Comments on: Novak: Obama’s A ‘Strong’ Candidate Because He’s ‘Clean’ And ‘Not A Stereotype African-American’

By: DHFabian

DHFabian — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:05:07 +0000

Um…can you tell me which white candidate is the stereotypical or average white American? The rich woman, or one of the rich men?

By: republicanSScareme

republicanSScareme — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:12:07 +0000

Well, since we’re playing “Describe Someone You Admire,” I have this description of Robert Novak:

Fat. Stupid. Ugly.

By: YouCantHandleDaTruth

YouCantHandleDaTruth — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:27:45 +0000

I donâ€™t think most Republicans are racist, but I think theyâ€™re very comfortable having racists on their side.

Comment by ralph the wonder llama â€” January 6, 2008 @ 4:24 pm
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Along with an abnormal amount of corporatist and pedophiles, I wasn’t really a democrat honestly until Bush came along

By: Michael Oliva

Michael Oliva — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:23:38 +0000

Please enjoy an article I have written on this topic called “Experience Matters!”

http://nycivic.org/articles07/Bison/071231B.htm

Thanks,
Michael Oliva

By: wisedup

wisedup — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:53:11 +0000

Novak, stop kissing the rep.party and get a real job. You should be in jail for outing Val. Wilson.

By: observer

observer — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:25:34 +0000

re justasking’s comment that “the whole thing caught Biden by surprise because he himself [sic] didn’t realize he harbored prejudicial thinking” — i think that is incredibly unfair and unfounded…and i doubt “justasking” knows a thing about Joe Biden’s record on civil rights…. the whole thing caught Biden by surpise because, like anyone who has had things they’ve said distorted, he was perplexed why his saying that Obama was an articulate, nice-looking, clean-cut guy was anything but a compliment, which is how he meant it to be taken…and how it should have been taken. i wish more people would say that about me! furthermore, it was actually the use of the word “articulate” that caused the backlash, not the reference to his being clean-cut…. although some thought “clean” was reference to the fact that he (unlike clinton (bill, anyway)) is scandal-free…which made some others who are not scandal-free a bit irked…but there was nothing racist about it.

By: observer

observer — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:16:43 +0000

Re comment by “justasking” … no one–including obama–honestly thinks Biden is a racist and if you listen to the tape of the interview Biden gave to the NY Observer, which printed it, you’ll hear something very different. that was a typical example of the media twisting things around…like when it falsely claimed Al Gore said he “invented” the Internet…etc. even obama came out and said that he thought the attacks on Biden for his comment were unfair. you are wrong to suggest joe biden is a racist. he’s been a fighter for civil rights for 35 years in the Senate. it’s unfortunate that novak chose to take joe biden’s words and use them to make his own disgusting comment…. novak is an old fool who should have been put out to pasture long ago…. Obama should chose Biden as his Sec/State.

By: Lefty Patriot

Lefty Patriot — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:03:38 +0000

No, Lefty. Bidenâ€™s remarks were clear. It wasnâ€™t on Obamaâ€™s â€œrecordâ€. It was on his â€œappearanceâ€.

Comment by justasking â€” January 6, 2008 @ 9:57 pm

Not true at all. it was on his record, not his appearance.

By: Lefty Patriot

Lefty Patriot — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:41:06 +0000

memory39, Biden was talking about Obama’s record, Novak was being a clear Republican racist. Novak has always been a racist, a liar, and a damn poor journalist, all his life. Nothing changes for someone like him.

By: memory39

memory39 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:51:55 +0000

Novak, as out of touch as he is, isn’t making any kind of racist comment in this quote. His referring to African Americans by comparison as unclean is an example of a racist stereotype. He is acknowledging that this is a stereotype in America. He isn’t saying it’s one that he supports. Biden’s comments were also not racist. Especially if you listen to him actually saying them, you will see that he was making two descriptions of Obama, one that he is the first “mainstream” African American candidate, the other that he’s “clean, articulate” etc. They were not directly related in his thinking. You can hear this based on his inflection, pauses, and the fact that the reporter interjects during his speaking. You may take separate issue with specific words like “clean” etc., but I think that given his record it is clear these kinds of words were not meant to have any particular race-based component. What he meant was clean as in clean-cut, something to that effect. Both these scenarios, Biden and Novak, are examples of poor reporting and attempts for certain media outlets to distort comments for their own political gain.

By: dixie blood

dixie blood — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:30:08 +0000

I would invite anyone here to cite one piece of evidence that Bob “BlowBack The Wack” Novak has done any good for this country!

His words, his actions, his lifestyle? Anything? Something positive? NOPE!

By: Badger

Badger — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:55:45 +0000

JFK was the son of a millionaire. Obama is the son of a single mother.

But watching Michelle Obama inspire a crowd…I do find myself thinking of Jaqueline.

By: BigMitch

BigMitch — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:45:31 +0000

When Joe Biden said that Senator Obama was “clean” he very clearly meant that he was untouched by scandal, and brought no baggage to his campaign. Which was true, especially back then when not much had been made of his past drug use.

Robert Novak is a traitor, and he should be tried and executed. Be that as it may, observing that Obama is without taint of scandal, even echoing the language of Biden, is not evidence of racism. Indeed, the suggestion to the contrary suggests racism on the part of the author.

There! You’ve done it, you rat-finks! You’ve made me come to the defense of Novak. Damn you!

By: dbadass

dbadass — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:40:23 +0000

Comment by Badger â€” January 6, 2008 @ 6:30 pm

Sort of a new Camelot?

By: Badger

Badger — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:30:21 +0000

Ij just saw Michelle Obama too. Spellbinding, Persuasive and Eloquent. You could have heard a pin drop. What an asset she is to the Obama campaign.
My guess is we’ll all be seeing a lot more of her.

By: ralph the wonder llama

ralph the wonder llama — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:12:04 +0000

Iâ€™m not comfortable with it. I am also not so sure there is that significant a difference between the two parties on the question of race.

Comment by CaptainMantastic â€” January 6, 2008 @ 4:51 pm

I don’t doubt your word, Cap’n. But even just assuming that racists of all minorities would flock to the Democrats, and white racists to the Republicans, you have to see that the numbers are on the side of the Rs, right?

But more than that, take someone like Trent Lott, for example. He may not be a racist. But Strom Thurmond certainly was, and Trent was more than comfortable to have Strom on his side. That’s what I mean. Thurmond’s racist rhetoric didn’t give Lott a moment of pause. In fact, he all but celebrated it.

By: skippy20007

skippy20007 — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:39:50 +0000

Novak’s a dick, but he’s right. And he and Biden aren’t the only ones saying this. Some AFRICAN-AMERICAN columnists are saying the same thing. Google “White Negro.”

By: tnrc75

tnrc75 — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:00:30 +0000

Racist prick.

By: ralph the wonder llama

ralph the wonder llama — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:24:21 +0000

Cap’n, you probably could say the same thing about Democrats (is home to many, figures who embrace and exploit racist attitudes among the electorate) but on a much smaller scale. The racists among Democrats I’d say are generally minorities who see the world in terms of racial groups — blacks, Latinos… and there are a few of those, I’ll grant you.

But a white racist is NOT going to be drawn to the Democratic Party. In fact the Republican Party, it could be argued, over the past forty years has made efforts to reach out to and engage that particular voting block, for whatever reason.

I don’t think most Republicans are racist, but I think they’re very comfortable having racists on their side.

By: had enough

had enough — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:02:57 +0000

Novak: Obamaâ€™s A â€˜Strongâ€™ Candidate Because Heâ€™s â€˜Cleanâ€™ And â€˜Not A Stereotype African-Americanâ€™
What a racist statement!
Why isn’t this out there, breaking news, groups protesting and asking for Novak’s resignation?