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July 27, 2010 05:49 PM UTC

Stop Apologizing, Ken Buck: Birthers ARE "Dumbasses"

  • 29 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Politico’s David Catanese reports:

“Will you tell those dumbasses at the Tea Party to stop asking questions about birth certificates while I’m on the camera? God, what am I supposed to do?” Buck says on the tape, according to his campaign.

Buck campaign spokesman Owen Loftus told POLITICO that the candidate spent Sunday explaining and apologizing for the remark in interviews with the state’s two dominant news outlets.

“Ken points out he does gets frustrated at times with those individuals pushing those issues. He shouldn’t have cussed. He regrets the remark. He was venting his frustration to a Democratic tracker and he shouldn’t of,” said Loftus.

Loftus said that Buck, whose candidacy has been fueled in part by Tea Party members uninspired by one-time GOP frontrunner Jane Norton, was aware he was speaking to a Democratic tracker and simply made a mistake. The birther issue has been a tricky one for Buck to navigate: While he signaled he would support legislation to ensure a presidential candidate has U.S. citizenship at a meet-and-greet in June, he has also stressed it is not a priority for his campaign…

And so it goes: just a couple of weeks from GOP Senate frontrunner Ken Buck’s primary, a primary expected to be driven by the energized right flank of the GOP, you can understand how comments like these picked up by a Democratic tracker could be a problem. So out comes a qualified apology from Buck–not an apology that actually takes back his criticism of people who think questions regarding Barack Obama’s citizenship (settled ad nauseum how many months ago?) are a bigger issue than…well, all the other issues facing the country today. But Buck recognizes that some of these people are also the most likely to turn out to vote August 10th–so the decision to apologize was mostly likely very easy.

We don’t think this is going to hurt Buck regardless, and the reason is quite simple: he’s right. “Birthers” are ridiculous caricatures who inhabit the fringe of American political debate. “Birther” arguments really do boil down to racially-motivated mistrust of a President who is a different color than the majority of Americans–period. We’re at the point now where even many “Tea Party” leaders will admit this, though privately like Buck thought he was. Responsible members of both parties agree, with Republicans only slightly less willing to say so as it requires disparaging their own base. But it’s a fact: no amount of evidence will convince “birthers,” because they are not rational participants in the debate.

All of which makes today’s editorial in the state’s newspaper of record–a board that endorsed Buck’s insider opponent Jane Norton–declaring that Buck “went too far” labeling “birthers” as “dumbasses” a truly disappointing read. We understand that the comments section of that paper is totally overrun by such dumbasses, and they therefore might honestly believe that “birthers” are in some way representative of America. But to assert that Buck owes these fringe elements answers to their “sincere questions” implies a legitimacy that they do not deserve.

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29 thoughts on “Stop Apologizing, Ken Buck: Birthers ARE “Dumbasses””

    1. Which is why I stubbornly cling to the belief that Laura really is going to divorce W’s ass over drinking and Condi, as the tabloids have been claiming since before his second election, and that the image of PeeWee Herman’s face really has been found on the moon.  

    3. encoded into the original copy of the U.S. Constitution.  It allows for an single exception to the “natural born citizen” requirement — in the case of the AntiChrist.

      So, No Problem.  

  2. He is willing to speak honestly even to his base. I’m sure Norton realizes the birthers are dumbasses too, but she panders to them. And in so doing, encourages the dumb.

    I think this will end up helping Buck in the primary. A few will not vote for him because of this. But many more will support his speaking honestly about the birthers.

    While I disagree with Buck on most policy issues, I respect the guy. His handling of this here illustrates why.

        1. Normally, one doesn’t court a constituency, explicitly identify oneself as being the candidate of that group, and then go on to refer to them, WHILE ON TAPE, as dumbasses.

          Talk about your big differences.

            1. Went to graduate school in a lunatic-fringe area (not Boulder).  But there is still a difference between a non-lunatic candidate going to a fringy meet-and-greet and saying uh-huh (they’re not his base), and a self-identified fringe candidate actively insulting his base in the press.  

              Look:  imagine if computer programmers were a really powerful Democratic fringe group :-).  They had lots of good ideas, and some kooky ones (ok, analogy to Tea Party breaks down here).  If a candidate for major office identifies himself as of the technocrat, sucks up to you at all your functions,actively praises all your great ideas,  and then suddenly you read in the press that he’s called programmers dumbass literalists because of one of their wonky ideas, you really think that’s not going to cost that candidate some significant base support?  And that the less-fringy Democrats aren’t going to think this guy’s not too trustworthy, because he’s just been playing folks for votes?

