Gergen talks about code for 'uppity'
By Steve Benen Sunday Aug 03, 2008 8:30amDavid Gergen may be a Republican, and he may be a long-time member of the DC establishment, but he knows loaded language when he sees it.
Sam Stein has more.
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"The media has been very vigilant…"
Oh Really!
Ahh, some common sense...
McCain should stay away from the racial stuff and tag Obama "Flip-Flop Barack". He would make as much progress with voter and not get dirty.
Does anyone know what time the republiscum circus starts today?
In the marketplace of ideas............bankrupt, negative, ideology can find its following.
Code words, really? This is going to get very, very ugly. McCain is the "straight" shooter and the "maverick" who will do anything to get elected. When he went and kissed the rear of Falwell and Robertson, that told you all you needed to know.
McCain could target OBama as "Flip-Flop" Barack but then considering he has made more Flip-Flops, could we than target McCain as flipper-flopper McCain?
I'm sure glad a respected white Republican strategist from the south admitted the obvious. If Obama had made that claim he would had been dismissed as being paranoid.
I used to enjoy Gergen-Shields on the PBS News Hour. Gergen seemed pretty level headed given his resume.
O'Reilly, Hannity, Savage, Ingram, Malkin....they are all uppity, and should shut the fuck up.
Crian @ 7:
Yeah, I know McSame is a flip-flopper, but if he hits first, it will stick. Like the moniker "McSame". He should try it. Maybe he won't look like an angry old Bob Dole, and a closet racist.
of all the D.C. insiders, gergen has always impressed me as someone that can look beyond party lines and put the focus on the issue. watch for repubes to throw him under the bus for calling the ads accurately.
L&L@8 and the attacks on Gergen from the fascist echo chamber beginning in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2.....
There is no such thing as "uppity" as all men are created equal.
I'm amused by the fact that mcsame and his sponge minions are allowed to run a racist campaign but no one is allowed to talk about it. What the fuck is that about?
Ferragamos are uppity footwear.
As an ex-Airman, I know loaded language when I hear it
In bars.
Surely we all know that McCain's celebrity ads are an under the table way of saying, Obama is an uppity (you supply the last word). Obama has a new energy ad today. It hits McCain hard, but it is about an issue. That's what I see as the difference between the two in advertising so far.
Occasionally one does come across a conservative (perhaps even REPUG) who has the power of reason and isn't to intiminated to express it. STILL, I stand by my wish to see one brave news outlet put on a program (or programs) that FACT CHECK the stuff being put out by each campaign...you know ACTUALLY INFORM the public (as I thought it was their mission to do - rather than support Madison Avenue)...OOPS, too much MAD MEN, I guess...
In the same show, Gergen also urged Obama to choose Hillary Clinton as his VP, and unify the party as Ronald Reagan did when he held his nose and chose Bush Sr.
Gergen openly admitted that Obama NEEDS Clinton in certain key states, and that as head of the Democratic Party now, it is Obama's responsibility to think of the party ahead of his own ego.
Smart man, Mr. Gergen.
Ditto on zeek's good memories of Gergen/Shields. If I remember correctly, Gergen left that gig to join the Clinton Administration in its early years, because "we can't afford a failed Presidency." His replacements (Brooks and Gigot) have ranged from the bland to the scary. Gergen is one of a dying breed: a Republican who is respected outside of his own party.
14 Bob Says: There is no such thing as “uppity” as all men are created equal.
So Connie and all her sisterhood are "uppity"?
Saint Augustine @ 4:
In my opinion it starts every day at dawn and lasts all day and all night long.
Dennis@20
ANYONE WITH THE NERVE TO RUN FOR POTUS HAS AN ENORMOUS EGO! But of course you and your good ole boys would only notice Obama's ego. Hard to let go of those traditional "double standards" eh, Dennis?
20 dennis
How often do you see mcgramps posing at a podium in front of a load of flags, with an audience of military.
