Someone explain to me what the big deal is about Elizabeth Warren and her native american heritage

[LynneSin]

I mean I'm missing something here and I saw Scott Brown's opening remarks. Hell he might as well wished he were Latino, sprayed his face orange and asked for Obama's birth certificate after that opening remark.

Here's what I know.

Warren was born in Oklahoma so there is a good chance that somewhere in her family tree is Native American.

I've also had genetics, and I know that after a few generations you could see Native American features less prominent if any at all. I've met others who have said they have Native American history and look as pasty white as me. Doesn't mean they are faking something.

From what I've read about Elizabeth Warren's life she's a pretty smart person. She got scholarship into college, always had great grades and was very successful at the work she has done. So whether or not she used the Native American card to get into Harvard or any job seems kinda moot when you're talking about a person who has had a history of excellent grades and work history.

So really, what is the issue here? Why is that the key #1 comment that Brown had to lead with that makes Elizabeth Warren just totally 'unelectable' in his eyes?

[rustydog]

1. Her "Honorable" opponent tried to claim she used her heritage

to gain a hiring advantage, but since she is plainly white, she can't be native american.

[DonViejo]

2. Obviously Brown has hold of some stereotypes dictating

what Native Americans (Latins, Blacks...Jews?) look like.

[LynneSin]

3. Someone should remind him that Obama is also white

I mean he is!

[catbyte]

4. It is an extremely cheap shot, insinuating that she didn't get to where she is

on merit; that she somehow cheated. Typical man with Small-Dick Syndrome trying to belittle a woman who is obviously his superior in every way possible.

[Marie Marie]

8. He came on like a bully, immediately attacking her with this.

Sounded desperate to me, like he knew he had to sink her at the start or she would win the war of their policy differences. Cheap shot indeed.

[Zalatix]

10. What's scarier is that the people over there FELL for it.

[Lightbulb_on]

5. The way I've heard it sold...

... is as you said. Something along the affirmative action angle.

She got the opportunity to become successful because she played the "Native American" card and took a spot from someone else who didn't have it. etc.. etc.. etc..

[rustydog]

6. And then her "Honorable" senator opponent said she can't be indian, look at her!

[oldhippydude]

7. that's it

they have used the affirmative action petard since the 70's .. translation i could have been (x) but someone got my break (insert minority of choice)..

[central scrutinizer]

18. more likely they lost out to a "legacy" applicant

some wastrel whose pappy was an alum and is now a major donor.

[GeorgeGist]

46. Like this guy ...

[oldhippydude]

21. whoops missed the post count....

WELCOME ABOARD!!!

[CreekDog]

11. is there a Democrat that you will say good things about?

I mean, one that's running for something these days?

Here is a great candidate, female, smart, educated, brilliant actually, accomplished, running a good campaign and you've got nothing good to say about her.

You just don't like our team anymore? It's okay, just wondering.

[emilyg]

13. A question was asked - I

supplied part of an answer. You don't like it - don't read it.

[CreekDog]

14. well, it's okay, I saw the screenname and knew what was coming

you're right, I should have known.

[emilyg]

15. You're boring and

predictable - go hound someone else.

[CreekDog]

19. I'm not hounding you, you're hounding our candidates

[CreekDog]

30. I think it's a shame you don't support Elizabeth Warren, a great candidate

I know you've said you were a longtime supporter and admirer of Hillary Clinton.

Being that Warren is a far superior candidate in knowledge and accomplishment than Brown and being that Warren is superior in terms of women's rights and Native American issues, I just cannot see how a former Hillary supporter could support Brown over Warren.

[emilyg]

51. You don't know sh*t. Keep making

ass-umpions.

[CreekDog]

52. you accused her of lying, which she did not do

Last edited Fri Sep 21, 2012, 07:22 PM - Edit history (1)

edited to correct link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=134495


she's from Oklahoma, many there have Native American heritage, even if distant, it is not wrong to cite that.

[emilyg]

54. I accused her? Prove it. The

writer of that article did.

[CreekDog]

77. You did accuse her of lying, here's the link that shows it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=134495

what's the game here? nobody says you have to like her.

[emilyg]

60. If you think I'm a troll - then report me.

[CreekDog]

99. well, you may have to see her in Meta, her first post here got her locked out of here

[LeftyMom]

25. No, but she really likes Rush Limbaugh.

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg

And yes, it's her blog. She mentions DU. http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2007/03/soldier.htm The writing style was kind of a giveaway anyhow.

