Obama was wrong to comment on attorney general's looks
No disrespect, Mr. President, but you really should have known better than to bring up the subject of California Attorney General Kamala Harris' looks the way you did Thursday. True, she's one gorgeous woman. Everyone at that fundraiser in Silicon Valley that you both attended could take one look at Harris and see it. Trust me, Harris knows it, too. No doubt, she's reminded about how men view her every single time she walks down the street. So, there was no need to bring it up the way you did when you called her the "best-looking attorney general in the country."
Obama was wrong to comment on attorney general's looks
Jenice Armstrong, Daily News Columnist
FILE -- in this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. Obama praised Harris for more than her smarts and toughness at a Democratic Party event Thursday, April 4, 2013. The president also commended Harris for being "the best-looking attorney general" during a Democratic fundraising lunch in the Silicon Valley. (AP Photo / Eric Risberg, File)
No disrespect, Mr. President, but you really should have known better than to bring up the subject of California Attorney General Kamala Harris' looks the way you did Thursday.
True, she's one gorgeous woman. Everyone at that fundraiser in Silicon Valley that you both attended could take one look at Harris and see it. Trust me, Harris knows it, too. No doubt, she’s reminded about how men view her every single time she walks down the street. So, there was no need to bring it up the way you did when you called her the “best-looking attorney general in the country.”
Mr. President, you were doing just fine when you pointed to Harris’ many attributes, referring to her as “brilliant,” “dedicated” and “tough.” But then you went where too many men have blindly stumbled before and weighed in on her appearance.
I’ll bet you embarassed her but good.
You see, when you’re trying to get ahead based on your skills and abilities, constantly having people comment on your looks can be deflating. It gets old. Harris is attorney general - not Miss USA. People toss her name around as a possible gubernatorial candidate or maybe even a future Supreme Court Justice. How her facial features are arranged should be irrelevant. No wonder feminists and folks on Twitter have come down so hard on you for bringing the subject up.
I’m glad you realize you erred and have apologized to Harris for the distraction your comments caused. Going forward, you’d be wise to heed the wisdom of your friend James Carville, the Democratic strategist, and learn to keep mum.
“Look, I’m a 68-year- old guy and I do notice honestly the way that women look sometimes, but you’ve got to learn to sort of keep your opinions to yourself,” Politico quoted Carville as having said on MSNBC. “I doubt if he’ll do it again. Not the worst thing that ever happened. Based on the pictures, it’s probably true.”
Yeah, it’s true.
But Harris has to be tired of hearing it by now.
Comments (54)
So the Pres is a pig like every other man, big deal.— itdepends9933
Obama has been wrong about a lot of things....just look at the economy, deteriorating national security, rising taxes, decreasing jobs, decreasing healthcare services, etc...— Professor1982- i think obama was wrong in that i just googled her and i dont think she is that hott. on a scale of 1-10, i give her a high 5 low 6. then again, im no brad pitt myself. — theeducator
- Sexism? By Preezey?— tr88
- Consider the source.— marcie
- The remark does not make Obama a sexist or a pig. But as Jen wrote, it probably is a distraction to a woman who is trying to do her job as well as she can. Obama shouldn't have said it; he deserves to be called out for it. Learn and move on.— citizenkane
- Yo Professor whatever. What country have you been living in. Thge economy has been on the rebound for three years now. Quite an accomplishment for a President who inherited the collasal mess that his predecessor left him and a petulant extremist Congress that refuses to do anything to aid improvement. As for national security, funny how we haven't had one domestic terrorism incident in the 5 years that Obama has been in office and oh yeah we caught the master-mind of Bush's 911. And as for healthcare, the only reason there may be any decrease is services is because republicans insist on defunding that brings about service being curtailed. And oh right, jobs creation has been on the uptick for nine months now. But you wouldn't want to let the facts get in the way of your fabrications would you? As for this non story, we have a lunatic poised to launch missles at South Korea and ultimately the U.S. and we're wasting time with this nonsense.— JLH
- JLH - Rebound? You call the below a "rebound"?!? It's a patient on artificial life support just waiting for someone to pull the plug.
1) U6 unemployment of 13%
2) Debt to GDP of 101%
3) National Debt of 16T
4) Increasing energy prices
5) BRICS Australia abandoning the dollar setting up the dollar to lose "reserve currency" status in the near term
6) "Fed" being the only purchaser of 80% of US Treasuries
7) US Manufacturing DOWN
What happens when more countries abandon the dollar and Bernanke is forced to raise the interest rate??? House of cards comes tumblin' down...that's what. The ONLY reason the US hasn't crashed is b/c the "Fed" is artificially inflating the dollar and every country and investor knows it.
