Answering His First Question, Tony Snow Misleads White House Press Corps
Answering His First Question, Tony Snow Misleads White House Press Corps
New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is already covering up President Bush’s mistakes.
President Bush was asked earlier today about an NSA database reported by USA Today that tracks the phone records of “tens of millions” of Americans. Bush implicitly confirmed the existance of the program, claiming that Congress had been fully briefed on it:
QUESTION: Mr. President, you’ve said that the government is not trolling through the lives of innocent Americans, but why shouldn’t ordinary people feel that their privacy is invaded by the NSA compiling a list of their telephone calls?
BUSH: …The program he’s asking about is one that has been fully briefed to members of the United States Congress in both political parties. They’re very aware of what is taking place. The American people expect their government to protect them within the laws of this country, and I’m going to continue to do just that.
Holding his first White House press conference, the first question posed to Tony Snow was about Bush’s comments. Snow misled the press corps, claiming President Bush wasn’t talking about the collection of phone records by the NSA:
QUESTION: In his news conference with John Howard, was the president giving kind of a backhanded confirmation of the stories that the NSA is compiling telephone lists?
SNOW: No, he wasn’t. If you go back and listen to the answer he gave you, he was talking about foreign-to-domestic calls. The allegations in the USA Today piece, which we will neither confirm or deny, are of a different nature. So, no, he was not giving a backhanded confirmation.
Same deception, new face.
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My jaw dropped when I heard Tony Snow use the term ‘TAR BABY’ by saying, “We’re not going to hug the Tar Baby”.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Here’s how Tar Baby, a highly offensive term to African Americans, is described in the Urban Dictionary:
Unforunately, the definitions involve the ugly n word:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tar+baby
May 16th, 2006 at 1:34 pmColbert had it right, Snowjob; just another FAUX ‘news’ person.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:35 pmThere’s no business like “Snow Business”… “Snow Job” well done Tony!
May 16th, 2006 at 1:35 pmFunny,
…Snow(job) had ME at “confirm or deny”…
…Damn the devil can ruin one’s credibility/reputation fast!
May 16th, 2006 at 1:37 pmafter working at Fox news I guess he has had a lot of practice
May 16th, 2006 at 1:38 pmBush was merely denying that another program does not do what the unconfirmed program does.
When are journalists going to learn there is more than one NSA program?
May 16th, 2006 at 1:39 pmDid you see the part where Tony began to CRY?!? What a performance! What a total embarrassing performance! First he tries shaking things up by moving everything into the old room… now he’s trying to act over-emotional.
He REAKS of TV personality who clearly wants to be in front of TV cameras all the time.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:41 pmMy jaw dropped when I heard Tony Snow use the term ‘TAR BABY’ by saying, “We’re not going to hug the Tar Babyâ€.
Comment by Paige #1
Paige,
Almost certainly a “conservative” Freudian slip…
…childhood images of being hoisted upon the shoulders of one’s fathers/grandfathers…
…to get a better look at the burnt, lynched remains of TARBABIES…
…al Cracker America’s favorite “strange fruit”…
…are hard to keep suppressed…
May 16th, 2006 at 1:44 pm#6 sez……”When are journalists going to learn there is more than one NSA program? ” Care to expand on that?
May 16th, 2006 at 1:44 pmI don’t think they are even trying to pretend to tell the truth anymore.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:45 pmLet me be the first to say…………
You’re doing a heckuva job, Tony!
Please put your seatback in the upright position when cruising on George Bush’s Hindenburg.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:48 pmDude . . . . Kevin Bacon’s really gone to shit !
May 16th, 2006 at 1:48 pmNot to go off topic here… well, okay, this is completely off topic:
Porn star Mary Carey poses for the media before attending the United to Victory dinner sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee, Thursday, March 16, 2006, in Washington. Carey, who ran for governor in California, has become a supporter of the Republican Party.
Yay! Conservative moral values! Yea!
May 16th, 2006 at 1:49 pmsame ol crap. tar baby, what sick choice of words. when the don’t ‘confirm or deny’ that means they are, otherwise they would ‘deny’ it.