When he reviewed Iraq, surrounded by armed guards and attack helicopters and announced it safe, why wasn't he accused of conducting a campaign in foreign countries?
I'd love to see who paid for this trip and all this additional security from regular military.
It was interesting to watch George Will (e.g. neocon schill) go on attack mode about this. It seems clear that the mainstream news people are in the tank for the neocons. This dialog was at such a far-right extreme of discussion relating to issues it was chilling. Even more concerning is the weird mainstream news Anthrax reporting. Compare with the insightful and excellent reporting of Glenn Greenwald.
dennis.
The gop has been using a facsimile of the presidential seal for years. Four different GOP org's have been using their own seal that resemble the presidential seal.
Good ol' boys and blue collars are all over the United States, not regionally.
How else can you explain the popularity of Larry the Cable Guy and NASCAR?
And when my younger brother was in the Navy, I sent him a gift of a cap that had an almost official looking seal, bearing the legend, The United States of Texas.
I didn't know I was being presumptious or uppity.
The one race baiting clue everyone does mention is a black man with two white blond women. Every southern white male understood that one.
Gergen crossed the aisle and advised Bill. Stay connected by advising Hill for VP.
Didn't Hillary call Barack arrogant?
More news on the Republican economy today, home prices plunge a record 15% in one month http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/29/home-prices-plunge-record_n_115... I think the last thing America needs right now after a decade of GOP governance is another Republican, especially one who admits he knows nothing about the economy. One who tauts "Foreclosure Phil" aka "Nation of Whiners Phil" http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html as one of his chief economic advisors. Obama, here's your commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqGWTh_NZ-0
dennis @ 27:
Flag pins, what to do with your hands during the National Anthem, Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, makes one wonder why mcgramps and his supporters are so desperate to avoid the issues.
Well I see our little (in mind) troll dense-is is up early this morning.
Perhaps someone can tell us how we can point out Obama's overconfidence and swagger in a way that doesn't insult your delicate, racially-tuned sensibilities.
dennis @ 37:
That's a good question. He Should have told them to shove it by shoving their own hypocrisy in their face.
I don't get it. I dunno, maybe trying to be non confrontational. But that's just me.
29 mudshark
IOKYAR
(I may've misspelled it, I'm just learning techno-geek.)
kep306 @ 31:
I understood what that was about, yes. I grew disgusted at the idiots for trying to treat us Southrons like dogs, and second, at myself for having bought into the old racism of the CSA. I hate that I got that, because it makes me question whether or not if I'm as immune to the dark side of the South as I used to think...
Ron @ 34:
dennis @ 27:
Mmmaaaaayyybbbeeee iiiitttt”’’s bbbbbeeecccccaaaaaauuuuussssseeee yyyyyyoooouuuuu aaaaaarrreee aaaaa llllllloooootttttt ssssslllllloooowwwweeeerrr tttthhhhaaaaannnn the rest of us.
32 Abby Norml Says: Gergen crossed the aisle and advised Bill. Stay connected by advising Hill for VP.
I sounds like that's out again. They have Hillary involved with helping to write the party platform. Problem is rarely do politicians, especially presidents, stick to the party platform.
kep306 @ 31:
Bob Herbert was on Morning Joe this morning and he saw even more in that ad. He has seen a lot more in other things the McCain campaign has done too. Here's his piece
It's in the NY Times so I don't know if you need to register or not to read it.
dennis @ 20:
Actually Dennis I would rather talk about the debt, death, destruction, recession, forclosures, Constitutional crisis, traitorous CIA outing, political firings and hirings, alienated allies, emboldened enemies, lie bases wars, record deficits, Halliburton no bid government contracts, Katrina, American infrastructure collapsing, Al-Queda in Iraq, depleted Army and National Guard, America's image and moral standing in the world greatly diminished all thanks to 8 years of Repubilcan governance.
I can understand why you, like McSame, would like to focus on Britney and Paris though. Can't run on the GOP's record, so resort to smears, swiftboating, personal attacks, character assisination and distraction.
