...interesting.  Obama get’s mobbed by Republicans seeking his autograph after voting against his stimulus bill. 

Rethug is offered a chance to have dinner with The Man, and turns it down…?  But is okay having dinner with “Shrillery”?  Wife of The Cock of Destiny?

Oooookayyyyy…

Meh. I’m sure Obama got over his heartbreak.

Bah.  If Billary had won, it would be all “Obama in a heartbeat” for Burr.  These grapes aren’t sour.  They’re rancid.

Libertarian, yowsah—I’m sure you’ll get the vapors over the latest post-racial America piece that just went up.

Yeah, there’s nothing racist about a Senator from NC calling an African-American professional a great athlete.

Libertarian, it’s more likely that Pam is right than that you are right on this one. You’re either in denial or being deliberately obtuse in your determination not to even entertain the thought that Burr has problems in this regard.

Burr’s appropriate response was, in this case, simply to keep his mouth shut.

I hate to say it… but I’m not seeing this as a Jimmy the Greek moment for Burr.

Don’t get me wrong - Burr is a Republican Senator from the South, so the idea of him having racist tendencies seems entirely plausible - I just didn’t see any overt racism in this piece.

His first reference to sports was merely him saying, “We don’t agree on anything political, but he likes basketball and so do I, so we could talk about that.”  Obama is fairly well known for his love of basketball, and North Carolina is a huge basketball state, so it may well be that Burr was being honest when he basically said that Obama likes basketball and so does he, so they could talk about that.

And with his second basketball reference about wanting to sit with Obama to watch the Final Four, it was simply a response to a direct question asked of him by the reporter.

I’m jusy not seeing the dog whistle in his basketball references.  Perhaps if it wasn’t a well-known fact that Obama’s favorite sport is basketball and that he plays the game regularly, it could be seen as a dog whistle.  The NBA is comprised overwhelmingly of African-American players, and basketball is frequently the sport of choice in African-American communities, so assuming that Obama is a huge basketball fan simply because he’s black with no other evidence to back up the belief could be considered a racist dog whistle.  But when Obama himself has not hidden the fact that he loves the game and it’s a widely known fact about him, referencing that fact isn’t necessarily racist.

But our president does in fact love basketball, and had two highly publicized basketball-related events in the past few weeks - his invitation of the Chicago Bulls to the White House, when it isn’t typical for a President to invite a non-championship pro sports team to the White House, and his recent trip to the Wizards-Bulls game.

All that said, I think Burr’s decision to turn down the WH invitation and to be so vocal about it was extremely petty, and I do think it was pretty rabidly partisan of him to make the statements he did regarding dining with the president.

And who knows, maybe Burr really does refuse to have dinner with the president because the Senator is a racist.  As I said before, given the fact that he’s a southern GOP member, it wouldn’t be shocking.  I just don’t think this interview is direct evidence of any racism on his part.  Not that the racism isn’t there - just that this really doesn’t prove it.

“Really, you should be ashamed and apologize to him.”

...you’re joking, right?  I’d trust Pam’s judgment in that area far more than your’s…

Instead of just answering the question posed, he went out of his way to make sure everyone understood that he specifically turned down a real opportunity to dine with President Obama. 

Sure sounds like a dog whistle to me…

He has to be an idiot to think this helps him since, you know, Obama carried North Carolina!

Joe Biden said Obama was clean and articulate.

That was closer to a racist statement.  No one would say that about a white politician. 

Is the VP a racist?

Answer:  No. 

And neither is Burr BASED on THIS article.

Libertarian on 03/16 at 02:16 PM

I’d always laughed at that one, in Chicago, “clean” means no upcoming fed investigation, no real skeletons in the closet.  In other words a candidate who is unlikely to withdraw or be indicted during the camapign.  But sayign that they’d actaully vetted him taht thoroughly becasue of where he’s form would have been a bit embarrassing. As for articulate, separate it form clean and it’s obviously a compliment based on the DNC speech althoug hit’s usually described as eloquent.

Perhaps Burr found some information in the President’s bio about being a major hoops star in HS or college in order to grasp that he has natural talents in that area. All I’ve seen is that he enjoys playing for leisure. Perhaps he has some slamming dance moves too.

We’re talking Richard Burr, people.