‘Stay the course to a repub. dictatorship’
May 16th, 2006 at 1:50 pmBushCo has been lying about EVERYTHING for so long that they don’t even know what the truth is….
BushCo = LIARS!
May 16th, 2006 at 1:51 pmJust goes to show that Tony Snow is PERFECT for showing America Republican’s true values. Lie like all hell, steal everything you can’t pry loose, blame the other guy for doing the stealing.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:52 pmSnowjob — The true face of the Bush Administration. :P
May 16th, 2006 at 1:55 pmSo, if Hillary Clinton had used the phrase ‘tar baby,’ how quickly do you think that would have made the 24 “news” channels?
I bet this gets NO mention at all.
More free passes to the GOP.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:56 pmis there a link for snow’s offensive remark
May 16th, 2006 at 1:57 pmSorry. Not to defend the new White House bullshitter, but this is the origin of and the way I’ve always understood the term “tarbaby” to be used:
Etymology: from the tar baby that trapped Brer Rabbit in an Uncle Remus story by Joel Chandler Harris : something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself
I’ve also heard it used as a racial slur, but that’s not its primary usage.
May 16th, 2006 at 1:59 pmI’ve also heard it used as a racial slur, but that’s not its primary usage.
Comment by jimb — May 16, 2006 @ 1:59 pm
But the etymology of the word merely shows us the origin. But the offensive nature of the word comes from its usage. And it is used as a way to insult African Americans.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:05 pm# 20 Well put. I was about to type the same, only it sounded alot less understandable when I was done.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:06 pmCompared to Mr. McClellan he seems rather, hmmm, human like. We’ll see how he does when the same question is asked again, and again and again.Also Mash brought up a good point yesterday about Sen. Frist acknowledging, on CNN, the USA Today piece as basically accurate. Didn’t someone tell Tony they can talk about it now? Or should Wolf and Sen. Frist be tried for revealing classified data?
May 16th, 2006 at 2:06 pmtar baby means “a difficult situation” – in this context i’m pretty sure that’s what he means.
urban dictionary: almost as authoritative as wikipedia. nice reference.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:09 pm# 18 & 20 – If Hillary said it – it would get a lot of air time – but most of us would defend her remarks by citing its reference to Joel Chandler Harris’ book.
To be fair – Snow sucks but I don’t think we need to make too much out of this one… there are plenty of bigger fish to fry.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:11 pm#6 Bush was merely denying that another program does not do what the unconfirmed program does.
Nope. Go back and read it again. The president was asked “…why shouldn’t ordinary people feel that their privacy is invaded by the NSA compiling a list of their telephone calls?”
Snow was asked “…was the president giving kind of a backhanded confirmation of the stories that the NSA is compiling telephone lists?”
Did the president answer a different question than the one he was asked? Did he not understand the question? The president was asked about the NSA compiling a list of ordinary people’s telephone calls. Snow says his answer to that question wasn’t about the NSA compiling a list of ordinary people’s telephone calls. I can believe that the president can’t understand a simple question like that. Is that what Snow is saying? Is it an admission that the president is that incompetent? Or is Snow just picking up where McClellan left off and lying his ass off?
May 16th, 2006 at 2:11 pmIs that what Snow is saying? Is it an admission that the president is that incompetent? Or is Snow just picking up where McClellan left off and lying his ass off?
Comment by jimb
Yes.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:14 pmWhen Bush or Snow explain that the question relates to “a program” about which the “appropriate” members of Congress were briefed, it does not. Any question about “the program” that is the subject of the USA Today article is being addressed as if it relates to a different program that Bush or Snow can say is in compliance with the law.
Recall Alberto Gonzalez’s testimony to Congress in which he repeatedly emphasized that his answers related to a “particular program.”
Recall that Scotty would frequently second-guess the purpose of the questions he did not want to answer, especially if they related to an “ongoing investigation.” Redefining the question to a different subject is just another tactic.
S.O.P.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:19 pm#27 Zoo – Funny stuff man!
May 16th, 2006 at 2:20 pmchrist, i haven’t heard the term ‘tar-baby’ for i don’t want to say how long!
tomorow:
‘hey, i’m not going to jew you out of a complete answer’???