Rove 101.
42 Ron
No one can probably tell what you're trying to say with those excessive letters, and few willing to take the time to bother.
45 Ruthless People
Is character assisinaton calling Obama a sissy?
dennis @ 27:
Explain to me, then, why the obvious insinuation of Barack Obama with two white women didn't register with you. After all, it was a bedrock of American society, South and North as recently as 1968 that all the n*ggers were going to rape our white daughters. Then, it turned out people were wrong, treating blacks equally didn't result in an orgy of raping, looting, and death and destruction as Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms promised it would. I got full well what the Spears ad was about. You, OTOH, may not have understood it as clearly...
ysbaddaden @ 46:
Take the time. You might find it funny.
RH Potty @ 38 Nice hateful little blog that you have there with the Mohammed brand prophylactics and Obamessiah shirts. I especially like the way that you poke fun at Elizabeth Edwards' cancer. You need a bitch-slapping from a windmill you wee creep.
ysbaddaden @ 47:
I think that one's been taken, Coutler called Edwards a f*ggot. More or less the same thing right?
Ron @ 49:
I did. I, personally, found it juvenile. Even if he is rather obtuse, being that juvenile in humor is a bad way to reach someone.
RH Potfry @ 38:
Why not point out the recession, national debt and a lie based war instead? The only ones you would offend in that case would be conservatives.
Wow. Apparently it's been so long since Republicans have seen an actual leader that they don't know what to do when one shows up.
Mick Piobr @ 50:
Seems to me he hits both sides of the aisle with satire. Not that he's all that good at it, which makes it bad, but he does hit the Cons as well as the Libs.
RHPotfry@38
It's a partially free Country (thanks to Grandpa's master Dubya) so you can say whatever you wish about Obama. I know this is probably very difficult for you, but maybe you can try to hold McGeezer up to the same standards.
General_Rennenkampf @ 51:
You don't find that Dennis is a lot slower than the rest of us?
Dennis@20 sounds like a racist. I guess that puts
him in the majority. What a shame. The guy want's
four more years of W Bush. Dennis you are us & it's
a discrace. We Americans have millions like you lurking
about stinking up the country. :(
55 General_Rennenkampf
I find that very few people know what satire is. It's not merely mockery, repeating what others said (The New Yorker cover), or parody.
I'm not sure if I would even want to try it.
Jeff Foxworthy seems to be getting pretty good at it with his Are You a Redneck? routine, and Chris Rock had a hilarious bit, now off the internet, on How Not to Avoid a Traffic Ticket.
George Carlin had a flair for it.
Ron @ 57:
Aye tought it vas funnnnny.
off to work, have a nice on folks.
mudshark @ 61:
damn, I can see a rough day ahead.
adios
I wish Obama had better surrogates speaking for him on TV, you know, ones with cojones who can take the McCainers head on. Gergen was good, although he is not an Obama staffer. Kerry and Daschle were jokes on the Sunday TV shows; no wonder one lost his bid for the presidency and the other his senate seat.
Yes, yes, yes. McCain himself is racist because if he weren't, he wouldn't allow his campaign to run racist ads.
Isn't there anyone on Obama's side who can argue/debate the McCain side without sounding wimpy? Again, McCain is a racist. His campaign workers are racists. His ads are racists. Is it too hard to make those valid accusations and let the McCainers defend their actions and their ads?
dennis @ 60:
I think a nice game of basketball or a pull-up competition would be a good place to discuss the issues. McCain and his apologists, not so much.
What say you?
