Sarah Palin’s Criticism of Obama Called Racist
Sarah Palin’s recent use of the term “shuck and jive” in analyzing President Barack Obama’s response to the Embassy bombing in Libya has many critics saying the former Governor of Alaska’s rant has decidedly racial overtones.
On her Facebook page, Palin, who ran on the vice presidential ticket with Senator John McCain against Obama in the last presidential election, Palin characterizes Obama’s response to the crisis of the Benghazi consulate attack as “shuck and jive shtick” and says that the White House and the President knew the truth about al Queda’s involvement in the bombing, which claimed the life of several State Department employees, including the Ambassador himself.
“For the record, there was nothing remotely racist in my use of the phrase ‘shuck and jive,’” Palin wrote on her Facebook page. “I would have used the exact same expression if I had been writing about President Carter, whose foreign policy rivaled Obama’s in its ineptitude, or about the Nixon administration, which was also famously rocked by a cover-up.”
Palin was quick to counter her critics by proclaiming that her comments were not meant to stir up any racial hatred.
“I’ve been known to use the phrase most often when chastising my daughter Piper to stop procrastinating and do her homework. As she is part Yup’ik Eskimo, I’m not sure if this term would be deemed offensive when it’s directed at her or if it would be considered benign as in the case of Chris Matthews’ use of it in reference to Rachel Maddow,” she wrote. “Just to be careful, from now on I’ll avoid using it with Piper, and I would appreciate it if the media refrained from using words and phrases like igloo, Eskimo Pie, and ‘when hell freezes over,’ as they might be considered offensive by my extended Alaska Native family.”
This is not Palin’s first experience with shooting from the lip and igniting controversy, with some who believe her pattern of speaking candidly helped McCain lose his White House bid in 2008.
