Careful what you say: On second thought, just zip it

Manchester Union Leader ^ | August 20, 2006 | Editorial

[billorites]

The "PC" (Politically Correct) police are on a crackdown and we suppose there is no stopping them, especially with Presidential politics in the offing.

Still, it is stunning to see how important issues can be avoided entirely in favor of smearing some public figure (almost always a conservative) over a figure of speech.

This month's victims so far include U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, and right here in New Hampshire, embattled Environmental Services head Michael Nolin. The "offending" words, respectively, "macaca," "tar baby," and "tree-huggers."

Let's take the last one first because it provides the most outrageous, Orwellian example.

DES head Nolin didn't even use the "tree-huggers" term. His high crime was in not immediately rebuking a fellow Water Resources Council member for muttering that "tree-huggers" were preventing a sensible and needed program to counter the milfoil plant that is choking the life out of some of our lakes and ponds.

As we understand it, Commissioner Nolin should have whacked the pro-environmental "lake-lover" for speaking so unkindly about the pro-environmental "tree-hugging" branch of the family of man (whoops, we meant to say "personkind" there).

This is absurd but not unexpected. Rick Russman, chairman of one of the "tree-hugging" cabals, huffed and puffed that Nolin's "failure to act is just as bad as the act" and that "it's another indicator that it's time for Nolin to go."

Actually, it is another indicator that Gov. John Lynch has found no good reason to oust Nolin from his post and instead must rely on such tortured, flimsy examples as this one.

The same sort of thing is being trotted out in advance of the 2008 national elections. Gov. Romney already has a black mark against him in the "PC" checklist because he called the Big Dig a "tar baby." Romney's use of the term (from the Joel Chandler Harris story of B'rer Rabbit) was immediately seized upon by some left-wing loonies as proof positive that Romney is a racist oaf.

Romney apologized, saying he didn't know the term was offensive. Perhaps someone should clue in the governor to the fact that whatever he says, on any issue under the sun, is going to be termed offensive to one or another whacko group.

But Romney has so far gotten off easy compared to Virginia Sen. Allen. Allen's campaign opponent has a young Virginian of Indian descent trailing him with a video camera. Allen aides have nicknamed the young man "Mohawk" after his haircut.

But the other night, Sen. Allen publicly referred to the young man as "Macaca, or whatever his name is."

"Macaca" happens to be a type of monkey. Therefore, Allen also must be a racist oaf.

Allen says he had no idea what "macaca" was. His aides said their boss may actually have meant to call the kid "Mohawk" as they had been doing. That no doubt would have offended some member of the American Indian family.

Of all these comments, Sen. Allen's were the least defensible. He might not have been racist, but he certainly was acting like a jerk.

Still, is it any wonder politicians these days seem so programmed and unemotional? If they don't follow the script to the letter, they'll be ticketed by the PC police.

[mewzilla]

Note to pols...

It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

Mark Twain

[CertainInalienableRights]

Yet Hillary's FJB comment was met with indifference in the media.

[white trash redneck]

These uproar over these three "slurs" seem suspiciously like the uproar over the "RATS" ad in the 2000 campaign. It is nothing more than a kerfuffle manufactured so that the GOP will have to respond, and thus get off message.

[Question_Assumptions]

I would argue that Allen's comments were out of line, not because of the clumbsy "macacca" name but because of his "Welcome ot America" line. He can dance around his slang all he wants but the rest of what he said shows there was more to what he said than a slip of the tongue.

[lostlakehiker]

A tar baby is anything which when attacked just involves you deeper and ties you down. It's a brilliant metaphor. It comes from the classic literature of Joel Chandler Harris, and it is no more merely a childrens' story than your Aesop's fables.

Whoever uses this metaphor pays his respects to Harris along the way. How did we get to the point that a mention of an Aesop's fable implicitly pays homage to the genius of a Greek author, but a mention of a fable written by a black author is ---get this----racist? In a sane world, a compliment, heartfelt and well deserved, would be recognized.

[do the dhue]

How is this for ?








I like to be called PUC Politically Un-Correct

[ishabibble]

This is a left-handed editorial. Where are Joe Biden's Dunkin Donuts remarks about Indians? Where is the quote by Patches Kennedy given during a drunken Labor Day speech, "I have never worked a f'ng day in my life"? Of course, the true mother lode of asinine, racist elitist quotes is none other than my favourite drunken Loonie, Terry Kerry! Even a broken clock...Terry called Fat Ted a "perfect bastard" in 1975!

[marblehead17]

ping