Oh Lord! Nader Calls Obama an Uncle Tom

[DoctorFinger]

You have got to be freaking kidding me (http://hotair.com/archives/2008/11/05/nader-will-obama-be-an-uncle-tom/).

ibsP6XN2dIo

To put it very simply, he [Obama] is our first African-American President; or he will be. And we wish him well. But his choice basically is whether he's going to be an Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or an Uncle Tom for the giant corporations Seriously, Nader is like that crazy coot uncle everyone has in their family. Rather than pillory him for this, everyone just cringes and moves on. Kudos to Shep for calling him out on it, though.

[Generation ABXY]

I love the tone. "Ralph Nader...really? What was that?" He sounded like a mother scolding a child. :D

EDIT: I get the point Nader was trying to make, but, man, bad choice of words. Like they said, that probably closes the book on his serious political career.

Also, was it just me, or did Nader look like he was about to fall asleep any second?

[National Kato]

Grumpy old men don't usually make for good losers.

[roboninja]

I see nothing wrong with what he said. He never called him an Uncle Tom, he said we will see which he will be; an Uncle Sam or an Uncle Tom. Maybe in light of Obama being the first black President, he should not have used the Uncle Tom term, which comes with lots of racial baggage, but the question is valid.

[Disgustipated]

I love the tone. "Ralph Nader...really? What was that?" He sounded like a mother scolding a child. :D

EDIT: I get the point Nader was trying to make, but, man, bad choice of words. Like they said, that probably closes the book on his serious political career.

Also, was it just me, or did Nader look like he was about to fall asleep any second?

When did Nader ever (in recent times) have a serious political career?

[Generation ABXY]

When did Nader ever (in recent times) have a serious political career?

Well, they said he carried a percentage of the vote once, I'm assuming it was more than 1%. Either way, it seems doubtful he'll ever get that again, even if he didn't directly call Obama an Unlce Tom (the thread title is a bit misleading).

[EternalGamer]

I would say that Nader is right to some degree, but it was necessary for Obama to be so. there has to be a Jackie Robinson before there can be a Dennis Robinson. But that is part of what made Nader so appealing. He just says what he thinks, even if it challenges the common perception and would cost him political points.

[KingGorilla]

Oddly, I started Uncle Tom's Cabin today.

[J Arcane]

Well, they said he carried a percentage of the vote once, I'm assuming it was more than 1%. Either way, it seems doubtful he'll ever get that again, even if he didn't directly call Obama an Unlce Tom (the thread title is a bit misleading).
Nader got 1% in this election. 650k votes.

His highest was in 2000, where a major Green Party push managed to net him 4%. The goal was to get 5% because supposedly once you hit that mark, you qualify for federal campaign funding.

[Widgetcraft]

I get his point, but... what an ass. I guess if you want to be the Carlos Mencia of politics, that statement might seem like a good idea.

[J Arcane]

I get his point, but... what an ass. I guess if you want to be the Carlos Mencia of politics, that statement might seem like a good idea.
No one should ever want to be the Carlos Mencia of anything.

[Re3x]

Fox news rules.

Nader was nothing when they kicked him out of the Green Party.

[Harv]

Nader is a wonk.

[fitbabits]

For those wondering:

Uncle Tom is a pejorative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pejorative) for a black person (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people) who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to White American (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_American) authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation. The term Uncle Tom comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe)'s novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin), although there is debate over whether the character himself is deserving of the pejorative attributed to him. The term "Uncle Tom" was never meant to degrade blacks, but Stowe's novel changed the meaning.

[Telefrog]

He didn't specifically call Obama an "Uncle Tom" but just using the phrase in reference to Obama is a suicidal move. It's a completely racist term. It's only viable use is in reference to a person of color. You can't accuse a white person of being an "Uncle Tom" since it would make very little sense.

[NoName]

How did he get half a million votes? O_0

[hunterx280]

Oh lord, what a terrible, terrible choice of words. Watching the video and defending himself I don't think he meant it to be racist but it sure as hell came off that way. We just watched the man commit political suicide.

[shodan2020]

Nader's eyes are all crazy and shit.

[Inspector Fowler]

That is not a phrase to ever, ever be using in polite company. I saw an inmate use it towards a black seargant in the jail once. If you want a lot of time in high security, that's an easy way to buy it right there.

[divinechaos]

Ha, I was watching Fox as this happened last night. I was laughing out loud, very poor choice of words.

And he had a chance to take that statement back but he refused to do so. Like George Lopez said: FTP. Fuck. That. Puto.

[EternalGamer]

Are you kidding me? I just got home and was able to watch the video. Nader said OR. Either he is going to be a a representative of the people OR (OR!!!!) he is going to be an "uncle tom." This entire thread is retarded. But that interviwer is even more retarded. He doesn't realize that Nader did NOT (NOT!) call him an Uncle Tom. He presented the challenge to Obama's presidency.

