Countdown Special Comment: Sen. Clinton, "This is not a campaign strategy. This is a suicide pact."
By Logan Murphy Tuesday Mar 11, 2008 8:49pm
Tonight on Countdown, Keith Olbermann's Special Comment was directed at Senator Hillary Clinton over her failure to immediately fire supporter and former member of her campaign finance committee, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, after making inappropriate racial comments about Senator Barack Obama.
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Senator, as it has reached its apex in their tone-deaf, arrogant, and insensitive reaction to the remarks of Geraldine Ferraro... your own advisers are slowly killing your chances to become President.
Senator, their words, and your own, are now slowly killing the chances for any Democrat to become President.
In your tepid response to this Ferraro disaster, you may sincerely think you are disenthralling an enchanted media, and righting an unfair advance bestowed on Senator Obama.
You may think the matter has closed with Representative Ferraro's bitter, almost threatening resignation.
But in fact, Senator, you are now campaigning, as if Barack Obama were the Democrat, and you… were the Republican.
Full Transcripts below the fold....
Finally, as promised, a Special Comment on the presidential campaign of the Junior Senator from New York.
By way of necessary preface, President and Senator Clinton -- and the Senator's mother, and the Senator's brother -- were of immeasurable support to me at the moments when these very commentaries were the focus of the most surprise, the most uncertainty, and the most anger. My gratitude to them is abiding.
Also, I am not here endorsing Senator Obama's nomination, nor suggesting it is inevitable.
Thus I have fought with myself over whether or not to say anything.
Senator, as it has reached its apex in their tone-deaf, arrogant, and insensitive reaction to the remarks of Geraldine Ferraro... your own advisors are slowly killing your chances to become President.
Senator, their words, and your own, are now slowly killing the chances for any Democrat to become President.
In your tepid response to this Ferraro disaster, you may sincerely think you are disenthralling an enchanted media, and righting an unfair advance bestowed on Senator Obama.
You may think the matter has closed with Representative Ferraro's bitter, almost threatening resignation.
But in fact, Senator, you are now campaigning, as if Barack Obama were the Democrat, and you… were the Republican.
As Shakespeare wrote, Senator -- that way… madness… lies.
You have missed a critical opportunity to do... what was right.
No matter what Ms. Ferraro now claims, no one took her comments out of context.
She had made them on at least three separate occasions, then twice more on television this morning.
Just hours ago, on NBC Nightly News, she denied she had made the remarks in an interview -- only at a paid political speech.
In fact, the first time she spoke them, was ten days before the California newspaper published them... not in a speech, but in a radio interview.
On February 26th, quoting...
"If Barack Obama were a white man, would we be talking about this, as a potential real problem for Hillary? If he were a woman of any color, would he be in this position that he's in? Absolutely not."
The context was inescapable.
Two minutes earlier, a member of Senator Clinton's Finance Committee, one of her "Hill-Raisers," had bemoaned the change in allegiance by super-delegate John Lewis from Clinton to Obama, and the endorsement of Obama by Senator Dodd.
"I look at these guys doing it," she had said, "and I have to tell you, it's the guys sticking together."
A minute after the "color" remarks, she was describing herself as having been chosen for the 1984 Democratic ticket, purely as a woman politician, purely to make history.
She was, in turn, making a blind accusation of sexism -- and dismissing Senator Obama's candidacy as nothing more than an Equal Opportunity stunt.
The next day she repeated her comments to a reporter from the newspaper in Torrance, California.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
And when this despicable statement -- ugly in its overtones, laughable in its weak grip of facts, and moronic in the historical context -- when it floats outward from the Clinton campaign like a poison cloud, what do the advisors have their candidate do?
Do they have Senator Clinton herself compare the remark to Al Campanis talking on Nightline... on Jackie Robinson Day... about how blacks lacked the necessities to become baseball executives, while she points out that Barack Obama has not gotten his 1600 delegates as part of some kind of Affirmative Action plan?
Do they have Senator Clinton note that her own brief period in elected office, is as irrelevant to the issue of judgment as is Senator Obama's…
…while she points out that FDR had served only six years as a governor and state Senator before he became President?
Or that Teddy Roosevelt had four-and-a-half years before the White House?
Or that Woodrow Wilson had two years and six weeks?
Or Richard Nixon… fourteen... and Calvin Coolidge 25?
Do these advisors have Senator Clinton invoke Samantha Power -- gone by sunrise after she used the word "monster" -- and have Senator Clinton say, "this is how I police my campaign and this is what I stand for," while she fires former Congresswoman Ferraro from any role the campaign?
No.
Somebody tells her that simply disagreeing with and rejecting the remarks is sufficient.
And she should then call, "regrettable", words that should make any Democrat retch.
