Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

[tutusue]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

For those inclined to let their keyboard voices be heard, you can email "This Week" via this web page.

ETA...It appears Kookie, I mean Cokie, I mean "This Week" was inundated with email and doesn't want any more. I got a delivery failure notification! Ha! And, yes, in spite of my untechiness, I know there are other reasons for such failures!

[Random]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

The Geico cavemen look kinda furry to me.

Hawaii is the most "foreign" place you can go to and still stay in the United States — but it's still part of the United States. The whole point of America is that we're all under one roof, even the "exotics."

Roberts' statement automatically grates on anyone who's experienced in-the-beltway snobbism. The cultural weight of the United States is tilted toward the East Coast, and the further west you go, the less they consider us. Consider the Smithsonian's refusal to open branch museums on the West Coast because it's too far from the cultural "center" of America.

So, using Star Wars analogy, New York is Coruscant and Hawaii is Tattooine.

So, what's Cokie's email address and/or contact information?

[buzz1941]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

The Geico cavemen look kinda furry to me.

Hawaii is the most "foreign" place you can go to and still stay in the United States — but it's still part of the United States. The whole point of America is that we're all under one roof, even the "exotics."

Roberts' statement automatically grates on anyone who's experienced in-the-beltway snobbism. The cultural weight of the United States is tilted toward the East Coast, and the further west you go, the less they consider us. Consider the Smithsonian's refusal to open branch museums on the West Coast because it's too far from the cultural "center" of America.

[Random]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Why is UH Journalism prof Gerald Kato bad-mouthing Neanderthals by comparing them to Cokie Roberts? That's what I want to know. What's he got against the first species we drove to extinction?

Geico Caveman: Hey. Did an exotic compared us to Cokie Roberts.

Geico Caveman #2: Damn Furriners.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Yes, I'll tell you, Akaka should have deftly dismissed the foreign element and thanked her for the exotic part and touted Hawaii instead of ranting against her. We would have had an immediate and belated tourist benefit from that kind of smart move to combat the current lull.
DA, not always the brightest bulb in the marquee...

[LikaNui]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Personally, I think this is all making a mountain out of a molehill. What Cokie Roberts said is

"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."

Okay. "It has the look of." Not that it is foreign and exotic, just that it has the look of it.
I haven't seen the clips, so I think the interpretations would depend on her inflection, or lack thereof, when she said "the look of."
Maybe all the fuss is deserved, maybe not.
Don't know. Don't really care. Oh, I would care if there was a flagrant attack, but I just don't see it here. Heck, calling us "exotic" may have benefits!
Mountains. Molehills. [/yawn]

[Ron Whitfield]

Dittos Leo

I can't believe the flak she's getting for such a manini statement that was in fact true for most folks on the mainland.
Hawaii is an exotic and foreign place for them. They have virtually no clue about Hawaii. I sure didn't, growing up in LA.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Considering how often I've read HT postings by residents of the Hawaiian Islands, claiming that they are not, or ought not be considered part of the United States - I believe Ms. Roberts is entitled to some wiggle room.

Remember, dear Island residents, that your state's travel promoters have been pushing the "exotic" and (nearly) "foreign" Hawai`i experience to the rest of the country, as well as the world, for decades. Don't be so haughty when someone actually buys into the image you've been selling.



And remember to get your shots and exchange your money before you come over to the Mainland.

[salmoned]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Why is UH Journalism prof Gerald Kato bad-mouthing Neanderthals by comparing them to Cokie Roberts? That's what I want to know. What's he got against the first species we drove to extinction?

[buzz1941]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

OK, Cokie thinks we're aliens. Probably from outer space.

Another take

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Noun, plural: furriers
Persons who sell, make, repair, alter, clean, or otherwise deal in clothing made of fur.

Seems a bit of a foolish occupation for folks in a tropical climate like Hawai`i; probably not that much business in fur clothing there ...




... Pardon? What's that? Oh.


Never mind.

[pzarquon]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

From Sen. Daniel Inouye via KITV:

We've been fighting this for 50 years now. I think we've conducted ourselves in an American way... The question comes up, "What is America, and who is American?" I would resent anyone suggesting that my roots are not American.

From Sen. Daniel Akaka via Crooks and Liars:

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 Sen. 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. Hawaii is a great U.S. destination, just ask the 5.5 million Americans who visited last year for business and pleasure.

From Rep. Neil Abercrombie via the Star-Bulletin:

If he had gone someplace else, people would be asking, 'Why didn't he go home to Hawaii, why didn't he go see his grandma? Her home is a couple of blocks from the hospital he was born in, from the school he went to. Honolulu is a little town. It's not some sort of exotic locality.

And via KITV:

She's a bit of a fool. That's the only thing you can say.

UH Journalism prof Gerald Kato via the Star-Bulletin:

You would think that in this day and age, such Neanderthal ideas would be way past. I guess in politics, anything goes. ... They want to tar Obama with being sort of exotic, out of the mainstream, as if he's not really from America. You can do that with words and with pictures, I suppose. The campaign is trying to be very cautious.

HVCB president John Monahanvia the Star-Bulletin

We're confused by her sense of geography. Aside from the fact that Sen. Obama was born and raised here, he really is just one of the millions of Americans who choose to vacation in the islands and know that it's part of the United States. That's one of the advantages. No passport is required and a dollar is dollar here. ... Sen. Obama or anyone else can do business worldwide, 24/7, while in Honolulu.

[Nords]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Eldest spawn has received similar reactions when she says she's going "home" for the long week-end or that she was raised in Hawaii. Some people look at her with a "Yah. Right!" expression on their faces while others verbally question her reality!
Weird, I tell ya. Weird!

Every Mainland trip we get the same reaction at least once:
"You're from Hawaii and you're visiting here?!?"

I guess it's like seeing an animal get loose from the zoo...

[tutusue]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

[...]
"[G]oing off this week to a vacation in Hawaii ... does not make any sense whatsoever. 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. He should be in Myrtle Beach, and, you know, if he's going to take a vacation at this time."[...]

Such a strange reaction to Hawaii; that it can't be home to someone. Obama has stated on several occasions that he hasn't seen his tutu since 12/06. Never mind that his sister lives here, too! I guess Hawaii's just too exotic to be considered a home state.

Eldest spawn has received similar reactions when she says she's going "home" for the long week-end or that she was raised in Hawaii. Some people look at her with a "Yah. Right!" expression on their faces while others verbally question her reality!

Weird, I tell ya. Weird!

[Random]

Re: Cokie Roberts thinks we're all furriners here

Was Cokie Roberts stating code for what she really wanted to say about a minority state so far away? I think she expects people in Hawaii to bow down to her when she visits. I'm not worthy!

You would.

Mainlanders ... think they know what's best for us.