Open mouth, insert foot.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10526195

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A state Republican activist has admitted to and apologized for calling a gorilla that escaped from the Riverbanks Zoo Friday an "ancestor" of First Lady Michelle Obama.

A screen capture of the comment, made on the Internet site Facebook, was obtained by FITSNews, the website of South Carolina politico Will Folks.

The image shows a post by an aide to state Attorney General Henry McMaster describing Friday morning's gorilla escape at Columbia's Riverbanks Zoo.

Longtime SCGOP activist and former state Senate candidate Rusty DePass responded with the comment, "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

DePass told WIS News 10 he was talking about First Lady Michelle Obama.

DePass has been involved in state politics for decades, and helped elect Republican Governor Jim Edwards in 1974. He was an early South Carolina supporter of former President George W. Bush in 2000.

Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, one of DePass' political rivals, condemns the comment.

"You know, I think the comment is inappropriate. It's a racist comment," he says. "I think Mr. DePass should apologize."

We spoke with DePass over the phone Friday night. He said, "I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest."

"You know, I don't think there's anything funny about that comment," says Coble. "That is the First Lady of the United States. We've had a long tradition of wonderful first ladies, and I don't think any of them deserve that type of comment."

DePass took his apology a bit further. He also said, "The comment was hers. Not mine," saying the first lady made statements in the media recently saying we are all descendents of apes.

But an Internet search for those comments turned up no news articles of the like.

"I don't know of any," says Coble.

All of that aside, the mayor wants a clear-cut apology.

"Rusty DePass is well known in the community, and I know he's done very good things in addition to his political work," says Mayor Coble. "I don't want a comment like that coming out of Columbia, South Carolina for the world to comment on."

The comment has been removed from Facebook.

BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA........

My youngest son reminds me of a spider monkey. Am I racist?

He'll never work again.

IBTPOTAP



(in before the planet of the apes pics)

NOT FUNNY.  THAT IS EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE.
*snarf*

Don't the evolutionists tell us we are all evolved from apes so why is she offended?

sounds like the guy may very well be a member here

stay classy, South Carolina

what an outrage.

the people demand that Attorney General Henry McMaster resign immediately.

If it had been Letterman saying Palin's youngest was a descendant of TV's Corky, Huffington Post would have a followup article how funny the joke was.

Well don't pure evolutionists believe we all are?
I think that's horse hockey, but shows you something.

More likely she is descended from an Alien Predator.

Guy might find himself in jail soon. This fellow sure did.




ETA: but it all worked out in the end.

truth hurts sometimes, don't it?

I thought you guys already knew she was part silver back.

Yep, the great double standard rises again...

Technically, according to South Park, she's the retarded offspring of 5 monkeys having butt sex with a fish squirrel.

So.

Is he belittling her alleged understanding of evolution, or is he an unbeliever making the classic 'descended from apes'  comment?



Edit:



Holy shit, it's actually happening in real time as I type.

That's gonna sting...

Scientific consensus is that man is decendant of apes Women aren't ?

Thats an insult to apes everywhere.

the guy's a moron and should keep his face shut.


If you're known as a "GOP activist" and say stupid shit like this, you should be prepared for a tar and feathering.

Sure is funny when a 14 year old child is joked about being raped.  HAHAHAHA

Don't you dare compare a human that looks like a big ape to an actual big ape.  Not funny at all.

The older I get the more I realize that a sign of maturity is the ability to keep such stupid comments to ones self.

You know, if you go to dictionary.com and look up gorilla you ALSO come up with these. BUT, its always gotta turn back to race. Evolution teaches us that all of us are decended from apes. I think these two are pretty right on.

2. an ugly, brutish person.
3. Slang. a hoodlum or thug, esp. one who threatens or inflicts violence.

I'm not going to say anything.

I wasn't offended in the least.

No one on the left said a word when Whoopie called Laura Bush a fucking bitch. So I guess it's ok to call Republicans dogs.

Although I can't say for certain what the idiot's intent was; I doubt very very seriously that he was referencing a Darwinian theory.


The guy's a moron and only reinforces what the libs think about the conservative right.

Peta should be outraged at the comparison

Yeah, well I'm an older guy and if someone says "wow, this guy is a real gorilla" I don't think of an actual gorilla. Seriously, I don't think of race. That's what we called thugs when I was younger - thinking about it they were mainly Mafia types. No neck, brooding, like that.

You are probably correct and because I'm older I'm not quite "in step" with the PC world where everything truly, is black and white.

What an idiot, that type of remark only hurts the conservatives.  If I said something like that at work I could probably get fired, how can a guy in his position not understand that that type of shit talking is going to be preceived as racist?

Look, I firmly believe that political correctness is killing this country.  Call a spade a spade, but at the same time public GOP figures have got to be more couth when they speak.

<sarcasm> But, but, but, I've been told repeatedly the last several days that you can make jokes about ANYTHING with NO repercussions! And it doesn't have to be a joke, he's got free speech!! </sarcasm>

Fuck all of that shit.

The libtards have had their gloves off for the last 20 years.

It's way past time we take ours off.  If we would all stand together and hold the line instead of insisting that one of us fall on their own blade when they say something "offensive" we wouldn't have to worry about what the MSM says.

Tis true.  Time for extreme violence.

Stupid on his part- and quite possibly career ending.  Mayor Coble is a fuckin' idiot of the highest order too though.

If conservatives were as relentless as the Gays, conservatives would have the white house, congress, and the supreme court. You don't have to agree with their agenda, but you have to agree they are amazing at pushing it forward. They will use legislatures, courts, public opinion. Anything to win. Gotta admire that.

Something tells me the party of "extreme violence" and supporting racist outbursts will not win many elections.
Of course, the tone here increasingly is that we shouldn't have elections, just installed Republicans.

Like it or not, comparing black people to apes has racist connotations, and is just as tasteless / stupid as when the afrocentrists try to compare white presidents to slaveholders.

We do ourselves no favors with that kind of crap.  



My Dad told me "Son, if you've got something to say to someone you walk right up to them, look them in the eye and say it.  If you can't look them in the eye while saying it, then maybe you should keep it to yourself".



He should have kept this little gem of wisdom to himself.

Does SHE have a birth certificate?

You have to be careful comparing a black person to a simian.  Howard Cosell squandered his whole sports broadcasting career with a comment along the same lines on live TV during a football game.  

There's plenty of material to use on Mrs. Obama, if you have to say anything at all.  She's not the president, so she should just be ignored, IMO.  Yea, I know...she's only proud of her country now that her hubby is president.  She's an idiot.  Who cares?  

What a really, really stupid thing to say.

This.

But I still LOL at the more original of the Simian Michelle comments.

Sue me.  

Frankly, I need to see a picture of the gorilla before I can pass judgement.

QUESTION IS ... Who's going to apologize to the gorilla?

And in south carolina no less.

No spinning this one.

So much for mr letterman 's flak getting any more air time.

Ouch.

This is an AIDE to some Attorney General posting this as a comment on FACEBOOK about the First Lady.

Think about this for a minute.  This is now national news?

This is a bunch of nothing.