A congressional aide should lose her job for bad judgement and poor emailing skills.

BUT, I don't think you can call something racist unless it has hate or repression, or negative connotations associated with it. An accurate portrayal of an individual cannot be construed as racist. That picture wasn't very accurate since Obama is lightskinned and only half-black, but it isn't racist either. It didn't have any hate-message associated with it, and it didn't call for his head like a lot of Republicans are openly doing.

So, Fire her? Yes, she is a dummy!
Racist? No, just a non-violent cartoonish picture.

First thing I thought of was how when there is a joke about a conservative dieing or being raped everyone is told to calm down and take a joke.

Now it's your turn. It's just a joke suck it up and move on.

Political correctness is just another way of destroying free speech.

Lets get the law out of free speech - and lets get peoples political views out of it.

The only person who should be allowed to have an opinion is the person to whom it was directed - if they want to do something and feel attacked, then so be it.

I doubt Obama is losing any sleep over this - so forget it and move along.

I thought we were past the "race" thing? So what is the big deal?

This can be interpreted in many ways, one of which the person could have thought Obama is a CIA agent, highly unlikely, but still. Another way this could be interpreted is that he is absent for actually doing any work, which is the truth, all I've seen him do is spend money and campaign, again highly unlikely.

I don't see what the big deal is, if you ever want to get past the race thing then you have to start looking at these things as funny, by acting outraged and everything is only perpetuating the problem.

Just another example of the obvious double standard.

[edit on 17-6-2009 by Hastobemoretolife]

The difference between this and the Palin fiasco is one was told by a comedian, during a comedic television show shown late at night, the other was sent by a legislative aid to politicians.

Am i saying only comedians can make jokes? of course not. In my opinion there is no such thing as an inappropriate joke, there is only an inappropriate place for a joke to be told, and this is one of them.

Is a racist joke inappropriate? No because jokes are meant to cross lines and make comments on the real world, sometimes something must be said that is considered racist to make this comment. Is it inappropriate to tell a racist joke at a daycare? Yes.

On top of that, it doesn't make any sense. I mean, why would Obama have his picture taken in the dark? Perhaps if it was full of black boxes labeled as the white Presidents and then a final box labeled Obama with the eyes, it would actually make sense. It could be titled "Portraits of President's taken in the dark." Then it might be pretty funny, if it were on a comedic website, or a private email sent my ordinary citizens.

It was a joke people. Lighten up.

I am fairly liberal (at least I've been accused of it a thousand times), and I never vote republican, so you could call me a democrat. But this is just a joke. If this aide is to be fired, that is up to her employers, and Senator Diane Black, the person who this email will hurt the most.

The actions of this aide are only reinforcing the stereotype that most republicans are racist. I know for a fact that this is not true, but it is a stereotype, and when emails like this get out it doesn't really help conservatives fight those rumours. The democrats do not need to step in and demand she gets fired, because then they're only reinforcing the false stereotype that all liberals are whiners.

Leave it up to Diane Black to decide this aide's fate, because in the long run it is her name being dragged through the mud. The aide obviously made a joke in bad taste, and she made it on behalf of her party. Let her party decide what to do with it.

Remember when Wanda Sykes joked about Limbaugh, and Obama laughed at it? Remember how all of the conservatives were up in arms over it whining about this and that?

Remember when conservatives where whining about Letterman's tasteless joke about Palin's daughter? Don't sink to their level, please. If liberals are going to whine about this harmless little email, then they don't have a leg to stand on when they are accused of the same thing.

I swear, this country has no sense of humor left.

ROTFLMAO !!! some people need to learn to take a joke.

Seriously, this has what it comes to! Unbelievable! Again, if no one can handle a little obnoxious behavior, I feel really sorry for 'those' fragile people when things really start to get bad!

Honestly, the media has nothing better to do than talk about Obamessiah and his fly swatting skills. It's all sickening.

Someone made a joke about Obama and now the Democrats are calling for her their job.

This after a week of them telling the Republicans to learn to take a joke.

Its amazing how they only think jokes are funny when its not about their party.

Guy who sent emails with a picture of a watermellon patch in front of the white house - fired

Don Imus- fired

This lady- they want her fired

Palin- made out to be the bad guy for standing up to her daughter

Letterman- keeps job

Jesse Jackson- keeps job

Reverand Wright- keeps job and makes money from the exposure

Al Sharpton- Keeps job.


The hypocricy is runnning rampant.

So can someone who laughed explain what's funny about it?

I'm not offended by it personally, but I don't think it's funny either. So can someone explain it to me? I mean the only frame of reference I can see for the 'joke' is that Obama is 'black'. What's funny about that?

And since someone decided to kick this dead horse again, the joke about Palin's daughter, well, the frame of reference is obvious to me... Underage girl (by social standards in the US) from a notably conservative, 'family values' oriented family gets pregnant out of wedlock.

Which is ironic. But I don't find it particularly funny either, but it is in context that makes sense to me. Simply put, Obama is black by birth. Sarah Palin's daughter chose to have unprotected sex.

I'm more inclined to accept humor at the expense of someone's foolish choice rather than their natural characteristics. It's what we choose to do versus how we are born. Is that thin-skinned?

Though, again, I don't find either really funny, but that's a matter of taste of really not defensible no matter what perspective you take.

What is everyone else defending?

double post


[edit on 6/17/2009 by soldiermom]

Aren't double standards great?!? We have the dems telling everyone that Wanda Sykes was "just" making a joke and Letterman was "just" making a joke and to quit being crybabies about it. "Grow a thicker skin!", they said. Now that the shoe's on the other foot, they have the audacity to be all red in the face about it?

Hypocrisy run amok.