Following up on an earlier item about David Bellavia comparing Barack Obama and Tiger Woods, I found the analysis on “Hardball” last night pretty striking.
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Download | Play (h/t Silent Patriot)
The general consensus, the talking heads said, is that it’s “no harm, no foul,” because Tiger Woods is great at golf. Apparently, to argue that one multi-racial black man is interchangeable with another is acceptable according to Matthews & Co.
Consider the quote again: “Rest assured that people like Senator McCain will be the goal and the men that my two young boys will emulate and admire. You can have your Tiger Woods. We have Senator McCain.”
In other words, don’t admire the ethnically diverse golfer who reminds this guy of Barack Obama.
And the “Hardball” taking heads don’t find this offensive?
No Trackbacks To “The problem with comparing Obama to Tiger Woods“
I’m not entirely sure what the comment meant; maybe he was insinuating that McCain is Man’s Man and Tiger Woods is “just” a golfer.
I’m not sure it’s about race but it is a bizzaro comment.
You know, “they are all the same” to guys like tweety.
I can’t say I’m upset. When Barack announced his candidacy, it struck me that he was the political equivalent of Tiger. That’s a good thing, no? Not sure that’s how that guy meant it, but hey, bring it on. It’s not like they’re saying they “pimped him out,” no?
W/out listening to Tweety, I think its more than moronic, its ironic as well, as the image that idiots comment suggests is McCain will get beat in November by the worlds greatest golfer.
Yea, he got that part right
1) McCain having been a prisoner for 5 years has nothing to do with being President. Sorry I don’t get it.
2) Comparing Tiger Woods with Obama is so insane and so frigging idiotic that it truly boggles the mind.
Matthews reminds me of Fuzzy Zoeller after Tiger won his first Masters. Zoeller said on record, ” I guess we’ll be having watermelon and fried chicken at next years dinner”. He was refering to the fact that the Masters winner picks the meal the nest year for the golfers. In my mind both comments are very thinly veiled racist statements. If anything, I would figure that means McCain is toast in the general election because Tiger just wastes the field when he wants to play.
Chris Matthews sure wants to make sure nobody thinks there is anything strange about the comment. No harm no foul. This guy is pathetic.
It also sounds like another chance to discuss, ad naseum, anything but the issues or the person’s positions concerning politics, religion or policy. No; let’s just attack, defame, disparage, nitpick or failing all of that make silly comparisons to other celebrities. It’s all just pablum. If they stick to pablum, people like McCain look better. If they discuss the facts and issues, people like Obama do better. Thereforrrre…!
If I was Obama or Woods I would be offended. Bellavia is a repug jerk.
None dare call it racism.
Know why?
It would hurt the racists’ feelings.
Hey, is the pot supposed to call the kettle ‘beige’?
Tiger Woods has broken racial boundaries by becoming the all-time greatest at a sport that was exclusively an “all white only” club ; John McShitstain is a far below average student , pilot , intellect , Senator and GOP presidential candidate. You can keep him , jerkoff.
Oh , and BTW ; explain to your 2 boys how Woods is married inter-racially to a woman who is his one-and-only wife , as opposed to McShitstain , who divorced his ill wife after cheating on her to marry a cash-cow who got him his Senatorial seat…………
I wish I was Tiger Woods.
FWIW, I think the guy was just comparing a popular culture hero (media created) to a war hero (real). The choice of Tiger Woods was, at worst, a Freudian slip.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m looking for anything to beat the fascist crowd senseless with, but this just ain’t it. (I’m not worried though… there’s gonna be _plenty_ to go apeshit about… trust me ;-)).
McCain, the man who did the bidding of his racist pals and voted AGAINST a holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King?
That alone shows ignorance of King’s contributions to race relations and civil rights. So when he says Iran is training Al Qaeda, remind me again what this man knows about anything?
John McCain is the warmongers poodle and the military types and very wealthy right wing assholes are the only people listening to McCain. Or his minions who warm up for him
MCMetal @ 12:
any bets on how long she sticks around after McCain loses?
Another reich-winger that fails to be make coherent analogy.
getalife @ 13:
Have you seen what his wife looks like?
Hoochiemama……….that is one beeeautiful woman.
As someone whose fhter plays golf and has been around many older golfers I can tell you there is a lot of hostility in the white male world of golf for Tiger. I can’t imagine if Jack Nicholas, John Daley, Greg Norman or any of the major white guys were as good as Tiger there would be so much animostity. But for some reason the particular groups of golfers I know are truly spiteful of him.
This comment was directed at those men.
getalife @ 13:
Me too. Great golfer, rich, babe of a wife. Bring it on.
When you take the quote in context, it’s even worse. It seems to express a sentiment similar to Trent Lott’s comments on Strom Thurmond (’if they’d listened to him years ago we wouldn’t have all these problems today’).
It’s a kind of not-so-subtle way of saying, ‘you can keep all this modern equality crap– give me the old days’.
*father
**animosity
Sorry for the typos.
So, he compares Barack to another Black phenom/superstar. It could come off as racist I guess. But everybody loves Tiger Woods. And he doesn’t really evoke any kind of polarizing politics. And it wasn’t like a comparison to Sharpton(who I like, despite his faults) or Jackson, which clearly would attempt to do so- cue Bill Clinton.
It was almost at the point of denial in that the wave of support and awe for Obama, like Woods, is undeniable and defines an individual who is clearly above the pack.
Regardless, I’m voting for Obama. :)
but racists are mccain’s base.
I’m compared to other white people all the time, but I never knew I made me the victim of a hate crime.
Thank god! I was starting to feel left out!
Seriously, are we Liberals or pussies?
Yea right, like any kids on this planet would want to be like McLame. What are these ass hats smoking?
Sarah @ 25:
It’s not as bold as saying Hillary is a “bitch” like one of the pundits said, but I don’t think holding a sign that said “Pick my cotton!” would be laughed off the same as “Iron my shirt” was by the MSM.
Play a round of golf with a few old farts in Palm Springs, CA and you’ll know exactly what that guy was implying.
Why can’t we just talk about the issues?
Ah yes the issues, how about racism? That is definitely America’s number 3(?) issue, behind the war and perhaps the poor white people actually enduring the economic downturn.
Is being a POW an accomplishment? If so, why are the guys sitting in Gitmo running?
This was a stupid comment, rich country club types know that Tiger Woods is awesome, and that John McFlip-flop is not a safe bet on any issue.
I think they’re just daring someone to make a big deal out of this, which Obama is too smart to do. This story has no legs.
chuck @ 28:
If the talking heads’ producers have their way? Fat chance. Pablum serves the dual purpose of keeping the least inquisitive or least informed among us watching so that they can sell us cars and laundry soap while at the same time keeping us ignorant and ill-informed.
I think you might want to compare a black politician to another politician first. Then maybe to a black politician.
You could really make a stretch and compare him to a quarterback or something, but what the hell does golf have to do with politics?
Utterly bizarre. It’s as if Bellavia is utterly unaware that Tiger Woods’ fame comes primarily from his sheer skill at the game.
It’s as if he thinks Tiger Woods is an Anna Kournikova or Dennis Rodman, where the “sexy difference” that made the player a breakout star didn’t matter in the long run because they lacked skill, discipline or seasoning. But Tiger Woods is a whole different kind of star: he’s someone with superior, record-breaking skills, achieved at a stunningly early age, who also happens to have category-breaking appeal.
Bellavia seems to want to say that McCain is the “real deal” while Obama is a media-friendly flash in the pan…. but his analogy is way off track. If Obama is Tiger Woods, then McCain is an aging, punch-drunk shoulda-been who won’t walk off the green until he gets his shot at the title — and he doesn’t care how dirty he has to play to win it.
