Comments on: Stay Classy, Nader

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:16:14 +0000

AC What about you calling him an Uncle Tom on Fox?

Alexander Cockburn interviewed Nader as part of a piece on the website of his newsletter, counterpunch. Here is the relevant claim by Nader.

Nader: On Fox I said that as the first African American president we wish him well. The question is, will he be Uncle Sam for the people or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations which are driving America into the ground. Fox cut it off after “corporations”.

By: Becky

Becky — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 06:51:39 +0000

I’m not sure what Obama’s race has to do with his relationahip to corporations, toadie or not. If it is relevant then is Bush a House Wigger?

By: jubal8

jubal8 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:47:13 +0000

Thank you, me. I appreciate the dialogue.
I do not mean to suggest what he should have said, nor do I support the language he used; I am saying that when the commentators’ entire response to his remarks consists of feigned shock at his choice of words, that this serves only to distract from the message and belittle the messenger. It certainly isn’t journalism and it accomplishes nothing but to further the agenda of the power brokers behind the broadcast.
Political correctness is often lampooned, by those on the ‘conservative’ end of our bipolar society, as a weakness of liberals/progressives. You are correct that the ‘right’ uses it as a tool when it serves their purposes.

By: me

me — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:20:10 +0000

So should he have said “house Negro” a la Malcolm X?
He’s leader of the green party, not the “independent party”, no? Odd way to put it. I guess they don’t want to tarnish the green party brand as it’s sometimes handy as a spoiler.
The word association game being played by the interviewer is standard FNC.
As for political correctness: that is standard for the right. They are very careful in their usage of words in attempting to restrict and redefine language. You can’t use the term Uncle Tom, because then you would have to discuss or at least consider the context in which the term originates. One is meant to be “color-blind”, actually meaning blind to the history of slavery in the US and blind to its consequences.

By: jubal8

jubal8 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:01:58 +0000

Gee! When did political correctness become the epitome of rightousness among the Fock Snooze set? I guess Obama HAS brought change to America.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:33:27 +0000

“While Nader did use a racially charged term, probably to grab some spotlight, he used it quite correctly in the context of the point he was making.”

Agreed Greg. TThe same logic can be used for other racial slurs as well: The N-word is appropriate when used as a noun, but it is clearly inappropriate when used as a verb or adjective.

By: Michael Over Here

Michael Over Here — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:25:10 +0000

Every time Nader opens his mouth he makes me regret voting for him in 2000. Of course I was in Utah so my presidential vote didn’t mean much anyways but looking at what Al Gore has become and comparing it to Nader I wish that I could have tipped the scales further to Gore’s stolen election mandate.

By: greg

greg — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:36:27 +0000

While Nader did use a racially charged term, probably to grab some spotlight, he used it quite correctly in the context of the point he was making.

True. While Nader spoke like a racist dipshit, at least he did so in the proper context. What a relief. While we’re at it, we should also credit Ralph using his racially-charged language in a grammatically correct way and his excellent pronunciation of the term “Uncle Tom”.

By: jubal8

jubal8 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:10:52 +0000

Not so much to defend Ralph here, but the “interviewer” is the one who came off looking like a total d**khead. While Nader did use a racially charged term, probably to grab some spotlight, he used it quite correctly in the context of the point he was making. It was better than using the synonymous term, House N***er. BTW, the Uncle Tom charge has been made by many African Americans during Obama’s candidacy.

The show’s talking heads, with their faux outrage oozing out through their contrived facades of racial sensitivity, really turned my stomach.

By: Janna

Janna — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:54:53 +0000

WOW! Thank God he didn’t have a chance to win!!! I think one of the many things people love about Obama is that he was able (in my opinion more than any other candidate) to keep calm under pressure. If Nadar can’t even finish an interview without getting frustrated, how in the world was he planning on running our country???

I’ve really enjoyed following your blog throughout this political campaign and I appreciate the many insights you have given to the followers of this blog.