Say What? Senator Talks to Sonia Like Ricky

July 15, 2009

"You'll have lots of splainin' to do."

— Republican Senator Tom Coburn tried on a Ricky Ricardo accent today at Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing. Does this sound, to you, like racial insensitivity or an unfortunate accident? To see the clip for yourself, read more.

Source: Getty

33 Comments

3 years 44 weeks

also me again, SHE likes her race being part of her appeal, SHE makes the comments that her race and background make her better suited for the job. if any man said "i'm better suited for this than a woman because i'm a man, i've had tougher experiences in life, i deserve it more" I'm sure every woman in america would call him a sexist pig and he would never be heard from again unless he enjoyed stirring up controversy. if he's a republican, even better! gleeful kicks to the shin for the idiot from the GOP! funny how you can discriminate against people for their political beliefs in this country with no problems

3 years 44 weeks

1. Lucy was white and Ricky Riccardo wasn't insulting her intelligence when he did it, so I don't really get how it was offensive unless you've been searching for racism in it. 2. heaven forbid we use a television reference in every day speech! what's next, I'm racist against Asians if I say "very good young grasshopper"?

likeKlikeJ 3 years 44 weeks

i don't know for sure if he said this because she was Latina. IMO he said it because she is a WOMAN. i'm japanes/german, and my dad says that to me all the time. i think all we really know is he loves Lucy, and that's not a crime.

mermei 3 years 44 weeks

Vsugar, Graham has already stated publicly that she will be confirmed, because they have no reason not to confirm her. What you seem to think is that Republicans have no right to put a liberal judge through her paces first, which is ridiculous. (Look back on confirmation hearings of Bush appointees - did Democrats ask tough questions? Damn right they did - and should. That's the whole point of confirmation hearings.) I honestly doubt very much they really care that she's a woman and Latina - beyond the fact that *she* claimed it made a difference in her decision making for years before recanting it now - what they care about is her politics. And that's their job.

Vsugar 3 years 44 weeks

The issue here is not only Senator Coburn, but ALL of the Republican Senators on this committee, and their obsession with race. Lindsay Graham just asked her if she had ever known a "low-income Latina family" who was against the death penalty. WHAT does that have to do with her judicial qualifications??? I have been watching the hearings quite a lot, and they are all clearly uncomfortable with the idea of a Puerto Rican woman sitting on the court - the world is changing, and they ARE "conservative" - they DO NOT WANT change. Too bad.

Smacks83 3 years 44 weeks

Ok, so the "wise Latina" has some "splaining to do".Seems like they are both 1 for 1 on the not-the-smartest-thing-to-say list.

Smacks83 3 years 44 weeks

Ok, so the "wise Latina" has some "splaining to do". Seems like they are both 1 for 1 on the not-the-smartest-thing-to-say list.

mamasitamalita 3 years 44 weeks

is it racially insensitive? perhapsdid he mean it to demean her? likely nodid she seem to shrug it off/accept it with a smile? yesdoes she have a lot of "splainin'" to do? YES. that is the point of these hearings

mamasitamalita 3 years 44 weeks

is it racially insensitive? perhaps did he mean it to demean her? likely no did she seem to shrug it off/accept it with a smile? yes does she have a lot of "splainin'" to do? YES. that is the point of these hearings

CaterpillarGirl 3 years 44 weeks

Its over reacting. She does have lots of explaining to do, and he just goofed on saying that.

3 years 44 weeks

what an idiot. I can't believe some people don't think before they open the shit hole on their face.

LonelyShifter 3 years 44 weeks

At best, it's *very* unprofessional.

3 years 44 weeks

Um...okay...it was not an accident, cute though, but not appropriate at all especially with all the media hype around um...Sotomayor's statement. It was like he was trying to get back at her in a "nice" funny way....More like awkward...

hypnoticmix 3 years 44 weeks

Okay I've never done this once in the two and half years I've been on this site. God has it been that long, but I scrap everything I said. Two things, I couldn't watch the video at work and secondly I forgot the sugar staffs fondness for making things sound worse than they really are. I guess that's called baiting in journalism and maybe I've been off playing on citizen 4.0 to long. Anyhoo after watching the video and seeing with my own eyes the personal exchange between the Judge and the Senator. I saw the good rapore and I heard her laughter in an approving and understanding tone when he made the comment. Further more I saw that little catch he did right when he said it because I think he realized that may not have been taken well but when he heard and saw that she approved he relaxes and continues to laugh with her. But I can see how some people would be offended. Earlier because stupid me couldn't see the video I thought this was over a heated exchange but IMO what happened is harmless.

hypnoticmix 3 years 44 weeks

mermei 3 years 44 weeks

She was offering a hypothetical in which she shot a sitting Senator, he made a joke about it, then they both laughed. Seriously, what's wrong with that? Or do people here only have a sense of humor when Democrats make the joke?

POPSUGAR Beauty 3 years 44 weeks

This blows my mind. There's no way Coburn would have said that to a non-Latina/Latino judge.

zuke 3 years 44 weeks

I think people are being more anti-republican than they are anything else. (Sorry, just my opinion, and sorry for the extra comment.)

zuke 3 years 44 weeks

I think it was an accident, and she didn't seem to think anything of it. If Ricky Ricardo had never used that line, no one would think anything of it, and we would accept the fact that some people are going to say 'splainin'.

niicoley 3 years 44 weeks

The way he said that was not right...but she does have some major explaining to do! I do not believe she is fit to serve on this Court.

hypnoticmix 3 years 44 weeks

*to be not (to me). sorry

hypnoticmix 3 years 44 weeks

*to be not (to me). sorry

hypnoticmix 3 years 44 weeks

"In that context I didn't find it racially insensitive at all."I think I'll disagree with that because although I think most of us agree that his intent was not to be racially insensitive it doesn't take intent for it to me racially insensitive. Especially in the context of grilling a Latina judge over the subject of race. I think he was absolutely trying to be a smart @ss but didn't think through the consequences of his chosen phrase. I'll agree that under other contexts it probably would have been harmless but this was not one of them IMO.

hypnoticmix 3 years 44 weeks

"In that context I didn't find it racially insensitive at all." I think I'll disagree with that because although I think most of us agree that his intent was not to be racially insensitive it doesn't take intent for it to me racially insensitive. Especially in the context of grilling a Latina judge over the subject of race. I think he was absolutely trying to be a smart @ss but didn't think through the consequences of his chosen phrase. I'll agree that under other contexts it probably would have been harmless but this was not one of them IMO.

HoneyBrown1976 3 years 44 weeks

No, it wasn't a mistake. He knew exactly what he was doing.

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