RNC Chair Scolds TN GOP For Obama Smears
Via The Politico:
One day after issuing a private warning to the Tennessee Republican Party over their use of Barack Obama's middle name in a press release, the RNC this morning went public with their complaint.
“The RNC rejects these kinds of campaign tactics," said national party chairman Mike Duncan in a statement sent unsolicited to Politico. "We believe this election needs to be about the critical issues confronting our nation.”
As reported here last night, an RNC official yesterday called down to Nashville to put them on warning that if they used "Hussein" again they would be publicly repudiated by the national party. Read on...
In one sense, if Obama is the Democratic nominee it's good to get this kind of nonsense out of the way now. Every time a nutjob like Bill Cunningham uses his middle name, they will be called out for it and their credibility automatically disappears. Perhaps Obama could just repeatedly use McCain's middle name to counter? They are scared to death of Obama and know they can't beat him on the issues. The Republican brand is dead and America is moving away from the party and their policies and they know it -- which means they'll fighter harder and dirtier than ever.
Fortunately, in 2008 the blogosphere will be on top of the spin, lies and smears on the part of the MSM. They are beginning to learn the power of you, the American people, and the blogs potential to harm their credibility when they don't report the truth.
Trying to smear Obama = Circular firing squad
Bah!
Their just trying to save face and keep the smear on tv at the same time.
Power to the bloggers, right on!
Bill Cunningham was beat up one time too many on the playground and now he's getting even. The same for Rush Limbaugh.
Tennessee is the state that ran the goofy ad about Rep. Ford and the bimbo. What's with Tennessee? Someone needs to tell them that "Hussein" is not a dirty word. It's a name, it's senator Obama's middle name, and I'm guessing most people that support him know it. Some people are so ignorant.
Now the RNC can say that they already told their state chapters not to do it, so it makes them look like they are playing nice, but it actually won't stop the state chapters from doing what they want.
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Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4437
That's what they're trying to get you to think. But as Josh Marshal said, they're just playing a two front campaign. Small fry people get the bad meme out in the public and the higher ups denounce them to make it look like they are taking the high road.
Don't kid yourself into thinking that they are "getting this stuff out of the way".
I was at a lecture recently where M. Thomas Eisenstadt of the the right wing Harding Institute spoke and this is the exact strategy he outlined. Obama is too cool for school, a lot more vulnerable than you all think.
I agree, thank God for bloggers.
;)
My political blog
Fortunately, in 2008 the blogosphere will be on top of the spin, lies and smears on the part of the MSM.
I have 100% confidence that THIS blog will be on top of the spin.
However, there are other "progressive" blogs out there (and I'm just wanting so much to name one of them) that are smearing Obama's name more than some reich-wing blogs. We're talking more than just trash-talk: major-league smearing.
Republican
Just another name for racist, bigot, ignorant, hypocrite, liar, dishonest, corrupt.
Lollimom @ 9:
Not only should you name one, you should post a link to it so we can see for ourselves.
Does anyone know Bill Cunningham's middle name? I've been unable to find it. I bet it's Sheldon, or maybe Benito.
RoveCo and the GOP can't seem to get the smear genie back in the bottle can they?
Whenever somebody refers to "Barack Hussein Obama" in my presence - and here in dipshit-filled Mississippi, they do - I'm going to start referring to "John Hitler McCain." When they say that's not his name, I'm going to say "what the fuck difference does it make?" I'd like to see how they respond to that.
The fact that the RNC is speaking out on these smears scares the hell out of me.
Since when does "The RNC rejects these kinds of campaign tactics'?
Isn't this exactly how they operate?
What's with the sudden high-ground?
“The RNC rejects these kinds of campaign tactics,”
i don't trust it... sounds like a CYA to me...
"hey, we told 'em not to do that... what can we do?"
EVERYthing they say and do is opposite day bizarro world...
i don't trust them.
chad @ 12:
Chip?
I'm sure the Obama campaign can provide the template: spokespeople make nice, but then, go on the Huffington Post for all the slanders you can eat.
The RNC certainly will take the high ground publicly. But the Republican supported 527's can be predicted to unleash a shitstorm of smears against whomever is the Democratic nominee. Count on it.
Don't mess with Time's Person of the Year 2006! ;-)
Bently @ 15:
This way they get it both ways. They get to make sure everybody knows that Obama's middle name is "Hussein" (gasp!) while simultaneously appearing to take the high ground.
O.T. and very graphic. WARNING!
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/02/ted_zimbardo
[...]
I want to say something about Barack Hussein Obama's name. It is a name to be proud of. It is an American name. It is a blessed name. It is a heroic name, as heroic and American in its own way as the name of General Omar Nelson Bradley or the name of Benjamin Franklin. And denigrating that name is a form of racial and religious bigotry of the most vile and debased sort. It is a prejudice against names deriving from Semitic languages!
[...]
http://www.juancole.com/2008/02/barack-hussein-obama-omar-bradley.html
great article!
elmerg @ 11:
i whole heartedly agree... 3rd, anyone?
katy @ 24:
Sitemonitor: What's wrong w/this thread? I attempted three times to post
and nothing is happening???
Republican smears will never stop. The GOP loves dirty tricks like Catholic priests love altar boys.
Richard @ 25:
OK. If you want Obama hate talk on a "progressive" blog, go here.
echo chamber - say and denounce...repeat. drives people mad i think
Lollimom @ 28:
Hmm, not sure I would consider the website of a former CIA agent who worked under the Clinton administration "progressive' but he sure does seem to have bone to pick with Obama.
The MisInformation Election continues on unabated. Hey look at this. Might be off topic, but when considering misinformation and Repub truthiness, it is odd:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/air-force-banni.html
thanks lollimom...
not sure how much of a progressive larry johnson is, but it's evident where his electoral allegiance is...
it doesn't help progress when you're tearing up one candidate and advertising for another... what's he going to do if obama is the democratic nominee? ... hopefully, he will help, not hurt...
seems like some photoshop-color work there also... surely not...
oh well...
elmerg @ 30:
Maybe "progressive" is too strong a word but he's a big Hillary supporter and the whole blog is devoted to smearing Obama. As bad as the far right wingers and considerably more obsessive than them
katy @ 32:
Your question is the same one I have. It's not primarily LJ doing the dirtiest of the work there, it's another writer who cross-posts her crap on other well-known progressive blogs.
CD @ 2:
It does seem a bit too orchestrated -- first Rove, then the party chairman going public with their election tactics, which guarantees the issue will be picked up by the MSM. So they keep it in the news and get to look like good guys in the process.
Reminds me of when Bob Dole kept bringing up Whitewater during a debate with Clinton by saying he wasn't going to mention Whitewater.
Then again:
Six years later, Ronald Reagan was elected president.
1) keep the middle name in the press by issuing 'restraining orders' a la rove
2) make sure you widely broadcast the 'restraining order' to the widest possible
3) repeat so that the DUTIFUL LIBRUL PRESS everywhere gets the opportunity to broadcast the issuance of the 'restraining order'.
"do not focus on his middle name: HUSSEIN!"
"his middle name: HUSSEIN!"
HUSSEIN!
Wow. Those Repug knuckle draggers are SO nice. Bet Insanity and O'Reilly will lock step on being nice now.
It's fun to watch the GOP run from it's own tail.
Ruthless People @ 13:
They trust the media to spread the recanted smears and the media certainly does that. today CNN made a big show of Farrakhan's reaction to Obama's answer to Russert's question.
Lollimom @ 34:
Your question is the same one I have. It's not primarily LJ doing the dirtiest of the work there, it's another writer who cross-posts her crap on other well-known progressive blogs.
it's good to know, and keep a grain of salt handy...
i spend a lot of time at ThinkProgress, a not too overtly hillary backer ("family" ties) (i'm joking)... they get called on it, too, when the bias shows too much... but lately, they have been carrying this obama story, and the flag lapel pin hoopla... i'm hoping they are gearing up to help promote the democratic candidate even it's it not hillary clinton... it could also be their own COvertly way of spreading the meme too...
Are you kidding? With Obama, Rush Limbaugh and like have months of racist material...or "satire" for their inbred fans.
Well, I think we all just got punked. Obama's family association with Islam has now become widespread knowledge, and it will carry water with the less enlightened of our fellow citizens (just the way the Republies want it) and yet they can plausibly say that they don't endorse such things. etc...
What about McCain's name? Doesn't the religious right know that "Cain" was the world's very first murderer?
Nate_O @ 43:
it wouldn't be the first time they used subliminal messaging.
The only reason they want TN to quit using the "Hussein" angle is because it isn't working, not because some Republican suddenly found his conscience hiding in the closet. Their prejudice is backfiring and they don't know what to do next.
With all this talk of race, gender, fear, bigotry and even hatred, it's like a giant mirror has suddenly been held up in front of all of America simultaneously, and we at one moment get to see our own reflection as a people. The image is not attractive.
Does Bill Cunningham wear an American flag pin on his lapel? If he does, he should take it off. By continually referring to Obama's middle name, Cunningham is acting in an unAmerican way. If he doesn't wear the pin of freedom on his lapel, he isn't patriotic enough. Enjoy your own smears Mr. Cunningham.
Listen to this:
"Members of the press, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen...
...please welcome, President Barack Hussein Obama."
Wow! What other name on its own merit can help us reclaim our lost standing as a country of tolerance and goodwill?
At least now there's absolutely no doubt that Rove is still calling the shots.
Clearly he left the White House to avoid congressional "oversight" and peerings into his emails (well, the ones that aren't erased anyway).
brock @ 10:
Most and that includes you are the bigots and hypocrits. These "blogs" are mostly all hate. I'm a Republican and I don't blog this Bullshit. Maybe you need to take a look in the mirror. People that talk this crap are the one's that want change, what? so that you can be the bigot, liar in charge! So what! Real change there. I'm prejudice, predjudice to ignorance and stupidty, and that has no color, race or religion.
Rusty Shackleford @ 14:
Rusty, I will respond. I'm from Louisiana and proud to say have less dipshits then you in Mississippi, and could give a rats ass about middle names. But your comparison to Mcain and Hitler shows you fit in well with your dipshit-Hussein haters!!
geojen @ 52:
So you are a republican and "you don't blog this bullshit." So why don't you get your sorry ass over to Redstate, like right now? Or do you have a problem with voyeurism?
maybe their focus groups are telling them every time the American public is reminded of saddam HUSSEIN they want to put Bush and his administration in JAIL.
or mabe it's business as usual- the RNC can take the high road while their loud mouthpieces on the talk radio monopoly can do the dirty work groundwork of distortion and swiftboating while liberals and progressives ignore it.
What's wrong with the middle name Hussain? Why is using a middle name of a man wrong. Does Barack not like his middle name? Should he change it? I don't think Hillary minds that the media uses her middle name. Isn't it Rodham? Oh - wait that's her maiden name, and what would be wrong with a woman having a maiden name?
Americans who care about such non-issue name games should be smacked with a crow bar.
The first time I heard the name Barak Obama I thought it was unusual here in Chicago politics. Now it trips off the tongue effortlessly without a second thought. My moderately conservative 80 year in-laws have and will vote for him for Senator and for President as will the rest of my family. So use his name over and over until it has no power to unnerve the morons who think it matters.
.
Juan Cole makes great points:
http://www.juancole.com/2008/02/barack-hussein-obama-omar-bradley.html
Either these blowhards are Fascists, or they ain't.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
1.) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2.) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3.) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4.) Supremacy of the Military
5.) Rampant Sexism
6.) Controlled Mass Media
7.) Obsession with National Security
8.) Religion and Government are Intertwined
9.) Corporate Power is Protected
10.) Labor Power is Suppressed
11.) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12.) Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13.) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14.) Fraudulent Elections
Nuff said...
.
This just in:
Twenty cars were towed away at an Obama rally in Fort Worth, due to a no-parking sign being posted where no one could see it.
Obama is blaming the Clinton sleaze machine.
geojen @ 52:
It's fewer dipshits, not less.
As we here in Mississippi always say, thank God for Louisiana.
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