Comments on The Morning News

Actually Obama apologized for calling a reporter sweetie and admitted it is a bad habit. Way to kick reality in the nuts; who doesn't like to kick off their day of quality journalism with a little distortion?

At least you recognized "sweetie" as the top headline of the day, above 127,000 deaths in that shaving cream country or whatever.

I guess you forgot about this story:

Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage due

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/15/BAMH10MC8M.DTL

or maybe you didn't...really..why should anyone care??

Weird coincidence: When in Michigan last week John McCain said to that same reporter, "Hold on one second there, you little cunt."

Unfortunately polar bears are only listed as protected, not endangered, and just so long as it doesn't adversely effect the US.

Better Obama calling a reporter "sweetie" (and apologizing for it later), than calling your wife a cunt.

ECB when did they move your name up the masthead?

It took what? Two weeks

Umm, the ants links goes to the Duggar article, was that on purpose?

Not much of a bridge possible with these folks.

Obama calls a reporter "sweetie", and it's national news. Reporters and McCain engage in mutual rim jobs continously for months, and that's just reporters doing their job.

To ECB: He also phoned her to apologize, and if you had even the slightest bit of honesty you'd also note that. Good Lord, what a tool you are.

To Obama's team: You gotta talk to him about this shit. Now.

Thank goodness. Now when a server in a restaurant calls me sweetie, honey, or sugar I can stiff them on the tip without feeling bad. They were obviously dissing me.

Alton's Fajitas are awesome, but the flank steak is better when cooked directly on the coals.

Leave Erica alone: Her candidate lost the nomination alone and now she is torn between voting for McCain and Obama. I mean she is from Texas so there is a good chance she will vote for McCain...a really good chance.

Settle down, sweetie. It was just a slip.

Alton Brown. Woof.

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/05/rep_mcdermott_endorses_obama.html

Alton Brown. Barf.

jesus, I thought it was bad when jake tapper had a whole blog entry on sweetiegate, but now ecb is flaming the issue?

it's not a big deal. if anything, it just reflects regional differences.

ugh.

Fixed the link.

And sorr, Obama publicly calling women "sweetie" (for the second time in as many months, btw: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2008/4/4/obamas-sweetie-problem.html_) is exactly the kind of paternalistic bullshit the media SHOULD be calling him on. (IMAGINE the outrage if Hillary or another candidate had referred to a racial minority by a similarly diminutive, dismissive label) But, as has been amply established during this campaign: Racism unacceptable (as it should be); sexism, A-OK!

Tomorrow's headline:

"Obama Visits New England, Refers to Soda as 'Pop', Rioting Ensues"

And Erica calls reporters "dude."

Next!

"Sweetie" = "[the n word]?"

Yes, ECB, Obama should be called on it. And he should be compelled to personally apologize to her. Wait! He did! And you will still decline to acknowledge it, even when it's pointed out to you!

Yes, ECB, Obama should be called on it. And he should be compelled to personally apologize to her. Wait! He did! And you will still decline to acknowledge it, even when it's pointed out to you!

Look dipshits, just because it doesn't necessarily rise to the level of the n-word doesn't mean it's okay either. Just because you'd like to brush it off doesn't change that.

Good for him for apologizing, boo on Erica for not noting that, and now who's gonna help him STOP DOING IT?

Fuck people, take off your damn blinders.

Sorry for the double post there. Wow, your servers are slow today.

Why has slog been silent on Verbena's press release? http://www.verbenahealth.org/

The term "sweetie", while not really appropriate for a reporter, is a rural habit some of us have when we don't know a name (even the women). It's not a pejorative like "boy".

ECB, did you post this at the top of the morning news because you think Obama is sexist? Look at his wife and mother, strong and educated women both, and the intelligent women he surrounds himself with. That's really reaching.

The reporter responded well to his apology and answers to her questions. Obama properly neutralized this issue. It's definitely not the top story of the day.

Erica, While you might find the word sweetie offensive and belittling, I don't think you can fairly compare it to a racial slur. Word's like honey, sweetie, and darling (as opposed to bitch, etc.) are relatively affectionate diminutives, and while they are more often used to refer to women are not actually gender specific (I've seen plenty of diner waitresses call my male friends as well as myself 'hon'). I really can't think of a similarly ambiguous and not inherently hostile racial word. The closest I can see is someone older referring to Obama as a "nice boy" or something like that (similar to the whole 'he's so well spoken' thing), and frankly I'd be surprised if his campaign got up in arms about something like that, particularly if their was an immediate apology and clarification issued.

My heart definitely sank when I watched that video. How is calling a woman 'sweetie' a regional difference? I live in Chicago, and, it's pretty clear cut here that it's a dismissive, sexist term.

I'm glad he apologized, but, even though I'm an Obama fan, this one stung. God damnit.

i know this is inconceivable for some, but the word "sweetie" is not considered a slur in certain circles. it's kind of like calling a man "dude" or "guy". that is, a gender-specific noun to use when referring to a person whose name you do not know. and until somebody is called out on it (and/or a few thousand heads collectively explode) they have no way of knowing it's offensive.

i understand the diminutive connotations, and that it falls under the kind of passive, "male privelege" sexism that flies under most peoples' radar. but to say it's on par with "n!gger", or for that matter "b!tch" or "ho", is a little silly. and now that he knows better, i'm sure he won't say it again.

Um, @28 and 31, he lived in Chicago for how many years? It's not like he's straight off the farm. I highly doubt he doesn't know it's an inappropriate term.

The ant link still doesn't work. I found the story here:

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080514_mh_ants.fdb759a6.html

Crazy Raspberry Ants, wasn't that a band?

Tomorrow's top story: white dudes on Slog don't understand sexism.

"Sweetie" is not the same as "dude" or "hon" for the same reason the n-word isn't the same as "honky."

A white guy calling a black reporter "boy" is a good analogy. Racists can easily argue that "boy" is a term of affection.

@26, Perhaps crazy raspberry ants have invaded the Stranger servers and are now nestled snugly, wreaking havoc for us poor Sloggers.

i, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

julie, all due respect, but as it has been pointed out, he's used this term as recently as a few months ago, and nobody's head exploded then (or at least it didn't make national news). if he got away with it then, why would he have any reason to think it was offensive?

one can only speculate whether or not he'd been called out on it before, but being from chicago does not guarantee that he has. but now that he knows better, if he does it again, i agree it's unacceptable.

Apparently, not only are some Sloggers sexist and unwilling to acknowledge it (see treatment of HRC and ECB), but they refuse to acknowledge the existence of sexism in others (or that a particular act is sexist).

The main takeaway lesson from sweetiegate is that there is no point in trying to apologize the reactionary, victimologist faux-feminists of the world. These spoiled little girls are angry and they want to stay angry. They are victims and they want to stay victims.

Compare, of course, when Joe Biden called Obama clean and articulate, apologized, and Obama accepted his apology and moved on. Obama has no interest in being a victim and a loser his whole life. His goal is to collect victories, not defeats.

So the victimologists can place another trophy of defeat on their mantle and celebrate with a good long cry. Nobody else cares.

Even though I occasionally call men and women younger than me sweetie, it's not apropriate in this case. I think we all agree on that. What we're disagreeing about is the intent.

Julie at 30 and 32, he may not be straight off the farm, but he does have daughters. Young daughters, to whom he may often have to say "hang on, sweetie".

You can make a case that McCain is sexist, not because he may say "sweetie"-- that would just make him doddering. No, he's sexist for opposing equal pay for women, for dismissing reproductive health rights, and for having a trophy wife who wants to restore the First Lady to her "original" role (and she doesn't mean Abigail Adams).

And on the same points? Obama supports womens' rights all around (NARAL endorsed him yesterday) and has an amazing, educated, clever wife and constantly talks about how much better than himself she is.

I don't think "sweetie" is evidence of a deep-seated bias against women. It's just evidence that he's the father of a couple of little girls.

I think V @ 28 makes the best point.

Julie, ECB, or anyone else: Do you really think Obama has a single solitary sexist bone in his entire body? Can you not differentiate between an archaic expression and true subjugation of women?

Plenty of real, actual sexism going on...why obsess over this incredibly mild appearance of impropriety? The man apologized. Move on.

This is why liberals get such a bad rep...we get so fixated on petty bullshit it compromises the larger message.

@9 wins.

Sweetie? Really? People are losing sleep over this?

Ladies, please remove yourself from this sanctuary of Seattle and travel outside the city limits. You'll find much worse things to be worried about.

If being called "sweetie" is a terrible injustice, I shudder to imagine your reaction at real sexism.

And V's point at 40 is good too.

@42 loses.

I don't think Obama is sexist through and through. If I thought that, I wouldn't have supported him for the past five years. He obviously supports womens rights, etc., etc.

But, after watching the video, I do think that this one particular moment was a sexist act. I'm sorry but the "he has daughters" thing doesn't ring true to me. So do many of my co-workers and clients, and it would still be 100% inappropriate for them to call me sweetie in a professional situation (which is what this was).

Am I disappointed? Definitely (note that I didn't say angry, elenchos). Does this mean I won't support him whole-heartedly in the general? Definitely not.

Julie, sweetie, maybe you should take a chill pill.