Remember when golf officials were panicking to “Tiger-proof” the courses in order to level the playing field? McCain’s handlers better figure out how to Obama-proof the election.
chuck @ 28:
If race is not an issue in this country in your mind you need an education or some exposure to the racism that is out there. Then again, perhaps you have been exposed and think it is ok. If so this issue is one i hope you pay close attention to.
Enough of this nonsense! This is exactly the kind of insubstantial racial “gotcha” crap Obama was saying we should move beyond! That guy is an idiot for sure, but did I miss the part where he was equating Obama with Tiger Woods? He was saying he wants his kids to have McCain as their role model, rather than a sports star. That’s idiotic enough without trying to twist it into something racist. This is rediculous. Even Keith Olbermann is jumping on this silly bandwagon.
MOVE ON AND STOP TRYING TO MAKE THIS SOMETHING IT’S NOT!
gwen @ 35:
Open your eyes and see what it really is. Black people 60 years ago were only to be seen as entertainers or not at all. This man’s statement screams that that is exactly how he wants it to be right now.
MCMetal @ 12:
That’s not an accurate statement. Tiger Woods is always quick to point out his admiration for many before him who helped pave the way:
Lee Elder, Pete Brown, Calvin Peete, Jim Thorpe, and Jim Dent, just to name a select few. It hasn’t been an ‘all-white’ sport for a long, long time- Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Roberto De Vincenzo.
Oh, I don’t think the guy was making a distinction between a multi-millionaire sports star who earned it all on his own and an old white guy who married a multi-millionaire trophy wife. No, somehow I just don’t think the idiot has that much intelligence or finesse. It’s more basic, it’s part and parcel of the Republican strategy to do everything possible to make this a race-based election. The good news is that apparently the idiot
is running for Congress in New York state, so he’ll probably get his clock cleaned.
I like this site very much, and your heart is in the right place, but I don’t think you realize what is troubling about the following statement:
to argue that one multi-racial black man is interchangeable with another
“multi-racial black man”? This calls forth memories of Jim Crow, a codified racist ideology by which a person is considered “black” regardless of how many generations one must go back to find the black ancestor.
Remember for a moment that Obama, racially speaking, is as white as he is black. Why not say “multi-racial white man”?
Just curious.
Calm down White folk… there ain’t no there there. The allusion is pretty clearly an attempt to say Obama is simply “star” not a hero. Tiger Woods isn’t an insult - he’s the best in the world at what he does. Obama could easily reverse this by saying so is he!
Please - let’s not take offense every time there is a mention of race. Racism has little to do with recognizing race and everything to do with doing so in a derogatory, or demeaning way, based on negative stereotypes. Obama is mixed race (African and Euro-Caucasian) and in America that means he is treated as Black. Recognition of that fact is NOT racist. What is racist is the attempt to play on that fact by alluding to a lot of negative stereotypes, with a knowing smile or a wink and a nod.
Over reacting to every mention or recognition of race is what makes talking about race in America so difficult. We are laden with history and guilt and tilt at shadows - on both sides of the divide. It simply doesn’t help to see shadows every time the light shifts.
The reference here is not racist - it is merely an attempt to set Obama apart as being “merely a star” not a genuine American, American hero… in America…
chuck @ 39:
Ingrained racism not only in our society’s attitudes but also in our country’s laws (at least in some states) weher you have to prove you only have “x” % black blood in you to be listed as a white person.
The really important question Tweety & Co. need to ask:
“Who is the better bowler - Barack or Tiger?”
plainbrown1 @ 40:
And you think that’s not racist?
chuck @ 39:
Ah! Interesting point. Yes, words mean things and sometimes we have to pick them more carefully than others.
plainbrown1 @ 40:
As we were saying on the other thread, that is indeed the thrust of the comment. But why use Tiger Woods then? If not because of the multi-racial backgrounds they share, why invoke Tiger Woods?
Bonkers Hussein @ 44:
This was more than mere words. This was an attempt to trivialize a man’s entire life into a something you could put into a box and stick in a closet and forget about which, if you think about it, is all racism is all about.
xoites defends Constitution @ 46: