....errr, shovel.

We're having the same thought but I'm wrong because I'm white. And that's garbage.

There's a big difference between thinking an insulting or derogatory word and saying it. Also, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote a column a few years back on why he thinks it's okay for black people to use the n-word when it's offensive for others to. He made the point that the appropriateness of terms often depends entirely on the speaker's relation to the subject. A nickname or term of endearment that might be okay for a significant other, family member or close friend to use would be unacceptable for a boss or professional colleague to use. That's an obviously acceptable and appropriate example of a "double standard." Similarly, Coates argues that racial terms can have entirely different levels of appropriateness depending on if they're used by a member of the group in question or not.

I agree with all of this.

However, in terms of Charlamagne and I having the same thought about the same person over the same takes in the same context in the same situation, I'm still going to get called a racist. I get it. Which is why I wouldn't make the joke while I'd laugh, agree, and give the eye that connotes "I know exactly what you meant and I'm glad YOU said that" if he did. I haven't read his book yet, but that's a possible singular instance of what he'd extend as 'black privilege.'

Maher got canned after 9/11 for a hot take. He's been doing his HBO show since then and it seems like the only stuff that's moved the needle are his Islam takes and now this. It's preposterous that this gets the outrage when everything is used in context properly. People are angry about the word being uttered by an old white guy. The pile on session is typical and will only lead to a canning if it costs HBO money. Let's revisit this in 4 days. Let's see if people remember.

Heh.

brian wrote:For sure. And I'm not adding to it but I secretly/quietly am enjoying him being hoisted by his own petard.

I'd wager Maher is secretly enjoying it, too.

Joe K wrote: I don't think it's an unreasonable view (and I have friends who feel this way) to say that white people should never use the n-word, not even "ironically" or in an attempt at humor.

It is such an emotionally charged word with hundreds of years worth of history of murder, oppression, violence, slavery... that I avoid using the word, even in an ironic joking way (cue Rass proving me wrong). Even using the word in an anti-racist way is going to be misconstrued and insulting or hurtful. I totally get the backlash to PC word-policing, and in some cases I agree. There is a distinction between being not PC and being racist, discriminatory and hateful. Truly racist/hateful people believe it's anti-PC bullshit that they aren't allowed to discriminate, so it is an impossible balancing act, and everyone is looking at it from a different reality. It frustrates the hell out of me.

If a decent portion of the targeted audience asks/tells you not to, just don't. Universally. You aren't harmed by not being able to use it.

Best take I've seen:

Well, he got his verbal whooping: (with a special extra hit by Symone Sanders who seems like a know it all more than a teacher)

https://youtu.be/cqKtRbEM2WM

https://youtu.be/gnwiYdFaRfk

Also, by the way Dude. The preferred nomenclature is Asian-American.

i use it with an A, never with an er.

I bet that confuses Winnie the Pooh.

Did we talk about this? If so I missed it. Fascinating story last October by Joe Pos about racism, the Cleveland Indians' World Series teams of 1948 and 2016, and an old ballplayer.
LINK

NAACP issues first-ever travel warning for a US state and you won't believe which one it is.

Sorry, I just always wanted to try my hand at that kind of click-bait headline. Missouri. It's Missouri. BFIB!

Statue Of Liberty Poem a Dog Whistle For Racists

That exchange yesterday between CNN Reporter Jim Acosta and Stephen Miller was actually uglier than it seemed.

Harvard freshman class majority non-white

I'm sure this news will go over well everywhere, right?

rass wrote:If you've seen references to the GQ article on Dylann Roof but haven't read it, you should.

Man. I now feel guilty about liking Charleston so much.

Dammit, now I have to read it and get sad too.

Lol.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYJYA2enWfV/

Couldn't figure out where to put this one. Kinda fits here.

Authot of Pepe The Frog Kids' Book Must Pay Royalties To Muslim Group

His book, “The Adventures of Pepe and Pede” was simply an attempt to impart conservative views — a perspective Hauser felt was lacking in children’s literature, he told the Dallas Morning News.

But to his readers, and his employer, the resemblance between the Pepe on Hauser’s cover and the Pepe in white supremacist memes was impossible to ignore. It didn’t help that the book’s antagonist was a bearded alligator named “Alkah.”

Earlier this month, publication of the book led to Hauser’s removal as assistant principal of his middle school in Denton, Tex.

It must suck to be one of the very few women who has the weathered divorcee actually-ten-years-younger-than-you'd-guess look and not be racist.

mister d wrote:It must suck to be one of the very few women who has the weathered divorcee actually-ten-years-younger-than-you'd-guess look and not be racist.

\takeaway the lovely feathered hair, and you've got yourself a nicotine-scented piece of skank.

Pruitt wrote:

mister d wrote:It must suck to be one of the very few women who has the weathered divorcee actually-ten-years-younger-than-you'd-guess look and not be racist.

\takeaway the lovely feathered hair, and you've got yourself a nicotine-scented piece of skank.

I was going to say that her nose appears to also function as a whetstone.

Are you guys sure it just isn't Shirley in drag?

duff wrote:Are you guys sure it just isn't Shirley in drag?

Ouch

Haven't seen anything on here about the whole Jemele Hill kerfuffle, but thankfully Sean Hannity and Fox News are on top of things.

https://twitter.com/curlycomedy/status/ ... 0511414272

Who better to discuss racism and white supremacy than a lumpy Irish Potato Head and 3 bleached blondes?