[Wetzelbill]

29. she is without a doubt a RW troll

You can see it in her posts. I mostly lurk these days, but she's anti-liberal and that blog is certainly no surprise. Everything is the same, the name, being from Georgia, the writing style, some of the issues, mentioning DU. Her posts should be treated with the same amount of skepticism by people here as a Paul Ryan speech.

[Wetzelbill]

35. yes

[foo_bar]

61. makes sense... she bragged about not voting for Obama in the '08 general election

50. I even wrote in her name in general.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002476177#post50

Not sure how that works wrt ToS, but even the Warren stuff is pretty self-evident:

For non-presidential contests, election season begins on Labor Day. <...> If you are bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout for our candidates during election season, we'll assume you are rooting for the other side.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

If that's really her blog (and she just fessed up to it) (on edit: she self-deleted the post admitting this is her blog, but I imagine the admins can see the original message, and I don't picture them taking kindly to this sort of manipulation), this should be a no-brainer:

Dems Drop 'God' From Party Platform

This is NOT my party anymore.

<http://>www.drudgereport.com/

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/dems-drop-god-from-party-platform.htm

[obamanut2012]

84. Some of those blog posts are actual Birther posts

Did the poster really say it was hers? WTF???

[LeftyMom]

91. She did, but she deleted it.

She's linked to lottery post from DU and to DU from her blog as well.

[obamanut2012]

92. Little shocks me on here, but this does

I mean, I have pretty conservative relatives who admit they won't vote for President Obama because he is Black, but even they think he's an American citizen.

[LeftyMom]

93. She posted a link saying black people won't vote for Obama because he's gay.

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/black-people-and-obama.htm

There's conservative and there's fucking crazy, and that's... not conservative.

[foo_bar]

95. she acknowledged it in the self-deleted post

I didn't take a screengrab, and I don't recall the exact phrasing, but it was something like "Yeah, well at least I have a hobby..."

In any event, she plugged lotterypost.com on DU (and referenced DU on lotterypost.com):

I won $40 tonight on Ga. Cash 3. WOW!
Come join us on lotterypost.com

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9698292#9698959

I have a better one for you

www.lotterypost.com
and it's free.

http://tinyurl.com/8mz6cx3

When called on it, she claimed "I don't play the lottery" (this morning?), which was a slightly misleading statement to put it mildly. Anyway, I'll cut to the chase by following the glurge:

Nurses (usually) don't laugh...

"Of course I won't laugh," said the Nurse to the patient, "I'm a professional.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101843148 "emilyg", DU, 1/28/2012

Nurses (usually) don't laugh...

"Of course I won't laugh," said the Nurse to the patient, "I'm a professional.

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/01/nurses-usually-dont-laugh.htm "emilyg", lotterypost, 1/28/2012

[LeftyMom]

97. Here's another DU mention on her blog.

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2011/1/feelings2.htm

[LeftyMom]

40. It's a weird blog. Went from the sort of glurge-y affirmations you get in emails from your elderly

aunt and lottery numbers to racism and right wing nutjobbery.

Do you know The Blacks aren't going to vote for Obama because he's gay and isn't giving them enough free stuff? emilyg's blog says so. http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/black-people-and-obama.htm

[Cha]

41. Thanks for that...even though it's Hate on Pres Obama

all the time. It's good to know who the enemies are. So bitter.

[LeftyMom]

56. Oh, it gets even better! She's a birther.

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/simply-amazing.htm

[Cha]

65. Of course, she is.

Which we all know what that's code for.

[emilyg]

58. Never listened to him. My

first vote ever was for JFK - NEVER STRAYED FROM MY PARTY.

[emilyg]

69. I alerted on you

calling me a troll. Jury decided 3-3 to let it stand. I'll take Juror 6's advise - "be nice to each other". I don't play the lottery.

[foo_bar]

75. you just claimed it was your blog

Then you self-deleted the post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021387798#post59

Moreover:

I don't play the lottery.

Won $500 in the Ga. Lottery.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9595163&mesg_id=9595933 (OP: "Ever won a lottery?...&quot

I won $40 tonight on Ga. Cash 3. WOW!
Come join us on lotterypost.com

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9698292#9698959

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/the-obama-you-dont-know.htm
http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/9/black-people-and-obama.htm
http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/dems-drop-god-from-party-platform.htm

Now, Barack Hussein Obama has been in office for over three years, yet this very same press:

� Cannot find any of his childhood friends or neighbors;

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1391536

... ad nauseam.

[emilyg]

78. That was when I had money. Don't

have any to waste now that I'm retired.

[CreekDog]

79. Why the heck don't you appreciate Obama?! He's the one that put GOD back in!

Insisted in fact that the reference to God be put back into the platform and Jerusalem be the capital of Israel.

