Republicans talk about Iraq, Obama at N. Ky. dinner

UPDATE 6 P.M. 4/14/08: CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO OF REMARKS BY U.S. REP. GEOFF DAVIS

Republican U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning laid out their case for Republicans keeping control of the White House in the 2008 election during Northern Kentucky's 4th Congressional District Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night.

McConnell, who is also up for re-election in November, defended the Bush administration's decision "to go on offense" by invading Iraq. And he said presumptive GOP presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has the right perspective on what must be done in the Middle East, as opposed to the two Democratic candidates who favor removing U.S. troops as soon as possible.

"We'd be kidding ourselves," McConnell said. "This is a different kind of war. The enemy is not a country, it's a movement ... There's nobody to negotiate with."

Bunning used an even harsher description.

"The people we're fighting against now are worse than Adolf Hitler and Nazis. And we don't know where they live, half of them," Bunning said.

The Republicans specifically skewered Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, perhaps as a signal that they expect -- or hope -- that he is that party's nominee against McCain.

"I fear the two Democrats, one in particular, is incredibly naive," McConnell said, adding that five years ago when the U.S. Senate voted to go to war in Iraq, Obama was in the Illinois state senate. "This is the big leagues now. At what point do you turn off the demagoguery and become a serious, responsible leader?"

U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, a Hebron Republican, compared Obama and his message for change similar to a "snake oil salesman."

He said in his remarks at the GOP dinner that he also recently participated in a "highly classified, national security simulation" with Obama.

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

As for Obama's Democratic rival, McConnell said U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York seems to be "teetering on the brink."

"I hear she hasn't been this worried since a new Hooters opened" near her home with former President Bill Clinton, McConnell said, prompting laughs from the 400 Northern Kentucky Republicans.

 

- Ryan Alessi

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Comments

[Joe Garza]

Gosh darn, you Republicants sure do make a strong case for maintaining the current administration's foreign policy no matter how many American "boys" get killed or how many hundreds of billions of dollars it costs. Makes me proud to be an Amerikkkan!

[kravitz]

Coming from a state which still has "My Old Kentucky Home" - a song which celebrates the days of slavery - as the state song, and the past it has. We all know he meant BOY as in SLAVERY as in N1gger. No one can spin this any other way than the truth. Hillar Clinton and John McCain have allowed the racists to remove their hoods and robes and must be held responsible for the condition of this election. It has deteriorated to this. Courtesy Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and John McCain.

[Sue Filutze]

So were they all wearing their pointy hats and white sheets?

[SJ]

A congressman named "Jeff" Davis calling a middle-aged black man "boy". Who'd have thunk it?

To say nothing of his poor form in disclosing his version of a classified security simulation. What class!

[Chuck Lasker]

Hilarious. This just shows that the Good Ol' Boy network is still alive and well in the Republican Party. That's good for us Obama supporters, because it shows they're still totally out of touch with the voters, and their country is being transformed underneath them. They don't notice because they're too busy sipping their scotches and blowing cigar smoke, laughing with each other, as the rich did at the turn of the 20th Century while the unions were prepping to kick their butts, which they did. We'll see who's laughing come November, and these boys can cry in their trophy-wifes' arms...

[talleyrand]

It seems like a racist statement, but I highly doubt that was the intention--more likely just an embarrassing slip of the tongue. I couldn't fairly say that Rep. Davis is a bigot on the basis of this one statement. What is more alarming to me is his casual suggestion that any President's finger should be "on the button."

[Eric]

1. Why is a presidential CANDIDATE being run through a national security simulation that involves the simulated detonation of nuclear weapons?

2. Are all presidential CANDIDATES required to take part in these 'simulations'?

3. Why hasn't the public ever been told that these simulations occur using CANDIDATES for President?

4. What happened during Hillary Clinton's simulation, and John McCain's simulation?

5. Most importantly, what happened during George W. Bush's simulation while he was a CANDIDATE for President?

6. Why isn't the public told of the results of these simulations after they happen?

7. What exactly goes on in these secret simulations?

[KYJurisDoctor]

The Congressman has apologized, so let's move on:

OsiSpeaks.com

[chin075]

The party of lies, mismanagement and corruption has no ground to call anybody anything!! "Obama is incredibly naive..." Do these turds know that what they've done has made us less safe, or do they simply not care? They are the ones resorting to demagoguery and silly fearmongering games at every turn, but they doom themselves more every day by acting like the petulant children they are -- because the youth of today doesn't watch Fox News.

[jscs]

My friends, after this story hit, said "This is why we wondered why you moved to Kentucky." I remind them I moved to Louisville-- a place where if you're not moderate liberal you're moderate conservative. Great arts, culture, and business town. You step five minutes outside of Louisville and you better be ready to hear black men called "boys", women called "little darlin" or "Hey wife", and none of the old white men full of fear and loathing ready to have a decent conversation about any subject. Call one them "boy" and they will be on you like white on their backside.

[AA man see the GOP trend]

I am AA an Independant but my view reflect the republican party, I am pro-life, i like low taxes, small government, and being a former member of the Air Force as a cop i believe in a strong military. I support the war, and want us to finish the job. This stuff is why i am not a republican as an AA i don't feel welcome in that party. Calling a US senator running for president who has a Law degree from Harvard Boy is demeening on a racial level for AA s, just like comparing him to Tiger Woods. If you wish to refer to his age call him That young man.

[AA Independant]

Oh lets move on when the GOP member makes a gaffe but keep Obama's Gaffe going for 5 days maybe Obama should call for McCain to reject and rebuke these comments maybe Obama should say all AA where insulted by those comments. I know it seems stupid when you are on the other end of this. Davis wrote a heart felt apology seemed genuine, and im willing to take him at his word, are you willing to do the same for Obama?

[Type key]

"five years ago when the U.S. Senate voted to go to war in Iraq, Obama was in the Illinois state senate. This is the big leagues now."

Five years before George Bush was elected President, he wasn't even Governor of Texas yet. Big leagues indeed.

[Republicans are killing the USA]

The right wing foreign policy has failed repeatedly, expecting it to suddenly turn around is insanity.

[DaCoach]

To Rep. Davis credit, the statement was an improvement over his written remarks in which he referred to Senator Obama as a ni**er.

[wow]

Awesome. Love it.

Hooters.

[ME]

Godwin's Law... Jim Bunnings loses the Iraq arguement for the Republicans

[UppityBoy]

Calling Obama "boy" is more racist than him talking about the "typical white person"? How pathetic.

[martin ewen]

Rationally how can people on one hand use the 'context' explaination to explain this away and turn straight away and label Obama 'incredibly naive'

Poor choice of words? Out of context? How naive to you have to be to swallow that?

Beggars belief.

[Heywood Jablowme]

Geoff Davis is using the word "boy" to point out Obama's age and inexperience? Geoff Davis is all of 3 years older than Obama and has even LESS experience in politics, having held his first public office only since 2004. Want to try again?

[Alexei]

The "typical white woman" remark was said by Obama about his grandmother you moron. Who is white and lived during a time when prejudice and racism was rampant. There were specific instances that he mentioned where she felt scared or distrustful of a black man, like many women during that time.

Not the same thing fool.

[Don Smith]

I guess none of you heard the part right after the snakeoil salesman bit where he said Obama is most likely to be like some guy spending many years of his life in prison. The dude said a racist comment. Maybe he mispoke, but he said it. Now can we all see how easy it is to mispeak. Geesh!!!!

[Dr. Pepper]

Everything is racist these days. So if I say "nylon" in a public forum I guess since they make ropes out of nylon and they make nooses from ropes and black people were hung from nooses Holy Crap! I'm so sorry I used the word "nylon" it was poor Judgment. I apologize. Toughin' up you bunch of cry babies. You know he was talking about inexperience.

[Some proof?]

Going back to this statement...

"And U.S. Senator Larry Craig sponsored anti-gay legislation yet he turned out to be homosexual"

He did? That's news to me. I specifically recall Sen. Craig saying very publicly, "I am not gay, I have never been gay."

I'd like to see some hard and fast (no pun intended) proof that he's gay. Otherwise you, like the Idaho Statesman many times prior, have libeled him.

[Daingel]

Mmmmmmmm He's not that far from Jefferson County KY, known as KKK country outside of Ft. Knox. A place that is so hard core KKK when I was stationed at Ft. Knox, that they wouldn't even allow commercials that had black people in them. They actually censored any show or commercial that had non-whites in it. And they also loved to call several of my fellow troops in the Army of a certain color. The GOP showing it's white sheets.

[Mike]

"It's all about context. And clearly Congressman Davis was referencing his youth and inexperience."

Yeah, boy. What you gettin' all riled up about? You are a boy ain't you? What you think? Just because you got yourself a white education you can make real man choices? Big league choices? You're not ready for that, boy. No offense.
---------------------------

^^This is basically how some old white folks IN POSITIONS OF POWER think. This is exactly what Rev.Wright was talking about and got lambasted for saying.

[Linda]

I was absolutely shocked when I read about this comment and I hope Geoff Davis offers another apology to Senator Obama.

No matter what Congressmen Davis' background, he simply cannot refer to a black man as "that boy." At 49 or 50 he's certainly old enough to understand the connotations.

I'm five years older than Barack Obama and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. And even if I disagreed with his policies I would refer to him as Senator Obama.

No man should be called "that boy." Let's bring some respect into Kentucky politics.

[Daingel]

mmmm

Larry Craig said he's not gay. According to this he either is or he's just a LIAR on PUBLIC Record.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0828071craig8.html

[kyblu]

I have it on good authority that Davis, Bunning and McConnell are all alien reptillian hybrids who, not surprisingly, lack both a heart and a soul and, some would say, brains.

Their greatest fear is a black man with charisma and an above-room temperature IQ (and millions of dollars).

Their mission is to help Hillary become the candidate so McCain (most aged reptillian hybrid) can 1) defeat the bitter shrew and 2) complete the ultimate ecological destruction of earth put into play by George "Ribbet" Bush.

Wake up America before it's too late.

[alphaa10]

Remember Lee Atwater? This campaign manager for Reagan was chairman of the GOP/RNC and mentor to Karl Rove. Atwater knew where all the GOP bodies are buried. On his deathbed, Atwater confessed that untruth, halftruth and unabashed lies are now the stuff of GOP campaigns.

Atwater, who helped Bush, Sr. with his "Willie Horton" attack ad, confessed, "You start out in 1954 by saying, 'Nyger, nyger, nyger...' By 1968, you can't say 'Nyger’— that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights, and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things, and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites."

Atwater racial tactics are still used wherever there is bigotry to exploit-- Bush used race in 2000 in SC against McCain. And in October, 2006, the GOP ran an ad accusing TN congressman, Harold Ford, Jr., of consorting with Playboy "playmates". (It turned out the congressman attended a 2005 Super Bowl party sponsored by Playboy magazine.)

And now, Obama. How long will it be before the GOP-trademark smear campaign tries to float the themes of race, mixed parentage and religous fears? The deathbed confession of Atwater about the GOP and its heritage of bigotry haunts that party, still.

[jeremy]

this is a sad sad world we live in when the word 'boy' is taken as racist. get a brain people, it's not racist. if it obama was white (er, half white) it wouldn't be racist then. why do black people and liberals think that anything said against or to a black person is racist? it's not. stop making an issue when there is no issue. the only ones making obamas mixed race an issue are the democrats and blacks. most white people do not care that he's black. but then again most liberals are just looking for a reason to have some pseudo superiority, even if it means accusing every republican of being racist. look at the Bush administration and the amount of minorities in high power positions. more than any other president. colin powell, rice....... oh yea, i forgot, liberals lack the basic intelligence to recognize races other than white when it comes to republicans.

[Long John]

Is calling a 46 year old Black man "Boy" Elitist?

Or just Racist?

[jeremy]

@long john-
if obama was white(half) and davis was black would it be racist?

[AngryBlackMAn]

Dr. Michael Kelly (http://www.kelley08.com/) is about to get a s**tload of donations, even if they all come from me!!

BuhBye Geoff!!!

[livinlizard]

Racist I says.

[Long John]

Well Jeremy we have a saying here in Iowa

"If ... Dog ... Rabbit" (if the dog wouldn't have stopped to take a s**t he would've caught the rabbit. )

Which basically means it's not relevant because it's complete FICTION

[Long John]

Well Jeremy we have a saying here in Iowa

"If ... Dog ... Rabbit" (if the dog wouldn't have stopped to take a s**t he would've caught the rabbit. )

Which basically means it's not relevant because it's complete FICTION

[Joe, Ann Arbor]

This is ASTONISHINGLY RACIST!!!!

Anyone who DOESN'T think this is racist might as well hang a sign around their heads saying "I'm a racist."

A white man calling a black "boy" may seem subtler to most than the n-word, but it's almost worse.

If I (white guy) called a black man "boy" he and any black people around would beat me to a pulp or worse. And I would deserve it.

I went to the NYT site and was almost as surprised that it wasn't a major news story. Double wow!! Is this really going to get a pass from the corporate media???? I think I just answered my own question.

Speaking of corporate media...

Othe topic of the AP meeting and "Obama bin Laden":

REMINDER, AP Chairman Singleton is a HUGE Bush fan and drinking buddy. The guy is a slimeball, defines "corporate media".

Don't think for a second it "accidental". See video.

[Chris B]

Wow. You people are idiots. And before you start making Republicans out to be the sole hate mongering racists, you should think about what you're saying.

Anyone remember Hillary's 7-11 remark? Or how about the Ferraro vocal boo-boo? How about you go after the overtly racist comments on your own side before you start accusing others based on poorly chosen words, eh?

And for those of you wondering, no, I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Bush supporter. I'm a Libertarian. And while I'm touching on that subject, I have a newsflash for ya:

Both parties are corrupt. Both parties are racist. It's just a matter of varieties of flavor.

