Occam's Razor and Santorum's tongue slips:

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

When it comes to politicians, I think we all have a right to be fairly skeptical about them. They often seem selfish, self-interested and self-centered. They get into politics for power, money or fame (maybe all 3). They ignore constituents and the will of the people, quite frequently.

Occam's Razor is a principle you should all be familiar with. If not, go and familiarize yourself with it. I'll wait.

Good, so now that you know what it is, apply it to Rick Santorum's two racial "gaffes". The simplest explanation is that Santorum is not the best public speaker, but he is aware enough to know that racist dog-whistling will get him some votes. So, he plays to both sides--letting out some racial remarks that can be defended--if he wants to. If not, he mobilizes the racist vote--which in America is no small thing, even in 2012.

Unless you have a simpler explanation than that for what Santorum was trying to say, the only reasonable conclusion is that his "slips of the tongue" show something about his views.

Comments

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I have not listened to anything he's said, but the simplest explanation is actually just that he stumbled on his words and they show us nothing other than that.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

"Government nig"

Even BDJ admits to hearing "nig"

What other explanation actually explains what he was going to say?

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

This is actually the simplest explanation.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

except for the fact that there aren't a whole lotta words that start with NIG that make sense in the context of the statement.

[muscadinegirl.livejournal.com]

When it comes to politicians, I think we all have a right to be fairly skeptical about them.

You have a gift for understatement.

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

For real. It would've never crossed my mind but now I've had my eyes open.

[usekh.livejournal.com]

Oh come on, he was totally trying to say Anti-War Government Neighborhood Organiser.

He just somehow made a completely non nonsensical comment run together into NIG. Seriously :P

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

nigerian prince who wants our money!

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Has the term "government nigger" ever been uttered before?

Occams razor would be it was just a mushed mouth slip up.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA

right. the phrase "government nigger" has NEVER been uttered before.
that is the premise your argument is based on. your argument is wrong.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

This has nothing to do with Occam's Razor. You should be ashamed.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

The simplest explanation is that I'm an ableist.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

I'm telling you, a wizard did it.

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

I do think politicians use "code words" sometimes to speak to certain audiences. But I didn't see this incident as something calculated. This is speech #250 or so that he has made this year, and he's probably at least a little tired/burned out. I'm betting he uses that word at home/among friends, and it just came out. This is why teleprompters are good.

Occam's Razor, per my understanding, doesn't mean that the simplest explanation is always the one that is correct.

Personally, I think it's interesting how a person can say that word and be dismissed entirely for it. As if there is no way to come back from saying that, like it defines them forever.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

"Personally, I think it's interesting how a person can say that word and be dismissed entirely for it. As if there is no way to come back from saying that, like it defines them forever."

That may be interesting, but you should note, that it's not what I'm doing.
Santorum has a laundry list of problems.
This is just one.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I try to be generous in evaluating politicians, but the best I can do for Santorum is twatwaffle.

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

lol, twatwaffle, love it....

[oportet.livejournal.com]

If it was premeditated, that means he really thought it would gain him votes. Maybe I'm giving too much credit to the average racist, but would that really change the minds of any who weren't giving him their vote already?

[paft.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily. Not for this election, in any event. As I've said, he's a young man. I think he's betting on the center being moved even further to the right by 2016. A lot of (relatively) covert racists in the GOP will consider this "slip" to his credit. Means he's just like them. In four years, it can be dismissed in public as "old news" while it's remembered by the base.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

OMG its a conspiracy!

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

I always thought it was just him saying the word he probably says off camera but let it slip in public?

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

So who do we got running on the White-Power platform so far?

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Their vote is being split between Santorum, the Mormon guy, and the black guy. Clearly Santorum needed to step up his efforts here regardless of the risks.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Unless you have a simpler explanation than that for what Santorum was trying to say, the only reasonable conclusion is that his "slips of the tongue" show something about his views.

The most simple explanation is that someone who has no history of racial animosity and wants to remain relevant is not going to suddenly start spouting racist stuff on the highly publicized campaign trail. That someone who has not shown himself to be a great public speaker is liable to trip over himself often.

That's the simplest explanation.

f not, he mobilizes the racist vote--which in America is no small thing, even in 2012.

Even if we accept this ridiculous, ridiculous premise that the "racist vote" is some massive bloc that needs to be brought about, Occam's Razor again tells us that they're not going to vote for the black guy anyway, so there's no benefit in courting them.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

but this is the GOP primary we are talking about

courting them IS quite useful!

and as for: "no history of racial animosity" i refer you to his "blah people" statement for starters

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

So, if an atheist says g*d d*amnit does that mean they are a closet deist?

Just wondering...

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

that's a terrible argument that displays a lack of rigorous thinking

[existentme.livejournal.com]

Even though I think this is perhaps the stupidest thing in the world to be ~debating~, and how lightly, indeed, I do use that term, I will join t3h stupid as it were. I do have a "simpler explanation than that." I have an explanation that accounts for what many have been saying from the start: that Santorum hasn't any history of the overt racism one would expect to find in support of what the OP feels is the simplest explanation.

To me (and Santorum's one of the last politicians I would defend, since I try to avoid defending any of them at all), I thought, given the context of what he was up to with the speech, particularly in light of him using "anti-war" as pejorative, that a perfectly plausible (way more plausible than "government nigger") explanation of what he was getting ready to say had something to do with "negotiator."

In spite of his supreme stupidity, he realized, mid word, that he wasn't going to be able to string the words correctly together, so he just abandoned it altogether. But yeah, given the bit with the "anti-war" crap, I really think he was going to also use "government negotiator" (with Iran, e.g., or Russia, e.g) in the same pejorative sense he used "anti-war." You know, kind of like a rap song might sound if Rick Santorum was gonna throw down one of these. Recall that in the 2008 campaign, Obama suggested talking to Iran, seeing if there was some common ground, a (preposterously) novel idea at the time, and certainly one that no true red-blooded and white skinned American would ever accept as a sensible one.

If one accepts this, which to me is at least as plausible and worthy of acceptance as what the OP suggests ought be accepted, it's no less disturbing at all - but oh so expected. It's typical GOP rhetoric: negotiation, period, with whomever, is just bad policy. We are the Americans, we don't negotiate. Like Bush telling Iran, years ago, "we don't negotiate with evil," or Cheny later saying the same thing about North Korea, and adding "we defeat it." So see, this simpler explanation carries both the linguistic portion of the stupid (no one says nee-go-shee-ator; everyone says ni-go-shee-ator - g'head, say 'em both fast, the n word and negotiator), as well as the historic aversion of political candidates to the weakly, unmanly, non-super bowl winning negotiation word. It's the political candidates' n-word, all the way.

The real story is that the media has made a story out of something that isn't, conveniently ignoring the story that is. In what sane, allegedly advanced and civilized world is "anti-war" used pejoratively by a presidential candidate, anyway? In Rick Santorum's world, of course, but that's a world right out of his own version of the Bible.

My two cents in an already way too full ante pot.

[existentme.livejournal.com]

So in conclusion, I concede, yes, Santorum in his slip was definitely saying something about his views - just not what the media would have you believe it was - that, after all, to it, is far less important, and far more important to it that it never, ever be recognized, for lying in that little fact, that negotiation is a bad word, and not in the other n-word, is where all the profitable and equally (at least) racist killing lies.