Discussion for article #235826
This is why I would have preferred the president not use the word - because now the media is hung up on it and not that a man’s spine was severed.
A distraction.
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No, I think it was OK. Despite the racial connotations, a thug is merely a word for a violent criminal, and by reclaiming the word, hopefully Obama’s use of it takes out some of the racial sting and makes it less emotionally charged.
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He used thugs because motherfuckingpunks sounds bad on TV
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President SHOULD use the word to describe John Boehner, whose obstruction of not putting the Jobs Bill up for a vote before the election (when it could possibly have also passed the Senate) has caused damage exponentially greater than anything some desperate and frustrated youths could ever have done.
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It was the right word to use. And it is also the wrong word to OVER use.
As usual, the Prez is a professional who knows what to say, and when to say it.
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Completely agree. Bad choice of word just because it has provided an easy SQUIRREL! moment for “reporters”. As I mentioned in yesterday’s Rush Limbaugh thread - Freddie who?
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Why does everyone keep walking this back? Anyone that was part of the looting or setting cop cars on fire crossed the line from peaceful protester to rioting thug.
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Not according to the gleeful wingnuts. They’re all atwitter and acquivver about it and the cover it gives them. Total misstep. And worst that this dude was clearly unprepared for the question despite the growing contretemps.
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The problem lies in the fact that far to often the word “Thug” is attributed to black people regardless of whether their actions deserve the connotation. Seattle Seahawk player Richard Sherman’s screed on TV a year ago is a perfect example. He was lambasted with the term undeservedly. Seldom do you hear the word used to describe gatherings of predominately white rioters. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, “Thug” is becoming the new code for the “N” word.
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Freddy Grey is still dead.
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No, I saw the story abut the wingnuts high-fiving over Obama’s use of this word, but I still think it was anodyne the way he used it.
An AA using the word thug about AAs doesn’t sound as bad as a white person calling AAs thugs. It just doesn’t. If I was a reporter talking to an AA I would probably use a different word like maybe hooligans which doesn’t sound as bad. Also, if I was a reporter I wouldn’t shove a mike up to someone who is protesting and start calling them thugs.
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Exactly. 99% of what Obama said is glossed over. But the word “thug” is what captured the “liberal” media’s attention.
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Sorry but I don’t think sensible people’s use of a word should be determined by the way a bunch of right wing dipsticks misuse it. “Thug” is a perfectly good word for someone who takes advantage of the breakdown of civil order to rob a store or set a fire.
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We’re not basing it on that alone. We’re basing it on the fact tons of black people say they find the word to be a substitute for the N word. Obama doesn’t speak for all black people or people who find the word to be racist anyway.
You need to Google what Richard Sherman thinks about the term. He was called a thug, and he says it’s an accepted way of calling a person the nigger. Perhaps at one point, the term “thug” had no racial connotation. Since Trayvon Martin’s murder, though, it has taken on racial overtone. So that’s why the word shouldn’t be used–especially by politicians.
Also President Obama’s qualifyer - “…a handful of thugs”.
Ha. Ok. I missed the qualifier. That changes things, but still the black POTUS should not be using a racially tinged right wing dog whistle word. I disagree with Obama on this one.
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I agree with you. Especially black politicians. Actually no politician should use it.