It's no surprise that this was from a Republican politician, most of them seem to have a very bad case of 'Foot-in-Mouth' Disease.

It's fun to watch the Republicans hurt themselves on national television.

*news
*law

Adding video to channels (Law, News) - requested by NetRunner.

Wow, that's a great democratic ad. These guys can't help themselves.

Latinos will be like black americans, voting 10 to 1 against republicans---while the repubs last, that is.

LUUUUUUCEEEEE!


Waaaah!

When I first saw this, it didn't occurred to me that this might have been offensive. I can believe it was a coincidence that he quoted a Cuban character when talking to a person of Puerto Rican heritage. That Cuban character was one of the biggest television personalities of a generation.

It seems pretty clear to me that he did the Ricky Ricardo quote because she's of Latin background, just like some Teabaggers had the "Whatchu talkin bout Willis?" signs at their Obama protests. I think the former is more cute while the latter was not nearly as much. :-P

In all fairness, she kind of set the stage for a humorous response from the senator by making a very silly remark about shooting someone being perhaps illegal. That said, it is definitely on the line of poor taste to pull out a stereotypical quote like that... I mean, if the candidate were black and the senator started doing Al Johnson "mammy mammy" it would probably be a lot clearer, but still...

*shrug*

I disagree. He said with his hick accent, you would have a lot of explaining to do.

No one would care if the bloggers didn't try and make a story out of it. Did anyone else in the room at the time gasp or do a double take to whisper? Probably not.

I don't get it... Is this the first time those guys meet a Hispanic woman who isn't their maid? Why are they all being so bloody retarded?

>> ^ponceleon:
In all fairness, she kind of set the stage for a humorous response from the senator by making a very silly remark about shooting someone being perhaps illegal.

This was part of a longer conversation about gun rights, and in particular, he was asking her whether she believed that people have a right to self-defense. The immediate preamble to this clip was something like "It depends on state law, and in New York the threat needs to be immediate and proximate..."

But you're right, the example was delivered with mirth, and I did laugh at Coburn's response, and didn't even think of it in a racial context.

However, Republicans are very sensitive to racially charged speech -- have you heard that once Sotomayor said something about Wise Latinas with experience being able to better judge a case than a white man without those same experiences, and that makes her essentially the same as a hood-wearing KKK member?

I fully expect them to call for Coburn's resignation, since this was far more offensive (in that it might've actually offended one or two actual people).

Let's examine just how racist this is. The Senator made a pop culture reference to a very well known, heavily accented Cuban TV character while addressing a Puerto Rican woman. First of all, Desi Arnaz was awesome. My question is, are references to Ricky Ricardo inherently racist in nature? I've never heard them used that way, but I could be wrong and I'm ready to be corrected. I don't think that Ricardo was an ugly racial stereotype (I've only seen bits of the show, so I could be mistaken). He had an accent, but there is nothing wrong with that.

I would be worried if Coburn had quoted Speedy Gonzales or Tony Montana or Cheech or something.

Think about it. Is Coburn making any kind of derogatory statement about hispanic people in any way? I mean, really, it may have been kind of inappropriate to make a joke that called attention to her nationality and possibly drew a comparison between Sotomayor and Ricardo (if he even intended it that way), but just how racist was it? Not very. It makes you cringe a little bit inside, but is it really even derogatory?

I would venture to say that this really isn't a big deal and that the reaction is a classic example of our hypersensitivity to racial references of any kind.

I am willing to accept that I may be wrong about this, so if anyone wants to explain to me how this is racist, I'm all ears.

When Alito went through this process, did these senators blurt out Don Corlione or Fonzie catchphrases? No, that would have been unprofessional and inappropriate.

It's derogatory because a Supreme Court nominee has to be subjected to low brow ethnic humor that was itself unnecessary, a non sequitur.

It doesn't hurt her--I'm sure she is used to it-- it just demonstrates how these senators can't think outside of their racialized boxes.

In the scheme of things this is really very minor... It is however, unbelivably stupid. On watching it again I really don't think it was racially charged. Just very stupid.

Man Pinky... I would pay money to hear that senator say, "Arriba Arriba, Andale Andale!!"

It's derogatory because a Supreme Court nominee has to be subjected to low brow ethnic humor that was itself unnecessary, a non sequitur.

There are countless examples of outright racist vitriol from our friends on the left aimed at any and all non-White conservatives.

It doesn't matter that Sotomayor is a woman, because the gay marriage advocates have proved there's "no difference" between the sexes. The genetic lottery of her Hispanic-ness also means nothing...wasn't Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez also Hispanic? No, he doesn't count.

Sotomayor is opposed for being an activist on the bench and general dumb-ass with an unimpressive record. She's not alone, as the Supreme Dorks are one of the most spoiled and ignorant welfare classes in America.

I'll give her this: she's more qualified to be President than the Kenyan-born communist.

Hey QM,

You forgot Muslim in reference to Obama... I mean if we are making shit up about him, why stop at Kenyan born and communist? Throw in pedophile while you are at it!

My impression is that this comment really was just something that popped into his mind. It's a little sad that his only point of reference. And yes, you have to be a bit stupid not to realize that the way Ricky's ethnicity was constantly made fun of was racist, and would probably be offensive to most people from that part of the world. But I have no trouble believing he's merely stupid and not genuinely racist.

What strikes me more is that it's an overly affectionate and familiar thing to say. Not really talking to her as if she's a supreme court nominee, more like she's his wife.

>> ^quantumushroom:


No gay marriage advocates have proved there's "no difference" between the sexes. It is odd that despite never providing any proof of this claim, you still repeat it.
There is no proof that President Obama was born in Kenya, and certainly no proof he is a communist.
Only in Lunatic Fringeland does graduating from Princeton summa cum laude mean you’re a dumbass. I guess then notable conservative Princeton graduates like Samuel Alito, Donald Rumsfeld, David Petraeus, James Baker, Frank Carlucci, George Shultz, John Foster Dulles, Meg Whitman, Malcolm and Steve Forbes, George F. Will and John Stossel must be even bigger dumbasses. Yet Sarah Palin, who needed six years and four different schools just to earn a bachelor's degree and John McCain was fifth from the bottom in his class rank, they are brilliant. NOT!
It is interesting how you so often whine about the lies told by the “liberal MSM”, yet when the rightwingnuts and regressive media tell lies, you gobble it up like they are serving you filet mignon.

Doesn’t it bother you that you are being played for a chump?

Really? Was Ricky's ethnicity made fun of in the show? I never saw any of that, but I haven't seen much of I Love Lucy. I don't think that they constantly made fun of Ricky, but his accent and other things created humorous moments. There is nothing racist about this clip, for instance, in which Ricky's accent creates humor, and Ricky points out the stupidity of English spelling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBXl0vPzFSA. His accent is cute and funny, and Desi plays it up for humor.

See, to ME it always seemed like Ricky was the intelligent, successful, exasperated one, and that his dumb blonde wife was always screwing things up.

>> ^entr0py:

And yes, you have to be a bit stupid not to realize that the way Ricky's ethnicity was constantly made fun of was racist, and would probably be offensive to most people from that part of the world.