‘did someone die in here or is that that guy’s from india’s shoes’
‘hey, david you scottish bastard, suck on this headcheese’
‘is someone eating tuna…oh, helen, did you have a question’
wow!
May 16th, 2006 at 2:29 pmWhat will it take to bring these creeps to justice!? I believe we are seeing an NSA coup and if we do not remove these people from power very soon, many of us will wind up the the concentration camps they’re building around the country.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:31 pmWho really expected Snow to tell the truth, I mean come on, was Snow ever honest when he was on FOX? Did you really expect that to change?
May 16th, 2006 at 2:35 pmThat’s why he was chosen to take over the job in the first place.
TAR BABY???? did Tony Snowe REALLY say ‘embrace the tar baby?” omfg…..
I dont know about where Mr Snowe comes from but where I come from that is a Racial Slur…..
did Mr Snowe forget where he was? did he think he was holding an interview on Fox????
May 16th, 2006 at 2:36 pmCan “Little Black Sambo” be far behind????
May 16th, 2006 at 2:36 pm[...] Think Progress – Answering His First Question, Tony Snow Misleads White House Press Corps [...]
May 16th, 2006 at 2:41 pmBut Bush wasn’t asked about “foreign to domestic”. So why would he answer a question he wasn’t asked?
Lying sacks.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:43 pmPeople can defend this ass all they want by saying “he did not mean “tar-baby” in that context” but if a democrat had said something as offensive as that, no matter if it was meant to be a slur or not, it would be all over the MSM.
May 16th, 2006 at 2:44 pmThanks for posting Mr. Snow’s firt day at work BS! He nobvously did not read about American history nor does he have any Afro American friends or he would have ommited the metaphor “tar Baby”. Is the White House soo white that they have no respect for not only the people who work for them who are black but in the bigger view of things, the Afro American voters. They really don’t care… The KKK will back them anyway!
May 16th, 2006 at 2:51 pmHere is to Mr. Snow!
Ana
#7.
Remember when the Republicans went apeshit because Al Gore “used private tragedy for political gain” when he talked about his sisters lung cancer.
Tony must have worked with the same teacher that gave Mrs. Alito her weeping schtick.
Heckuva job Dog and Pony Show.
-GSD
May 16th, 2006 at 3:03 pmAs I argued here, tar baby is known primarily as a derogatory term and its connotations are so strong that it is used about as innocently as the deliberate malapropisms (or wicked homonyms) “niggardly” and “coonhound.” Yeah, yeah, those scoundrels take shelter beneath raccoons and Scandinavian etymology, but the “accidentally” evoked imagery is so unpleasant that most people have excised them from polite usage.
Anyhow, I’m quite sure indeed that the Bushies don’t want to hug any tar babies.
Nice one, Tony. Almost as good as when Bush Sr. called his half-Mexican grandchildren “the little brown ones.”
May 16th, 2006 at 3:14 pmOr do you mean “Hecuva job, Dog and Pony SNOW”???
May 16th, 2006 at 3:14 pm“IF YOU GO BACK TO WHAT WAS SAID” —-ALERT
May 16th, 2006 at 3:19 pmI see he is adopting the same confusion tactics that McClellen used. This tactic refers the questioner back to some time in the past so it throws them off guard, clouds things, and they have to wait, go back to “check on it” ….by then….the question is long gone, the White House Press Secretary is long gone…the issue is long gone. It is so obvious. Because Snow and McClellen and the psyops buds in the White House know that confusion is a potent weapon.
On a side note, found this little beauty tucked away at the bottom of the tech news -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/125700
“Last week, the voting watchdog organization Black Box Voting published a report detailing how Diebold’s TS6 and TSx touch-pad voting machines could be compromised by taking advantage of “backdoor” features designed to allow new software to be installed on the systems.”
May 16th, 2006 at 3:21 pmPorn star Mary Carey poses for the media before attending the United to Victory dinner sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee,.
She’s always on Neil Cavuto…….I mean his show.
