Poor Tweety. He may mean well, but he just doesn't get it.

[RZM]

I was just cooking dinner and caught Tweety's most recent teaser on MSNBC (I usually have the TV on when I cook). I hadn't seen this new one - in it he explains how Obama's rise as a mixed-race man could only have happened in America. He must be unfamiliar with many Carribean societies, where a man like Obama (mixed parentage and ambitious, with a Harvard law degree), could certainly chart a path to wealth and political power.

It makes me wonder what kind of oversight they have at MSNBC. Shouldn't there have been some meeting where this was brought up?

[EFerrari]

1. Someone introduce Tweety to Latin America.

[hlthe2b]

2. He apparently knows nothing about South & Central America either...

Good heavens how many countries have even had women in their highest positions?

But, at least it is a positive counter to all the racism we see on Faux.

[Raine]

3. That's one of the promos for MSNBC not part of his

show. Rachel has one where she talks about how Americans built things like Hoover Dam ... ya know "American Exceptionalism". It's the theme of several of their promos for the network. Tweety also has one where he says he is sick of the other side claiming Obama isn't a REAL American because his father was Kenyan. It's what the network wants.

[RZM]

4. Yeah I know. But he's a big figure over there and probably gets to say what he wants

The man knows his American political history and that's certainly a good trait for the host of a show about American politics. But he's out of depth here. I'm no expert on the Carribean/Latin America and even I know what bunk this claim is.

[EFerrari]

7. So he knows Alexander Hamilton has a disputed lineage. n/t

[RZM]

15. From what I remember his father was a Scottish merchant who never married his mother

Or something like that.

[EFerrari]

22. Some people think she was bi-racial. n/t

[valerief]

5. He has trouble dusting the Republican off him. nt

[Motown_Johnny]

6. I have a problem with the last bit of that where he talks about coming to America

as if President Obama "came to America and became American".

He was freaking born here, he didn't come here and become American.



Tweety needs better handlers, they keep dropping the ball/tweety.

[malaise]

8. LOL

We had a cricket team of several races touring England from 1900.
Tweety also lived in Africa.

[Taverner]

9. He was wrong to unload on Spitzer - the Governor had more integrity in his pinky finger

Than Tweety will have in his entire life

[Fumesucker]

11. Spitzer deliberately prosecuted people who were doing *exactly* the same thing he was..

I don't see that as integrity, exactly the opposite in fact.

[Taverner]

13. He was a prosecutor. That's what prosecutors do.

When Elliot Ness was asked what he would do if prohibition were lifted, he replied "Well, I'd have a drink"

[Fumesucker]

16. He went out of his way to prosecute high profile prostitution cases..

Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion in what cases they choose to bring to trial.

I guess next you'll argue that Spitzer was actually running a sting rather than breaking the law he was sworn to uphold and did uphold.. against others.

[Taverner]

17. No - - but the fact that he went after the banks carries weight with me

[RZM]

20. Eh, so what

I hate to violate Godwin, but Stalin led the Soviet Union through the victory against the Nazis. Doesn't mean he wasn't a horrid person.

On edit: Spitzer is no Stalin. But just because he did some good against the banks doesn't mean he's not a slippery character. Bush contributed to the fight against AIDS in Africa too. I'm glad he did, but I'm still not a fan.

[Fumesucker]

21. I actually like quite a bit of what he's done..

But "integrity" is not a word I would associate with Spitzer if given a choice.

[RZM]

18. Drinking isn't the same as banging a prostitute

And it's more an issue of hyporcisy. I think prostitution should be legal, so I wouldn't feel guilty if I hired one (and no, even given my position, I would never do so). But I do think drunk driving should be illegal. And if I still get behind the wheel after a fifth of jack, I'm a fucking hypocrite.

[Liberal Veteran]

10. It's an example of the myth of American exceptionalism.

The USA rigidly holds onto the myth that there is something inherently special about America that prevents us from doing wrong.

It's a strange thing considering how we essentially created this country by conquering and nearly destroying the people living here and grew our economy on the backs of slavery.

There is a certain national narcissism that permeates every level of our society.

Combine that with stubbornness, and you've got a recipe for a lot of what is wrong and what causes people to imagine that we are superior in every sense of the word.

[RZM]

14. We aren't alone in that, I'm afraid

Historians often ask the question: 'How exceptional is American exceptionalism?'

Truth is, just about everybody has the notion that their nation was chosen for some special mission. It's inherent in nationalism.

Go back far enough and you'll find that our species whooped ass all the way out of Africa by killing (and sometimes eating) the other hominids that stood in our way. It's how we get down, as it were.

[gkhouston]

12. Or he may get it, and just doesn't mean well. n/t

[RZM]

19. Maybe

But when it comes to the promo in question, I think it's clear he doesn't get it.

[DavidDvorkin]

23. It's a common meme: "Only in America could etc."

I've been gritting my teeth in response ever since I moved to the US. (Which may be why I have so many crowns.)

People say it about any number of things that are fairly common in the world. Which they don't know because they don't know anything about the rest of the world. They know stereotypes about other countries.