It's official: Readers pick Cokie Roberts' "foreign, exotic" Hawaii comments as Most Inane
In the end, it wasn't close. By an overwhelming margin, criticism by Cokie Roberts, NPR contributing senior news analyst and ABC political commentator, of then-Sen. Barack Obama for choosing Hawaii, the state of his birth, to take his August family vacation was the most popular entry in Media Matters for America's poll for Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign. Readers chose Roberts' comments -- which included her characterizing Hawaii, where Obama vacations regularly, as "foreign, exotic" -- in greater numbers than her two closest competitors combined. Roberts stated: "I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state, but it has the look of him going off to some sort of foreign, exotic place," adding, "He should be in Myrtle Beach, and, you know, if he's going to take a vacation at this time."
Roberts repeated her criticism of Obama's vacation destination during the August 11 broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition, asserting that Obama's choice of Hawaii for his vacation "makes him seem a little bit more exotic." She also characterized Hawaii as "a somewhat odd place to be doing it," despite acknowledging, "I know that he is from Hawaii, he grew up there, his grandmother lives there."
Media Matters readers were not alone in objecting to Roberts' remarks. Responding to Roberts' comments, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) reportedly said: "She's a bit of a fool that's the only thing you can say. ... Don't forget Cokie Roberts and the whole Washington crowd live in a kind of an incestuous relationship to one another, they talk to one another, they see one another, they know nothing about ordinary people." On August 11, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) released a statement in response to Roberts' comments, stating in part: "Saying our 50th state is somehow 'foreign,' does a great disservice to the hard working, patriotic Americans who call Hawaii home. ... For months people have been asking me, 'When is Senator Obama going to come home?' I'm so glad he found time to visit his sister and his grandmother, show his daughters more of his home state, and relax a little."
Vote totals in percentages*:
Maybe Cokie just assumed they don't allow half-naked black men roaming around in public in Myrtle Beach... . ;>)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/22/obama-shirtless-in-hawaii_n_152873.html
Oooops...technical error!
SHOULD READ: Maybe Cokie just assumed they allow half-naked black men roaming around in public in Myrtle Beach... ;>)
I think you're reaching too hard for that irony; your comment doesn't make much sense either way.
Here's a point to consider: had Obama vacationed at Myrtle Beach, Roberts probably would have criticized that.
No, I think you just missed the joke. Check out item #13 on this blog in which an African American dad remarks avout the prevalence of the Confederate flag in Myrtle Beach, which BTW has an African America population of about 12%.
http://fatherdad.com/?p=178
I am not accusing Myrtle Beach of racism but apparently it is still part of the Old South. Regardless, Cokie Roberts is clueless.
And here is an NAACP blog which does suggest racism in the way Myrtle Beach handled a white motorcycle event compared to a similar Africa American one.
http://naacpblogs.naacp.org/blog/?p=31
Again, I think you missed the point...
Where are all these half naked black men? I want my share of the half naked black men. :-0) Half naked Italian/American men will do too....!
In Hawaii, I guess...probably because it's a foreign and exotic place. ;>)
But no half nekkid dogs, eh? I'm hurt... :(
Snoop, I could have included naked dogs, but they're in a class by themselves. Seperate but equal. And I won't ask if you won't tell. (tell Jeter, that is) :-0)
How about a nekked Eskimo? Of course, he would be blue, not black.
Congrats, Cokie. That's a pretty impressive field you beat out there. Even The elitist orange juice comment shall eat your dust.
and here I thought aragula and iced tea were gonna win in a landslide!
I voted for David Brooks...
I thought he had this thing locked up. He's another regular on NPR. They're very well represented this year.
David Brooks is a major nincompoop......poop for short. :-)
Babbling brooks is major, and he deserves a nod, but I voted for Cokie myself. That was just amazingly obtuse, even for her.
Hi Julia, and Merry Christmas from the icebox of the frozen Northwest!
Hi Mary and a Merry Christmas to you too! :-)
I didn't vote. I guess I haven't been here enough to have been aware. So many poops, so little time........Ha! :-0)
Brooksy and Cokie both majors, yes. And unfortunately far too many others to choose from in the so called media as well. It's a disgrace.
Here's my Christmas wish: TV commentary by Snoopy, Julia, the Col, Neon, irony, maddog, MickD, eweston,Worrier, etc etc instead of all these corporate beltway insiders. How 'bout our own network?