I hate when people are too stupid to understand context.

[ShivaX]

I hate when people are too stupid to understand context.

Theres no many contexts where referring to Obama as an Uncle Tom comes off good for Nader.

I get where he was going with it, but his choice of "Uncle Tom" was fucking terrible. Its arguable if one could even apply it to anyone who wasn't black and its going to make people say "what the fuck?"

Most rational people would have chosen a word like crony, lapdog or something similar.

[LordDon]

READ THE GODDAMN THREAD!

We understand he didn't call him an Uncle Tom in the racial sense of the term but christ what a poor turn of phrase to use in conjunction with Obama.

[Jeffool]

Fox news rules.

Nader was nothing when they kicked him out of the Green Party.Yeah, because the Green Party has done sooo well without Nader.

/Voted Nader.
//Would again.

[Evewalker]

Nader's comment aside, I find it amusing that Fox News is suddenly "outraged" about an offensive term being used to refer to Obama.

Really, now. :)

[Xionicist]

Theres no many contexts where referring to Obama as an Uncle Tom comes off good for Nader.

I get where he was going with it, but his choice of "Uncle Tom" was fucking terrible. Its arguable if one could even apply it to anyone who wasn't black and its going to make people say "what the fuck?"

Most rational people would have chosen a word like crony, lapdog or something similar.

And by using a word like crony or lapdog, his point would never have been heard. Nader's use of the term Uncle Tom was precisely done so that people would sit up and take notice. Since Nader knows Obama's record with regard to transnational corporations (who have no loyalty to this country or any other), and he knows that Obama is an intelligent enough man to understand the context of his comment, I'll warrant that Nader chose to make that statement knowing full well the furor it would cause, guaranteeing that his message would be delivered to the man who would most understand it, and hopefully take it to heart and act on it.

Political suicide for a man of Nader's age and ideals is far less important than making certain that this point was driven home.

[Generation ABXY]

Nader's comment aside, I find it amusing that Fox News is suddenly "outraged" about an offensive term being used to refer to Obama.

Really, now. :)

I don’t have the channel and I don’t really care for them at all, but can you point out any examples where they were clearly blasé about it in the past?

[LordDon]

Political suicide for a man of Nader's age and ideals is far less important than making certain that this point was driven home.

I can't really see Obama getting publicly indignant about it either. Just like us, he KNOWS what Nader meant when he said it. (it feels nice to have faith in the intelligence of your elected leader)

[Evewalker]

I don’t have the channel and I don’t really care for them at all, but can you point out any examples where they were clearly blasé about it in the past?

My point is that this is indeed the same network that has, in the past 18 months, often discussed such things as "the secret Muslim", "terrorist fist jabs", and even referred to Michelle as "Obama's Baby Mama". All of which could be construed as racist to some.

[Squidbot]

Holy shit! Respect for the interviewer for taking the tone he did.

[ShivaX]

I don’t have the channel and I don’t really care for them at all, but can you point out any examples where they were clearly blasé about it in the past?

Well when they decided to have the crazy racist Hillary supporter on as some sort of expert comes to mind. Harriet Christian. Daily Show did a good bit on it.

[EternalGamer]

Holy shit! Respect for the interviewer for taking the tone he did.

That is exactly what I did not respect. He sounded like a immature four year old. "Did you really mean to use the naughty word? The NAUGHTY WORD? Really?"

I was at an Obama victory party last night and I heard more than one black person say they worried about Obama becoming an "Uncle Tom," and they didn't even hear anything about what Nader said. And that is besides the fact that 1) Nader was referring to his attitudes regarding corporations not race (like the people at the party WERE) and 2) He challenged whether or not Obama would be an "Uncle Tom" he did not call him one.

I wouldn't have ever used that term myself. But I wish people would grow up and stop acting so knee jerk anytime someone says something slightly off color. When someone starts accusing someone else of being a friend of terrorists, there is a reason to get angry. But hearing someone simply using a phrase from a hundred and fifty year old book to throw down a challenge to a candidate is no reason to your panties in a wad. "Uncle Tom" is not a racists phrase. It is a phrase that describes an attitude.

[ShivaX]

"Uncle Tom" is not a racists phrase. It is a phrase that describes an attitude.

Yeah theres nothing bad about it, except for what it means.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Uncle Tom 
–noun Disparaging and Offensive. a black man considered by other blacks to be subservient to or to curry favor with whites.

[fitbabits]

"Uncle Tom" is not a racists phrase. It is a phrase that describes an attitude.
Guess what word this describes:

But as black inferiority was at one time a near universal assumption in Eng.-speaking lands, the word in some cases could be used without insult. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nigger)