I was curious recently about a statement by Ed Schultz, host of MSNBC’s the Ed Show, that Sen. Jim Demint, R-S.C., used racist langauge in his opposition to Obamacare when he said “If we are able to stop Obama on this [health care law], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” There are ample reasons to criticize this statements — not the least of which is the notion that we will destroy health care simply to gain a political advantage. However, is “break him” a racist term?
Schultz also accused Herman of pandering to “white Republicans out there who don’t like black folks.” I am not sure how that tracks either.
However, I was most intrigued by the support given to Schultz for his view that “break him” is racist. Dr. James Peterson, director of Africana studies at Lehigh University, agreed that “break” is a racist verb, “a term that was used to destroy, mentally and physically, slaves.” He insists that the Demint comment is proof of “how dark some of these racial discourses can be in presidential politics.”
I may disagree with Demint about many, if not most, things. However, I do not believe that his comment was racist or that “break him” is a racist term — anymore than denouncing “dark” politics. I do not question Professor Peterson’s account of how slaves were often “broken.” However, the term “break” someone goes back to Roman times if not before. A broken man is a common expression in literature and common language.
I also do not believe that Cain is pandering to white people by running against Obama and advancing many of the same positions as his Republican colleagues. There is no doubt that there is racism in this country and in this election. However, it does not advance the effort to combat racism by manufacturing controversies. We have plenty of real racists and racist comments around.
Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson, however, insists that Cain and others need to address “post-intentional racism” – racism that people don’t intend to have or to act upon. I am not sure how one defines “post-intentional racism” (which sounds like unintentional racism), but I am pretty sure that the verb break is not a racist term. Moreover, I am not sure how much of a burden Cain should have beyond other candidates in fighting “post-intentional” comments.
What do you think?
Source: Washington Examiner
Are all racist people stupid or are only stupid people racist….
Why would a US Congressman want to “break” the President of the United States?~Elaine
Now THAT’s a question in need of an answer….
I ‘m wondering if the President took it as a racist remark since it was directed towards him. If he didn’t and Otteray is correct as to its “dogwhistle” meaning, is it anything more than an inside joke among jerks? For the rest of us isn’t it merely a tree falling in the woods that almost no one hears.
“If we are able to stop Obama on this [health care law], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.”
I like to give a person the benefit of the doubt. I’ve taken time to consider Demint’s comment. My opinion: I think Demint’s use of the word “break” probably had a racist connotation. It think it was a “code” word for certain people. If Demint didn’t like President Obama’s healthcare bill, why not just say that he’d fight to defeat it? Is the reason he wanted to defeat the bill so President Obama would meet his Waterloo? Why would a US Congressman want to “break” the President of the United States?
here is a man that can be trusted in his actions in power…
anon, maybe you ought to ask some of our minority commenters about exactly what it means when a white South Carolina politician talks about breaking a black man.
There are a lot of non-malignant uses of the word “break,” “breaking” and “broken.” Given the context this is not one of them.
what fixes this?
Woosty,
Personal attacks are not new, but the extent and the viciousness is relatively new and I see the change dating back to New Gingrich and his tenure as Speaker. The Teapublicans have just taken that play book and expanded upon it in a negative, dirty way.
This one is good. David Frum complains that Bush Presidency is broken complains a woman driver broke it.
http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2VkMDE5MDc3NTdkNjUxZmUyYWU5MmQ0NTJkZjY0ZWY=
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Broken Presidency
Bill Kristol has a strong editorial in today’s Weekly Standard
If you talk to people in the Bush administration, they know the truth about the report. They know that it makes the case convincingly for Saddam’s terror connections. But they’ll tell you (off the record) it’s too hard to try to set the record straight. Any reengagement on the case for war is a loser, they’ll say. Furthermore, once the first wave of coverage is bad, you can never catch up: You give the misleading stories more life and your opponents further chances to beat you up in the media. And as for trying to prevent misleading summaries and press leaks in the first place—that’s hopeless. Someone will tell the media you’re behaving like Scooter Libby, and God knows what might happen next.
This is all correct as far as it goes.
But it doesn’t go far enough!
This is a psychologically broken administration: exhausted, passive, prematurely aged, self-defeated.
It is lying on the mat moaning as its opponents kick it, unwilling/unable to block a blow or raise a hand in self-defense.
rafflaw, do you think that the manner of opposition indicated by the statement in question is really kosher political behaviour? or is it just another corruption of what used to be a system that worked…..?
because, the people who are affected by these political behaviors….constituents….have pretty much already said they are disgusted by the partisan ‘sink your battleship’ behaviour….
“Breaking slaves” through whippings and other forms of torture was routinely practiced by overseers. I think Demint knows this. Seems to know his confederate history rather well.
anon,
The term “make or break” when it refers to a candidacy is much different than suggesting someone or some party will “break him”.
anon1, October 18, 2011 at 2:55 pm
http://idioms.yourdictionary.com/make-or-break
What does make or break mean?
Cause either total success or total ruin, as in This assignment will make or break her as a reporter. This rhyming expression, first recorded in Charles Dickens’s Barnaby Rudge (1840), has largely replaced the much older (16th-century) alliterative synonym make or mar, at least in America.
——————————————-
“If we are able to stop Obama on this [health care law], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” that De guy
yup, indicative of thug mentality. What percentage of politics is thuggery(deliberate interference to cause a politically advantageous outcome) and is this thuggery considered legal?
“I find it hard to accept that a person is unaware of his prejudices or his biases.”
1. I think your are referring to “likes” and “dislikes,” and people do know what they like and dislike — but they may not know why, especially if they are unmindful of their underlying prejudices and biases.
2. Not only can people be unaware of their prejudices and biases, they can believe themselves righteous in spite of some very nasty prejudices and biases. See page 57:
http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf
Idiots.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/09/20/media-making-gop-race-romney-perry-too-early
Lara Brown, a professor of political science who studies elections at Villanova University, says the reason some candidates’ coverage isn’t reflective of their campaign’s success has everything to do with the media’s framing of them early on. [Check out political cartoons about the Tea Party.]
Brown says candidates are framed almost immediately when they announce their bids, and all coverage is based off of the early coverage.
In the case of Ron Paul, Brown says that early on, he was painted as an “extremist” with wacky ideas, a reputation Brown says he has been unable to shake no matter how well his campaign performs.
“For better or worse, stereotypes become the lens for how the media covers a candidate,” she says. “In the case of Perry, it’s religiosity. For Bachmann—a tendency toward exaggeration. No matter the frame, it can make or break a candidate.”
http://articles.sfgate.com/2000-07-30/news/17654595_1_democratic-platform-wendell-willkie-plank
Party Platforms Can Make or Break a Candidate’s Popularity
July 30, 2000|Michael Beschloss, New York Times News Service
WHILE AGONIZING over whether to challenge President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was advised by a friend to stay out of the race but to demand an antiwar plank in the Democratic platform.
RFK scoffed, “When was the last time millions of people rallied behind a plank?”
When Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed through the New Deal, he flagrantly ignored his 1932 Democratic platform, which had pledged a balanced budget and smaller government.
“All platforms are meaningless,” said Theodore White, the presidential-campaign chronicler. “The program of either party is what lies in the vision and conscience of the candidate.”
Party platforms have long been seen as pro-forma documents, dutifully listing the party’s stance on any number of issues. But, in fact, as the first details of the 2000 Republican and Democratic pronunciamentos emerge, we should remember that the platform can provide spectacular insight into a candidate’s character: his vision, his shortcomings and, in many cases, his potential to win.
Will New Hampshire Still Be A Make Or Break Primary?
By Fred Thys
Oct 11, 2011, 8:45 AM
BOSTON — The Republican presidential candidates will debate in Hanover, N.H., at Dartmouth College Tuesday evening. It is the first debate held in the state since June.
A new poll by Harvard University and St. Anselm College shows Mitt Romney leading the pack in New Hampshire. The other issue at hand is whether New Hampshire is still a make or break primary.
http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110907/make-or-break-speeches-of-u-s-presidents/
Barack Obama, Sept. 8, 2011
“Pass this jobs plan right away”
Faced with the greatest challenge of his presidency, Barack Obama delivered a forceful case for his plan to spark jobs growth. Gone was Obama’s usual use of soaring rhetoric and allegory. He demanded six times that lawmakers act “right away” on his plan, which would spend $447 billion to rebuild roads and bridges, keep teachers working, and cut payroll taxes. Opposition will be stiff — much of the speech was met with outright giggling among Republicans. Still, with unemployment hovering above 9%, Obama argued “the people who hired us to work for them don’t have the luxury of waiting 14 months” to see Democrats and Republics sort out their differences at the ballot box.
Photographer: Pool
…
15 more make or break speeches of presidents follow
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026322/Mitt-Romney-attacks-Obamas-make-break-fightback-calling-Magical-Misery-Tour.html
Magical Misery Tour’: Mitt Romney hits out at Obama as President begins make or break fightback aboard ‘Greyhound One’
President polls just 39 per cent – an all time low
Obama’s $1.1 million battle bus nicknamed ‘Greyhound One’
Public clash with Tea Party activist who mocked his calls for civility in politics
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:01 AM on 16th August 2011
Feeling the heat: President Obama wipes his brow as he takes questions on his bus tour
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has attacked Barack Obama, calling the President’s upcoming bus tour of Midwestern states a ‘Magical Misery Tour’.
The comment, which refers to the Beatles iconic 1967 album ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, is a continuation of the GOP frontrunner’s unrelenting attack on Obama – a strategy he has pursued at the expense of criticising his Republican rivals.
The jibe came as Obama set off on a make-or-break bus tour in the U.S. heartland today – where he hopes to re-engage with American voters.