Presidential Hat Dance

Bill Richardson is dipping his toes in the presidential race. Here's how The Australian headlined the news:

Latino throws his sombrero in ring

I have no comment, except that I'm not sure whether I'm laughing with or at the fellow who wrote that.

[Via Jason Ditz.]

Comments

[Midnight Louise]

Presumably he then distributed burritos and enchiladas to celebrate the day of fiesta among all his amigos.

An American journalist who wrote that would have a career lifespan of minutes!

[Egon]

An American journalist who wrote that would have a career lifespan of minutes!

Don't you mean a "conservative commentator"?

[ed]

I for one am laughing with him. It's a funny line. Too bad it can't be repeated in our own sissy press, but in an age where presumably serious people discuss actually banning words ("nigger", "faggot"), better safe than sorry, no?

[RegularRon]

LMAO !!!! That's friggin funny

[Stevo Darkly]

To show the mirror side, a few years back I went with a couple of real Australians to a local Outback Steakhouse, and they were appalled to see the menu featured a chicken dish that was tauted as an "Abo-riginal favorite!" That's akin to boasting of "our nigger-iginal chicken recipe!" (I believe the menu has since been modified.)

[J sub D]

but in an age where presumably serious people discuss actually banning words ("nigger", "faggot"), better safe than sorry, no?

But that pesky 1st amendment keeps rearing it's politically incorrect head.

[joe]

That's funny.

I'm sure our writers make comparably funny/insulting flubs like that about other people all the time, but it's still funny.

[Drew W]

That Aussie hed is all the more ludicrous since the rather Anglo-seeming Richardson must continually remind the world that he's really Latino. (Maybe he could declare, "I'm in this raza to win!")

That's a problem that new House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre "Can I answer in Spanish?" Reyes doesn't have.

[Cab]

Sounds like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the rock.

[ed]

But that pesky 1st amendment keeps rearing it's politically incorrect head.

And yet the would-be censors keep trying. Just yesterday I witnessed a retard posing as a legislator who insisted that the 1st Amendment somehow does not apply to "Girls Gone Wild" advertisements (that might be seen by "the children") and he's damned tired of "pornographers" "hiding" behind the 1st Amendment. He's also "tired" of hearing that it's the parents' responsibility to monitor their children's TV viewing. That, you see, is for The State to do.

[J sub D]

And yet the would-be censors keep trying. Just yesterday I witnessed a retard posing as a legislator who insisted that the 1st Amendment somehow does not apply to "Girls Gone Wild" advertisements (that might be seen by "the children") and he's damned tired of "pornographers" "hiding" behind the 1st Amendment. He's also "tired" of hearing that it's the parents' responsibility to monitor their children's TV viewing. That, you see, is for The State to do.

Yeah, they're out there receiving votes from the moral(?) majority and some folks of the feminist persuasion. Eternal vigilence, etc. etc. etc..

[anon]

Well, the NYPost has the hed on their website, attached to an AP feed. Not sure how the website relates to the print edition, but frankly, contra some of the commentators above, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it in the print edition.

Anon

[mitch]

Stevo,

Damn, I thought "aborigines" was still kosher. What do they say instead, "Native Australians?"

[andy]

Drew,

Raza refers only to the bio/sociological concept not to a competition.

[Stevo Darkly]

Damn, I thought "aborigines" was still kosher. What do they say instead, "Native Australians?"

As far as I know, "Aboriginal" is still okay, but "Abo" is not.

[joe]

It's like "Pakistani" vs. "Paki."

[ed]

Ai carramba!

[JW]

He's latino? With a swedish last name?

[Jesse Walker]

Raza refers only to the bio/sociological concept not to a competition.

I think that was part of Drew's joke. There's a funny pun embedded in there too.

[Drew W]

Thanks Jesse. I didn't want to embarrass andy, so I'm glad you did.

But let me muddy the linguistic waters even more with this verse from Robyn Hitchcock's "Do Policemen Sing?":

Oh do policemen sing? I heard a person cry
We can do anything! I heard the force reply
Oh do policemen sing? Yes when they're in the mood
And when their truncheons swing! That's when they're in the mood
It's true because I never argue with a raza . . .

[The Wine Commonsewer]

That's funnier than hell.

[kevrob]

The NY Post and The Australian seem to have written there own headlines for those wire service stories. Here's the one on the AP's site: N.M. Governor Enters White House Race

The Down Under paper relied in part on Reuters. Here's their take: Democrat Richardson starts presidential bid

That hed is especially obnoxious, once you actually RTFWSR:

"I wouldn't run as a Hispanic candidate. I would run as an American proud to be Hispanic," Richardson said.

There's always the possibility that these web-pages don't carry the same headings that the original versions did.

Take a look at the photo marked "Editor's Choice", though. An unintentional slur? 🙂

Kevin

[kevrob]

Drew, that's not raza, it's rozzer, aka the Bobbies, the Old Bill, a Constable On Patrol.

Kevin

[SteveInClearwater]

He's not a Latino...duh

He's a New Latino.

[joe]

I'm in this race to win.

LOL! I missed that the first time.

[Stevo Darkly]

He's not a Latino...duh

He's a New Latino.

A Neutrino?

[Drew W]

My stars, I don't know what I'd do without you fellas to set me straight.

[wayne]

"neutrino"... I don't care who ya are, that's funny.

[Jesse Walker]

Drew: Did you hear they just announced the nominees for the raza awards? Sharon Stone got a nomination for Basic Instinct 2.

[Isaac Bartram]

As far as I know, "Aboriginal" is still okay, but "Abo" is not.

The word was in common use until the 60s. In large part the Civil Rights movement in the US started people thinking about civil rights at home. At first Australians felt smug and superior that they had no race problems. Then people started pointing out inconvenient facts like their treatment of aboriginals and the fact that their immigration system was based on something called "The White Australia Policy."

The White Australia Policy was ended in the 70s and for the most part Australia has adapted well to becoming a multi-racial country.

But while words like "nigger" and "abbo" are out calling someone from Japan a "Jap" is considered no different from calling an American a "Yank" (they are called worse) or an Englishman a pommie.

[R C Dean]

The White Australia Policy was ended in the 70s and for the most part Australia has adapted well to becoming a multi-racial country.

Roaming gangs of Middle Eastern yoots and radical Islamic mullahs aside, of course.

[Isaac Bartram]

That's where "for the most part" comes in.

[Larry A]

Damn, I thought "aborigines" was still kosher.

"Aboriginies" is still PC. "Kosher," however, is offensive.

He once considered a career as a professional baseball pitcher.

Will that get more votes than owning a team?

[Drew W]

Jesse: Not to further baffle any slow-on-the-uptake commenters here, but the La Raza Awards actually exist. If I was in charge, I'd nominate Bill Richardson.

Ahh, closure at last.