May 16th, 2006 at 3:27 pmI felt so sorry for Tony choking up about his colon cancer recovery. Me, I’m just a 3 year lung cancer survivor. Lung cancer has a 15%, 5 year survival rate. Lung cancer kills more people than all cancers combined. I however have not been as fortunate as poor Tony. I was accused by my employer, Cargill, Inc., the world’s largest private corporation, of not performing up to expectations during the final 3 months leading up to my operation. This was of course after my surgery and return to work. I was immediately placed upon probation, and summarily fired 3 month’s after returning to work. I went unemployed during this vibrant economy for 9 months, receiving unemployment to cover my COBRA and mortgage for 6 months, and penniless the following 3 months.
If only I would have had such a caring employer as Faux News, perhaps I wouldn’t be facing bankruptcy and homeless today. This is only after living a normal life as a husband and active father in my son’s life. My gosh I wish I was Tony Snow. I feel so sorry for him.
Peace, back by popular demand!
May 16th, 2006 at 3:31 pmPeeJ,
I am so sorry to hear about your terrible disease and how it has robbed you of your health and livelihood.
May 16th, 2006 at 3:41 pmI wish I could help somehow.
I do know that it will be some time before I complain about my meaningless “problems.”
Thank you, PeeJ
Naw, like Tony said, this was the best thing to happen to me. It increased my faith in my heavenly Father. It has given me a reason to live. It has given the American Cancer Society a reason to sue me and put me in jail. We’ll make it, don’t worry.
Peace, back by popular demand!
May 16th, 2006 at 3:48 pmOf course, the irony is that they *have* hugged the tarbaby in this sense in Iraq.
May 16th, 2006 at 3:53 pmWell, at least he didn’t call anyone traitors, which he would have done if that was a Fox/Saudi News microphone in front of him.
May 16th, 2006 at 3:53 pm[...] Read more Snow Job [...]
May 16th, 2006 at 3:56 pmWasn’t Mary Carey interviewed on the Daily Show as someone joining the republican party because she wanted to be rich like them? Or was that another porn star?
May 16th, 2006 at 3:57 pmCould someone explain to me how “tar baby” became a racial slur? I’m not defending Snow here, but really…you have to pick your battles and I really don’t think this is one worth fighting. Webster’s defines tar baby as something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself and gives the word’s origins as being from the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris, which were based on old African folk tales. Is it really a slur somewhere?
May 16th, 2006 at 4:11 pmTony,
May 16th, 2006 at 4:25 pmHalf of your answer lies within your own post:Uncle Remus stories.
Calling someone “Uncle Remus” is also considered a slur.
It’s also why you will *never* see Song of the South released by Disney. (remember that one folks?)
Talk about the “Good’ol days” of slavery is verboten.
Tony.
Think Niger and the ‘n word’.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:26 pmIt increased my faith in my heavenly Father. …
May 16th, 2006 at 4:27 pmComment by PeeJ
Then I will pray for you and your family. Good luck.
Other than the UR story, I’ve only ever heard it used in a racist way. Among African-Americans, it used to be used as a way of making fun of a dark-skinned African-Americans.
I don’t know the exact history of how it became used by whites, but it’s not hard to imagine (”black as tar”, etc.). Maybe the negative intra-African-American use migrated outside the group.
The point is, the connotation is definitely, definitely negative and racist, and Snow knows it (as demonstrated by the way his face fell when the reporter late in his press conference asked him to explain what it meant).
May 16th, 2006 at 4:29 pmTrueblue:
As my co-blogger wrote,
Oh, for the days when you could really get into Song of the South and no one gave you shit for it. (I think that’s a young Tony on the right, there.)
May 16th, 2006 at 4:32 pmBut in the context doesn’t it take on its more innocent meaning? This sort of reminds me of that time D.C. mayoral aid was forced to retire over his use of the word “niggardly” in reference to a budget.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:38 pmI can not believe the abject stupidity and the utter ignorance of some people.
The story of Song of the South and UNCLE REMUS IS RACIST, in and of, itself.
It has been removed from the Disney collection because it is so highly objectionable.
It underlies what has always been known about Tony Snow, it proves how insensitive and how purposeful he is with his choice of language. It automatically identifies him to the people he is speaking to.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:38 pmSolomon Grundy,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
That is freakin’ AWESOME!!
