Nader asks if Obama will be "Uncle Tom"

Isn't Nader PJ's favorite guy? Remember 2000

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

To be fair, the media have been bringing race into it for as long as Obama's been campaigning - the four hundred thousand shots of black families crying tears of joy after Obama's victory were fairly exploitative. And I seem to remember you yourself defending Eddie's "colour in the White House" comment - why did he have to bring race into it?

to borrow a line
'oh, snap!'

cincybearcat wrote:

I know some people here just love Nader...I just think he's an old douche bag.

To each their own, but I don't know why this old white douche bag is injecting race into Obama presidency, again and again.

does anyone have the transcript of the original interview? for all we know he could have been asked a question based on race like 'how do you feel he will be as the first black president?'

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

To be fair, the media have been bringing race into it for as long as Obama's been campaigning - the four hundred thousand shots of black families crying tears of joy after Obama's victory were fairly exploitative. And I seem to remember you yourself defending Eddie's "colour in the White House" comment - why did he have to bring race into it?

'color in the white house' can be taken in many different ways, although i agree on his intent...and was also used in a humorous context, not a derogatory one.


my point, and it's is only my opinion...if someone wants their message to be taken seriously, especially a critique, it's best to avoid loaded, racially-charged language. it's a choice. again, as i said...i have not called nader racist, nor his comments racist...merely that they were poorly chosen in my mind, and clouded his message.

there IS a difference imo. you want to disgree...cool. to me it speaks volumes, and is one small instance illustrating why he is not a national player.


anyhoo....agree, disagree....c'est la vie. i think it's fair to say the comment did more ham than good to nader, to his message.....and i personally would think it's not worth it. but hey, it was his choice to make.

i said this earlier, and this is my assessment:

decides2dream wrote:

sure.
i agree it's wordplay.
however, it's poorly chosen wordplay at best...he would not utilize such wordplay for a white president elect.
and when given the chance to reword, he did not. VERY poor choice imo.
it completely ruins the focus of his message and i would think he's overall message would be far more important to him than merely wordplay.

that's all. hardly a condemnation of the man.

decides2dream wrote:

'color in the white house' can be taken in many different ways, although i agree on his intent...and was also used in a humorous context, not a derogatory one.


my point, and it's is only my opinion...if someone wants their message to be taken seriously, especially a critique, it's best to avoid loaded, racially-charged language. it's a choice. again, as i said...i have not called nader racist, nor his comments racist...merely that they were poorly chosen in my mind, and clouded his message.

there IS a difference imo. you want to disgree...cool. to me it speaks volumes, and is one small instance illustrating why he is not a national player.


anyhoo....agree, disagree....c'est la vie. i think it's fair to say the comment did more ham than good to nader, to his message.....and i personally would think it's not worth it. but hey, it was his choice to make.

again, but saying you lost a primary b/c the voters cling to their guns and religion and are anti-immigrant isn't a problem??

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

I'm not trying to get on your case about spelling... but that made me laugh.

And I'm all for agreeing to disagree - we're all gonna take different things out of what people say, and we're all gonna project our own biases onto things... I personally think a lot of people will look at Nader's comments a lot differently if Obama does prove himself a corporate whore, and if Obama doesn't, then I'd wager Nader will be as happy as anyone to have him in the White House.

happy to amuse.
i am surely one to amuse with numerous and atrocious typos! it's a skill i tell ya!



and sure....agree to disagree. hey, i am ALL for nader, or anyone...calling obama a corporate whore if they like...now or in the future if it proves to be the case. either way though, nope....i think terms like 'uncle tom' don't deserve anymore time for usage. just my opinion.

and if nothing else....for the vastness of america....his message gets lost with such verbiage. good, bad or indifferent....that's how it is.