Most people also confuse barbarism and spoonerisms for puns.
pennis @ 60 You're all for the issues, eh? Then how do you explain your post @ 20? pathetic
When Kerry ran I was complaining to a fellow democrat that he was too slow and passive in replying to Bushit's attacks. Her reply was, "We can't stoop to their level." Well he didn't and the country lost. When are Democrats going to learn that the high road leads to defeat, and that there is no underestimating the general intelligence and racism of the American public? I have no faith in the American public. They are generally stupid and intend to remain that way. Dennis is an
example of the typical American racist takeing the low road. McCain's going too
win the f**king election. Shit!
dennis @ 60:
yeah, presumptive Dem nominee, be reasonable, do it McCain's way. Yield to that ingrained inclination to play by the rules - drummed into since the first time you said the little league pledge, or some other 1st grade level recitation of being "Fair:"
Hell no. Not when you are playing against people who venerate the rule book when it suits them, and wipe their keesters with it when the Charmin's all gone. Too bad McCain's not suited for the traditional Pres. debate formatting. No reason to change the rules for his benefit.
Mick Piobr @ 65:
Gee, Mick, don't you realize that Obama's uppitiness IS an issue? I mean, what if we had an uppity president? Can you imagine???
Ron @ 57:
I think that he is, yes, particularly when it comes to detecting obvious racism in ads for political campaigns. I, however, do not think fondly of stating it like that, as it displays a sense of humor that is like a 13-year-old.
dennis @ 69:
I just think Obama's campaign has as much a right to call the shots as McCain's campaign does, lil' d. Is that not the case? Does McCain have some god-given right to call the shots that Obama lacks? Please explain.
dennis @ 60:
First of all, would you agree to a town hall meeting with an opponent whose campaign has been busted fixing the audience in a town hall meeting? A campaign, incidentally, run by the same group of people that did the exact same thing with George W Bush. Pre-approved and screened audiences? Pre-approved and screened questions? That is not a town hall meeting, that is a joke, a trap, and certainly not worth walking in to. Even if half of the audience is chosen by one campaign, and the other by the opposing campaign, that is simply ludicrous. John McCain has, on multiple occasions, had audience members whose question he didn't like, whose signs or cloths his campaign didn't like, removed from such meetings. Obama has allowed such dissenters to not only stay, but ask (and then have answered) the questions they have.
I'm also pretty sure I remember reading that Barack agreed to 3 town hall style debates, but didn't want the full 10 that McCain wants.
Moderation @ 72:
He has not agreed to either, or any.
dennis @ 73:
Ahh, excuse me, he wanted one town hall on Independence Day, but the McCain campaign rejected that counter offer.
Now...are you going to actually answer the meat of my previous post, rather than ignoring it? Would you debate in a town hall meeting with an opponent who has been caught red-handed FIXING a town hall meeting, run by a campaign crew with a history of FIXING town hall meetings, and preventing any dissenting opinion from being expressed?
73 dennis
Actually he has, just not on mccain's terms.
Setting terms for the debates are presumptious of mcgramps.
dennis @ 75:
Then what's your beef? And why can't you address Moderation's factual points?
75 dennis
Does McCain have a god-given right to call the shots? No, but you go to war with the army you’ve got, not the one you wish you had.
Now your quoting rummie, one of the worst secretary of defense Washington ever had?
Dennis@75
"You go to war with the army you've got, not the one you wish you had"...Quoting Don Rumsfeld Dennis? You and Grandpa have become two sorry desperate fucks.
dennis @ 77:
Umm. There was a big stink about it at the time. His campaign was flat out busted putting a bunch of pre-written questions in the audience, with pre-screened people asking the questions at the request of the campaign. That isn't "conspiracy theory", bucko. His campaign repeatedly kicks out anyone with t-shirts and signs he doesn't approve of. In other words, his town hall meetings are rigged, and aren't actually a proper sample of people from the community. Reports of such come out periodically at his town hall meetings.
In other words, you cannot answer with a meaningful response, so your answer is, essentially, "Come on now, I'm one of the "serious people" so I don't have to answer that."
Moderation @ 74 I'm still waiting for pennis to answer regarding his flip - floppery regarding posts 20 and 60....oh, wait; it musta been one of those "evolving policies" so beloved by the right wing fringe.
ysb @ 46,
I could. Found it amuzing.
