OBAMA: "When ignorant folks advertise ignorance--you don't have to do anything--just let them talk"

[kpete]

President Obama on Sunday said that Clippers owner Donald Sterling's racist comments show that racism still lives in the U.S.

"When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk. That's what happened here," Obama said when asked about Sterling's comments during a press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, according to CNN.

The president said that Sterling's comments prove that "the United States continues to wrestle with the legacy of race and slavery and segregation."

"That's still there, the vestiges of discrimination. We've made enormous strides, but you're going to continue to see this percolate up every so often," he continued.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-sterling-racist-comments

[MH1]

1. But - he didn't "advertise" it

That's a problem I have with Obama's comment, and a lot of this issue. Unless I misread the story, this was a surreptitious tape of a PHONE conversation that was presumed to be private.

I do NOT condone racism. I think Sterling is a racist jerk and people should boycott the games - but I also feel sorry for season-ticket holders and players who have "sunk" costs and also get punished by this situation.

But for all the sniping about NSA and privacy on this board ... the guy made comments that were presumed to be private. Despicable comments, yes, but ... when is it ok to invade privacy and when not? (Remember Linda Tripp?)

[JaneyVee]

2. You're legally allowed to tape your own

Phone conversations and make them public.

[MH1]

3. Yes, there's that. But still, Sterling did NOT "advertise" it himself.

Most news reports I've heard don't assert that it was the girlfriend who taped it. I've heard at least one that did. Then I heard another one that questioned what the relationship is between the two now that this has been released. Who would ask that question if it's known that she's the one who taped it? (Oh wait. Of course. Media companies that want to milk a story. Still.)

STILL: Obama is wrong. Sterling certainly did not intend those comments to be made public and he was speaking with the presumption that it was a private conversation. He did not "advertise" it. (On the other hand, Obama may not have gotten the story directly and may have just heard the comments and not realized the context was a supposedly private conversation. I'm not bashing him, just wish he would have been more precise.)

[LiberalFighter]

6. Whether you advertise your views to one person or the whole world

it is still advertising your views.

[okaawhatever]

18. A little more info for you from an article on DeadSpin:

.

I wanna know why you think you can coach these ni**ers.
(To potential coach Rollie Massimino, 1983)

That's because of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean.
(To a property supervisor, 2002, sworn testimony.)

And it's because of all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day.
(Ibid.)

I don't like Mexican men because they smoke, drink and just hang around the house.
(Ibid.)

Is she one of those black people that stink? [...] Just evict the bitch.
(Ibid.)

More of these at the link.

Also:

In 2009 Sterling was subject to the largest housing discrimination lawsuit payout ever, related to his attempts to evict blacks and Hispanics from his properties. In 2011 he testified that he did not know Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor had been a basketball player at the time Baylor was hired by the Clippers. That same year, he celebrated Black History Month in the wrong month.

Continued at Link:
http://deadspin.com/your-complete-quotable-guide-to-decades-of-donald-sterl-1568047212/+bubbaprog

[unblock]

4. in some states, you need consent from both parties to record a phone conversation.

you may recall linda tripp was indicted in maryland for recording her conversations with monica lewinsky.

[heaven05]

5. I'm glad anytime

a racist pig is outed in our 'post racial society'. No matter how he/she may be outed. Sterling needs to go join cloven bundy in bundyland. They would make great ranch mates. Ticket holders should press to get their money back, players should follow their conscience. The taping probably wouldn't hold up in court but a prominent racist pig like this shown to be what he really is to the public at large, is great!

[ecstatic]

8. He did advertise it to his half black girlfriend.... she counts.

If she had stolen his private journal or something, you'd have a point.

[MH1]

10. Ok, it's not that important in the overall scheme of things, but to me there's a difference

If I have what I think is a private conversation with another person, I don't think I'm "advertising" my views. If that person tapes our conversation without my knowledge and then publicizes it, THEY are advertising my views, I'm not advertising them.

It's just an issue of semantics, but I cringed when I heard Obama's statement, because I think it's incorrect. You disagree, that's cool. It doesn't change that the guy is a racist asshole, and certainly shouldn't be held up as any kind of community role model.

That said, the girl should've dumped him, and everyone who learns of his views should dump him, but the fact is that we live in a country full of people who have no problem with what he said. To me, that's a bigger problem than one guy who privately (he thinks) has a conversation with his girlfriend that he wishes she wouldn't be seen with "those kind of people". Trust me, those conversations go on daily across this country at all levels of society.

(Kinda makes ya wonder what an idiot he is though, to have a half-black girlfriend and thinks she's ok with this kind of attitude. Yikes.)

[treestar]

13. +1

He "advertises" these views to whoever he says them to.

[JoeyT]

11. Privacy from government surveillance is not the same thing as

demanding privacy for private conversations you have with another citizen. When your girlfriend has the ability to disappear you or kill you without a trial for something you said, then the two will be comparable.

Sneering racial slurs at your mixed race girlfriend is a pretty goddamned good way to inadvertently advertise ones views, because sooner or later she's going to have enough of your shit and record it.

[MH1]

14. You do have a good point. nt

[hvn_nbr_2]

7. Please proceed, Mr. Sterling. nt

[certainot]

9. in this country however, 1200 radio stations are used to rationalize and sell ignorance

and lies and there is little challenge to it outside the limbaugh boycott.

that''s just one guy in private but for years those 1200 radio stations have been saying similar about brown people from the south in order to successfully sell voter suppression legislation for ALEC

the ignorance and lies are made acceptable because the left largely ignores that think tank scripted and coordinated propaganda operation. they have a monopoly and if no one gets in their face they'll just keep doing it and getting away with it.

[MH1]

12. Yes - much bigger problem. nt.

[gtar100]

16. Very true. We've lost a lot of ground because liberals have allowed this hateful talk to go

unchallenged far too often. We think that people would just "get it" because of how idiotic the racism and prejudice sounds to us. But that hasn't worked for us, not ever. The hate needs to be called out by name and we need to empower ourselves, all of us who are disgusted by racism and republican prejudices, by speaking up and speaking out against them. In other words, the best way to get rid of cockroaches is sunshine. Let these right-wing cockroaches know that we are on to them. So I respectfully disagree with the President on this one. What brings out the idiocy of racist, prejudicial beliefs is when someone tries to defend them in an argument or debate, not when they are given a pulpit. And they know it, which is why they put so much effort into shutting down dissent. Their arguments and beliefs do not stand on their own merit. They crumble in the face of opposition.

[libodem]

15. I love our prez

[grahamhgreen]

17. He's talking bout war with Russia, right?