"Rebound"...it think you need to remove the wool from your eyes.
1) - http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp
2) http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt-to-gdp
3) http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
4) http://www.npr.org/2013/02/06/171159974/with-gasoline-prices-rising-consumers-are-having-a-tough-year
5) http://www.catholic.org/business/story.php?id=50344
6) http://regator.com/p/259257683/feds_holdings_of_us_govt_debt_hit_record/
7) http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2013/04/01/stocks-slip-as-us-manufacturing-growth-slows-down
— Professor1982 - Look what he's married too. Can you blame him?— nutterbutter
Nope, no more compliments, no more opinions, and certainly no more feelings of any kind permitted.- as you said in the article, she probably knows it. it's not a secret. obama pointed out the obvious as a joke. no big deal.
- Barry the Flamin Kenyan is never right... he's a demoCRAPP...— toiletofphilly
- No-BAMA....— toiletofphilly
- He's probably just mad at our own Mrs. Kathleen Kane over the lotto privatization bit because she's definitely the best looking AG. (Oh, if I had only met her before her good and decent husband.) After all, Obama's supporters are all big business types from and he came out of the closet for them on large infrastructure privatization in Miami on Good Friday - so, I doubt that any doubts on privatization by Ms. Kane were not well-received in the $50,000.00 a plate Oval Office. (The New Deal spoiled all you folks, the Obama alternative is to give rights to exact tariffs on our major infrastructure to the too big to jail, i.e. The New Steal.) Carville should be more careful because if Mrs. Kane plays her cards right and continues to show genuine independent leadership, she might just be the breath of fresh air from far outside the beltway of the stale Washington Establishment and be elected a true people's candidate for the 1st American female President.— RR
- I guess he finally decided to be "transparent"!— dogman5
- Yo Prof. You know what you can do with that Fox noise contrived bs. Did you have to wipe after pulling those manufactured numbers out of your rear? Take a quick peek at some real numbers regarding where the economy was before the village idiot left and tell me that Obama hasn't done everythng and more to get things moving in a positive direction. Once again all in the face of a borderline treasonous congress that has bent over backwards to thwart any progress. But of course you won't do that because that would mean having to tell the truth. Something repugnicans are obviosuly allergic to.— JLH
- JLH: Perhaps you should try Spell Check to correct your numerous errors.— GREEKPICNIC
- So let me get this straight. Prez says that & he's basically given a pass. Romney talks about having binders of women yet that's trending for weeks. What's more sexist? Guarantee come Monday morning nobody will even remember this. Hey Jen, the best part is definitely how hot headed Michelle can get. After all, don't Kamala, the non Ugandan giant & the Prez look great together.— Dobie Gillis
- No wonder Michelle sees herself as a single mother!— Dobie Gillis
- Does Kamala Harris wear make-up? Does she wear tasteful clothes that flatter her appearance? Then she is like most attractive women who are not offended by compliments on their looks.— harbo
- Barry is a male chauvanist sexist pig.— b,ill a,tkins
- Oh man, is that angry cow Mooch ever gonna bring the ugly when she gets her meat hooks on Preezy.— b,ill a,tkins
- Just so that we're all in the same place on this one, it is now ok to comment on the looks of women since Barry did it. Right?— b,ill a,tkins
- I would think it's okay to comment on the looks of women since The President did - assuming you took ALL your social cues from President Obama.
- The President and The Attorney General happen to be close friends.
So we've reached the sad point where political correctness trumps humor between amigos.
If President Obama should have thought twice about his remark maybe he should have realized he was handing fodder to Conservatives for them to wrap into a spit ball they could add to their stockpile of cheap shots.
Talk about shooting blanks!— He Visto Todo - "No direspect..." That's funny. It's ok to disagree with Obama. It was wrong because this is the guy who CREATED the stupid War on Women. Just because the election is over, it doesn't mean he shouldn't be held accountable just like he likes to hold everyone on the right accountable. Unless we're just supposed to forget about the War on Women because the election is over and we're not doing that anymore. Uh no thanks. If that's what he wants, that's what he's going to get for the next 4 years.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Obama created the "war on women"? Rofl.