Why the hostility towards him --ironically I think your hostility is towards positions that are the opposite of ones he's actually taken --like this example shows.

Maybe you're just completely unfair to him and don't believe his positions for *some* reason you haven't explained here, perhaps the same reason you don't believe he's a natural born citizen.

[Mojorabbit]

104. Oh Emily. This makes me so sad. nt

[ceile]

68. That blog is something else

why is this person here?

[emilyg]

70. I'm here because I'm a Dem. Why are u here?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

71. Are you admitting that's your blog?

Yes or no.

[foo_bar]

76. here you go:

I won $40 tonight on Ga. Cash 3. WOW!
Come join us on lotterypost.com

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9698292#9698959

I have a better one for you

www.lotterypost.com
and it's free.

http://tinyurl.com/8mz6cx3

[CreekDog]

81. If you're a Dem, then why is it risky for me to link to your blog post today?

http://blogs.lotterypost.com/emilyg/2012/09/simply-amazing.htm#comments

(the reason I think it is, perhaps risky, is that it appears to be a right wing blog)

[obamanut2012]

82. OMG that is horrible

I am appalled a DUer wrote that.

[mcctatas]

83. if.that's satire it sucks...

If it is for real it sucks, not even creative, poorly researched, no corroborating evidence and sooooo 2009.

[CreekDog]

86. It is so mean that I don't see how it doesn't make you like Obama a little more

for simply being the target of such racist viciousness, day in and day out.

it really is astounding.

[Whoa_Nelly]

85. zomg! long-time DU'er EmilyG is a troll?

That blog of hers is so full of RW aka FR and beyond!

[mcctatas]

88. a birther even...

really concerned about Michelle's thesis too, ugh

[obamanut2012]

87. That blog is posting Birther stuff

You said it was your blog.

How can that be your blog if you are saying you're a Dem? I am not being snarky, I'm serious. September 21's post is actually birther talking points.

[GObamaGO]

89. Your blog seems to indicate the opposite

[CreekDog]

94. I don't think a Dem or a fan of Hillary Clinton would write this on DU:

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/101490755#post62

Skinner (56,248 posts)
26. Let's just bottom line this.

Set aside the question of whether it is legal.

Do you believe it is appropriate for a golf club to discriminate based on sex? A simple yes-or-no answer will suffice.

emilyg (22,723 posts)
62. Private golf club? yes.

--------------

and your favorite first lady was Eleanor Roosevelt? uh huh.

let's not forget how many private country clubs wouldn't allow Jewish members, some until surprisingly recently.

[backscatter712]

98. No, you're a troll.

This is a progressive web site. If you want to spread racist garbage, do it at Stormfront. Bigotry is not welcome here.

Yes, I know, I'm getting alerted for calling a troll a troll. Bring it on! Hidden posts don't deter me.

[eShirl]

102. HOLY CRAP - disgusting!

I am shocked this blogger posts on DU

[CreekDog]

31. why can't you even provide a proper link so we can read the article?

are you trying to quote part of it but stop us from reading it in context?

okay I will:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/us/politics/for-elizabeth-warren-bad-blood-over-indian-heritage-claims.html?_r=0

[eqfan592]

39. My guess is that would be the case.

Why else fail to provide a link?

[Changenow]

67. Her family stories were true, Elizabeth Warren Is Part Native American

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/05/elizabeth-warren-is-part-native-american

[CreekDog]

12. I also take issue with the idea that people of ethnicities have to "look" a certain way

I'm astonished he said such a thing.

But maybe I shouldn't be.

[uponit7771]

28. +1!

[Cha]

42. Yeah, that was rw f***** limbaugh

territory. Where'd Scott think he was..a private donor spread for unpatriotic republicons?

[GeorgeGist]

49. Made me snort

[Canuckistanian]

16. It's obviously an attack on affirmative action programs

And Brown KNOWS it will get him some political traction.

But I'm astounded at how many so-called "progressives" on this site seem to agree with this criticism.

[Cha]

43. Maybe they don't know

the whole story? It's something republicon researchers came up with to lie about and smear Elizabeth.

[Wetzelbill]

17. I'm Blackfeet and don't really care

Millions of white people, even lots of black people, sometimes say or think they are Indian or have some descendancy. It happens all the time. Most have a good heart and believe that, whether it is true or not. It does no real good for a politician to say that, what, they going to pander to the couple votes that Indians have, especially in the East? Most natives will vote for a Dem anyway, because of policy. Here is a little secret. Every Indian has had countless white people claim to be Indian to them. Some of my good friends who I know likely don't have a drop of Indian in them have claimed to be Cherokee or something, it's a running joke for Indians, but we are goodhearted about it. The number of actual Indians who really give a flying fuck about something like this is likely pretty negligible. Mitt Romney could claim to be Native tomorrow, I could care less, he'd be just another person who wants to say it. Not really a big deal.

So Elizabeth Warren claimed she has Indian heritage. Well good, at least she cares. And she shows it in her policy. Is it true? Maybe somewhere in her family tree. Maybe she really thought she was native. But whether she is or not, Elizabeth Warren fights for things that Natives care for. That could benefit the most downtrodden people in the country. Things that would be good for the middle class. That's what is important. I don't care about what some politician may say or claim. 99 percent of them are bullshitters and embellish anyway. About something, about anything. The nature of the business is they always are trying to look good and they always say some BS thing at some time or another. But when it comes to policy, Elizabeth Warren is on the side of 99 percent of us, that's what matters. If somebody is Native and they have a problem with it, well they might want to ask themselves who do you think would be a better person for them in the senate, a working class fighter like Elizabeth Warren or a corporate tool like Scott Brown? Even if it did hurt my feelings that she claimed to be Indian, so what, at least she's not going to sell out my future to Wall Street or give away Social Security, Medicare like Scott Brown would in a second.

And if she isn't Native, so what? I can end it. Elizabeth Warren is an honorary Blackfeet, there you go, end of story.

[Indpndnt]

20. Extremely well said!

And I love the ending.

[Wetzelbill]

22. thank you!

It's a fake controversy, drummed up to attack a person who is actually on the side of regular people. It's pushed by the right-wing and mainstream media picks up on it, meanwhile flat out demonstrable lies by politicians go completely ignored like it's ok. I'd rather know about something that matters. This might show something about character if she was a blatant liar like Paul Ryan, where the relatively frivolous on it's own marathon lie matters because it's an archetype to who he is, but Warren is otherwise proven to be an honest, exemplary person, so it means little, if anything, on it's own.

[Indpndnt]

23. Agreed. And I thought she handled it very well in her own opening statement.

No whining or complaining, just explaining that it's something she's always been told and that she never used it to get scholarships or employment. Fair enough. Now on to the issues.

[Wetzelbill]

24. exactly

[CreekDog]

27. I agree with you, that the part of her that matters to me is...

what her values are and by that, I mean what she will value when she votes and represents people.

[Wetzelbill]

32. the rest is just subterfuge

It's like the old "Who would you like to have a beer with?" thing. Get the fuck outta here with that. I want to know who is going to privatize Medicare or who wants to bomb another country for no reason.

[CreekDog]

36. That's right. Let's take the fun dude out for a beer

...and let the smart guy or woman run the nation.

[joshcryer]

26. So true, my great grandmother was said to be Cherokee.

This is her when she was younger:



Not sure if she is Cherokee from this picture I have of her. But it's a family thing that has gone down through the generations and we haven't done the proper ancestry search to really prove it (really fragmented family tree line).

[Wetzelbill]

34. and that isn't to say that she isn't

or that you don't have some native ancestry. Good for you if you do. Natives just hear that sort of thing all the time. What really matters if you are a good person. I look white, actually. Doesn't necessarily mean much how you look, I am almost a half all told. 1/4 Blackfeet, that's the tribe I am enrolled in. Even if a person isn't really native, if you are good to natives etc, they will welcome you in like family either way. What really matters in our culture is who you are as a person. Countless stories of people adopted into tribes or even just people who live and work on reservations and are treated and accepted just like anybody else.

[justiceischeap]

47. I too have been told I have Native blood

The baby is my mom's dad and the woman is his grandmother. I've also been told I have Native blood on my dad's side but do I know this for fact? Nope. I make the claim based on what I've been told but I always clarify that it's what I've been told. The only way I'd know for sure is DNA testing. That said, I look Scott/Irish (I have a very long Scottish lineage on my mom's side -- my 32nd Great Grandfather is purported to be Robert the Bruce).

[Major Nikon]

44. Ironically the reverse was true in times past

My grandmother was 1/2 Choctaw but was never certified because her mother never wanted to be on the rolls. So here was a woman that certainly looked like a Native American (she looked full blood), but couldn't prove it and couldn't get a CDIB card. Meanwhile I was able to get a CDIB card through my grandfather's (her husband) lineage which did trace back to the Dawes rolls and the only brown I have is the ring around my asshole.

[hedgehog]

72. Up until the 70's, it was easier for a lot of people to conceal and/or ignore

any Native American ancestry in order to fit in with a society that favored white people. I imagine that anyone whose family has been here more than a few generations has some Native American ancestry.

[Starry Messenger]

45. *applause*

Standing ovation, friend.

[dionysus]

96. [phone]

i'm sorry your ticket with Kurovski was ended by Yak Gate

[Cha]

38. Scott Brown has nothing but Cheap Shots..

no substance. He seemed extra Pissed that Harry cancelled the Senate Vote in order to get him to Boston to Debate Elizabeth..went down hill from there for him.

One of the big tactical problems for Brown, of course, was that he could not stretch out the opening salvos on Warren’s claims of Cherokee heritage beyond the first five minutes. But he tried. God knows he tried.

To paraphrase the high priest of TV, Marshall McLuhan, Elizabeth Warren was cool, as opposed to a simmering, way too hot Scott Brown. Clearly, the Harvard professor got under our colonel’s skin.

Scottie wasn’t simply trying to beat Elizabeth Warren. At times, it looked as if he wanted to flog her to death with his stack of papers. “She’s obsessed with taxes.” As if he isn’t.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251102632

I read an article at Boston.com last week that there are those in Warren's family, in Arizona now, who acknowledge their Native Amercian Heritage and others want nothing to do with it. Elizabeth is proud of it..just like I am of my wee drop of Ojibwa blood.

Everytime I click the article at google it won't come up for me or I'd offer the link.

[ananda]

48. Got me. I could care less.

She stands for policies that are people first.

That's all I care about.

[treestar]

50. Typical of Rebublicans

To find some little mistake and dwell on that, rather than discuss policy and issues.

[GCP]

53. It's a leading meme on the local reich wing radio shows

It's all they've got. He's an empty suit.

[librechik]

55. you can't use the NA card to get into Harvard

that is just Repub hogwash.

However, it looks good to have a variety of interests in your background resume when you apply to school, and she had always been told she had Native American ancestors. Ther was nothing wrong with her declaring that and getting in NA organizations and so on. They just think they can spin this into her "lying on her resume" which is BS.

[rox63]

64. He was trying to make her out to be a liar

But she came off a very honest and thoughtful throughout most of the debate that I hope it just makes him seem like a jerk for bringing it up.

A lot of people hear of NA heritage only through family stories. My family told me that we have NA heritage. But it used to be something that could be detrimental to getting ahead. So many families have no documentation. My great-great-grandparents immigrated down to New England from Quebec, Canada in the mid-1800's. There is probably some Abenaki in our background. I had a great-aunt who looked like she could have walked right off the rez. But my brother is blond and blue-eyed. I've been told that I look somewhat NA. But it is not documented anywhere that I could find.

[Javaman]

66. Because, even though Native Americans are, well, Native...

to the gop mouth breathers brown making that stupid ass racist remark is a dog whistle to the moronic right wing to hate anyone who is different and who gets help due to their heritage.

And browns other out right racist dog whistle attack is "she doesn't even look Native American!!!" as if being Native American has a specific look.

brown, in a phrase, is a desperate racist asshole.

[mstinamotorcity2]

73. The Big Deal is

all in Scott Brown's Big Head!!!!Don't try and understand it its above the 47% ratio.

[Matariki]

74. I know people who are 1/2 African American who look caucasian

and vice versa. You can't always tell by looks. Anyway, most Americans probably have some mix of ethnicity buried in their genetics.

[smirkymonkey]

80. My father is dark Itatian. My mother was English and Duthch.

My last name is Italian, but I look very Scandinavian. I am very light. Very light blue eyes, blonde hair, fair skin (although I tan well, which is probably due to the olive skin that I have inheriterd from my father.) People always say "You don't look Italian", however many Italians have recessive Norman genes and end up looking like I do, even though dark colroing tends to be dominant.

[LeftyMom]

90. I get the "you don't look Italian" thing all the time.

My grandfather was born in Rome and had reddish brown hair, very light olive skin, and green eyes. I figure since half of Gaul wound up in Rome at least long enough to leave a DNA deposit, it would be more surprising if there weren't any people with that coloring.

I think people who say that really mean you don't look like central casting Sicilian gangsters from the movies.

[smirkymonkey]

100. LOL!

That's true! Even when I was travelling in Italy, they pretty much looked like us - that is all colors, shapes and sizes. There wasn't a "typical" Italian look at all, yet everybody thinks we should look like "The Sopranos" or worse, the cast of the "Jersey Shore". Gsh!

[Matariki]

101. Tell me about it.

I'm blue eyed with a Chinese family name. Diluted genes....

And I really, really get tired of explaining.