Palin hears rally attendee call Obama "n-word" during speech, keeps on truckin'.

RedShirt77

The shout is jumbled from an echo. I think it is making it sound like more syllables then it is.

It’s at 6:32 on this separate recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF8ZGo_DBeQ

Still sounds like the n-word to me.

Antinous

Various and sundry,

Wow. People really like typing that word. Titillating. The opportunity to use that forbidden word in polite company. It’s bad enough that anybody ever says it. Why is there such a need to repeat it over and over again? Do you have any idea what it might be like to read that word here if you had heard it yelled at you for your whole life? Do you have any idea what it might be like to read that word here if you had good reason to associate it with a credible threat of violence? Have a little compassion and common decency.

philipb

BTW, woogaboogawooga.com is still available, I’m thinking about squatting but you can probably beat me to it!

palindromic

#96, This was in Des Moines, and I promise you it would have been a big deal there if someone had shouted it.

I grew up in Ames and spent a lot of time in Des Moines with friends, I know the area.. I attended a Kerry rally there. We aren’t talking about backwoods southeast Iowa.. The woman in the crowd did not say the n-word, period. I guarantee someone in the crowd would have put her in her place if she did. Also, nobody else has picked up this story and several other audio angles all sound way more like ‘redistributor’.

At this point people are just hearing what they want to hear, which is sad. Remain skeptical, listen carefully.

Idylapple

I fear Sarah Palin in the White House like every other rational person, but I’ve given speeches in front of large crowds before and I wouldn’t have noticed someone shouting unless they were right behind me. And they’d have to be goosing me as well.

Let’s keep it real, folks. That way what we say will mean more.

sluggo

It is difficult to hear what individuals in the crowd are saying at such gatherings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnefSkKRzZQ

That said, Palin knew or suspected – It’s evident on her face. What is she going to do? If she misheard and corrects the person, she’ll look like a overreaching liberal to those on the fence. If she doesn’t mishear and corrects the person, she loses her white supremacist/right-wing ‘traditional’ racists.

To her credit, she probably did the best thing that she could, and was most prepared for – feign ignorance, keep the ‘plausible deniability’, and keep on truckin’.

And now for some fancy pageant walkin’…

buddy66

Lenny Bruce. Anybody remember Lenny Bruce?

Back when I used to hear the word in question a lot, my comrades and I in CORE, black and white, noted with sympathy his argument that EVERYBODY should constantly use the word; that we should greet each other thus; that we should shout it, chant it, sing it, use it over and over and over because . . .

Now, if you’ve never heard this, prepare to shed a tear:

“Then, maybe, just maybe, no six-year-old girl would ever again come home from school crying because somebody called her a nigger.”

Gets me every time.

zikzak

Censorship does this to people. Not being able to say certain words makes us want to say them. Most people experienced this phenomenon with words like “shit” and “fuck” as children. Why did we want to say those words so bad? Was it because we were really excited about the topics of excrement and sex? No, it’s both more complicated and much simpler than that. Mostly I think we were just excited about the words because they were forbidden.

This phenomenon happens with all kinds of forbidden stuff. Forbidden words, forbidden sex acts, forbidden foods or chemicals, forbidden locations…people get excited about them. It’s an inevitable consequence of forbidding it.

So, I dunno if people should say the extremely offensive word “——” or not, but it should be acknowledged that saying “n-word” does contribute to this forbidden effect, causing other people to be even more excited about it. It certainly seems safer to say “n-word”, but we owe ourselves a serious examination of what it does to our minds when we adopt “n-word” as a permanent modification of white peoples’ language.

For example, the most disturbing thing I’m seeing here is the belief that self-censoring a particular word is somehow showing respect and anti-racism towards black people. This falls in the same category as the “I have black friends!” take on racism. You’re still racist even if you use prettier words about it. In fact, prettying up our language for the express reason of seeming less racist is, in a way, more offensive.

It’s the same way it pisses us off when Palin says “I love diversity, I have a very diverse group of friends.” Bullshit, she’s just trying to take credit for being tolerant so she can keep playing the same old game. Similarly, openly acknowledging our role as individual white people in the oppression of black and brown people is very very important, and euphemisms like “the n-word” are often used as a dodge to avoid confronting the fact that yes, no matter what you call “those people”, you too are a white oppressor.

Johnny Cat

I heard Redistributor. Or maybe is was “The sheriff is near!”

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Just make sure you smile while you’re doing it, and offer them some chocolate afterward.

PJG

It’s interesting that no one reacts to the woman’s comment but the second Palin brings up the idea of the government ‘taking care of us’, the barest hint of leftyism and Oh noes! the crowd is all over that. What kind of screwed up people show up to these rallies?

Keeper of the Lantern

OK. I say that, after the election, all Americans should boycott any produce or items coming made in states that vote for MkKane and Palin.

More importantly, we should exert pressure within our states to prevent any more Federal dollars going into those states: Not for army bases, not for infrastructure, only perhaps for education.

They don’t like ‘socialist’-style government? Good. Let’s see to it that they get what they want.

And, oh yeah, we don’t want their tax money either: They can keep it, but I’d bet that just like in the last election, the Red States are all net receivers of federal dollars.

pduggie

I guess Sarah Palin is responsible for the n-bomb being dropped at anti-proposition 8 rallys too:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8077

Antinous

Was she speaking at the rally? Or are you juxtaposing several unrelated events to make a point?

I went to an anti-Prop 8 rally this evening. There didn’t seem to be any racial tensions and the speakers at the rally emphasized the importance of solidarity between movements for racial equality and gay rights. But there’s no denying that there’s scuttlebutt that first-time voters who turned out for Obama also voted in favor of Prop 8. Whether or not it’s true, I would like to state unequivocally that African-Americans are not our enemy. In fact one of the points that was repeated while we were swarming the Mormon church was that Mormons didn’t accept black people into the church until 1978. We have the same enemies.

On a lighter note, there were 500-plus demonstrators and one counter-demonstrator from the Mormon church. She had really big hair.

snagglepuss

I dunno. Sounds like the N word to me…

What bothers me about the Palin defenders train of thought doesn’t seem to take into account the video we’ve all seen of her CLEARLY hearing people in the audience that are heckling HER, and stopping in mid-speech to dress them down – but this N-word clod…”Oh, maybe Palin didn’t HEAR her…” – after the other videos, that argument doesn’t wash…

dhuff

Anyone surprised that this was finally caught on tape, given the character of the Republican Party’s base ?

:: crickets ::

minTphresh

mmmm, chocolate.

IamInnocent

I’d like to take advantage of the occasion which is given to me to congratulate that unsung hero, the BB member who does not post a message that he knows is not contributing anything or, even better, does not make much sense.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Jean

E0157H7

Palin and her crowd of submutants used to enrage me, but now it’s more like listening to someone when they’re really drunk, not making any sense and trying to pick a fight with a coat rack. It’s kind of hard to take offense when something has achieved the Zen-like state of stunning self-parody.

Scarybug

This is pure pareidolia. Watch it with your eyes closed so you don’t read the N word, and it’s barely intelligible. If you expect to hear the word “Redistributor” you will. It kind of even sounds like “meteor” to me. Much of speech recognition is done by lip reading. When you can’t see someone’s mouth move, dropping text on the screen is a good way to make us hear a different word. Especially if you tell us to hear it ahead of time. It’s just how the human brain works.

Of course this “redistribution of wealth” BS the McCain camp is trying to spread is pretty disgusting. As if closing tax loopholes for corps who ship jobs overseas is marxism!

zuzu

@101 Zikzak

What is your fascination with my forbidden closet of mystery?

doomslang

@#30
I guess you posted a fake video or something? I noticed a more obvious flaw…she’s not even standing in front of the same background!

The video posted on Boing Boing has her saying:
“Barack Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes. The lessons I believe we have taught our kids would start to erode…”

In the one you posted she says:
“…Big Government agenda in all three House, Senate, White House. The lessons I believe we have taught our kids would start to erode…”

(aside: Wow she really is just such a terrible speaker…it’s always just a bunch of keywords all jumbled up)

zuzu

@106 ScaryBug

Well, first of all, we have an enormous problem that is not going to be solved by the government. What youâ€™re seeing right now is politicians taking your money and redistributing it upward. And our whole national myth is that we take from those with a lot and give to those down below. Thatâ€™s not what goes on. Thatâ€™s what my books have shown, from the official government data. This is a transfer of wealth and income: five percent of the yearâ€™s economy to essentially wealthy bankers and, to some degree, customers of theirs.

And, of course, there is no such thing as deregulation. Everything has rules. Think about baseball, which is a trivial, a fun activity. Baseball regulates how many stitches are on the baseball. And all deregulation has meant for the last thirty years is new rules that favor those with the most money.

– David Cay Johnston

Johnny Cat

Well said #34. It’s really gotten to the point of watching a cornered animal try to eke out some kind of leverage to escape or conquer, also.

anachronismo

@ #24: Pretending for a second that the person actually said the n-word, you really think ostracizing the person is going to make her lose credibility with the white racist vote? Who else are they going to vote for? (Maybe Bob Barr, but they wouldn’t give up the chance to vote against Obama by voting McCain)

That’s like saying Obama would lose credibility with black voters if he chastised a supporter who called Palin a cracker-bitch.

Tordelback

Frankly the clip as a whole is more horrifying than any half-heard racial epithet. She sounds like a teenaged me giving a school debating speech that I hadn’t prepared beyond a few phrases scribbled semi-legibly on an envelope. And teenaged me really wasn’t ready for high office.

Scarybug

@108 zuzu

What’s your point?

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

You swarmed a Mormon church? Cool!

zuzu

@109 TordelBack

Teenaged me would have been totally badass in high office.

Caroline

Obama won Iowa, and frankly in this particular campaign most of the public craziness has been from his most overheated supporters.

*pfffffffff* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, that’s rich. That’s so rich. You said that with a straight face. That’s hilarious.

sammich

Teresa @ 143 – can’t blame you for introducing the third word, with the way I’ve seen it used here…
But in the probably vain hope of getting this in under the wire – apart from bundles of kindling twigs, here in the UK that word also refers to meatballs, in particular Mr Brain’s F*****s – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2698507.stm – such a comedic loss to the halloween season.

mikelotus

I listened with my eyes closed. I have no idea what she said. And I wanted to hear what was said here, so let’s leave this to the Daily Kos please. They do it so much better.

zuzu

Scarybug, in reference to you saying:

Of course this “redistribution of wealth” BS the McCain camp is trying to spread is pretty disgusting.

although, I thought this part was obviously a parroted talking point, one with classist / nationalist undertones:

As if closing tax loopholes for corps who ship jobs overseas is marxism!

(emphasis added)

In summary, stealing is always wrong, but especially when Robin Hood steals from the poor to give to the rich. Just stop stealing.

We need rules that don’t favor anybody over anybody else, including on the basis of citizenship.

sammich

Blessed are the cheesemakers.

Takuan

I listened very carefully. Two syllable word. About what any Palin supporter can handle.

Ned613

The woman yelling off-camera could be an agent provocateur.

sammich

Like ‘terrist’?

Takuan

aww! po, po by-gots!
http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/mormons-and-catholics-upset-being-tar

zjmna

I’ve listened carefully, and I hear whichever I’m listening for, as I’m sure most people would. I’d like to say such a racist outbreak is unlikely and fall on the side of “redistributor,” but it really seems impossible to tell from the recording. I would say that, had the comment been that inflammatory, the crowd would have reacted (either positively or negatively), and their lack of any response makes it likely the comment was more benign.

But again, I really can’t tell from the clip itself.

se7a7n7

Maybe she said “He’s a Visitor”, perhaps being a South Park reference.

erissian

#38: Maybe the woman follows her around waiting for a chance to yell that.

#34: Obviously, white people sit around all day and wait for their chance to whisper it in relevant conversation.

Also, I’m guessing, the disemvowelment is probably automatic for certain phrases.

Scarybug

#113 zuzu

Taxes aren’t stealing. Everyone needs to pay their fair share, unless we privatize every singe public service in the country, including the military, road maintenance, education, police, courtrooms, and legislature. These people work for us so we need to pay them. (We also get to fire them when they do a crappy job, or at least fire the people who appointed them)

Sometimes we give tax breaks to companies who help our economy. This is ok if the company is actually helping our economy, but outsourcing is not good for the economy. It eliminates jobs. Therefore we should provide tax incentives for these companies to keep jobs here. Right now we’re not doing that, and it’s a mistake. Call it nationalist if you want. We can me more generous to overseas economies after we fix our own.

Now, if you believe all taxes are stealing, I doubt I’m going to convince you of anything. But good luck finding a tax-free country in your lifetime.

Antinous

the next mormons at my door are getting a very special reception.

My special reception scares them more than yours.

demidan

Thanks Antinous! I would like to offer you a Laurel and Hardy handshake,,,,

JacobDavis

I’m kinda glad she stuttered instead of taking the McCain route and saying something like, “No, no ma’am, he’s not a n*, he’s a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.”

The best way to deal with most trolls is to ignore them. I’m glad she didn’t dignify that jackass with a response.

CopyrightMe

Bullshit. I saw the original clip on CNN.com. This has been tampered with.

mortis

#24: i love you. it’s twu, it’s twu!

^m^

wadjet

I’m getting to this a little late, but THANK YOU xibala for comment #88. You put into words something I felt was right but could never articulate.

Phikus

I’ll bet they were quakin’ in their boots. =D

Anonymous

Redistributor… that’s funny. Conservatives are creatively bankrupt. At least they should’ve come up with a 3, or even a 4-syllable replacement word–but not 5! It’s definitely the ‘n’ word. And though Palin hesitates for a moment, we can’t know for sure she heard it.

Teller

#134. That slowed-down version is helpful, but I still can’t tell if I’m being prompted to hear the word typed out on the screen or what.

djordan

#24:
I lol’d hard.

travispulley

I think she called obama a WINNER!

Either way, I still find Palin’s actual speech to be more offensive.

Takuan

I hope this clip goes viral with various “correct” soundtracks.

dbtayag

I think the female in the crowd screamed that Obama was a nagger. You know, people who annoy you.

Phikus

PALINDROMIC@141: “The woman in the crowd did not say the n-word, period…Remain skeptical…”

Remain skeptical unless we draw your same conclusions, you seem to be saying. Excuse us while we don’t buy your contradictory and obviously biased opinion, despite your protestations to the contrary. There are plenty of other independently verified instances of this happening as a great deal of closet racism has been brought to the surface by the hate and ignorance being whipped up at Palin froth-fests all across the nation.

With eyes closed, on professional headphones, and with the section looped over and over using professional audio editing software (Digital Performer) this musician’s ear clearly hears the racial epithet. Why don’t you heed your own advice and apply a little skepticism that this could be true?

Takuan

can we make the Moderation Guidelines more like CalvinBall?

Nick D

Does it matter whether she and her supporters actually use the word “nigger”? Palin’s speeches are blatantly intended to arouse hatred and paranoia toward Obama, and that’s an incredibly reckless and immoral thing to do.

She’s whipping up rage toward Obama and by extension all the people she claims are just waitin’ in the wings, poised to overrun us like the rats in those Nazi movies about Jews.

She’s warning her supporters in code about darkies, terrorists, communists (coyly referred to as “socialists”), atheists, and anyone else her blinkered worldview deems other and therefore threatening. It’s the most cynical and desperate kind of mob baiting, and the possibly tragic results should be laid squarely at her door if they occur.

BTW: can we stop saying “the N-word” and “n*****” and just use the word “nigger” like grownups, please?

Xeni Jardin

@Nick, that is not a word I choose to write or speak, unless doing so were absolutely necessary for some informational purpose. It’s a personal decision, and I don’t owe the world an explanation for it. It’s what I feel is responsible conduct for me personally, and that decision doesn’t get in the way of my telling a story, reporting news, or relating something that matters to me on my blog as I did here. We don’t have a site-wide policy about whether the word can appear in comments, but I’m saddened that so many people jump into threads like this, as you seem to have done, with the apparent gleeful intent of “speaking” that word. It’s like — sometimes, white people get a charge out of saying or writing it, and they’re just waiting for an opportunity to do so in a forum where they’ll be forgiven. I don’t know what our policy should be, but I find that behavior shameful and sad.

elmlish

Definitely not “He’s a Redistributor!” No, sad to say, upon repeated listening, it really really sounds like the infamous word of badness which would be impolite for me to say due to my near phosphorescently-pale complexion.
This campaign and the crazy stuff coming out of the Palin McCain camps (there are two of them according to Mrs. P), feels almost anachronistic. The smears, the very visible racism. I’m seeing a portion of our country stuck in the middle of the last century: McCarthyism, In-Your-Face racism… it’s really weird. McCain is a small angry man and a giant leap backwards for mankind.

rengra

#4 pstr s dd-n. W hv n d f Pln ws bl t hr th rg vc. Ths s nt vry bng-bng.

‘m gttng lttl trd f th pltcl rnts tht r n-sdd nd dd lttl t th dscssn.

Bng bng sms hll-bnt n trng dwn McCn-Pln, bt nvr psts th thr sd f th stry. D y ll rlly thnk tht Rpblcns r th nly stpd vtrs?

wld LV t s Bng Bng pst smthng lk ths, shwng stpd Bm spprtrs wh blv tht bm s pr-lf, pr-styng n rq, nd vn wrs… Jst wtch th lnk blw r ggl Hwrd Strn bm spprtrs n ytb.

http://www.ytb.cm/wtch?v=b5p3B6rg&ftr=rltd

Bt f crs bng bng wn’t pst t.Bt f t wr bt Rpblcn vtrs, wll, hv lttl dbt tht thy wld.

igpajo

Zz n pst #83, qtd Ls CK’s bt n th wrd. Xn nd Nck’s xchng md m thnk f th nxt cpl f lns f Ls’s bt:

[qt]“t’s Bllsht bcs whn y sy ‘th n-wrd’ y pt th wrd ‘nggr’ n th lstnr’s hd. Tht’s wht syng th wrd s. Y sy ‘th n-wrd’ nd g ‘h, sh mns nggr’. Nw y’r mkng [b]m[/b] sy t n my hd. Why dn’t y fckng sy t nstd nd tk rspnsblty. [/qt]

Nt rppng n Xn s sh’s fr t d wht sh wnts. Bt tnd t ht th s f th “N-wrd”. t’s nt rlly cnsrng r hdng th wrd t ll. Stll pts th wrd t thr. Stll pts th wrd n th lstnr’s r rdr’s hd.

Jackasimov

I don’t really hear the “N-word” but I definitely don’t hear “redistributor.”

This kind of thing isn’t really doing us any favors. It’s just grasping at straws. I say we leave that to the those who are about to lose an election.

Keeper of the Lantern

Well, I continue to be completely creeped out by the kind of sublife that crawl into MkKane and Palin appearances. They apparently feel quite at home amongst the republikkkans and no wonder.

Nick D

Xeni: how you feel about the word is your business.

How I feel about it is it’s just another word. Fetishizing it doesn’t help anyone, it just makes the word more powerful.

As for your implying that I get some kind of a kick out of using the word, I can only say that that is a despicable thing to say to anyone, and if I had the same kind of fear of words that you do, I would demand an apology from you. But I don’t, so I won’t.

Xeni Jardin

@Nick D, I’m gonna take a wild guess here that you’re not a black person, and have never heard the word used to describe you in a hateful way. I don’t feel like I’m entitled to use it, I’m not afraid of words, nor am I obligated to defend my choices. You’re free to do otherwise, but I don’t know that we want to encourage conversations on Boing Boing that devolve into an excuse for people to type a word that carries a big emotional payload. Sort of like Godwin’s law — we all lose, and it just gets stupid really fast.

If you’re uncomfortable with this, we are not keeping you here. You are not owed an apology, or a refund.

zuzu

We can me more generous to overseas economies after we fix our own.

This is not mutually exclusive. Jobs are not zero-sum.

Therefore we should provide tax incentives for these companies to keep jobs here. Right now we’re not doing that, and it’s a mistake. Call it nationalist if you want.

It’s nationalist and classist. You’re making citizenship (or lack thereof) into an economic caste system. This is wrong, both morally and according to fundamental economic analysis.

schwartz

gffdsg

zuzu

Well, I continue to be completely creeped out by the kind of sublife that crawl into MkKane and Palin appearances. They apparently feel quite at home amongst the republikkkans and no wonder.

Useful idiots?

metafactory

Watching this from north of the 49th is truly amazing. I agree with others that this is an embarrassing and lowly bit of culture gazing (if that’s what it is).

Doesn’t anyone find it ironic that you can barely understand what the shouting woman said (and I find it entirely plausible that Palin didn’t discern it either) yet someone’s gone to lengths to produce a video that flashes the ‘n’ word over and over again, whipping democrats up into a righteous fury.

Sorry if that sounds smug. But seriously folks this really lowers the bar.

Nick D

Th nly mtnl hyprbl ‘m sng hr s frm y.

Y dn’t knw thng bt m. Wht knw bt y s tht y cll strngrs rcsts t th drp f ht. Myb y shld mdrt yr lngg bt, nd stp bng s jdgmntl nd slf-rghts.

Foolster41

You have to think. “What would I do in the situation?” Personally, even if I did hear the word being said clearly, think I would just go on, and as the saying goes “not dignify it with a response”. So, like her or hate her I don’t see how she did anything wrong.

Well, I suppose I might say “I’m not dignifying that with a response.” but isn’t that actually responding? :P :D

Lea Hernandez

Palin heard nggr. She has a consistent behavior of losing all her wheels and going off into “and, uh…peace aaaand…FREEDOM…!” tangents when something’s thrown at her that she can’t handle, like tricky Katie Courick questions, or someone shouting something so inappropriate. She looks afraid.
I’ve been enjoying the Sarah Failin’ Show, but I think here she just didn’t know what to do, not that she agrees. She looked upset, not amused or smirky.
I’ll be interested to see if she addresses this, though. It’s yet another chance to be a stand-up person. Let’s see if she takes it.

schwartz

Sorry I’m not sure about the appropriate avenue for this: was my last post deleted? I’m not trying to be fussy but I am curious.

Noelegy

It’s a foul word to be sure, but why even give the shouter the small bit of attention required to call him out on it?

FoetusNail

I heard he’s a n—-r!

The problem is this is not an isolated event. There have been numerous videos of Palin supporters hollering hate filled code words before and during rallies, including a call to kill him at the rally in Clearwater, FL.