Sorry, but he screwed up here. Whether Obama is actively sexist or not, calling grown women he doesn't know "sweetie" willy-nilly is somewhat disrespectful and not a good habit to carry around on the campaign trail, especially when he's got a lot of Clinton-supporting women to win over now. A few YouTube postings and he could have a real problem here if he doesn't adjust his ways.

(Of course, ECB was not really posting this to demand he fairly own up to it, but just to bite at his ankles as she usually does. Otherwise, she'd have also noted the apology, which got plenty of publicity.)

@34 My point (@21) was that it's a bit hypocritical for Erica to be calling bullshit on this when she recently used the word "dude" multiple times to diminish the views of a rival reporter.

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/wherein_i_tell_you_exactly_when_you_can

Maybe the level of unintentional sexism is different, but the level of intentionally marginalizing someone definitely is not in her favor here.

ECB's a fucking hack. pure and simple. any perceived anti-feminist faux pas and she turns into a singularly minded hypocrite.

#49: Blah. Just listen to the people affected to figure out if a term is sexist or racist or homophobic, it's not that hard.

Many or most women would say being called "sweetie" like Obama did is insulting and dismissive. If Obama said "wait a minute, miss" to her or "wait a minute, dude" to a male reporter, there isn't a person alive who would find that offensive. On the other hand, "wait a minute, boy" would be insulting to many/most black people.

Use the smell test instead of trying to justify why other people shouldn't be insulted.

Wow, Fnarf. I would have expected that kind of comment/joke more from Bellevue Ave or elenchos. The Slog hoi polloi must be rubbing off on you.

actually, i had an experience recently where a guy flipped his lid because my partner called him "dude" in a professional setting. he found it extraordinarily offensive. so there.

@36 gets second place.

@51, you don't think the word "dude" can be used to diminish someone? Did you read the post I cited?

Erica was going out of her way to portray Berger as an out-of-touch old guy (and I'm not saying he isn't) by snidely calling him "dude" more than once.

It wasn't hip slang, it was an effort to paint him as someone who's viewpoint is obsolete, and thus not worthy of consideration. That was wholly intentional.

Granted, it was stupid of Obama to call a reporter "sweetie." And maybe he did it as intentionally as Erica did. (I personally don't think that's the case.)

But the point is, it's ludicrous for Erica to be self-righteously pointing fingers about this when she pulls the same shit herself.

Sorry, Julie -- well, no, I'm not actually. It was calculated to offend. Calculated offensiveness can be very, very funny, as in my hysterical example above. But feminists don't have senses of humor, everybody knows that.

Seriously, it is precisely this kind of obsession with meaningless symbolism that may or may not transgress against the code of extreme vigilance that makes people dismiss feminism out of hand. It's funny, because it seems like the reaction is inversely proportional to the degree of the offense. Hold your fire for your real enemies and maybe you'd win more battles.

fnarf, it isnt the nature of liberal bitches to hold their fire for people that actually want to go against their ideals, and attack people that are generally on their side but not in the strict way that they want. it seems easier to tear down friends than tear down enemies.

Fnarf, it would not be meaningless symbolism to me if a man called me "sweetie" in the context of my job. In most cases that would be a blatant attempt to diminish me and my contribution. I’m in my late 20s, and since I graduated from college I’ve had a consulting job where my clients are CEOs and Boards of Directors of corporations… mostly old, white men. You would not believe some of the crap that they say (it usually falls into two categories: “aww, look at the sweet little woman trying to say something smart”, or “you’re hot.”).

It typically doesn’t bother me (if anything, it has given me some great “you’ll never believe what this guy said” stories to tell over beers). But that’s because I neither like nor respect the men who have said these things. Obama, I like and respect quite a bit. So, it was disappointing to me that he would say something that was a mildly-sexist dismissal of a woman.

I never tried to imply that Obama’s comment was worse than attacks on reproductive rights or any of my other “real enemies”. It was just a disappointment.

Julie. Julie. Listen.

Barack Obama agrees with you. Barack Obama knows the word was disrespectful, and he did not intend to be disrespectful. He apologized. He was chastened, and accepts that he deserved to be chastened.

You are right. He was wrong. He apologized. What are you holding out for? What more do you need from this?

All right, everyone. Don't hold back now. Let's all get our feelings out into the open.

elenchos... Note the use of the word was. "was a disappointment". When I watched the video, I could actually viscerally feel the dismay -- I think I actually said "oh no" out loud.

I'm glad he admitted he was wrong and apologized. I'm not "holding out" for anything more from him (though, it would be nice if more people on Slog actually agreed that it was wrong in the first place). But, it was a disappointment. Even with the apology.