[Lezlie Cox]

this is why I am so glad I escaped from Kentucky at the age of 18!! this kind of stuff really makes me cringe that I was born and raised there!

[Chris B]

Oh yeah, and Joe, who's comment is right before mine: if you think the AP is anywhere near friendly to Bush or ever does him favors... you smoke way too much crack.

[BigJesus]

Jim Bunning. I'm surprised he even knows what a Nazi is since he missed out on the Big One while in college and admits to never reading newspapers.

[Oh WoW]

the word "boy" is totally blown out of proportion. He never said a racist remark. Lots of people say "boy" to all sorts of people of color, especially boys and men.

I never saw it as a racist remark. You guys are digging for something that isn't there.

This is being too racist sensitive.

[Rich P. From Princeton]

Mitch McConnell should tread very carefully when it comes to sexual innuendo.

[Paul]

So he was referring to experience? Let me ask you defenders this: do you think he would have called, say, George W. Bush (who as a candidate had even less political experience than Obama) "boy"?

And frankly, you don't call a 46 year-old United States senator, Harvard Law grad, and presidential candidate "boy" -- regardless of color. It's gross disrespect at the very least.

[The Stump]

If any of you knew this man you would know that he is extremely intelligent and well rounded. The depth of his knowledge concerning foreign policy and national security is incredibly vast.

Geoff wouldn't have even thought about the fact that he was talking about a black man, those sort of things aren't what matters to him. He was simply referencing the void of knowledge concerning Obama's grasp of issues concerning National Security and foreign policy.

For some to say that a senator would mean more experience or knowledge is laughable, because in the next breath they condemn McConnell and Bunning.

Geoff is a good and kind man who doesn't want to beat Obama because he's black... he doesn't care about that. He doesn't want to beat him because his middle name is Hussein... he doesn't care about that. He wants to beat him because his worldview is wrong and misguided.

[Emmanuel Winner]

Davis: "That boy" - the openness of the racism is refreshing, I guess, but don't Kentuckians feel ashamed they are now to be branded as the last bastion of 19th century bigotry? McConnell: "There's nobody to negotiate with." - Which means that there are no standards by which to determine victory - hence the clamor for "a hundred years in Iraq" - generation after generation of young American Men and Women sent off to kill and die for Halliburton's bank account. How noble. Bunning: "The people we're fighting against now are worse than Adolf Hitler and Nazis." - I didn't know he's fighting against Bush and Cheney, but if he is, he's welcome to vote Obama this November. Really, this article reminds me of the old Ozzy Osbourne song, "War Pigs:" "- like witches at black masses."

[IMS]

Did I MIS-HEAR?

Didn't he mention, just before the 'boy' comment, that Bark Obama hadn't held a real job in his entire life, and that if it weren't for his time in the US Senate, would probably have spent the rest of his life in prison.????

Why is nobody commenting on that!!
If that doesn't lay to rest this closet raciest fool, or put to death to the idea that he isn't, what will??
He should be thrown out of the House -much less have his finger or ears any where near any "highly classified, national security simulation"

[Made in the USA]

You're like a mob of high-schoolers, completely missing the sentence to rally around a word.

Another thing that baffles me is that somehow you've all successfully been convinced that there are no cultural differences between whites, blacks, hispanics, asians, etc ... You're lying to yourselves and you're lying to each other, or you simply aren't thinking for yourself at all.

Culture aside, anyone who knows anything about breeding animals knows without a doubt that there ARE differences between breeds and they are brutally important.

You wouldn't buy a chihuahua to guard your home from intruders and you wouldn't buy a Mastiff to live out his years as a lap dog. Then you have ACD's/Heelers who are intolerant of other breeds but are among the smartest and hardest working animals that money can buy.

Once upon a time, humans took as much care of their own breeding as top animal breeders take today. At least part of the world did and many still do.

You can scream and belly-ache until your head explodes but that doesn't change the facts, regardless of how unfair they may seem.

Racism will never be completely abolished until there is only one race left, and what a dull world that would be.

You can work on your racial tolerance by being comfortable with who YOU are, not who your neighbor is.

The true racists here are the ones pointing fingers and shouting, "Racist, Racist!" Those are the same characteristics found in a lynch mob.

[Nick]

Oh Boy ... give it a break on the racial thing ... Oops I said " Boy " ... Guess we cant us words like that or "Aunt Jamama" gotta preface it by saying Syrup first ... LMFAO , this whole thing is rediculous , they are only words and if people are that sensitive to hearing them turn off the media or don't go out into the public ,stay home and turn off all radios , Tv's , cable , telephones and you can be HAPPY