Maybe if this was an isolated event she could be excused for not dignifying the remark with a response, but at this point this crap is becoming SOP at Republican rallies, with neither candidate saying a damn thing. Oh, I’m sorry, McCain did say one thing, which ended up confirming supporters views of Arabs, Obama isn’t an Arab he’s a decent family man. So, even when they do say something they still fan the flames of hatred.

Even if she were to ignore this crap during the rally, one would hope she would make some sort of public statement condeming these hate filled comments. Instead they keep whipping up the crowds with fear mongering rallies and TV ads.

jimbuck

I’m not a Palin fan, but there’s nothing here. Really, if she had shouted out the n word, people around her would have reacted. Whatever the person said, Palin didn’t hear it. I played it 10x and couldn’t make it out.

Lynn1314

just soso

I don’t konw much about her ,I’m Chinese .

metafactory

re: the disemvoweling of #60

“Quick let’s edit out dissent before it looks like anyone thinks differently than us!”

Xeni (or whoever edited it) that last act of disemvoweling was petty. Of course I know this is your playground and you make the rules and if we don’t like it we can go somewhere else etc. etc. But what can I say? It was petty.

zikzak

@ scarybug: Not to range insanely off-topic, but I imagine Zuzu’s objection is not to the idea of paying for things collectively, but the idea of forcing people to pay for things under threat of violence. And being mandatory is sort of an inherent part of taxes – you know, “death and taxes”.

Lauren O

Okay, look, she may not be saying the n-word, but she is certainly not saying “redistributor.” The emphasis is on the wrong syllables. She would have to be saying “redistri-BITT-er.” Plus when people shout things at rallies, they shout primal, emotional, easy-to-understand things, slogans and catchphrases and the like. Not polysyllabic words that aren’t used in everyday speech.

Context means fuck-all to blatant racists. You can’t say she didn’t use the n-word because it’s a non-sequitur. To anyone who would use that word like that, it’s not a non-sequitur. To anyone who would use that word like that, anything wrong with Obama’s ideology stems directly from the fact that he’s black.

I’m not sure it’s possible to know if Palin heard it correctly or at all, but it seems to me from the way she falters then presses on that she heard it. I’d be more inclined to forgive her for not responding (inexperience and being flustered) if McCain hadn’t just set a precedent by telling that lady that Obama isn’t an evil Arab. (Of course he did so in a way that implied Arabs can’t be decent family men, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.)

mdh

I think Zuzu’s point is that a bunch of people who redistribute wealth up (let’s call them republicans) are calling another bunch of people wo want to redistribute wealth down (Democrats) on wanting to redistribute wealth at all.

It’s accusing you opponent of your own biggest flaw before he/she can point it out.

It’s all they have done for 40 years.

Anonymous

As an Iowan, I’m greatly offended by the woman who yelled that, as I am sure my family and friends are. Don’t be fooled by the fact that this happened in Iowa, there are plenty of good, intelligent people in the state. When I moved to California, Californians had nothing but polite things to say about Iowans who had moved to their fair state. Yes, there are hicks and knuckledraggers, and it’s not the center of much of anything, but Iowa is a place of good people.

Made in DNA

palindromic

Nobody said the “n-word”, there was no reaction from the crowd. This is in Iowa, I’m from Iowa, there would have been a LOT of angry shouting in the crowd (even a Republican one) had she yelled that word. I honestly think someone tampered with the audio on the posted video, because the other one posted (with audio at 6:32) doesn’t even sound close to the n-word. Or it was just a very unfortunate echo, audio anomaly. This is silly.

JacobDavis

Baaaw, hiss, boo, this blog isn’t exactly what I, a person who contributes nothing to it, want it to be! The writers make no claims about being centrists or being politically balanced, yet I keep expecting them to post things condemning the causes they support! Woe unto me!
…
Of course it’s one-sided. The contributors here write according to their own views. This isn’t a “news” site or a Fair and Balanced Fox political blog.

I’m now inclined to agree with the “redistributor” thing. The jaded part of me that wants to believe the Palin camp harbors and embraces such people is looking for the n-word, but that’s just not what it sounds like.

Here’s a link to other audio, via DailyKos.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/28/05234/591

I would hope that even if you don’t buy the “redistributor” bit, you could at least agree the the shout is unintelligible. Real vitriol, like the recently post video of people at a rally suggesting Obama is a terrorist, that’s something to get outraged at. But this? Meh.

mwells

Maybe she yelled “he’s a sinner!”

siradambeck

I am 99% sure I will never vote for anyone from her party, and I think her nomination is a joke but…

I can cut her some serious slack here. If I were in her shoes, I would have done the exact same thing. She was completely immersed and focused on her speech. On the audio it’s hard to distinguish what was yelled. What if she tried to acknowledge it and it turns out something completely different was yelled out? THAT would be funny.

However, this is insight into the kind of people who are showing up to support her.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

There are only two words you can’t say on Boing Boing (soon to go up to three), and you guys can’t keep track of them?

Try harder.

Why we don’t use those words on Boing Boing:

The biggest reason is because it’s nearly impossible for one of those words to get used in an online conversation without having the thread collapse into stupidity and reflexive bad manners shortly thereafter. It doesn’t matter how intelligently or appropriately the word is used. Just having it there on the page is enough to do the damage.

Saying “the n-word” doesn’t produce that effect. If you dislike having to use the euphemism, well, tough. I care a lot more about having good conversations here than I care about letting one of you use a word that has the magic power to turn things stupid.

If you think this constitutes intolerable censorship, and that you should be able to say whatever you want, to anyone you want, in any context, then what I know about you is that ~~you’re~~ you’re very probably affluent, straight, white, and male. You don’t belong in any of the categories targeted by the words you can’t say on Boing Boing.

The people who do fall into those categories already live in a world where there are plenty of things they can’t say unless they’re looking for trouble. Non-coincidentally, they don’t have what you have: a single word they can throw at you that means, “The category you belong to has no rights I am bound to respect. You’re fair game, and you will never be completely safe, no matter what you do or how long you live.”

Which, by the way, is why it’s different when they use the word on each other. In that context, the word isn’t an automatic assertion of superiority on the part of the speaker. They’re both in the category of people who can have that word thrown at them in earnest. It makes a huge difference.

ROT13 is a simple method for encoding text to make it unreadable. This is a ROT13 conversion utility. Use it to read what I’m about to say.

The three words you can’t say on Boing Boing are avttre, snttbg, and phag. I added snttbg to the list just today.

There are only two exceptions to the rule. First exception: you can use one of those words if you’re a Boinger. It’s their weblog. Second exception: you may use one of those words if you’re quoting something genuinely worth quoting that needs to be said, and that’s also appropriate to the thread.

If you go out of your way to find occasions to use one, we’ll notice.

Phikus

PDUGGIE, PALINDROMIC & others: “Interesting how Palin is suhc (sic) a litmust (sic) test for everyone seeing what they expect to see.”

Wow, you’ve got an explanation to your subjective listening there as an attempt at a defense.

Listen to this version of the same video posted here before anyone pointed that out. I’ve checked it out on headphones and the phrase is plainly heard. I’m here to tell you, it ain’t “redistributor” and it ain’t pretty.

She plainly hears it. Watch w/o the text. She stutters, repeating the word “and” twice, and then plows right on through like she’s used to this being shouted at her rallies, because it HAS BEEN. How many McCain points did you apologists make for this effort?

Xeni: I love your use of …keeps on truckin’!

JOHNATHAN V@15: Yes, either of those are exactly what any decent person would have and what she should have done.

Oh, and ANTINOUS@23: FTW!

MichaelRN

Only if I’m allowed to play 11th base.

zuzu

Zikzak, yes, you’re correct. But that’s tangential to the issue I wanted to address — which was itself already a tangent to this article and the issue of discrimination generally.

Specifically I wanted to underscore that we’ve had socialism for the rich for at least 8 years if not 30 or more. If there’s one meme I’m glad to see popularized, it’s the problem of big business having “their losses socialized while keeping their profits privatized”.

(Though I would argue for losses to be kept private — and let shitty businesses fail — rather than profits to be socialized.)

This is why I quoted David Cay Johnston. “Regulation” is not a dial that can be set from 1 or 10 for a little or alot. What’s often referred to as “deregulation” as a causal factor in our economic crisis is more honestly “re-regulation” — changing the rules (of government force) for a transfer of wealth from poor / “middle-class” to the already rich.

Transfer of wealth (i.e. redistribution) is always disruptive to economic coordination, but it’s especially cruel when it delivers artificial excess wealth to the already wealthy at the expense of people less well off.

Let’s try ending this socialism for the rich first, and then see if people really need socialism for the middle-class. Or if the middle-class only seemed to need socialism because they were getting so screwed by the socialism for the rich.

idl1975

I’m not personally any variety of Palin fan, but even assuming the recording shows what the “headline” says, I can’t fault her. She’s making a speech in front of a lot of people. Assuming she has heard it, the shouted comment is unexpected and way out of left field. I can absolutely understand her not knowing how to address it. How much of the audience also heard it? Is she sure she heard it herself? Is this person a nutcase (I mean the severely mentally ill, not just racist nutjob) or a planted heckler looking to trip her up? The safest thing is to keep going.

I really don’t think most of the folks criticizing her here and elsewhere would have done any better – they’ve just imagined after the fact all the brilliant things they _would_ have said (and then posted them on their Kos page).

There’s more than enough real stuff to criticise her for without having to insinuate she’s an overt racist. It seems sort of like criticizing Bush for his inability to speak English, instead of focusing on all the dead brown people and the abolishment of procedural due process.

Takuan

always with the sweet reason, why can’t we just hit them instead?

hobomike

You know, what’s shocking to me is that no one kicked her ass for it. I mean, I didn’t even hear a groan from the audience. Now, maybe I’m one of the liberal, pansy, coastal, fake Americans (ok, I am) but pretty much everywhere I’ve lived in America, if you shouted “——” in a crowd, someone WILL kick your ass.

And it might just be me.

Scarybug

@127 mdh
Well I certainly agree with that, but I don’t think it’s his point. I think he’s upset because my mean-ol’ isolationism is keeping malaysian six-year olds from earning an honest days pay.

@123 zuzu
Look, I’m all for an american company paying a non-american to do any job, so long as they pay that person exactly the same amount they would pay an american of equal experience. The problem is that the cost of living differs in different places, so the incentive is for companies to pay less for the same amount of work. The global free market would be great if everyone had the same labor laws, safety regulations, etc. Economic caste system!? We have that now! Paying a man $2.50 a day in indonesia to stitch shoes and then selling them for insane markup is unfair to him, and it’s unfair to the US economy.

We have a trade deficit, we have massive debt and a budget deficit. It’s ok to promote a strong local economy. Playing nice with the global economy has only made a few americans very very rich, while inflicting poverty on more people than ever. That’s an economic caste system!

buddy66

”Redistributor”? I can’t believe it was seriously meant as an imprecation. It’s worthy of Monty Python or Tommy Smothers. No wonder people thought they heard something else. What kind of a flake would come up with a word like that?

eclectro

What i don’t get is the bit how blacks can use the “n-word” when referring to eachother, but white people are not allowed to use it at all. Hmmm, is this really equality??

Nelson.C

Takuan @178: One hopes that he’ll be as good as humanly possible, and if he can’t manage that, at least not burn another three trillion dollars and another million lives.

palindromic

Okay.. most everyone on DailyKOS (the site that broke this story) now agrees that taken from various other sources, slowed down, analyzed, and also IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WAS ACTUALLY BEING SAID BY PALIN, “hard work, being rewarded” then.. “REDISTRIBUTOR!”

Also, there was no reaction from the crowd like “OHHHHHHHHH” which there WOULD HAVE BEEN, BECAUSE PEOPLE DON’T YELL THAT WORD IN DES MOINES IOWA AND NOT GET A NEGATIVE REACTION.

This is embarrassing to even have to explain.. just admit you’re wrong and take down or ammend this ridiculous video. Nobody else has picked this up, you’re wrong. Sorry, but you are. Nobody said that word. EOS.

If you still don’t agree, fine, enjoy your fake news story. Welcome to the Daily Show.. my name is REDISTRIBUTOR.

neurolux

“I said, The president’s a ni–!”DONGGGGGGGGGGG

(Blazing Saddles, get it?)

igpajo

I’m curious, after reading much more offensive and annoying posts in this thread, why my post (#122) was disemvowelled. Was it perhaps because I quoted the rest of the Louis CK bit on the N-word that was more relevant to the topic than what Zuzu had posted? I posted that text because I felt what Zuzu posted was a bit out of context when coupled with the rest Louis’ bit. But whatever. You guys are getting a little sensitive with the cutlery IMO.
Probably disemvowel this one too.

klg19

@73: Welcome to 400 years of American history.

Do you REALLY not get it? Or are you trolling?

zuzu

Are you saying that the so called “free trade” we’ve had is the problem, but you have some kind of magical new “free trade” that will fix everything? I think we both agree that the so called “free trade” we have now isn’t free. (It’s Socialism for the Rich)

The so-called “free trade” we have today, such as with many “free trade agreements” still include a boatload of quotas, tariffs, and have synergistic damaging effects when combined with domestic subsidies (e.g. agriculture, and the WTO Green Box, aka dumping).

Yes people who make less need the money more, but it’s unfair to pay them less than the value of their work, just because we can get away with it. You’re right I shouldn’t be 100% against outsourcing. I’ll change my opinion if the associated problems with it are addressed. Let’s tariff wage discrepancies. If you pay $2.50/day for a job worth $60/day, pay a $57.5/day tariff on it. That way, you might as well pay the overseas worker $60/day and avoid the tariff. Now you can decide who to hire based on their qualifications. Yay!

No, sorry, you don’t know what “the value of their work” is except at the moment of transaction. Sewing shoes really is worth $1/hr if someone in the world is desperate and capable enough to agree to that exchange.

The concepts of “inherent value” or a “labor theory of value” are demonstrably wrong.

Real Free Trade (the “magical new kind”) requires elimination of all quotas, tariffs, and subsidies — allowing everyone to enjoy the benefits of a free port / Free economic zone.

The current global economy is a pyramid scheme. A few people at the top are impoverishing the rest of the world. I do not believe that a truly free market would be a panacea any more that I believe in pure socialism.

That power pyramid of wealth transfer is largely derived from regulatory capture, and this includes NGOs such as the WTO, IMF, OECD, and World Bank.

This also includes the problem of regulatory hegemony, euphemized as “harmonisation” — which is actually what you seem to be championing.

klg19

Teresa, that is one beautiful speech. Thank you.

Takuan

I hereby call time-out on the Blazing Saddles joke. We don’t want it ruined for future use.

palindromic

Also read the end of the comments thread of the diary from DKOS.

“Also, the speaker shows no hesitancy or awkwardness, such as you’d expect of someone who was yelling something as strange as “redistributor.”

And you will see why that word is what the media have quietly concluded was said. It’s what McCain and Palin are saying in attack-mode _every single time they speak in public_. Just think, why wouldn’t this be a story somewhere else other than boingboing or dailykos? Think about it.

Also actually listen to the slowed down version, close your eyes and think about the word “redistributor” .. there is no hard g sound. I’m just embarrassed for you and this website for this to be up, that’s all. I like boingboing. I’d like to hear Hodgman ring in on this if you don’t trust my layman’s opinion. I’m willing to bet you money he will agree with me.

mdh

knuckledraggers? you bet’cha!

Anonymous

The world stands and holds it’s breadth that this ignorant woman is not elected next week.

Takuan

perhaps. Now the meta-truth; Palin, McCain, the Republican Machine are all continually yelling that word with every act, word and deed. How many non-white faces at that convention?

ill lich

I recall seeing this clip yesterday before the epithet was identified, and rewound it a few times to figure out what was being yelled. I’m still not sure if “n!&&er” is indeed what is being yelled out, however it’s more likely than “he’s a redistributor!” which sounds implausible and ridiculous. You might as well claim “Oh, she simply said ‘Tigger’. . . like from Winnie The Pooh!”

Considering that at least two assassination attempts by racists have been stopped, and that there are race-baiting techniques being used by various right-wing operatives, why are we that surprised that someone finally shouted “n!&&er” out?

Is there anybody who was at the rally who can verify what was shouted out?

Scarybug

@129 zuzu

I agree 100% with everything you said in that post. “End socialism for the rich” was what I thought I was saying with “close tax loopholes”.

I do hate when politicians keep saying they fight for the middle class, though. All Americans see themselves as middle class. It’s the working class and the working poor that need our help. The middle-class will be alright (by definition)

So I wouldn’t let my aversion to “Socialism” prevent me from supporting social programs. As long as those programs are actually beneficial to the less well-off, and help them get back on their feet. Also, I think we should have police and public schools. I guess that’s “socialism for the middle class” right?

minTphresh

one of the oddest things i’ve encountered on this campaign is that one of mccain’s chief rally organizers is a muslim! my poor little head just about spun off it’s axis for a sec there. indeed one couldn’t make this crap up. i wonder if other muslims consider him like an “uncle tom”?

Takuan

out of curiosity: what IS the percentage of “white” people in Alaska?

ed_g

Personally, I’m not sure if it’s a duck or a rabbit.

GeekMan

This just goes to show you that while everyone makes gaffes now and then, it takes a real class act to sit back and allow that kind of mud to be thrown against your opponents.

A real leader would have stopped the speech and told the person who yelled such a hateful word, “If that’s why you’re voting for me, then I don’t want your vote.”

To think, 30-40 years ago such insults would easily have been hurled at a female VP candidate. Thank God you live in a country that recognizes people’s value regardless of their race or gender, eh Sarah?

Kyle Armbruster

I’m sorry guys, but as much as I love to see Palin fail (and fail, and fail), all I hear is someone a long way from a mic shouting “blah-blah-blah!!!”

It could be anything for all I could tell.

dalesd

I hope Obama is a good president, otherwise we’re going to be hearing the n-word a lot.

FLG

Look at the girls face on the left of the screen behind Palin after it’s said. She gets a smile on her face like she just heard it. I think if she could hear it, so could Palin.

There’s also the way Palin looks down to check her notes, says “And”, then pauses while the crazy woman shouts whatever she shouts, and has to REcheck her notes. It suggests she got flustered.

The way she increases her volume once she has rechecked her notes implies she’s trying to move on from what was just said. Like she’s trying to force that out of people’s minds. Take notice of this, I’m talking louder so it’s more important than that.

As for whether it was the ‘n’ word or not, I can’t really tell. It certainly sounds like it more than “redistributor”.

As for people claiming the other video that was posted in the comments is better quality… um, no? That’s been recorded on a video camera, i.e. the audio has come out of a crappy t.v. speaker and been recorded on a crappy camera microphone. The original is a direct copy, probably from a capture card.

dogwelder

I am no Palin fan- I still can’t believe that she’s as close as she is to becoming VP- but I’m going to cut her a tiny bit of slack. She’s working so hard to stay on her speech that she might not have even understood what was said. I might have been unable to understand it myself if it hadn’t been captioned.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Palindromic, that isn’t a normal gathering. Some of the people there are taking what’s being said as permission or encouragement to say stuff that would normally be taboo.

The person yelling from the crowd is not saying “redistributor”. How often in your life have you heard someone yell “He’s a redistributor”? Neither have I. And if someone did, they wouldn’t do it at that pitch and tempo.

The shout from the crowd is five syllables. The first and last syllables are about a fifth lower than the middle three. The pitch jumps straight up between the first and second syllables, but slides down during the fifth syllable. The speaker’s emphasis falls on the three middle syllables, with the third syllable getting slightly less emphasis than the second and fourth.

Also, the speaker shows no hesitancy or awkwardness, such as you’d expect of someone who was yelling something as strange as “redistributor.”

All of this is consistent with the interpretation offered by the video and by numerous people in this thread.

The word you suggest does have five syllables, but its emphases fall in the wrong places: “RE-dis-TRIB-you-tor.” Not only does that have the wrong pitch and tempo, but it’s hard to yell. Under stress, the speaker would slide over the “d”, then come down hard on “strib.” Those consonants should be audible. They aren’t. What I’m hearing at that moment is a hard “g” that’s not preceded by “str”.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t think it’s possible for the person shouting from the crowd to be saying what you suggest.

Hedonisbot

ths s th prf w nd….sh s rcst hnds dwn nd tht mns s s th rpblcn prty…dnt bthr lkng nt ppl rnnng t B prsdnt

Takuan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_on_re_us/mormon_backlash_boycott_2

slywy

Agree with #67â€””redistributor” is not a rallying word.

I don’t think it’s clear Palin heard exactly what was shouted. But in any case she’s not quick on her feet; clearly the shout (whether she heard the word or not) threw her off speech. Good grief; anyone can read a speech.

What would she do across the table from Putin? One shudders.

pduggie

Nobody is saying someone is saying

“He’s a redistributor”

The claim is someone is saying

“Redistributor”

This link is helpful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m051zjCUeL8

Enormo

@#73 Electro
No you misunderstood. This is a free country. You CAN use the word “——.”

Just come on down here to west Baltimore and give it a try.

redistributor

@palindromic -i logged in just to say: shut it! quit overusing my handle like that! you’re giving me a headache fer crissakes! everyone is really embarrassed for you and tired of hearing it! get a new message, willya, or get a life! you’re coming off like a real phag (not to be confused with a snttbg, mind you). she said avttre! get over it! that is all.

Cupcake Faerie

I saw this same speech on CNN’s web site. They cut off before the racial hatred. They didn’t report it. It’s so obvious and yet they didn’t say a word about it.

Takuan

“good”? what?, he’s going to pull three trillion dollars out of his ass and bring back to life everyone killed in Iraq?

zuzu

The problem is that the cost of living differs in different places, so the incentive is for companies to pay less for the same amount of work.

People who are paid less need the money more. Furthermore, lower costs translates to those products being less expensive and thus more plentiful for people who need them.

You have to consider people as both workers and consumers. Getting paid more won’t help you if everything you buy is more expensive as a result.

If you took a pay cut of 30% but everything was also 50% less expensive, you’d be better off than you were before.

It’s ok to promote a strong local economy.

How exactly to do that is not as clear as you make it seem. Again, local prosperity does not require excluding those elsewhere, or vice versa.

Playing nice with the global economy has only made a few americans very very rich, while inflicting poverty on more people than ever.

Generally speaking, this is overtly false. It’s a classic problem of hidden benefits and obvious losses. There are plenty of problems where “free trade” is not really Free Trade, but the problem is not globalization in itself.

Actually, one of the major disparities I would like to see rectified is for genuine Free Trade allowing for Free movement of both capital and labor.

That’s an economic caste system!

Class is defined by legislation against opportunity, not the inequality of the outcomes.

Mojave

I have said it before…..she really can’t be sent packing back to Alaska soon enough. Come on Nov. 5th!!

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Eclectro @74:

What i don’t get is the bit how blacks can use the “n-word” when referring to eachother, but white people are not allowed to use it at all. Hmmm, is this really equality??

No. It’s still not equality. The person in the unmarked state — that’s you, white boy — still has more privilege than blacks who are talking to each other. That’s why it’s offensive for you to use the term in conversation with them, but not offensive for them to use it on each other. See my earlier comment for further discussion of this point.

Takuan

so, ya think McCain’s hushed up fatal car wreck in ’64 is gonna come back to haunt him?

lucretius

“Redistributor”

I’m not a fan of Palin or her followers. However, I believe what was shouted was “redistributor”. This makes way more sense considering the topic Palin was discussing when the shout was made and considering Obama’s economic plan has been criticized by the McCain campaign as being one of redistribution.

taj

Much as I dislike this woman, I’m not going to judge her based on this video. Just because the shouter was picked up by this recording doesn’t mean that Palin would have heard her.

There’s enough condemning evidence coming straight out of Palin’s mouth. No need to rely on iffy stuff like this video.

Shrdlu

Republican apologists are bound to bring up the fact Todd is part Native Yupâ€™ik Eskimo. That will make it all okay in their minds.

Ceronomus

McCain can take a moment to correct a woman who thinks Obama is an Arab, but Palin can’t take a moment to correct THAT?

YEah, she has my respect. Unethical, unqualified, and apparently willing to tolerate bigotry if it means that they are voting for her.

OpSiN

To be (cough, splutter, gasp) fair, it’s not that much difference to all the other crap she’s gone on despite people shouting out (terrorist, kill him etc).

My other point though, more government abroad where people aren’t free… Is she talking about Britain? ‘Cause that’s the level of extra governmental oversight you’re really talking with the Dems. Are we not free?

Keneke

She’s just not an ad-libber. She wants to get through her speech. I don’t see a problem with Palin in this particular instance.

Hedonisbot

fckng stpd

RedMonkey

um, no those aren’t boos, they’re saying Boo-urns!Boo-urns!

zuzu

@127 MDH

Exactly.

Bevatron Repairman

There’s no indication that she understood what was said. This is not the Novak/Helms interview on Larry King years ago, with knowing smirks. And if anything, the second wave of noise suggests the crowd was trying to drowning the idiot out.

Antinous

And if anything, the second wave of noise suggests the crowd was trying to drowning the idiot out.

That was long after the shouted epithet and sounded like they were groaning at her statement about the government trying to take care of us. Let us hope that the rest of the crowd was too appalled to respond rather than expressing silent agreement.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

You’re welcome, KLG19. I thank you too.

Takuan, we don’t hit them because it lowers the chances that they’ll say something interesting, and drives away the kind of people who habitually say interesting things.

Question: when are we going to have a more appropriate occasion to quote that scene from Blazing Saddles?

AliasUndercover

Honestly though, I wouldn’t know what to say either. Hopefully something like, “Security, throw that guy out the airlock!” would come to me…

mdh

i’m sure you meant ‘fckng stpd’.

zuzu

“the N word”, that’s just white people getting away with saying “——”.

– Louis CK

@73 Electro, Louis CK also has a bit about “why do you want to say it so bad?” in response to exactly your question.

Then again, I believe that the more sacrosanct people treat these slurs, the more power they have to hurt people, and I prefer for that power to be diluted through casual use. I want to see a reversal of the euphemism treadmill.

mneptok

Damn. I thought the n-word was “nougat.” A cleaned audio track clearly reveals some screaming, “And we need Snickers!”

Antinous

The most popular chant at the Prop 8 rally was “Tax the Church.” My people are skilled at economic warfare.

anthony

Not to muddy the waters, but for what it’s worth, there are plenty of African Americans who don’t care to hear anyone use the offensive term, regardless of race.

jonathan_v

What the fuck do you expect her to do ? Seriously.

Do you expect her to stop giving her speech and say something like “excuse me – that kind of language and sentiment have no place here?”

Or do you think she should stop the speech and say something like “The republican party is above that. American is above that.”

Antinous

Do you expect her to stop giving her speech and say something like “excuse me – that kind of language and sentiment have no place here?” Or do you think she should stop the speech and say something like “The republican party is above that. American is above that.”

Excellent suggestions. If Senator McCain could do it, Governor Palin certainly could. Or is anyone suggesting that his hearing is better than hers?

Takuan

the next mormons at my door are getting a very special reception.

wobblesthegoose

I agree with Lucretius and various others around the web, it sounds a lot more like “redistributor”. Granted it’s not a real word, but it makes more sense with the context of the speech.

Just like with backmasking in songs, if you know what you’re listening for before hand you are way more likely to hear it.

At the very least, the clip is way more ambiguous then the post or this version of the video imply

padster123

She shouts “and he’s a nigger!”.

No WAY is that “redistributor” or anything like that.

cheeken

I saw this earlier today over on Andrew Sullivan. He’s listened to it more closely and seems to think that the woman yelled “Redistributor”, rather than the ‘n-word.’

Link to Sullivan here: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-n-word.html

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/redistributor.html

FoetusNail

No, I would suggest everyone judge her on this video and all the other videos featuring her ignorance and stupidity, along with that of her hate filled homophobic racist supporters, who she fails to seriously address on any occasion. Also, feel free to judge her on the Branchflower report and her denials of the ethics violations it clearly spells out in black and white. Hey, you could also judge her, on her and her husband’s links to and her recent video in support of the Alaska Independence Party. No, please do judge her using all of the plentiful evidence that points to her only being on that ticket to attract the fundamentalist homophobic crowd who hates Obama because he’s a baby killing Muslim terrorist and uppity colored man who will put on a turban as soon as he is elected and destroy their America.

I hope he does, the lingering death of their xenophobic racist hate filled pseudo-christian America is long over due. I’ve been there, I can give tours, grab your rebel flag hats the truck leaves at noon.

mdh

When someone is speaking ill of black people based on their skin alone but trying to hide it behind fancier words, that’s the only time I say they word.

As in: “Oh, you meant stupid N—–, right?”

Yes, I say this to loudmouth racist strangers in bars. Yes, I say it to loudmouth racist strangers in the street. Yes, I say it to their face.

Yes, to the man, they are all cowards.

zuzu

er, @128 rather, referring to this:

I think Zuzu’s point is that a bunch of people who redistribute wealth up (let’s call them republicans) are calling another bunch of people wo want to redistribute wealth down (Democrats) on wanting to redistribute wealth at all.

It’s accusing you opponent of your own biggest flaw before he/she can point it out.

It’s all they have done for 40 years.

Exactly.

Antinous

FYI, I watched this video before there was text plastered across it, and I heard it as a racial epithet without prompting from anyone.

Takuan

please let me hit padster then? just a little??

Gainclone

Lock phasers on that dickhead. Fire!

xibalba

@73 – Black people are ‘allowed’ to use the n-word because it’s their way of defusing it, of creating fellowship in a society that is still stacked against them. It’s their way of defying the community that lynched, then ignored the lynching of, Emmett Till.

Any black person knows the experience of applying for a job, then going in for the interview and seeing the interviewer’s shock that the candidate is black. When one black person calls another one n-word they identify this shared experience of being black in this culture.

You are ‘allowed’ to use the n-word in the same way that you are allowed to propose a humiliating sex act to your mom: doable, but not recommended due to the consequences that such speech has.

mdh

To finish my comment at 85 –

Which is to say the word is a weapon. If used carefully, it can turned on the racist and make him feel the fool rather than let him use it to sow fear.