May 16th, 2006 at 4:39 pmI hope Snow gets canceragain and dies a painful death. I will laugh.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:41 pmNow, now, Gus….
Even thou’ he’s a Republican tool, we become just as bad as them if we wish these things upon them. Plus, I’m sure you’ve seen your share of cancer patients. Not fun.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:44 pmLiar, liar, pants on fire.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:47 pmSo Snow job lied for the usurper– you could knock me over with Dan Quayle’s brain.
Re: Tar Baby. It’s really sad how big a career some folks make of being offended. There’s real racism and opporession in the world. Manufacturing same is a shameful waste of time and electrons.
May 16th, 2006 at 4:53 pmShortly after the invasion of Iraq, Pat Buchanan-of all people, Pat Buchanan- said “I think we’ve just hit the tar baby.”
May 16th, 2006 at 4:54 pmThe story of the Tar Baby, attributed in legend to Uncle Remus, tells of Br’er Rabbit falling for a trap set for him. He punched the Tab Baby, and then became stuck. He was able to free himself by pursuading his tormenter to fling him into the Briar Patch by saying to him, “Do what you want with me, but please don’t throw me in the Briar Patch.” When his tormenter did that very thing, he escaped and exclaimed, “”Born and bred in the briar patch. I was born and bred in the briar patch!”
Br’er Rabbit’s enemy was tormenting him becauuse he was “uppity.” Who would torment a rabbit for being uppity? That would be Br’er FOX.
Where is Tony Snowjob from? FOX news. Coincidence? I am just asking.
Visit the Schapira Blog, What we know so far …
… and tell ‘em Big Mitch sent ya!
May 16th, 2006 at 5:01 pm“The Shite House would also like for reporters to stop Gyping the door nigg*rs out of their tips, and to please stop Jewing the kitchen staff out of seconds.” — Tony Blow, Shitehouse Press Sec.
May 16th, 2006 at 5:04 pm“BUSH: …The program he’s asking about is one that has been fully briefed to members of the United States Congress in both political parties.”
This is one of W’s favorite lies. The programs have NOT been briefed as required by law, but rather only briefed to a few committee chiefs.
At the W Shitehouse, Constitution-breaking is Job One.
May 16th, 2006 at 5:11 pmtar baby comes from the Brer Rabbitt stories, as in “please don’t throw me in that briar patch.” It’s a dummy coated with pitch. Making Snow out to be a racist is a little strained in this case. Oh, I know he’s a creep and evil; but this doesn’t fit this particular case.
May 16th, 2006 at 5:13 pmI live in a racially diverse small city – 35% black, 65% white. If ANYONE here were to call someone a “tar baby”, they would probably end up severly injured, at the very least. They would have the daylights beaten out of them by any number of willing people. You just do not do or say things like that… it is very much a racial slur. It is the equivalent of using the “n” word. I cannot believe Snowy Boy did not know just what he was saying, not after years at Faux News. I just cannot imagine why he thought it would go unchallenged by reporters??? OMG, I cannot believe this…
May 16th, 2006 at 5:13 pmNext time hell excuse himself to “Drop the Cosby’s off at the pool”
May 16th, 2006 at 5:57 pmHe’s going to have trouble adjusting from Fox News “truth” to real truth.
You get used to creating your own universe for so many years, and it’s almost impossible to go back.
In fact, I don’t think he’ll be able to make it.
May 16th, 2006 at 6:12 pmTar Babies? Bastards? This from our conservative wing…Tony Snow, the new Press Secty and John McCain referring to West Point Grads?
We applaud all the blogging going on regarding the Tar Baby comment. We posted about it also and can’t believe that it’s even used in this era! Showing, of course, Tony’s real colors…
At Post An Apology, we’re wondering how many more faux pas’ Tony will make in his transition from media guy to Official Spokesperson for the President of the United States?
May 16th, 2006 at 6:31 pmJust a couple of months ago, many in the liberal blogosphere were up in arms that a college prof was forced to resign for using an exam question in which “Condoleezza” drops a watermelon from the roof of a government building. Most commenters realized it was a stupid thing to do, but probably an unintentional, and oblique, racial slur.