  *  Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. (Sep 2004)
  * Voted YES on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. (Jun 2006)
  * Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
  * Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
  * Voted YES on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)
  * Voted YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)
  * Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
  * Voted NO on ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions. (May 1998)
  * Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)
  * Rated 13% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
  * Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
  * Rated 7% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
  * Amend Constitution to define traditional marriage. (Jun 2008)

No, it’s probably just partisan stupidity, or he’s just from the George Allen school of race relations. Well, he was born in Charlottesville, VA. Like he would ever admit to the latter. Only Jesse Helms would have been so bold as to own his racism.

I’m trying to figure out, since Obama’s and Clinton’s policies wouldn’t have been all that different, he feels more comfortable breaking bread with her. Just asking.

Stick rule on Libertarian. He’s a fucking idiot.

Has there ever been a libertarian who wasn’t a flaming asshole?

Ya oughta be a little more careful with that loaded word, racist.  What does that new piece have to do with Burr?

Yeah, Pam, be careful about using that word!!!  You shouldn’t just go tossing it about!  Someone might not like it and then you’d be in trouble, you uppity blogger.

Only racists ever use that word anyway.

Fuck that shit.  We are NOT a post-racial society, and if it smells like it might be racist, anyone has a right to call it out.

Refusing to have dinner with Obama and then calling him a “great athlete” when he’s a great POLITICIAN smacks of racism to me.  Stupidity moreso, but still tinged with racism.

Bringing up the fact that his motivations might be racist is NOT racist.  Talking about race is NOT racist. 

Refusing to deal with the President of the United States of America unless it’s at a sporting event?  Quite possibly racist.  Coming from the GOP?  Inclines me to believe it even more.

Did you see the people at the Palin rallies?

Is the VP a racist?

Answer:  No.

Uh, yeah, he is. 

We all are.  We all make decisions based on race, and the better of us decide that it’s not a crucial or important detail.

But the clean, young man comment didn’t come from a nice place, even if Biden no longer thinks that way.  It was bad, and he was raked over the coals for it as he should have been.

Joe Biden said Obama was clean and articulate. That was closer to a racist statement.  No one would say that about a white politician. 

Yes, that was racist. I never defended Biden on that account. Did it come from a place of malice? No. He thought it was a compliment; it came from ignorance. But he did apologize.

You might recall that Jimmy the Greek didn’t believe that his comments came from malice—he really thought it was a compliment to say breeding slaves led to develop superior sports skills. Was it racist? Yes.

Somehow folks have to get over the idea that all racist statements come with malicious intent. In many cases it comes from a lack of common sense to check your own implicit biases before opening your mouth and just plain old ignorance. They may protest that what they say isn’t racist because of the fear of being labeled a racist.

And of course, there are racist statements that are malicious—those are usually uttered by people who know exactly what they are saying and don’t care who hears. it.

You know something? Obama is athletic. He goes to the gym with amazing frequency. He’s shot hoops with the troops and walked away with a free throw record to be proud of.

But a great athlete? Olympic athletes, world record holders, MVPs, champions—they are great athletes. Obama does not compete with them. That’s not his thing.

He’s a great politician, and a fitness buff with a strongly competitive streak and a high level of competency when he applies himself to a skill.

I’d bet he also throws better dinner parties than most people, but Burr will never know.

I’m sure there are people in NC who couldn’t care less if what Burr said was racist, but are still fuming about his not seizing a chance to jabber at Obama.

I think this guy is a racist shithead for saying what he said - but he’s a damn lousy politician for doing what he did regardless. 

Burr is simply out of his bush league here.  He knows it, too.

Aside from all the other silliness to be found in your recent posts, Libertarian, is your advice that Pam apologizes to Mr. Burr.

Do you really think that Richard Burr is someone who regularly reads Pandagon? Even if he did, do you think that the criticism he’s facing would actually be hurtful to him rather than just criticism? (Generally, most people who have negative words to say about politicians aren’t expected to apologize to said politicians. )

But Ben, you don’t understand - calling someone a racist is wayyyyy worse than actually having to deal with racism!  A white man said so!

Visualize how, when a house or other building is sprayed for vermin, especially roaches, the vermin come running out, scurrying and scrabbling all over the place?

Maybe that is what is happening (metaphorically) with the Government Structure, maybe even Societal Structure, regarding Conservatives & Repukes.  Ick.

As a North Carolinian I can testify to the crappiness of Burr, but I’m not seeing the big deal here on the racism or the dinner…

NC is basketball-crazed right now, Obama’s love of hoops is legion. Pass.

Dinner with Obama? Burr declined an invite to a freaking 200-guest banquet, not a one-on-one sit-down.

Nail this douche for something substantial.