Using it here in this forum is not productive for reasons explained by Xeni around #58. It’s just some variation of Godwins law if you only use it in conversation with like minded progressives.

Cowicide

UPDATE: Turns out this girl was there front row.

http://www.nothingtoxic.com/media/1224889284/Teen_Tourrettes_Girl_Cant_Stop_Saying_the_N-Word

Takuan

re: Blazing Saddles, yes this is quit possibly the best time ever! Only it’s been made a dozen times on various threads already. (quit it! quuuitt it!)
Teresa! Padster’s poking me!

Slicklines

You are all missing the point. If you play the sound bite backwards you get the opening theme to Three’s Company. We all know what that means.

Takuan

oh, and I hope you all realize “redistributor” is now ruined for conventional lexigraphic orthodoxy.

zuzu

You are all missing the point. If you play the sound bite backwards you get the opening theme to Three’s Company. We all know what that means.

Come and knock on our door, we’ve been waiting for you?

tconkling

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Palin; plenty of reasons to call her out for bad behavior on the campaign trail. This video is not one of those reasons.

It’s not clear that the “n-word” was yelled, it’s not clear that Palin heard whatever was said, and it’s certainly not clear that this video provides any evidence of racism on Palin’s part.

What’s up the polemical, troll-ish posts, boingboing? Surely we can hope to maintain a higher level of discourse here.

RedShirt77

>>seems to think that the woman yelled “Redistributor”, rather than the ‘n-word.’>>

Wow,”He’s a re-dis-trib-u-tor!” that’s what they think she yelled. That is creative and perhaps the worst rally call I could imagine.

Antinous

Wow,”He’s a re-dis-trib-u-tor!” that’s what they think she yelled.

No, seriously, it was ‘refrigerator’ and an innocent reference to Palin’s home state of Alaska.

anthony

That’s too bad- it sounds like it might have been the last Fugazi album title.

glenfant

I respect what Xeni is saying and for the most part that’s how I operate as well, but I do want to take a second here to agree with David by referencing Eric Clapton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7_Ldy1XDOU

IsolatedGestalt

Wow. Just…wow. Another one.

I can’t wait until this election is over and we can get back to A Directory Of Wonderful Things.

By all means, be excited and passionate about what you believe in; call out the liars and the fools. Post what you will — we all agree that it’s your space. If you want to pillory a candidate for their real (or imagined, or projected) failings, go for it.

It seems that BoingBoing Gadgets is still, well, BoingBoingy, so I think I’ll just hang out over there for a while.

Enochrewt

Even if someone shouted that word, Ms. Palin made the correct choice in this instance (Gasp, I know). She shouldn’t have said anything, because doing so would lend credence to an idiot.

BB readers are fairly enlightened people, I’m not sure how many of you realize how prevalent this word and racist sentiments are in rural parts of America are. Heck, my own mother is crazy racist, and if you met her you’d never guess it until she started spewing hate speech. It’s very upsetting.

Deviant

These are recorded using directional microphones. The sounds you hear (i.e., what is clear and what isn’t) in no way resembles how it sounded there, live. Recall Howard Dean’s supposed rant. Your armchair analysis is not based on reality.

airship

#68, I’m sorry, but I’m from Iowa too, and unfortunately you can get a crowd together here which is very comfortable shouting racial epithets. I’m proud to say most of us are more enlightened than that, but if you gather a bunch of poor, ignorant, white Republicans together in a place where it’s all just them, I can see it happening without incident. It’s a shame, but it’s true.

pduggie

1. She may not have heard the shouter clearly.

2. I’m with Sullivan: ba-ba-BA-ba-ba fits redistributor, not “and he’s a nggr”,

BTW: you elided the “igge” but the youtube video puts it in full. Why the disparity?

Interesting how Palin is suhc a litmust test for everyone seeing what they expect to see. Thomas Kuhn eat your heart out.

Anonymous

She might have shouted “The sheriff is near!”

- S

garnet

Remember when Hillary was interrupted by two guys (in the front row) yelling “Iron my shirt”? It’s long been suspected that they were her own supporters, who did it to make her sympathetic. And it worked to an extent. It’s not clear to me what’s being yelled here, but it’s certainly possible that it was an inflamed Obama supporter, striving to make Republicans look bad, right? Obama won Iowa, and frankly in this particular campaign most of the public craziness has been from his most overheated supporters. It’s not his fault, and not hers either.

pduggie

20: no: juts the word “redistributor”. “He’s a” doesn’t fit the phonemes.

Scarybug

@138 zuzu

Are you saying that the so called “free trade” we’ve had is the problem, but you have some kind of magical new “free trade” that will fix everything? I think we both agree that the so called “free trade” we have now isn’t free. (It’s Socialism for the Rich)

Yes people who make less need the money more, but it’s unfair to pay them less than the value of their work, just because we can get away with it. You’re right I shouldn’t be 100% against outsourcing. I’ll change my opinion if the associated problems with it are addressed. Let’s tariff wage discrepancies. If you pay $2.50/day for a job worth $60/day, pay a $57.5/day tariff on it. That way, you might as well pay the overseas worker $60/day and avoid the tariff. Now you can decide who to hire based on their qualifications. Yay!

Of course the money you spend on the bureaucracy that decides how much every job is worth is probably not worth the effort. =P

The current global economy is a pyramid scheme. A few people at the top are impoverishing the rest of the world. I do not believe that a truly free market would be a panacea any more that I believe in pure socialism.

novakreo

Xeni, you criticize use of â€œthe N-wordâ€, and I tend to agree, but it was only a week ago that you put the equally repugnant F-word on BoingBoing.

AirPillo

A real leader would have stopped the speech and told the person who yelled such a hateful word, “If that’s why you’re voting for me, then I don’t want your vote.”

Yeah… I don’t see that happening with any candidate.

Nobody could afford to be caught courting voters by playing the race card themselves, but at the same time why would they be stupid enough to alienate otherwise supportive racist voters by ostracizing someone for a racist comment that they can’t be held accountable for.

She didn’t say it herself, and could easily deny having heard it clearly. She loses nothing if she ignores it, but loses credibility with people voting on the “keep the darkies out of office” platform if she stopped and spoke up… no-brainer

nerak

Try listening closely, I dont really hear the 5 syllables in “re-dis-trib-u-tor”, i hear two syllables, “nig-ger”. It’s jumbled because Palin is talking over it, but I really don’t think that it’s “redistributor”.

RedShirt77

Maybe she yelled, “and he isn’t a plumber.”

GeekMan

#25

Hillary did it.

philipb

I’m an audio engineer by trade (& a Palin hater by choice), but it does sound as if the on-camera shotgun mic was being used rather than a press feed of the mics in front of her. Although the camera lens can zoom in pretty tight the mics are not as directional as #93 would have you believe (except in CSI). It is quite probable that the racist was standing much closer to the camera than the stage & Mrs Palin would certainly not have heard anything more than a “woogaboogawooga.”

EH

You think Palin isn’t gunning for Ted Stevens’ seat and a run in 2012? She can’t afford to give anything up.

minTphresh

takuan, i think it should be alright if you give padster a a smack on the back of his haid. also, if you wouldn’t mind, kick 1upmushroom in his shins for his perpetual palin appologetics. please.

pduggie

Seriously: if the video you post has the word “NGGR” explictly spelled out, why are you disemvowleing it in the discussion? Seems inconsistent.

Mantari

Government? Making decisions for us? Like abortion, Sarah? I don’t think you understand where your argument is going. Oh, and someone just dropped the “N” bomb.

Palin hears rally attendee call Obama "n-word" during speech, keeps on truckin'.

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