In that context, I’ve got to give Snow the benefit of the doubt on this one. As has been pointed out before: let’s pick our battles a bit more carefully, and not let the Snow-job on the NSA get lost in the kerfuffle over a potentially innocent, yet ill-considered racial remark.
Which topic do you think the administration would rather have in the spotlight?
May 16th, 2006 at 6:40 pmUnfortunately folks, Bushco is right. They are probably not listening in on conversations, but, and this is a big BUT.
If huge computers are recording every conversation, the administration technically is not listening in. The computers dont have ears.
If huge computers are transcribing those conversations the administration is not listening in. They are reading the end results of the program, and that is not listening, its reading.
Sort of like that depends on what the meaning of is is. Dont you agree?
May 16th, 2006 at 7:39 pmWasn’t Tony Snow the one who had a column of his posted on a white supremist website? Which later took it down. That and the “tar baby” comment has his true colors showing through.
May 16th, 2006 at 7:44 pmBetter to wait until they do something clearly eggregious instead of flying off the handle over ambiguous bungling.
The NSA thing is wrong, clumsy and indicative of the administrations attitude toward the citizenry, but realistically, these folks can’t organize a one car funeral–let alone review and catalogue a gazillion telephone conversations. I suspect Osama bin Laden could call Michael Moore and nobody in the NSA would be the wiser.
Secondly: “tar baby.” For god sakes, it was a figure of speech. If it had any virulent intent, it would’ve been obvious. It didn’t and it wasn’t.
Setting aside the obvious hypocrisy of taking offense at a comparatively innocuous (albeit foolishly chosen) idiom on behalf of a community that routinely refers to one and other as “nigga,” does anyone really think that, under the circumstances, Tony Snow would take the opportunity at this awkward juncture to offend black people?
Furthermore, if “tar baby” is such a hateful uterance, why is it allowed on a comment board that specifically prohibits the posting of “any content … that is unlawful, racist, hateful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, or that intentionally discriminates against or harasses particular individuals or groups”?
These folks are circling the drain. Let us let nature take its course. It won’t be long now.
May 16th, 2006 at 8:12 pmWhere I come from the term “tar baby” is a racial slur. Will he follow-up by using “jungle bunny”?… Or perhaps even the “N”-word?
May 16th, 2006 at 8:21 pmTar baby Snow? I like it!
May 16th, 2006 at 9:55 pmWhat about his absolute breakdown? That was really fun to watch. Snow’s slick – no McClellan stuttering here. Dang.
http://www.lcoliberal.blogspot.com
May 16th, 2006 at 10:24 pmSnow day: More on Tony Snow’s debut: Right now on LCL
This the context in which Tony Snow use the term tar baby:
“Again, I would take you back to the USA Today story, simply to give you a little context. Look at the poll that appeared the following day. While there was — part of it said 51 percent of the American people opposed, if you look at when people said, if there is a roster of phone numbers, do you feel comfortable that — I’m paraphrasing and I apologize — but something like 64 percent of the polling was not troubled by it. Having said that, I don’t want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program — the alleged program — the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny.:
May 16th, 2006 at 10:49 pmgoodness people, get a grip. snow wasn’t attempting to offend anyone with his comments today. those of you who truly believe he was making a racial comment need to take a moment. please continue to engage in a robust policy debate and make your views heard but don’t get sidetracked by less serious matters.
May 17th, 2006 at 12:04 amAmazing to read this simplistic, hate-filled blog. For so-called peace-and-lovers, this is such revealing–and hypocritical–pathology. Seizing upon Tony Snow’s refernce to tar baby as racist? Something about Bush denying and confirming at the same time (or not denying and confirming)? Haven’t you people got better things to do with your poisonous lives? I wasn’t a Bush supporter till I read these comments and saw how psycho his opposition is. Get me outta here!
May 17th, 2006 at 12:24 amPlease note that the ONLY STORY in the mainstream media was the heatrending moment involving that oh-so-spontaneous question about that plastic bracelet and those tears that had us all so choked up.