El_Kabong wrote:

again, but saying you lost a primary b/c the voters cling to their guns and religion and are anti-immigrant isn't a problem??

how is it racially charged?



honestly...i am looking at this thread topic, alone...and commenting on this topic, alone. i am not saying oh this is bad, this is ok...it's alright to do b/c someone else started it first, etc. i am saying i think it's a poor choice. i think the phrasing you quote a bove is a lot more 'descriptive' than merely being loaded. either way, the old adage...two wrongs don't make a right, etc. the topic is on this comment, alone. coupled with the 'obama talking white'...just not a good choice imo. i cannot defend the 'uncle tom' comment. i think it was in poor form.


again, if obama weren't black..it would not be used, therefore, it should not have been used imo.

Why do we have to be so PC? Many posters seem to think Nader's message was fine, they only wish he'd used different words.

I think his usage was perfectly fine - in fact, rather proper.

Whenever I can, I throw PC out the fucking window. It's high time people stopped being so hypersensitive.

BTW - I work in a very diverse environment and in that setting this whole PC BS seems to be used by more people suffering from 'White Guilt' than anyone else.

Urban Hiker wrote:

Why do we have to be so PC? Many posters seem to think Nader's message was fine, they only wish he'd used different words.

I think his usage was perfectly fine - in fact, rather proper.

Whenever I can, I throw PC out the fucking window. It's high time people stopped being so hypersensitive.

BTW - I work in a very diverse environment and in that setting this whole PC BS seems to be used by more people suffering from 'White Guilt' than anyone else.

obviously...it's a personal choice. overall, i support PC language. i know it can be taken too far, but what had occured before....was taken way too far, so i'll take it. i do not want to hear 'that's so gay' as a derogatory term..i don't want to hear about 'jewing the price down'...and i don't want to hear about 'uncle tom.' if you're ok with it...cool. obviously, no one is getting arrested for using racially offensive language...so what's the problem if some of us express our own belief that it's not cool?


and...i just think it's uncool in an interview, and as someone who hoped to be president. there is a time and a place.

MrBrian wrote:

Yes but he is black and a fact is he got many votes because he was not your average white politician.

Like I said earlier, he got many votes from people of colour who would not of felt such passion for him if he was white.

At the end of the day Nader has a valid point about selling out. Obama also has a chance to make a great difference for America and for this world.

Feet to the fire indeed. Lets see what happens.

again, he could've made the EXACT same point and left 'uncle tom' out of it. that's all.

Urban Hiker wrote:

You make conversation a chore. Like stepping on egg shells.

However, throwing PC language out the window only goes so far. Anything that sounds explicitly racist like 'jewing the price down' doesn't fly with me. Sometimes I find that the person using the term doesn't even realize what they are truly saying. So it's good when we speak up on those terms.

As far as this Uncle Tom reference goes - to me it seems to have perfect context and is not racist.

if someone finds conversstion a chore with me, it's simple...they don't have to engage in conversation with me. and i am sorry, if ANY person who was hoping to be president ever used terminolgy as i stated above...they would be raked over the coals for it...and sorry again, but rightly so. even if in casual/personal conversation you condone it...i do not believe it has a place in the communications of someone who hopes to be a world leader.

again, i never said it was racist.....and it may fit in context, but that still doesn't mean it wasn't a poor choice.

damn, you make conversation a chore in not at least agreeing to allow for disagreement of your opinion. i respect your right to your views....all i expect is the same. i think it was a poor choice, you don't...cool. it's up to all else to make their own decisions. however, the whole purpose of this thread WAS to discuss thoughts and opinions on this very cooment.


i politely agree to disagree on this topic. my opinion stands. and i definitely spent enough time discussing it. haha. i find beating myself senseless in the prop 8 thread far more productive use of the rest of my workday.

MrBrian wrote:

You know what, if he did leave that out. He would never of gotten on FOX or even this thread and the debate we are having now would probably not happen. His words would get lost in the 'Nader is ranting about Obama and corporations or something'

exactly.
basic psych 101, negative attention is STILL attention....and it rewards the behavior with the desired attention. quite right. should've just let it get lost.


and sure...i'd have 20-odd less posts, and my past workdays would've passed a bit more slowly...so thanks for the convo starter nader!