Sounds like a dream line up, except you forgot to add Mary....:-0)
Cokie is a regular on NPR too.
This is the irritating part. Roberts, Williams, Brooks, Liason are all proven right wing propagandists and yet NPR allows them on their shows. I have no problem with it as long as they are identified as also appearing on FoxNews, NPR does not ask me to donate and FoxNews personalities do not bash NPR.
They are not indetified, NPR asks for my money and Right Wing radio/tv hosts bash NPR.
Yeah, I voted for the orange juice comment myself. It was pretty stiff competion; even tho I had read every story when they came out, seeing them all together just floored me.
Wow, let's not get so picky! How about saving it for something more important!
Is that some subtle snark, Ladysharon, or are you trying to compete with Roberts for inanity?
The foolishness that Roberts displayed in this instance is a) emblematic of the whole "elitism" narrative the corporight media was pushing, and b) typical of the quality of Roberts' "news analysis" generally.
I think CR should receive some sort of plague or award, maybe shaped as the Hawaiian islands. The kicker was she stood by her commentary as if it was some sort of insightful observation.
I agree,
The presenters of the award should be Sen. Akaka and Rep. Abercrombie.
Cookie obviously put everything she had into this one. You only win something like this after you've put in years in the corporate beltway trenches.
matthews hasn't been to many low rent beer joints if he thinks only people with money play pool. and kookie's absolutely right. it's unamerican not to go to myrtle beach and buy that salt water taffy.
I would have said that he should go to Mackinac Island, Michigan and buy fudge and smell the horse manure. That's where real Americans go to vacation.....:-)
or visit the white house. but soon, only one more month of "fudging" the truth and spreading the manure.
The reason that I voted for the Cokie comment is because it came from her. I would expect nutty comments from the others who were nominated but not from a woman who I have listened to on NPR for years and respected. It seems as though when she shifted to national broadcast news something else shifted also in terms of her viewpoint. What used to be insightful reporting has become nothing but rhetoric.
"a woman who I have listened to on NPR for years and respected"
That was a mistake; Roberts has always been a shill for the corporight.
My sense of outrage is apparently different than the majority. I voted for a comment down toward the bottom of the list. They are all so inane.
I'll give this most inane comment to Roberts but I was pulling for Tweety's "Obama can't walk into a dinette with five or six white guys..." comment as the most out of touch comment.
I'm about the same age as Chris and was raised in the same town and only a nancy boy would call a diner a "dinette" in the City of Brotherly Love. Unless he liked getting his ass kicked on a regular basis.
I'm about the same age as Chris and was raised in the same town and only a nancy boy would call a diner a "dinette" in the City of Brotherly Love. Unless he liked getting his ass kicked on a regular basis.
Maybe Chris likes things in miniature as evidenced by his brain. And getting his ass kicked gives him street cred as a regular guy.
how about matthews, a priest, a rabbi, and five white guys walk into a dinette? and the parrot on matthews' shoulder says....
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Cokie Roberts on this impressive victory. It isn't easy to be the person who made the most moronic comment in a year when the competition was stiff.
I have watched Cokie Roberts make idiotic comments for years and it's nice to see that she was finally recognized for this.
But Hawaii IS foreign & exotic. And we like it like that! Bet Cokie would like to be out here today, strolling on the beach, soaking up the sunshine, feeling those blissful trade winds. It's sunny and in the mid 70s here in Honolulu today. And the Mai Tais, don't forget the Mai Tais!!!!
I went for the orange juice. Maybe it was the ghost of Anita B waving to me, vision like accross the Barby. Or Barbie like accross the the vision. What ever, I was lead astray and we're not afraid of it either.
Nice man take me away now please.
The ghost of Anita B? She's still alive.
Ok, then its the ghost of her orange juice comercials. They are dead now, arn't they? I'd hate to rush back to the bunker before they hose it out, safety is illusionary here I suppose.
Damply corresponded.
Anita Bryant - there's a blast from the past. I think it was Mad magazine that described her as a gospel slinger. Florida OJ dropped her pretty quickly after she went on her anti-gay crusade.
I don't know what's the matter with Cokie, but he can eat crackers in my bed anytime!
Come on, gotta give Ms. Roberts a break. To anyone with a Louisiana background, Hawaii could be foreign and exotic.
