Juan Williams: You can try to minimize it, but the fact that you have Scooter Libby, so involved in justifying going to war, and in the posture of trying to smear a critic of that justification. I think is pretty revealing and pretty damaging to the Bush White House. I think they’re going to have to rebuild a sense of trust with the American People. And that’s why when Brit asked this question, why did he have to lie, he felt the need to lie if he did lie, but by all indications he’s going to say I didn’t remember it quite the way this person remembered and all the like. That’s not very strong in my book, and I think Fitzgerald did a terrific job on Friday. But the reason he felt the need was to make it clear that he was not involved in what really was a conspiracy to defame Joe Wilson.
BRIT HUME: Juan, somebody needs to hose you down.
[via ThinkProgress]
Maybe you have forgotten this kind of incident, Brit, but responsible people haven't.
I mean seriously, maybe Hume wasn't thinking of civil rights protestors being brutally harassed when he said this, but the phrase "somebody needs to hose you down," regardless of context or conversant, should not be something that one professional says to another. It's dismissive, paternal, and just fucking wrong.
First!!!
ReplyDeleteLAST!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is this, scrappleface?
ReplyDeleteI think this is oversensitivity. Had I heard the newscast and not read the post, I would have assumed that the expression was meant as a variant on the "you need to cool off" / "you sound really angry" idea. JW sounds like he's flipping out. Sure, there's some truth to it, but Brit essentially said "no, tell me what you really think."
If, however, Brit says later that he actually meant the JW needed an ass-whupping, then I will withdraw my accusation of oversensitivity.
Though, if Brit had said "you need to be beaten down by the riot squad under some illegitimate pretext," I might have fallen over laughing.
did you actually read the post? i specifically said that even if Brit didn't mean it in a racist manner (which he in all likelihood did not), he was being patronizing and dismissive of another person. Whether that is because he disagrees with him on political grounds or because he's talking to a black man and feels even the slightest bit superior, the point is the same: he shouldn't have said that to another professional.
ReplyDeleteThis man is paid to be a communicator. he should have better control of English idioms to use a phrase that is not dismissive, arrogant, and has racist undertones. That is his job, and he sucked at it.
yes, I did read the post and my point is that the phrase doesn't have "racist undertones" unless you're looking really hard to make them up.
ReplyDeleteBased on the headline to the post and the content of the post, you seem to disagree. I don't think that every expression with the word "hose" in it is now taboo because hoses were once turned on protestors.
"Maybe you have forgotten this type of incident, Brit, but responsible people haven't" What sort of self-righteous tripe is that? There are plenty of things wrong with the way Fox news reports things, but a white guy joking with a black guy--even in a way that could possibly be construed as arrogant--isn't racism...
...unless you're taking cues from "ThinkProgress" or you've already decided that everything Fox news does is racist and are just looking for examples to prove your point.
well, ann althouse also found racist undertones in the comment. i do find it disturbing that people who are paid to communicate to the public are not aware of these things or if they are, they don't fucking care. They just can't be bothered to acknowledge the very different historical background of certain people.
ReplyDeleteIf I knew someone's mother had serious heart problems and I made a your mom joke, I would be insensitive. Racism is, among other things, systematic insensitivity targeting one group. Fox is systematically insensitive targeting almost every group other than white, straight, red state males. Fuck that.
also, i forgot to ask the first time, wtf is "scrappleface?"