    2. David, I know your man-crush on Buck is overwhelming, but what the hell are you talking about? Buck spoke privately to a campaign operative, a Democrat by the way. That’s why this remark was news, because it was NOT close to anything Buck has been saying to “his base.”

      Though you’re right, this doesn’t hurt Buck much, if at all.

      1. I think it was a dumb mistake. I agree it was news because he was speaking down to a part of his base.

        But I also think it will increase his appeal to the primary voters who think the birthers are nuts. And I think (hope?) there are more of those than there are of the birthers.

        1. strategic “mistake,” like Jeb Bartlet “accidentally” letting something slip on a hot mike he thought was cold (but really knew was hot). But he’s apologizing a bit much after the fact for that to be the case; he would have had a smoother end-game if it had been intentional.

  3. declaring that Buck “went too far” labeling “birthers” as “dumbasses”

    Upcoming editorials we can expect from Denver’s newspaper:

    George Bush went too far labeling Bin Laden as evil

    FDR went too far demanding unconditional surrender by Germany.

    1. was screwed up by Rs voting in the caucus system  so the democratic process would now best be served by the leadership telling everyone they know best, getting whichever one of the people’s wrong choices who wins the primary to withdraw so the leadership can fix their democratic process mistake via vacancy appointment. This all makes sense on the planet where they live and being quoted, sourced and linked in ColPols is somehow bad for them. Is everyone there batshit crazy except Mike Littwin?

  4. would it have been if he just said “I called them dumbasses because they are!” I might even vote for him then. Or at least quit laughing at him. Maybe.

  5. think Obama should produce his real birth certificate, but they have realized that the issue isn’t going anywhere. It may have been that Obama was embarrassed his parents weren’t married, per Buck on Boyles this morning.

    1. He knows damn well that if he were white with a “normal” sounding name, no one would be asking these kinds of questions.

      He probably said long ago: “Screw ’em – I’m not going to give ’em the satisfaction!”

      And: “I’ll let ’em keep looking like total idiots.” Meanwhile, the REPUBLICAN Hawaiian officials continue to swear up and down to anyone who will listen that they have personally seen the original, 1961 birth certificate.

      Plus, you know what would happen if he DID produce it: “It’s just a COPY! We want to have Orly Taitz herself actually touch the original, and even then we might not believe it’s genuine!”

      They’re a bunch of wacko losers.

    2. It sure doesn’t seem like it if Ken Buck has to make the comment that he wished Teabaggers would stop asking him the question.

      Of course, that’s what you have to expect of people who don’t believe the State of Hawaii when they say they’ve certified Obama’s native-born citizenship, don’t believe contemporary newspaper clippings announcing his birth…

    3. Of course, that doesn’t stop “dumbass” birthers, does it?

      They are all on microfilm in state storage.  

      You order “a birf certificate,” and you get a certified copy.

      The fact that NO birfer has a real birf certificate doesn’t seem to phase them.  

  6. “Union of Dumbasses” to you espanol-challenged bloggers, I support Buck for his forthright acknowledgement of the powerful role played by the dumbass community in this election.  

  7. every time I hear him say something non-scripted. He seems a hell of a lot more genuine than that pandering, coldly calculating Norton with her offensive anti-Muslim ads.

  8. What the what?  He said this to a Democratic tracker, knowing it was a Democratic tracker.  And he calls other people dumbasses.  Well, I guess he’s right because he knows of what he speaks.  Totally, dude.

  9. My mom is an elected Republican in Hawaii. My sister is a cabinet officer in Lingle’s administration. They both back up the Governor on this – Obama was born in Hawaii.

    Hawaii is a small place and you can find many people that knew Obama’s family from day 1. (He was a classmate of my sister at Punahou.) If he wasn’t born there none of those family friends, etc. would exist. The newspaper announcement wouldn’t exist. The birth certificate wouldn’t exist. But all that does.

    Obama was born in Hawaii. And those of you that insist otherwise are full of shit. You disguise your unwillingness to accept a black man as president with this lame disproved excuse.

    Can’t you just man up and admit that you’re a bigot and you believe that a black man should not be allowed to be president. We already know you’re bigots, but at least this way we won’t think you’re also stupid.

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