That's no excuse. Her father was a powerful Congressman. Her mother was Ambassador to the Vatican. She attended the finest schools and travelled the world. She should know better. I tend to think it's her snootiness that's showing. Hawaii is so declasse'.
Should have added the "smiley face", I guess. Lighten up.
Actually, Oscar, it could very well be her Louisiana background. There is a "blue-blood" class here that rivals any in snootiness. I wasn't offended by your comments...I just didn't know if you were aware of her privileged background.
I knew you were kidding...
I've seen True Blood and Black Snake Moan. Louisiana is foreign and exotic.
I live in New Orleans, and I can tell you for a fack, Louisiana is fey and neurotic, not foreign and exotic.
Snoop, I could have included naked dogs, but they're in a class by themselves. Seperate but equal. And I won't ask if you won't tell. (tell Jeter, that is) :-0)
What?!....I'm drunk....!
Sorry about the double post.
"Let me tell you about the rich. They are different than you and me."
--F. Scott Fitzgerand
Hey, it's almost Christmas. I had a few cocktails. It was supposed to read,
F. Scott Fitzgerald
I agree - I've been listening to Cokie for years. She's one of the best. I think she makes these types of National Enquirer type comments to get her listener base up. My guess is it's suggested by the editors that be that she do it.
Lisa - from Greener Pastures - today called Snowy Pastures
I think she makes these types of National Enquirer type comments to get her listener base up. My guess is it's suggested by the editors that be that she do it.
No that's not it. She makes these comments because she was raised and educated inside the beltway and because of the people she hangs around with. She has a democratic background but frequently embraces the beltway thinking.
Cokie won only because nothing Media Matters said was on the ballot
What's the deal, noleft? Are you trying to get in a late entry for yourself?
har.
I'm quite certain you can't provide an example, or else you already would have.
Sounds familiar...maybe noleftturns is really Sean Hannity. ;>)
Yes, I definitely this Cokie deserves this dubious award. Having said that, she seems to be a one woman band of "inane greatest hits" these days. She needs to hang it up and go on a long vacation to, well, maybe "some sort of foreign, exotic place" like Hawaii.
I've heard Morning Joe make some pretty silly remarks but I'll defend his remark about Obama bowling because he was attempting to be funny, in that kind of redneck Florida Panhandle way that he knows so well. I'd put that in the category of a lame joke rather than in the Hannity/Innanity column.
Good choice. I voted for Cokie as well. With this simplistic, stupid commentary she showed a hyper-eagerness to jump on board McCain's efforts at that time to paint Obama as un-American -- an elitist, outsider who couldn't relate to ordinary people. That's what made her comments beyond her typical simpicity. It was a way of joining full force with McCain's idiotic Rove type propaganda.
Cokie was my second choice. Fred Barnes' "Obama was right; that proves his weakness" conclusion was my pick. Looking back, though, I see that Fidgety Fred wins only by virtue of his body of work. After all, this is the guy who once said the poor can provide for their health care by putting aside more of their money. Last weekend, in a review of Bush's legacy, Barnes named the lame duck's 3 triumphs as Iraq, the war on terror and No Child Left Behind. That is one breathtaking trifecta. Barnes wrote a 2006 book on all the things Bush almost did. A sequel summing up the legacy might be all the things Bush could have accomplished if the Democrats and the news media had only let him. Possible chapter title: "Iraq: The Dems Made Me Do It."
For sheer idiocy in one 2008 performance, though, I, too, would have to go with Cokie's "Hawaii as an exotic spot" quote. In next year's exercise, I will concentrate on the inanity cited and not get bogged down in a sentimental review of nonsense over the years. Nearly always, that would find me voting for Fred Barnes. Curiously, though, Barnes remains likable, as contrasted with Ms. Roberts, who seems distant -- a result of being filled up with herself.
Meantime, my thanks to Media Matters for the holiday diversion.
Jerry Elsea
MMFA should feel good as 2008 comes to a close. Bull OhReally? will no longer be on the radio, Glenn Beck is off CNN. On to bigger and better things in 2009.
I hope she felt the slightest tinge of shame when it later became clear he was spending time with his terminally ill grandmother, and giving his daughters one last visit with her.
Ignorant, arrogrant, and just generally mean-spirited, all in one inane package.