— wokmaster - lighten up Jen, at least he's not gay.— catwalks
- Well isn't this just the perfect piece for t,roll a,tkins to deposit his hateful brainfarts!— wokmaster
Jen...I disagree with you on this one, sister. She is an attractive woman, you must admit....and there is nothing wrong with complementing her on her looks.— BOOKKA- This country is being governed by the joyless PC thought police and it is scarey.Certain women take offense at anything that men do and are too mentally disturbed to understand a pleasant remark from a sexual advance. Men are not allowed to compliment women under threat of being labeled a sexist. Does being called attractive really hurt someone else's feelings? If it does, they should move out of society because they are making life a grim and joyless experience. I didn't vote for Obama but he was just being nice when he complimented the lady.— Drumgoole
- Jen, you aint bad looking yourself.— catwalks
.jpg)
He is probably sick of looking at that crab faced wife of his. He will cheat soon enough. I know the type of man he is. They are always horned up.- Tammy, I'm sure you turn heads everywhere you go. — wokmaster
- itdepends9933, you need psychological help because you are a sexist pig yourself. What you said is like a man calling every woman a prostitute.— Drumgoole
- I am a man, and men are pigs. Women are pigs too, only with lipstick. No one said anything about women holding men hostage for sex until they get what they want....wait, let me think.... :-) — itdepends9933
- Kathleen Kane is better looking than Harris.— wokmaster
- Hating on a BROTHA because he compliments a SISTA on her looks. I don't EVER want to hear you say ANYTHING about BROTHAS don't APPRECIATE a SISTA. To all you GOOD OLE BOYS- at least he didn't call her a GAL which is REALLY INSULTING.— phillygtown
- Tammy you are probably correct but what side of the fence will he cheat on? They say Barry was big in the bathhouses of Chicongo.And yes catwalk that's our Jen. Cute as a button but dumb as a box of rocks.— MilesLong1
- KAMALA is GORGEOUS. Yeah, I said it.— phillygtown
- Make sure you check the archives for comments made by the GOOD OLE BOY GOP about PALIN'S looks. At least OBAMA complimented a SMART LADY who has more than LOOKS to offer.— phillygtown
- First the crackhead Larry Sinclair and now this beast. Obama's taste in "attractive people" is as bad as his governing.— TomM
- Many gay men are complimentary of attractive women. It's expected of black men on the "down low." What's the big deal?— PotterPete
- Hey Jen, it must be tough for you. Why, unlike Ms. Harris you are unable to get by based upon your looks, abilities, or skills. You are one dumb, ugly, and idiotic woman. Your only "skill" is race-baiting propaganda where you not so subtly preach hate hate HATE of da white man!— phillyisahole
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - it is just that some people need to see an optomologist more often.— STEPHEN1988
- Simple compliment. What an overreaction. I didn't even vote for the guy but now I'm feeling a bit sorry for him.— icantbelieveit
- This is a heterosexual male problem.
But this is a minor porblem when you consider that Obama is about to cut Social Security and Medicare. No Dem president has ever done that. Report on that. That is a scandal. Obama is a Trojan Horse.— JoshuaFrySpeed - This is a heterosexual male problem. But this is a minor porblem when you consider that Obama is about to cut Social Security and Medicare. No Dem president has ever done that. Report on that. That is a scandal. Obama is a Trojan Horse. (HTML deleted)— JoshuaFrySpeed
- Who cares about this--this is a non issue. An entire column devoted to this? Insane!
Concentrate on what Obama will do to Social Security and Medicare. Write about that.— JoshuaFrySpeed - Why is it ok to compliment one genetic trait (intelligence) and not another (physical attractiveness). Oh that's right, because of the history of sexual objectification of women in the work place.— bobcitydoc
- Well, she is beautiful. Isn't it time we stopped the stereotype of the intelligent, tough,reliable woman who isn't viewed as attractive? Why should there be an either or? I think she sets a wonderful example for women in places of authority to remain easy on the eye.— Alfei
- blame bush....— frank1121
- I didn't vote for Obama and I don't support many of his policies..but come on, he's getting heat for commenting on a good-looking woman? Seems to me there's stereotyping going on, and it's from those who think any compliment about physical attributes means the guy doesn't think the woman is competent. I can't believe this is even an issue with all of the other current problems/issues.— Polecat_39
1
About this blog
What’s up, everyone? Welcome. Let's discuss whatever's on our minds - pop culture, relationships, politics, even the latest fashion trend. If you read my Daily News column, you know I like to mix it up: One day, it's the state of hip hop and the next, the latest political race. Also, it's always fun to try to figure out the opposite sex and check the latest trends. It’s all about learning from each other, exchanging ideas and hopefully making some changes for the better. Nothing is off limits - just keep it clean and civil.
Jenice Armstrong
Daily News Columnist
Read more from Jenice Armstrong at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green."
Reach Jenice at armstrj@phillynews.com.
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners: