Yes Sen. Joe Biden is a pompous ass. Yes he is being given a free pass for his curious statements about Barack Obama. But on the whole, I could care less. The dude is not going to be President. Hillary will just buy his sorry butt and he will have funds for his next Senate campaign.

But, one thing he did say rubbed me the wrong way.

As a disclaimer I am a white male living in South Georgia. I know, you are shocked. So I hear a lot of quasi racist comments. It is funny the lengths that some white people will go to in order to convince you they are not racist, yet still say some horribly inappropriate things.

The one thing you do hear is that a black person is articulate. We all know what they mean and when Sen. Biden said it, I knew what he meant as well.

Eugene Robinson has a great op-ed up at The Washington Post concerning this very word. He summed it up best:

Articulate is really a shorthand way of describing a black person who isn’t too black — or, rather, who comports with white America’s notion of how a black person should come across.

Whatever the intention, expressing one’s astonishment that such individuals exist is no compliment. Just come out and say it: Gee, he doesn’t sound black at all.

Bingo!

I don’t think it is a racist thing to say, but it sure isn’t the most appropriate thing to say either. Anyway, Robinson’s whole peice explains it better than I could ever do.

I am glad I am not the only one who hates to hear that word.