I hate to admit it, but I got that email. From my grandma. Sigh.

"Grose said he didn't mean to offend anyone and claimed he was unaware of the racial stereotype linking black people with eating watermelons."

If he was unaware of the stereotype then why did he forward the photo? What is the joke/point of the photo if not to make fun of the stereotype?

Which colleges? Princeton? Drew? Seton Hall called, they didn't get the email.

submitter: Mayor forced to resign after sending an e-mail to friends and colleges depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons with the title "No Easter egg hunt this year." What, should I not have done that?

I talked to Michigan State and they got the e-mail.

Who knew that having a black President would be so brilliantly effective at weeding stupid people out of the government.

Code_Archeologist: Who knew that having a black President would be so brilliantly effective at weeding stupid people out of the government.

If you gave everyone running for office an SAT, GRE, and ASVAB test, and then publicly reported the results next to their name on the ballot, it would be a lot more fun.

Am I going to hell because I laughed?

DslainteC: "Grose said he didn't mean to offend anyone and claimed he was unaware of the racial stereotype linking black people with eating watermelons."

If he was unaware of the stereotype then why did he forward the photo? What is the joke/point of the photo if not to make fun of the stereotype?

I would almost have said "let it slide" had it not been for that lame (deaf, mute, blind) excuse.

eddyatwork: Am I going to hell because I laughed?

No.

You are going hell because you are a god-less heathen.

This email was no worse than the ones floating around bashing Bush. Just goes to show you that in-tolerance is a one way street. Meaning that if you are intolerant of my intolerance, you are not a racist and I am....

Snarfangel: Code_Archeologist: Who knew that having a black President would be so brilliantly effective at weeding stupid people out of the government.

If you gave everyone running for office an SAT, GRE, and ASVAB test, and then publicly reported the results next to their name on the ballot, it would be a lot more fun.

That would be an ingenious campaign tactic. If you are confident that your opponent doesn't have the intellectual chops, run an ad with your standardized college entrance exam scores and challenge your opponent to do the same. I am going to guess there are going to be a frightening number of politicians that cannot even break the NCAA minimum scores.

mryoop789: I hate to admit it, but I got that email. From my grandma. Sigh.

I got it from my boss. I sent him the monkey cartoon earlier.

SouthernManDunWrong: This email was no worse than the ones floating around bashing Bush. Just goes to show you that in-tolerance is a one way street. Meaning that if you are intolerant of my intolerance, you are not a racist and I am....

Basically this. This is no worse than the Bush bashing ones that have been going around. Good to see that eliminating double standards wasn't part of the "change" we were promised.

Wow so he actually had to resign? Interesting...

Code_Archeologist: That would be an ingenious campaign tactic.

Not really. One of the reasons Kerry lost was he came across as too intellectual.

SouthernManDunWrong: This email was no worse than the ones floating around bashing Bush. Just goes to show you that in-tolerance is a one way street. Meaning that if you are intolerant of my intolerance, you are not a racist and I am....

Wrong. The ones bashing Bush were because he's personally an ignorant dick. This one bashes Obama because he happens to belong to a larger group that has historically hadugly prejudices applied to it...by ignorant dicks.

Troll attempt FAIL.

Who cares?

MaxxLarge: Wrong. The ones bashing Bush were because he's personally an ignorant dick. This one bashes Obama because he happens to belong to a larger group that has historically hadugly prejudices applied to it...by ignorant dicks.

So if someone is a "dick" it's OK to make fun of them? If someone is a member of an "oppressed" group it's not OK? So who makes this determination of who and who isn't?

Basically you're saying it's OK to be racist/make fun of white people, but minorities get some special status that makes it not OK to make fun of them? Look, they can have one or the other, not both.

If they want to be treated equally then they have the take the bad with the good. If they want to be second class citizens who have to sit at the back of the bus, then we can talk about not making fun of them. They can't do both though, be equal and demand special accommodation.

Crosshair: MaxxLarge: Wrong. The ones bashing Bush were because he's personally an ignorant dick. This one bashes Obama because he happens to belong to a larger group that has historically hadugly prejudices applied to it...by ignorant dicks.

So if someone is a "dick" it's OK to make fun of them? If someone is a member of an "oppressed" group it's not OK? So who makes this determination of who and who isn't?

Basically you're saying it's OK to be racist/make fun of white people, but minorities get some special status that makes it not OK to make fun of them? Look, they can have one or the other, not both.

If they want to be treated equally then they have the take the bad with the good. If they want to be second class citizens who have to sit at the back of the bus, then we can talk about not making fun of them. They can't do both though, be equal and demand special accommodation.

Okay, it's pretty simple once you pull your head out of your ass:

Making fun of what a person says, does, even believes (with reasonable limits on religious insults): Acceptable.

Making fun of what a person is, his race, his heritage, or any stereotypes relating to those aspects of him, especially if they call back upon a period of time in our nation (and world) where things were much worse and those aspects would have indeed made him oppressed: Unacceptable.

Saying Obama's a dick is fine. Hell, saying he's a commie is fine. But this bullshiat where the only jokes they can come up with are racial stereotypes? That's just farking pathetic, especially with the constant and inevitable hand-wringing and claims of ignorance after the fact.

Basically, if the "joke" you're telling is the sort of joke or comment a guy would have shouted while throwing a rock at the guy (or planning to throw a rock at the guy) 50 or more years ago? It's something that crosses the line.

Crosshair: So who makes this determination of who and who isn't?

Anyone with any common sense.

/just saying

SouthernManDunWrong: This email was no worse than the ones floating around bashing Bush. Just goes to show you that in-tolerance is a one way street. Meaning that if you are intolerant of my intolerance, you are not a racist and I am....

Oh yeah, I remember all those emails making fun of Bush for the color of his skin. I remember all those emails using racial stereotypes to mock Bush. Oh wait...

SouthernManDunWrong: This email was no worse than the ones floating around bashing Bush. Just goes to show you that in-tolerance is a one way street. Meaning that if you are intolerant of my intolerance, you are not a racist and I am....

This. I remember getting a mail with a pic of Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. in a fishing boat in downtown New Orleans right after Katrina. Bet no one was fired for that.

SouthernManDunWrong: This email was no worse than the ones floating around bashing Bush. Just goes to show you that in-tolerance is a one way street. Meaning that if you are intolerant of my intolerance, you are not a racist and I am....

I hope that you are just trolling. Because that is one of the most ignorant and foolish things I have read all month. This e-mail was worse than the ones about Bush, unless you are suggesting that stupidity shouldn't be mocked because it is somehow a racial trait of Caucasians.

Crosshair: MaxxLarge: Wrong. The ones bashing Bush were because he's personally an ignorant dick. This one bashes Obama because he happens to belong to a larger group that has historically hadugly prejudices applied to it...by ignorant dicks.

So if someone is a "dick" it's OK to make fun of them? If someone is a member of an "oppressed" group it's not OK? So who makes this determination of who and who isn't?

Basically you're saying it's OK to be racist/make fun of white people, but minorities get some special status that makes it not OK to make fun of them? Look, they can have one or the other, not both.

If they want to be treated equally then they have the take the bad with the good. If they want to be second class citizens who have to sit at the back of the bus, then we can talk about not making fun of them. They can't do both though, be equal and demand special accommodation.

If you're going to pretend that being insulted for your actions and being insulted for the color of your skin are the same thing, then you're going to continue to draw erroneous conclusions.

I'm getting comfortable for this thread!

What's the most telling here is that "Bush-bashing" was based entirely on the attributes of the man... his incurious nature, his mangling of the English language, his penchant for secrecy, his unwillingness to change his mind even when faced with new data... even jokes about his his "cowboy" image wasn't like Southern stereotypes, they were about the phony Aw-Shucks-Ma'am-I'm-The-Decider image he was actively TRYING to portray.

In contrast, what have Republicans come up with against Obama?

High melanin count.

If all you have to attack is his DNA, then either you have zero imagination or you can't find anything else to attack. (Possibly both.) Whether you can't find it because it isn't there or because you aren't clever enough to find it is left as an question you guys should probably answer yourself.

eddyatwork: Code_Archeologist: That would be an ingenious campaign tactic.

Not really. One of the reasons Kerry lost was he came across as too intellectual.

Too pompous, perhaps. Obama comes off as more intellectual than Kerry, IMO.

Crosshair: So if someone is a "dick" it's OK to make fun of them? If someone is a member of an "oppressed" group it's not OK? So who makes this determination of who and who isn't?

That is correct, because a person CHOOSES to be a dick. They may CHOOSE to stop being a dick if they like, and as such it is acceptable to shun and hurtfully mock such a person in an effort to influence them to CHOOSE not to be a dick.

A person cannot CHOOSE not to be black, gay, asian, female, white, etc, etc, etc. As such shunning and hurtfully mocking them for those qualities are unproductive and in essence destructive to the target, thus they are wrong.

Nobody chooses, it is a simple ethical formulation.
Are you mocking something that can be changed through personal action by the target of the mocking? If not, then what you are doing is wrong.

Bloody William: Making fun of what a person is, his race, his heritage, or any stereotypes relating to those aspects of him, especially if they call back upon a period of time in our nation (and world) where things were much worse and those aspects would have indeed made him oppressed: Unacceptable.

So you are saying that most of the stuff that was made against Bush was unacceptable too? (War mongering, gun toting Texan. Inbred redneck. Cabinet of retards. Retarded white guy. Elitist oil man. Big corporation lap dog. Etc.)

Once again, your double standard is showing like a neon sign. This is a godam joke we are talking about, not some KKK pamphlet.

If one group makes fun of you, make fun of them back. If you can't, take a Comedy 101 class and come up with some material. If you can't take a farking joke then you are going to have an really hard time in the real world.

Grow some thicker skin, take a joke, and move on.

Here is another joke, lets see if you can handle it without your head exploding.

Snarfangel: eddyatwork: Code_Archeologist: That would be an ingenious campaign tactic.

Not really. One of the reasons Kerry lost was he came across as too intellectual.

Too pompous, perhaps. Obama comes off as more intellectual than Kerry, IMO.

Have to agree, Kerry came across as "smarter and better", Obama came across as "smart but humble". And anti-intellectualism appears to be on the down curve now, as we are seeing the results of it.

drevil877: If you're going to pretend that being insulted for your actions and being insulted for the color of your skin are the same thing, then you're going to continue to draw erroneous conclusions.

It's not even a good of a joke. Obamas a mutt, just like me and most other people in this country. His heritage is more Caucasian and Arab than it is Black by quite a wide margin so really, the joke doesn't even fit him very well.

Crosshair: Bloody William: Making fun of what a person is, his race, his heritage, or any stereotypes relating to those aspects of him, especially if they call back upon a period of time in our nation (and world) where things were much worse and those aspects would have indeed made him oppressed: Unacceptable.

So you are saying that most of the stuff that was made against Bush was unacceptable too? (War mongering, gun toting Texan. Inbred redneck. Cabinet of retards. Retarded white guy. Elitist oil man. Big corporation lap dog. Etc.)

Actions, beliefs, and statements. Actions, beliefs, and statements. And nobody called Bush out for being "white" or used offensive "white" stereotypes.

Being pro-war, being anti-intellectualism, surrounding yourself with sycophantic yes-men, and shamelessly kowtowing to oil interests are choices. Frankly, they're almost everything that was wrong with Bush.

Kind of a big leap over to Obama where... they talk about watermelon. Why? Because he's black. That's it. Period. That's it. "Easter egg hunt's canceled, because the black president loves his watermelon!"

Once again, your double standard is showing like a neon sign. This is a godam joke we are talking about, not some KKK pamphlet.

If one group makes fun of you, make fun of them back. If you can't, take a Comedy 101 class and come up with some material. If you can't take a farking joke then you are going to have an really hard time in the real world.

If that's comedy to you... well, you must really love Carlos Mencia.

Snarfangel: If you gave everyone running for office an SAT, GRE, and ASVAB test, and then publicly reported the results next to their name on the ballot, it would be a lot more fun.

Throw in an LSAT, as well. They certainly should be able to pass the basics for getting into law school, no?

Then again, people would freak out about the "elitists" who dared do well on the tests....

Crosshair: His heritage is more Caucasian and Arab

LOLWUT?

Crosshair: Here is another joke, lets see if you can handle it without your head exploding.

That's a pretty racist and stupid ass joke.

And I bet you still don't see that, do you?

/Waiting for a certain racist TFer to wander into this thread.

Crosshair: It's not even a good of a joke. Obamas a mutt, just like me and most other people in this country. His heritage is more Caucasian and Arab than it is Black by quite a wide margin so really, the joke doesn't even fit him very well.

Caucasian and Arab? Ok, now by my above formulation I am now going to make fun of your shocking ignorance. Did you get this information from Stormfront, or did you make up that little "factoid" all by your self. Does it just make it easier to hate if he is not part black, but instead part "scary Arab"?

Nigeria (where his father comes from) is 99% African, there are in fact very few Arabs in Nigeria. Just because his father was Muslim also does not magically make him ethnically Arab.

enterprise213: This. I remember getting a mail with a pic of Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. in a fishing boat in downtown New Orleans right after Katrina. Bet no one was fired for that.

Uh, that's because the "fishing boat" joke was poking fun at Bush's perceived inaction after Katrina hit (cue Bush/McCain birthday cake photo.)

Crosshair: Basically this. This is no worse than the Bush bashing ones that have been going around. Good to see that eliminating double standards wasn't part of the "change" we were promised.

Were they being sent by *officials*, though?

My father sent me a bunch of anti-Obama, pro-McCain stuff [until I just started sending him things like the Biden/Palin macros off this site -- you guys helped me in life! Thanks!] but my father isn't the mayor of a city. He's just a guy in NY who likes bugging his daughters who disagree with him politically.

The mayor should have the common sense to know that he could be ruined by sending e-mails with racist undertones/connotations, and that there are plenty of people happy to do it. My father can't be ruined by that. He's a retired 70-year-old with some stupid thoughts. But he's not responsible for much more than upkeeping his house and going fishing at this point in his life.

It's not a matter of what the e-mail was or what was "worse," it's who sent it, really.

The picture from the email:

I see we're dutifully observing 2009 as the National Year of Desperate Pouty False Equivalence.

Walker: The picture from the email:

The best part is it isn't even remotely clever or well-done.

I've seen more amusing things posted here that someone threw together in a few minutes.

Code_Archeologist: A person cannot CHOOSE not to be black, gay, asian, female, white, etc, etc, etc.

Why did you put gay in there? You most certainly CAN choose to be gay.

jaylectricity: Why did you put gay in there? You most certainly CAN choose to be gay.

Whatever you say, sport.

The Onanist: enterprise213: This. I remember getting a mail with a pic of Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. in a fishing boat in downtown New Orleans right after Katrina. Bet no one was fired for that.

Uh, that's because the "fishing boat" joke was poking fun at Bush's perceived inaction after Katrina hit (cue Bush/McCain birthday cake photo.)

True. But it's funny how any and all Bush jokes are "poking fun", but any and all Obama jokes are racist. Double standard, my friend.

serpent_sky: Crosshair: Basically this. This is no worse than the Bush bashing ones that have been going around. Good to see that eliminating double standards wasn't part of the "change" we were promised.

Were they being sent by *officials*, though?

My father sent me a bunch of anti-Obama, pro-McCain stuff [until I just started sending him things like the Biden/Palin macros off this site -- you guys helped me in life! Thanks!] but my father isn't the mayor of a city. He's just a guy in NY who likes bugging his daughters who disagree with him politically.

The mayor should have the common sense to know that he could be ruined by sending e-mails with racist undertones/connotations, and that there are plenty of people happy to do it. My father can't be ruined by that. He's a retired 70-year-old with some stupid thoughts. But he's not responsible for much more than upkeeping his house and going fishing at this point in his life.

It's not a matter of what the e-mail was or what was "worse," it's who sent it, really.

This. I would imagine that public servants be held to a higher standard than the common folk. If it was just some joe schmoe sending this around, I could understand, but a fracking mayor?

jaylectricity: Why did you put gay in there? You most certainly CAN choose to be gay.

I suppose, theoretically -- but assuming you're not gay, are you going to go and just take it in the ass from a guy because you decided you wanted to? I don't think that's a choice, so much as finally admitting what you're into.

/probably just gave him a bite, but oh well.

enterprise213: but any and all Obama jokes are racist.

No, just the racist ones, my friend.

enterprise213: The Onanist: enterprise213: This. I remember getting a mail with a pic of Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. in a fishing boat in downtown New Orleans right after Katrina. Bet no one was fired for that.

Uh, that's because the "fishing boat" joke was poking fun at Bush's perceived inaction after Katrina hit (cue Bush/McCain birthday cake photo.)

True. But it's funny how any and all Bush jokes are "poking fun", but any and all Obama jokes are racist. Double standard, my friend.

Not any and all. For fark's sake, the only ones that are racist and called out for being racist are the ones that invoke racial stereotypes. How is that so farking hard to understand?

When did you ever hear:

"He always goes uh, uh, uh."
"RACIST!"

"He's a commie."
"RACIST!"

"His cabinet choices have been stupid."
"RACIST!"

You haven't. Stop biatching.

enterprise213: True. But it's funny how any and all Bush jokes are "poking fun", but any and all Obama jokes are racist. Double standard, my friend.

You see, not ALL Obama jokes are racist.

For example, the jokes about his smoking habit aren't racist at all.

/Do you seriously not see that??

serpent_sky: jaylectricity: Why did you put gay in there? You most certainly CAN choose to be gay.

I suppose, theoretically -- but assuming you're not gay, are you going to go and just take it in the ass from a guy because you decided you wanted to? I don't think that's a choice, so much as finally admitting what you're into.

/probably just gave him a bite, but oh well.

Prison rape.

jaylectricity: Prison rape.

Rape is not generally a choice. It's not really about sex at all, just power.

/Gave him another bite, oh well.

The Onanist: Rape is not generally a choice. It's not really about sex at all, just power.

Yeah, I guess.

The Onanist: /Gave him another bite, oh well.

If by bite you mean, "I have engaged him in conversation therefore making his reason for visiting a forum-based website come to fruition," then yes, you are correct. Not that I don't enjoy saying things while trying to be funny.