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The laziness of John Sununu

John Sununu indulged his habit of calling Barack Obama "lazy" during a MSNBC interview Thursday, the third time in as many weeks that the Mitt Romney mouthpiece has lobbed a cheap, racially loaded insult at the nation's first African American president.

37 comments

The laziness of John Sununu

POSTED: Friday, October 5, 2012, 11:36 AM

John Sununu indulged his habit of calling Barack Obama "lazy" yet again during a MSNBC interview Thursday, the third time in as many weeks that the Mitt Romney mouthpiece has lobbed a cheap, racially loaded insult at the nation's first African American president.

Perhaps we should be grateful that Sununu, the co-chairman of the Republican challenger's presidential campaign, didn't re-implicate Obama's purported indolence in the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens -- like he did September 27 on Greta Van Susteren's show.

According to a transcript posted on Foxnews.com, Sununu opined that Obama skimps on/skips over essential security briefings. "This president thinks he's so smart...He thinks he doesn't need to put the extra work in for going through that process," Sununu said. "That's why I say he's lazy and detached. And unfortunately, Ambassador Stevens suffered the consequences of us not providing adequate security there."

Predictably, some right-wing bloggers are accusing Sununu's critics of "political correctness," a facile charge so over-used it has lost its meaning.

But the adjective "lazy" does mean something in this context. As my colleague Annette John-Hall points out in her column today, the word lies in a musty yet trusty lexicon that effortlessly enables a speaker to wink-wink, nudge-nudge racist stereotypes into a conversation, or a campaign.

Sununu, sometimes referred to as a "bully" but rarely if ever as a "dullard," surely knows what he's doing. And he should know better.

Kevin Riordan @ 11:36 AM Permalink | 37 comments

37 comments

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Comments (39)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:35 PM, 10/05/2012

It's best to ignore typical racist rethuglicans. Eventually they'll die out & it will be addition by subtraction...

— ClarkU

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:37 PM, 10/05/2012

Thanks for pointing out that the word lazy is racially motivated. I will never call my sleeping dog lazy or have a lazy Sunday afternoon watching football lest I be charged with a hate crime. This is beyond belief.

— FletcherT

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:30 AM, 10/07/2012

Ok. How about we just point out what an absurd claim it is that President Obama is lazy? Why would the co-chair of Romney's campaign make such a ridiculous claim? The context of the use of the word matters. Why do Republicans always come up with idiotic logic to dismiss criticism? Since it is blatantly obvious that the resident isn't lazy, why does the Romney campaign keep repeating it over and over? It's because their ideas are unpopular and they are trying to both distract voters from that fact and mislead voters about the performance of president Obama. Lame.

— MikeP

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:40 PM, 10/05/2012

No President has ever played more golf...and that's a fact Jack. In fact he was playing 9 holes on the day the Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden.

— knicks84

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:50 PM, 10/05/2012

This comment has been deleted.

— hannibal barca

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:36 AM, 10/07/2012

President Obama was well prepared. He's very knowledgible about the economy and health care to begin with. He made a strategic decision not to address every Romney lie because he would be left no time to make all of the points he wanted to make.

There aren't a list of code words. It depends on the context. When you claim that a person who is clearly hardworking is lazy, it raises the question of why the claim was made. We don't need to look "everywhere" for racism. It's frequently part of the Republican rhetoric. It's a matter of calling it out when you see it.

Now let's get back to the important issue that came up during the debate. Whay did Romney tell so many lies? Why has he been telling lies on the campaign trail over the last few months that requires his campaign staff to correct post event? It happens after every single event.

— MikeP

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:18 PM, 10/05/2012

Actually it is more relevant than the word lazy being racist. If he is not doing his job and always golfing, then he is lazy.

— tuscany590

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:56 PM, 10/05/2012

Thanks for reminding us of how bush really wasn't that concerned about getting Osama Bin Laden, "Now watch this drive!"

— Kilgore Trout 76

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:17 AM, 10/06/2012

Guess you forget the Bush years,conveniently. Yeah, and Obamawas also at the correspondents' dinner the day bin laden was killed, It's called keeping up the front. JFK went to a political donner when the Cuban missile crisis was unfolding. To change plans would alert the media and the world that something was up. How about you learn how real leadership works.

— mike l

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:47 PM, 10/05/2012

Taking the word lazy and turning it into a "racially loaded insult" is even a stretch for a drone writer like you. What a shock that John-Hall would find anything racist. She thinks white clouds are racist.

— jimmymack

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:15 PM, 10/05/2012

This comment has been deleted.

— bil,l atkins

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:13 PM, 10/05/2012

Could you people please put put a list of all racist words and references do that we don't have to go through this BS anymore. OBAMA HAS HIMSELF ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS SAID HE "HAS A LAZINESS IN HIM."

— hotelguy

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:26 PM, 10/05/2012

@sharkymachine - You have no idea what I've complained about in the past. So you are dumb. More importantly, I'd like you to dispute the FACT that Obama was playing golf 20 minutes before Navy SEALS assasinated Osama bin Laden.

— knicks84