[Deleted. Dennis. I am about 2 seconds away from banning you. I've had it with your off topic flame baiting. I don't have the time to run around after you. You will go to moderation-Sitemonitor]
Mick Piobr @ 82:
To the right wing, "uppitiness" and possible Anti-Christness are important campaign issues.
Dennis @ all his clueless ramblings,
Herbert along with Rich and Krugman is dead-on with his assessments. His articles are an excellent analysis of what is going on in the world today.
Living in your world of delusion stupidity is what causes you to miss the main points. Reality and republican are mutually exclusive.
Hey lil' d, as long as we're on the topic of Obama's uppitiness...
You said in an earlier thread that the embroidery on Obama's plane seat, which says "Obama '08 President", is meant to convey that Obama thinks he already IS president. Because that's the literal reading.
So, if we're being literal, is he saying he's only the president in 2008?
I wonder why Gergen actually came out and told the truth. What prompted that?
thank you, david. So hard t refute when one of your own has had it and is saying it. once again, thank you, david.
If I were Obamam I would refuse to debate McSenile until after labor day. Then I would give the single digit I.Q. old fart all 10 of his debates!
Let the Ameican public get a full view of the contrast between Obama's intelligence, and McStupids clueless imbecile rantings. Remind everyone that McStupid (like all Repukes) IS George W. Bush, with less hair.
McCain asking for debates, is like the freshmen student demanding to debate the professor. These people are soooo stupid, they lack the basic intelligence quotient to know just how stupid they are capable of being.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 82:
All of your comments would be true and relevant in a somewhat sane world, but we don't live there. we live in a middle america corn-eating one-toothed buzz cut enviironment. consequently, mcsame appeals to their intellect or lack thereof.
i swear i heard a woman mention a mcCREEPY celebrity ad with "george clooney"...
so it would've been donna brazille... is there an ad with clooney? or was she day-dreaming?
The trap Hillary was in --- is the same for all white folk who dare point out that obama ain't got any clothes. In this upside down world --- if an unctuous candidate is black, then pointing out his flaws as you see it --- brands ya as a racist. gee talk 'bout your politically correct crap. HOw about this -- from his mother he is uppity -- from daddy he got his cool.... everyone in the apologist choir happy now? What are you going to do when a gay person runs for the job, and someone points out that he is not all that butch/ or she is a bit too...? are you anti-gay/homophope? As I see it, most of this is pure bullshit designed to deflect his lackings and to change the debate ... it is working a bit...but not enough or he would have a twenty point lead... and he don't.....does he?
douglas in oklahoma @ 85:
Nobody is stopping anybody from pointing out Obama's "lackings" as they relate to his fitness for the presidency. The problem is, the only "lackings" that his opponents seem to be able to generate are that Obama is too popular, too confident, too thin, possibly the anti-Christ, or that they somehow just aren't "comfortable" with him.
#82
Let the Ameican public get a full view of the contrast between Obama's intelligence, and McStupids clueless imbecile rantings. Remind everyone that McStupid (like all Repukes) IS George W. Bush, with less hair.
Yes, I agree, that SHOULD work, but doesn't anyone remember Dubya's debates with both Gore and Kerry? W looked and sounded like the complete idiot he ahs proved to be. Yet, the MF'ing punditry acted like he was the second coming (as opposed to the anti-christ Obama is being painted as).
Face it, too much of our electorate is just plain stupid and can be too easily influenced by a misleading ad (I'm being kind here) or completely lied to by a Hannity of Limbaugh. I'm not suggesting that my vote should count more that anyone else's, but for damn sure I have read a hell of a lot more about the candidates and will be making a more informed decision. Too many idiots vote party, regardless of the candidate, that simply scares me, should scare you too.
what comes after Jumping the Shark in the 'Desperation Scale" ?
Oh yeah, the McSame campaign.
Summer codes are the woist.
It's hard to say words with L in the middle of them.
