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Larry Faircloth, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in West Virginia, decided he knew just how to connect with a local Tea Party organization — he’d call Nancy Pelosi a “bimbo” and President Obama a “Sambo.” (thanks to reader P.W.)
“Is she not one?” Faircloth said in a Tuesday evening telephone interview. “I mean, a lot of people think she is a bimbo; that’s why they replaced Congress with Republicans, and they removed her as speaker. I don’t find that as anything different than a political poke at her.”
He also referred to Obama as a “Sambo,” a term many consider racist.
“It was meant to be a joke, and if they took it different, I told the people there that I apologized,” Faircloth said.
He added, “We’ve been tiptoeing around the president.”
To their credit, the Tea Party activists who hosted the event asked Faircloth to make a public apology. He initially refused. Told he’d offended people, Faircloth reportedly added, “Well, they laughed.”
Faircloth later told reporters his remarks were an attempt to “bring a little humor” to the campaign, and he’s sorry “if I offended anybody.”
Racist, right-wing humor is just so droll, isn’t it?
He added a couple of days later, “There’s nothing racist or feminist about me,” which suggests Faircloth may not know what the words he’s saying actually mean.
Reiterating a question I asked a couple of weeks ago, after a GOP lawmaker in Oklahoma argued the state has a high African American population because blacks don’t work hard, where does the Republican Party even find people like this?
For what it’s worth, polls show Faircloth running a distant fourth in the GOP’s gubernatorial primary, suggesting he’s unlikely to be the state’s next governor.
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jonas on May 13, 2011 3:37 PM:
He added, We've been tiptoeing around the president.
"I mean," added Faircloth, "do you know how *hard* it has been for us not to just come right out and call him a n***er?"
Also, Pelosi a bimbo? A 70 year-old Catholic grandmother and distinguished stateswoman? What the hell could he even have meant? Does this guy have to wear a helmet and a nametag when he goes out of the house?
doubtful on May 13, 2011 3:40 PM:
I wish that giving a qualified pseudo-apology caused the issuer instant, painful and explosive diarrhea.
c u n d gulag on May 13, 2011 3:52 PM:
Sambo?
Really?
SAMBO?!?!
Jesus, even the old restaurant chain had the smarts to change its name.
Hmmm, this guy's been missing about 3 decades worth of dog whistles trying to avoid saying 'nigger" openly.
By the way, I don't think it'll be too much longer before some of the Conservatives start slipping up and actually using the "nigger" word.
If some clown figured it might be funny to rhyme 'bimbo' and 'sambo,' there are quite a few words that 'nigger'* works with: Trigger, jigger, digger, etc.
My apologies for using the word "nigger." I hate it. It's an ugly word, but, it's what they really want to say - and they are really ugly people.
June on May 13, 2011 3:54 PM:
What a maroon. (And who the hell even uses "Sambo" anymore besides over-the-hill bigots?)
Danp on May 13, 2011 3:54 PM:
suggesting he’s unlikely to be the state’s next governor.
This will probably give him a bump in the primary, however. West Virginians love candidates who "say what they're really thinking," even if what they say is too dumb for anyone to actually think it.
trex on May 13, 2011 3:58 PM:
He added a couple of days later, “There’s nothing racist or feminist about me,” which suggests Faircloth may not know what the words he’s saying actually mean.
Truly we are experiencing the arrival of the idiocracy, and it is borne upon Republican wings.
blondie on May 13, 2011 4:03 PM:
Given how poorly the citizens of the Mountain State have been served by the vast majority of their politicians (Joe Manchin taking Sen. Byrd's seat? REALLY?), I'm not surprised at Faircloth's antics.
OTOH (and there's always another hand) ... maybe West Virginia has smarter Tea Partiers - they realized he was an idiot and demanded that he apologize. Publicly.
Bill Simmon on May 13, 2011 4:04 PM:
SPSST.
John R AKA Mr. Serf Man on May 13, 2011 4:09 PM:
@trex Brawndo! Its got Electrolytes!
I refer to it as Idiocracy: The Documentary
trex on May 13, 2011 4:55 PM:
He added, “We’ve been tiptoeing around the president."
They really have been tiptoeing around the president. Consider that the Teatards and Republicans have restricted themselves to using the following terms when talking about Obama: Hitler, Nazi, socialist, Islamofascist, traitor, weak, uppity, liar, Arab, buckwheat, white-hating racist, Marxist, anti-American, and dictator to name a few.
Not ONCE have they directly called him "ni**er" when they're not behind closed doors and I'm sure they're very proud of this careful and uncharacteristic restraint on their part.
Cha on May 13, 2011 5:26 PM:
I'll just bet that racist asshole has been "tiptoeing" around President Obama. Freaking racist bigots can't stand it that the President of the USA is more intelligent, better looking, better sense of humor and more compassionate than they will ever be.
Racists are poor insecure little things..like their mommas didn't give them enough love and attention.
That's one of the ways the gop got in in 2010..hate ads against Nancy Pelosi 24/7 on tube/internet(I know that's how a republicon got in my former NY Swing District) and this droolingmonger is trying to hitch his wagon to that era by tapping his inner sexism.
I tried to use a HTML tag and I could see in the preview that it didn't work.
captcha looks really fucking weird..will I be able to penetrate?..the mystery continues..
Barbara on May 13, 2011 5:30 PM:
You don't need to find people like this, they find you.
exlibra on May 13, 2011 5:33 PM:
I don't know whether the guy is "fair" (of face) or not, but "cloth-head" is a very old English epithet describing an idiot. It seems he's doing his best to live up to *that* part of his name, at least.
Or, as the CAPTCHA says, referring to his brain, no doubt: "the ddried" (that's dried out more than is usual in an ordinary nut)
John on May 13, 2011 5:37 PM:
"It was meant to be a joke, and if they took it different, I told the people there that I apologized," Faircloth said.
How much longer is the media just going to stand there slack-jawed and let these racist cretins continue to get away with the "it was just a joke" bullshit?
exlibra on May 13, 2011 5:44 PM:
BTW, I'm glad that none of the Teatards grew up in Poland of the 50ties. One of the very popular children's poems was called "Murzynek Bambo" (Little Negro, Bambo). "Bambo" would go with "Bimbo" much, much better than "Sambo" does.
For anyone who knows a bit of Polish, here's the poem:
http://www.klamerka.pl/zyczenie-10139.html
And the message from Captcha (third try) is: "ceafe istingoo". I am not at all sure that tin goo is in any way safe. Or that it ought to be served in cafes.
Doctor Biobrain on May 13, 2011 5:51 PM:
Oh, like this is any different than when Democrats dogwhistle to minorities by not referring to them in derogatory terms. Or how we refuse to tiptoe around white people by referring to ourselves as "whitey" and "The Man" when we think there aren't any real Americans around to listen to us.
We all court our base in different ways.
Rick Adams on May 13, 2011 5:59 PM:
Another ignorant GOP racist from West Virginia, and that's no joke.
bonncaruso on May 13, 2011 6:00 PM:
Will just get added to my very long list of such incidents within the GOP.
Damn! SAMBO. the story of "little black sambo".
Apparently, for every racist, it is now open hunting season on Obama.
And calling Pelosi a "bimbo"? Wow, the guy is a real loser.
sphinx on May 13, 2011 6:39 PM:
That's why Virginia isn't getting any FEMA money !!!
bigtuna on May 13, 2011 6:45 PM:
Pray tell me - who does not find the term Sambo racist?
Dan Alexander on May 13, 2011 7:05 PM:
Tea Partiers and their Republicans cousins wonder why people think they have racists among them. I believe we have a new example. Thanks Larry.
Doremus Jessup on May 13, 2011 10:00 PM:
Oh come on everyone. Larry wasn't referring to little black Sambo. He was hungry and his stomach just barfed out the name of Sam Battistone's and Newell Bohnett's old restaurant. (There are no Denny's restaurants in Romney, WV where this Tea Party was at.)
Tim Gasper on May 13, 2011 11:13 PM:
I'm a DC area transplant from Mr. Faircloth's County, and for years have weathered jokes of West Virginian's being redneck backward bigots. I've always maintained pride in my origins of Berkeley County, but it's too bad that Mr. Faircloth may have proved them right.
DrMJG on May 13, 2011 11:27 PM:
Ever notice that FOX and the right still say "PRESIDENT Bush" but only refer to the current President as "Obama"? Just pointing out this obvious dictation that the office is run by a person from the wrong party with the wrong color.
tanstaafl on May 14, 2011 2:25 AM:
So we all know what Mr. Faircloth's problem is, but WTF is up with dailymail.com saying Sambo is a term "many consider racist." The term IS racist, period, end of sentence and any media professional who is unwilling to say so needs to turn in their pen. If they want to avoid directly calling out Mr. Fairclot, they could at least say something like "a term with a long racist history."
firebrand on May 14, 2011 3:24 AM:
What do you mean "where do they even find people like this?" Frankly, they ARE those people.
HMDK on May 14, 2011 9:26 AM:
tanstaafl, here's a hint: It's the Daily Mail.
They're Fox News with a different accent.
Mlke K on May 14, 2011 10:56 AM:
As usual trex demonstrates his liberal lack of humor and love of victimhood. For many older Americans, by which I mean properly educated Americans who know what hard work and self reliance mean, Sambo was a delightful character who charmed audiences with his playful style. Only today's libs who are always looking for a fight would associate that word with the coincidence of Sambo being black.
Jason S on May 15, 2011 12:25 AM:
@Mike K:
As usual trex demonstrates his liberal lack of humor and love of victimhood. For many older Americans, by which I mean properly educated Americans who know what hard work and self reliance mean, Sambo was a delightful character who charmed audiences with his playful style. Only today's libs who are always looking for a fight would associate that word with the coincidence of Sambo being black.
If you were "properly educated", you sad, ignorant, intellectually lazy, pathetic right-wing troll, you'd know that "Sambo" has been a derogatory nickname for blacks since the 19th century -- well before the book was written. Eg, Elizabeth Cady Stanton protesting the passage of the 15th Amendment: "Think of Patrick and Sambo and Hans and Yung Tung who do not know the difference between a Monarchy and a Republic, who never read the Declaration of Independence . . . making laws for Lydia Maria Child, Lucretia Mott, or Fanny Kemble".
Little White Jimbo on May 15, 2011 6:43 AM:
Holy shit, when the Tea Party tell you you're being offensive, maybe you should listen.