That “Sambo” Story
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I’m not going to link to it here, but Google, my email, and some comments show me a lot of people are talking about it. The story rings false to me, and is just the sort of thing like the phony “whitey” video tape story that Larry Johnson was peddling that would be whipped up by a Republican activist like Roger Stone. There’s more than enough verified stuff out there about Sarah Palin’s record, lack of a record, misconduct and extreme views that you don’t need to go into an unverified story of a dubious nature.
36 Responses to “That “Sambo” Story”
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The views on this site are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect the views of my employer, Media Matters for America
© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Oliver,
I have to agree. The story smells fishy to me. The sad part is that there is so much swirling around this idiot that it sounds like it “could” be true.
I disagree, a waitress that won’t leave her last name because she is scared? Others in Alaska saying that racism is prevalent up there? This could build into something, but we need more hard evidence if the MSM is going to run this. Obama was smeared with much less evidence than this and that never stopped the media from reporting it.
Look, if there is any truth to this story I’ll be the first yelling it from the mountaintops, but as it is right now its anonymous person on Internet says something unverifiable.
Isn’t posting a “questions swirl” entry in your blog the equivalent of yelling from the mountaintops?
Just need to point out your hypocrisy for all to see. I remember you railed against all those other “questions swirl” posts when they came from the right. This is a beautiful example of classical muckraking (except of course there is no muck but unsourced rumor) which I have to admit you seem to have mastered.
Mr. Duh’s distort-o-matic processor must be overheating.
Questions swirl, Mr. Duh? Let’s review the post again:
Now that I look at it, I guess I see your point. Shame on you, OW, for being so mean to Ms. Palin.
Duh, you can’t be serious. Oliver just defended the integrity of Sarah Palin. Enjoy it because I doubt that it will happen very often.
Then why even bother?
I am sure if the slipper were on the other foot ( some of you may get the original Sambo story reference ) , you wouldn’t mention it at all, except to say how vicious the Republicans are for slinging it around …
If this goes back to the 60′s , and it’s about a Pancake House , somebody’s going to look awfully silly — or maybe just awful…
People are already beginning to consider Gov Palin ( that’s right, she is not just a “small town mayor” , as the Democrats would like to pretend ) as “picked on” .
OW, if you say nice things about a conservative (if ‘innocent until proven guilty’ can be considered nice), it’s just you being devious. They’re onto you.
Have you heard that story about McCain beating his wife? Well, I wouldn’t want it to get around even though it is showing up on Google, and I am getting lots of emails about the McCain wife beating story – you know, the one I don’t want to mention because it has not been confirmed that McCain did beat his wife …
So let’s not discussing the beaten wife of John McCain, because that wouldn’t be right…
McCain beats his wife? Which one?
I think the crippled one with the terminal illness — but I can’t confirm that.
OW, if you say nice things about a conservative (if ‘innocent until proven guilty’ can be considered nice), it’s just you being devious. They’re onto you.
It’s not possible I’m trying to preemptively stop people from further posting and emailing me this very unverified story that’s already out there regardless of this blog, no it’s always a plot.
Well, the second part of the quote is “bitch,” and that is very credible.
We know (because it’s on film) that Republicans asking questions of McCain and interviewing Palin use the word “bitch” to refer to Hillary and other women who are political opponents. And we know (because it’s on film) that McCain and Palin herself think that the use of “bitch” is OK and laugh along with the user.
As to the use of “Sambo,” we know that all the old Confederates and Confederate Yankees (remember Senator Allen of “Macaca” fame) are now in the Republican Party. We know that Senator Palin and especially her husband have some sympathy for and associate with the Alaskan equivalent of Confederate secessionists.
As to the entire phrase, it amounts to what a confident, just-among-friends Republican (Senator Allen) or a drunk one might call a clever pairing.
My point: the remark seems plausible, as does the story in general. I hope others are pursuing it. In the meantime, your position is wise.
How ridiculous, some waitress named Lucille? We would all laugh if the same crap was being said about Obama.
Stop freaking complaining and get to campaigning!
Quit sittin our yer asses
And we all know that Alaska has a long tradition of prejudice going back to their involvement in the Civil War on the side of the South … Oh! wait!
And their involvement in segregation … oh, wait!
And their long record of mistreating minorities … oh , wait !
CMcC — Sherlock Holmes you ain’t !
BTW, Oliver !
A simple “There is a rumor going around blah, blah, blah… We will not reprint any of it here …
“Stop corresponding with me about it, please !
” It is unfounded and without merit!”
would have done the trick
It certainly would, which is why he posted more or less exactly that.
Well said, Oliver. Straight up.
And aside from her lies, exaggerations, omissions and controversies, I just came across a revealing Charlie Rose segment with Sarah Palin and Janet Napolitano, from just last Fall. Palin shows startlingly little desire or ability to discuss issues other than “energy” (read: oil drilling).