May 17th, 2006 at 12:36 amkelly you mean they missed this story;
And Basara which used to be reletively calm is erupting…
Al-Zaman/ AFP report that the security situation in Basra has collapsed in the wake of the killing by persons dressed as Iraqi policemen of Shaikh Hasan Jarih al-Karamishi, the head of the al-Karamisha tribe in Basra. Firefights subsquently broke out in several districts of the city at a time of political vacuum in the central government. Majid al-Sari, adviser to the Minister of Defense, said that individuals from this tribe came out into the streets of the city heavily armed and killed 11 policemen in the course of an attack on a police station in the Dair quarter to the south of the city. They also burned down two buildings used as party headquarters in the Intisar district of the Dair quarter by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Al-Sari said that for the last month, Basra has been afflicted by a mass of assassinations, equalling one each hour of the day. (That would be 24 a day, and 720 for the month). Sources in the city allege that the police are helpless to intervene, and indeed refuse to go out to the crime scene to attempt to capture the assassins, since they would take fire from tribesmen supporting the assassins, who belong to their tribe.
Two organizations, Rebels of the Uprising and the Revenge of God (Tha’r Allah, a branch of the Badr Corps) staged demonstrations Sunday and Monday against Governor Muhammad Misbah al-Wa’ili in protest against the collapse of security in the city.
Al-Zaman’s sources told it that Basra is in chaos and dominated by militias and lawless gangs. Automobiles with darkened windows cruise the streets, armed militiamen within, who impose their law on the city. These sources blamed Kuwait and Iran for the situation, alleging that their intelligence services are funding and arming the Iraqi militias for their own purposes. Tribal firefights between the Marsh Arab Al-Bait Sa’idah tribe and the Bani Mansur are common– as is fighting between Bani Ammar and Al-`Ashur. The sources say that Basra is without authority save that of the militiamen. The major political parties are unable to dampen down the violence because they are so divided against one another
http://www.juancole.com/
May 17th, 2006 at 12:41 amOr this;
On Monday, scattered bombings and shootings left at least 33 persons dead by my count. Dozens more died over the weekend in fighting between guerrillas and US troops. Al-Zaman says that security has collapsed in Basra, with fighting between tribesmen and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Reuters reports that on Monday:
MOSUL: Guerrillas detonated a bomb in the northern city, killing one policeman and wounding 2 others.
RAMADI: Heavy fighting between local guerrillas and US troops left 8 dead and 9 wounded.
BALAD RUZ – Guerrillas shot down 4 primary school teachers in Diyala Province an hour’s drive from Baquba.
WAJIHIYA: Guerrillas east of Baghdad fired a mortar shell that landed on a civilian home, killing a seven-year-old girl and wounding 7 members of her family.
BAGHDAD: Five members of a family in the capital were shot dead.
MAHAWEEL: Guerrillas detonated a bomb that wounded 3 policemen and left a civilian bystander dead.
KARBALA: A policeman who had earlier been abducted showed up dead in the Shiite shrine city on Monday. (Two ex-Baathists were also assassinated.)
AMARA: A mortar attack on a British base wounded one soldier seriously in the leg and inflicted minor injuries on three others.
BASRA: Tribesmen of the Marsh Arab Karamisha [Gramsha] tribe killed 11 policemen in and around Basra. They may have been taking revenge for the killing of one of their clan chiefs by persons dressed as special police commandos, a unit heavily infiltrated by the Badr Corps of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
http://www.juancole.com/
May 17th, 2006 at 12:42 amFunny they would miss those stories because if Basara is falling apart, then the situation is getting much worse because most convoys fron Kuwait into Baghdad, or other places in Iraq goes near or thru Basara…might become a real problem for those who have to drive in the area….
May 17th, 2006 at 12:45 amBye, Jonathan.
May 17th, 2006 at 1:14 am#
I’ve also heard it used as a racial slur, but that’s not its primary usage.
Comment by jimb — May 16, 2006 @ 1:59 pm
But the of the word merely shows us the origin. But the offensive nature of the word comes from its usage. And it is used as a way to insult African Americans.
Comment by bobcat_grad — May 16, 2006 @ 2:05 pm
With all due respect dudes, but….might there be a chance that both of you guys are “HONKIES” ????
Now don’t give me any shit about racism here, because I am using the term “HONKY about both of you only as the words original etymology, you know, PIGS!…LMAO!
May 17th, 2006 at 1:46 amI love this guy: “You know, I dont want to split tar babies, or choke lawn jockies…”
http://r2000.blogspot.com
May 17th, 2006 at 8:01 amI wasn’t a Bush supporter till I read these comments and saw how psycho his opposition is. Get me outta here!
Comment by Jonathan #84
Bush’s “John”,
If you’re claiming this site as the catalyst for your NOW supporting Bushiva…
…you’re SICKER than anybody on this board…
…in fact ANYBODY who USES any excuse to support Bushiva…
…is a lying, twisted, evil demon…
…crawl back into hell John…
…you serve your masters well…
May 17th, 2006 at 11:53 amDo you ever get the feeling that we are playing three-card monty with the so called administration and the facts?
When one catches on to the scheme, they pack up and move to another corner. Ari/Scottie/SNOWJOB.
What I find particullarly funny is snow-job came from FAUX news. This (p)resident is so totally clueless when it comes to any veneer of integrity and ethics.
The product of never ever being told “no”. I bet those around him treat him like Blanch on the Golden Girls – oh mr. presNIT you are so pretty, none prettier, none more graceful, none more intelligent. oh mr. presNIT pay no attention to the villagers with torches outside the mansion.
I hear that the next Press SECTY will be Lyin-Joe Scarborough.
May 17th, 2006 at 2:22 pmTo the poster that snowjob was not trying to offend anyone by the racial slur:
I bet you still call people fags, and the N word too. I hear K-mart is having a WHITE SALE ON SHEETS.
That is the problem with biggots, they offend people and don’t even know it and pretend that it is just taken out of context.
If you were not offended by snowjob’s comment then you need to examine your own biggotry.
May 17th, 2006 at 2:27 pmNot to support this right-wing Fox News fellow, but Tar baby has a much more common, non-racist usage that the online dictionary doesn’t even have. It comes from the story of Briar Rabbit. In his usage, he’s not referring to black people, he’s referring to the story of a baby made out of tar that, once touched, you cannot get yourself free from. It is a trap that you cannot get yourself out of. It is not racist in it’s origin, but could have taken on that connotation. I, however, have only heard the use of “tar baby” as a term for a situation that you cannot get yourself out of, never as a racial slur.
I will not defend anything this administration or any of its hirelings have done, but I think that this outrage on the usage of the term “tar baby” is way overblown. Any reasonable person can see that he didn’t just “decide” to insult african american by using this term. Look at the context.
There are far more offensive things that this administration does every day. Lets concentrate on showing the hypocrisy and illegal actions they are doing, and not get distracted by petty things like this.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:18 pmTony should not be sorry for using a word with its proper meaning. People should not have to dumb down their own abilities just because a portion of the people are not educated enough to understand what words truly mean. Those too quick to jump and use names like Biggot, racist etc are failed minds of a lazy liberal society.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:29 pmThe comment by Tony Snow White is yet another example on how the ‘Deliverance” klan on the right can’t keep there subconcious from jumping out. I have no doubt that Snowy didn’t mean to be offensive when he made that tar-baby comment, but that is the point. The root of the problem with the administration right now is that it has ingrained racist and imperialistic ideals, the only way to prevent idiots like that from using “ambiguous” terms in the freakin white house press room is to keep them from ever getting there again. I will concede that the term can be used in other ways besides the racist, so can “cracker.” But I am careful not to use ANYword when addressing the public that might take away from the point of my comment, especially if I am always trying to swallow my real opinion. (like NOW for instance) If I am being foolish for fighting for reparations because nothing oppressive from slavery remains, I can chew on that, but then pea brain politicians should watch ther f&*(ing mouth.
May 18th, 2006 at 10:59 amwill u please shut the hell up
May 29th, 2006 at 8:50 pm[...] (h/t Think Progress) [...]
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December 8th, 2006 at 3:48 amTony needs to get out. i DO NOT want someone like that representing Myself and my country.
I have watched him speak, seems to me he is not telling the truth ( no surprise) and gets defensive when he and the bush party are questioned on very valid points.
However he is a perfect match for the bush party.
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