I dont remember exactly what Gergen was commenting on while on NBC Nightly News, only that I remember agreeing with him and his articulate commentary.
There may be good, honest Republican's after all.
douglas in oklahoma @ 85:
Douglas, the Repubicans are not concentrating on SUBSTANCE, they are concentrating on NONSENSE.
Whether appealing to prejudices by using him alongside Britney and Paris or comparing him to Moses, its all bullshit, and will be labeled appropriately.
The only answer.... stick to the issues....
and force JOHN "THE BUSH REPUBLICAN" MCCAIN to wear his full name like a lapel pin.......
....by the way... did anyone notice that Obama is BLACK...
........ his melanin footprint is disturbingly large, but i think he can buy a
melainin offset coupon purchase, or nominate an albino as his
running mate, to average out the melanin issue
....DID anyone notice that the only person who DOES resemble the president on the one dollar bill is BARBARA BUSH.... seriously, check it out...
Ippity...bippity...boo!
Because nothing says, "dont vote black" like invoking white whores. Just ask Harold Ford.
He hit it directly. Ever since all this "he's elitist, he's arrogant" stuff popped up it immediately processed through my Republican to English translator as their way of saying "uppity." I can't believe it took so long for some talking head to acknowledge it.
I'm still trying to convey to my dutch boyfriend why arugula is an elitist food. They eat more arugula than iceberg so it's hard to explain how americans can politicize a salad. He understands (kinda) Freedom Fries so I go with that. Nevermind defending my country against the barbs of sophisticated europeans, I can't even explain it.
Oh my God! I've heard it all now - So David Gergen is a "son of the South" and knows exactly what Southerners really think and how they all use code and what all the code means. That whole panel was a glaring example of everything that is wrong in our media today.
I generally stay quiet because I really don't like being called names by people who think they know everything about me but this is nuts. Anybody who doesn't have their head up their ass dreaming of blowing Obama 24/7 knows that it was the Obama camp that first used the "race card" and that he HAS used his race to his advantage and beat everyone else over the head with it and a complicit media that is so afraid of offending the "black" man.
I am a daughter of the South and still live in the South although I have traveled and lived in many areas of the country. I'm also a life-long Democrat and a life-long civil rights activist, a long time supporter of the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center and all these really "progressive" and "enlightened" supporters of Obama have denigrated everyone that questions this lightweight poser. The media in this country needs to be shut down and the American voter needs to start thinking and seeing the reality of where we are. And no, I am not voting for McCrazy so save yourself the trouble of typing that pathetic charge.
Quite frankly I'd rather have a guy who would is totally confident about himself, dealing with World Leaders than a shuffling old man who looks as though he'd rather be anywhere than dealing with an audience.
Bluesage @ 99:
Unfortunately, these people hear "South," and they think lynching and CSA, not Unionists and SCLC. It seems that the people who condemn all Southerners with a blanket attitude are kith and kin to the GOP. Nothing is black and white, all is shades of darker and lighter gray.
If you look at history, whites got where they are by being uppity. During the Roman Empire the white Germanic barbarians were the ones being uppity wanting to join the rich civilization to the south they secretly admired and longed to belong to. Uppity is in the eye of the beholder.
Bob @ 14:
exactly! The term assumes that the individual in question is of a lower standing and is attempting to act above his/her status. The use of the term reveals more about the beliefs of the user than the person to which the term is applied.
McCain and Obama both believe that they are going to be the next president of the U.S. They both believe they are smart enough, well-liked enough, and capable of running this country. And they really both are. I'm a dem, and would prefer it to be run to the benefit of individuals, and at a higher cost to corporations, and without staying in Iraq. So I'll vote Dem and Obama would serve me well. But others believe in what McCain is spouting and would appreciate his efforts (although why anyone would chose the reality of that I don't truly understand). So they are each winners in their own eyes and in 40+% of the population's eyes.
Uppity means you believe you are better than you actually are. Neither of these guys is uppity. They are both the real thing. Just for different groups of people.
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