More here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/plooger/gG5WS4
In Alaska?
Did you know that Alaska was one of nine states to be a “covered jurisdiction” under the Voting Rights Act: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Geotgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virgina.
Sambo’s was a great family restaurant back in the 60′s & 70′s.
I agree with Nimrod Gently. What Frank said “would have done the trick” is basically what Oliver wrote here. Frank basically implied in an earlier post that Oliver mentioned a SPECIFIC unproven allegation against Palin (“Have you heard that story about McCain beating his wife?”). He did not and rightly so.
Sambo’s was a great greasy-spoon in the 70s, where drunks went to try and sober up enough to drive home. Open 24 hours. The clientele was nearly all-white. What better way to keep blacks out than CALLING THE PLACE Sambo’s???
There is one thing we can celebrate today.
No one at all has even pretended that calling someone “Sambo” isn’t racist. That might be a first, given that we can usually count on three or four of our regulars to try to rationalize Republican racial slurs.
To be fair, it wasn’t named for the racial slur, it was a portmanteau of Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett, the founders.
Not that they didn’t immediately notice the coincidence and decorate the walls with pictures from the book, of course.
Incidentally, Sambo’s is still going, but it’s a just the one restaurant now, in Santa Barbara.
Have you heard that story about McCain beating his wife?
Which one(s)?
I hear she deserved it, she was painted like a trollop and was a c—, according to McSame himself.
“Sambo’s was a great family restaurant back in the 60’s & 70’s.”
There were these gummies that were licorice flavored that were called Nigger Babies. They stopped selling them where I live in the 1970s, so they were before my time. However, apparently there were places in the states where they were sold up to the 1990s.
Check out C.S.A. and you will see a lot of ads in the movie for products that were real.
In north Florida in the 1960s, brazil nuts were “niggertoes”. We really sucked.
Bruce Henry: “In north Florida in the 1960s, brazil nuts were “niggertoes”. We really sucked.”
Beyond the racist angle, that doesn’t sound appetizing.
Kudos, Oliver. I sympathize and identify. I get bombarded with “Obama isn’t a real American — why haven’t we seen his birth certificate?” and “Obama is a secret Muslim” and “Michelle Obama’s on video talking about ‘whitey!’” on an almost daily basis, and I’ve been tempted to say something publicly to tell these morons to stop shoveling their bullshit at me.
Oddly enough, you’re showing more scruples than the Obama campaign itself on this one…
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/american/gG5rHP
J.
Jay, that’s a public section of the Obama website, their version of myspace. The campaign itself had nothing to do with it.
Parthenon’s right. There’s a sentence at the very bottom of the screen of the link you provided that says that the contents of the blog should not be taken as being endorsed or approved by the campaign itself.
“Jay, that’s a public section of the Obama website, their version of myspace. The campaign itself had nothing to do with it.”
In other words…
Jay Tea is doing exactly what he accuses others of doing.
Yeah, ain’t that conveeenient. The site is bought and paid for by the campaign, intended for the campaign’s supporters, but they don’t take any responsibility for it whatsoever.
How nice. The Obama campaign has its own in-house version of Daily Kos.
That disclaimer gives ‘em legal immunity, but doesn’t absolve them of moral responsibility. They’ve deleted numerous other entries there, when they were nothing but rank hate (anti-semitism is a common theme), but they don’t delete ones like this.
I believe the phrase is “selective enforcement.”
I don’t see how they can disclaim all responsibility, yet still pay for it and enforce some standards on occasion. Either they own it, lock stock and barrel, or they don’t.
I’m no lawyer, but it seems the concept behind “attractive nuisance” somes to mind…
J.
I wonder if this “non-story”, that “no one wants to talk about” because “it isn’t true”, will ever go away?
You guys crack me up!
“Yeah, ain’t that conveeenient. The site is bought and paid for by the campaign, intended for the campaign’s supporters, but they don’t take any responsibility for it whatsoever.”
It would be like you taking responsibility for every reply on your site. You don’t do that, do you?
Strowbridge, as main page editor, I take full responsibility for every article posted by every author. Fortunately, only once have I had to exercise my authority and yank a posting by one of my colleagues, and I have little concern of it happening again.
Comments are different. We do have a comments policy, and we do enforce it. It is one of the laxest and most tolerant in the blogosphere, and we are proud of that. We do, when called for, censor (“disemvowel”) or remove comments, and ban commenters, but we try to absolutely minimize that.
But we’re not talking about COMMENTS from the general public, but full-blown articles by registered authors. I see that as a distinction worth making. Any drive-by asshole can leave rude comments (and often does); to become an approved author of a site demands a considerably higher standard.
And that’s precisely what the Obama people have done. They’ve set themselves up a mini-Kos where anything can and does happen, and they don’t care — until it gets too embarrassing, and then they take it down.
To be perfectly blunt, they ought to have someone like Oliver running their site.
J.