And that she should then try to twist them, first into some pox-on-both-your-houses plea to 'stick to the issues,' and then to let her campaign manager try to bend them beyond all recognition, into Senator Obama's fault.
And thus these advisers give Congresswoman Ferraro nearly a week in which to send Senator Clinton's campaign back into the vocabulary... of David Duke.
"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up.
"Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white.
"How's that?"
How's that?
Apart from sounding exactly like Rush Limbaugh attacking the black football quarterback Donovan McNabb?
Apart from sounding exactly like what Ms. Ferraro said about another campaign, nearly twenty years ago?
Quote:
"President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don't ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."
So... apart from sounding like insidious racism that is at least two decades old?
Apart from rendering ridiculous, Senator Clinton's shell-game about choosing Obama as Vice President?
Apart from this evening's resignation letter?
"I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign.
"The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you."
Apart from all that?
Well. It sounds as if those advisors want their campaign to be associated with those words, and the cheap… ignorant… vile… racism that underlies every syllable...
And that Geraldine Ferraro has just gone free-lance.
Senator Clinton:
This is not a campaign strategy.
This is a suicide pact.
This week alone, your so-called strategists have declared that Senator Obama has not yet crossed the "commander-in-chief threshold"…
But -- he might be your choice to be Vice President, even though a quarter of the previous sixteen Vice Presidents have become commander-in-chief during the greatest kind of crisis this nation can face: a mid-term succession.
But you'd only pick him if he crosses that threshold by the time of the convention.
But if he does cross that threshold by the time of the convention, he will only have done so sufficiently enough to become Vice President, not President.
Senator, if the serpentine logic of your so-called advisors were not bad enough, now, thanks to Geraldine Ferraro, and your campaign's initial refusal to break with her, and your new relationship with her -- now more disturbing still with her claim that she can now "speak for herself" about her vision of Senator Obama as some kind of embodiment of a quota...
If you were to seek Obama as a Vice President, it would be, to Ms. Ferraro, some kind of social engineering gesture, some kind of racial make-good.
Do you not see, Senator?
To Senator Clinton's supporters, to her admirers, to her friends for whom she is first choice, and her friends for whom she is second choice, she is still letting herself be perceived as standing next to, and standing by, racial divisiveness and blindness…
And worst yet, after what President Clinton said during the South Carolina primary, comparing the Obama and Jesse Jackson campaigns -- a disturbing, but only borderline remark, after what some in the black community have perceived as a racial undertone to the "3 A-M" ad... a disturbing -- but only borderline interpretation...
And after that moment's hesitation in her own answer on 60 Minutes about Obama's religion -- a disturbing, but only borderline vagueness...
After those precedents, there are those who see a pattern... false, or true.
After those precedents, there are those who see an intent... false, or true.
After those precedents, there are those who see the Clinton campaign's anything-but-benign neglect of this Ferraro catastrophe -- falsely or truly -- as a desire to hear the kind of casual prejudice which still haunts this society voiced... and to not distance the campaign from it.
To not distance you from it, Senator!
To not distance you... from that which you as a woman, and Senator Obama as an African-American, should both know and feel with the deepest of personal pain!
Which you should both fight with all you have!
Which you should both insure, has no place in this contest!
This, Senator Clinton, is your campaign, and it is your name.
Grab the reins back from whoever has led you to this precipice, before it is too late.
Voluntarily or inadvertently, you are still awash in this filth.
Your only reaction has been to disagree, reject, and to call it regrettable.
Her only reaction has been to brand herself as the victim, resign from your committee, and insist she will continue to speak.
Unless you say something definitive, Senator, the former Congresswoman is speaking with your approval.
You must remedy this.
And you must... reject... and denounce... Geraldine Ferraro.
Good night, and good luck.
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first
Shrillary are you listening? We are!
He was too easy on her.
Good stuff. Amazing not to see an actual Republican the target of a Special Comment for once though. Very telling of how Hillary is alienating the left.
I have been really turned off by Hillary over the past few weeks/months. I wonder how many people would like their vote back?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/12/ferraro.feedback.irpt/index.html
The majority of these letters are in support of Ferraro's opinion. I find this deeply troubling. If somehow Ferraro's remarks BENEFITED Hillary's campaign, what would that say of America, and the Democratic Party?
Ferraro's outburst may have torn the party apart more deeply and sharply than either campaigns top level surrogates could at their peak of spin.
I'm very depressed.
REMEMBER TO REGISTER ALL YOUR FRIENDS....NOW!!!!
for those who will have issues getting to a poll, or having all the paperwork the GOP SS will require..... REGISTER TO VOTE BY MAIL
Hillary... I thought you were a good candidate... my first choice was EDWARDS... he lost TOO
I know it hurts... but people like you... just not enough for you to win...
............time to show that you know how to lose as gracefully as you win...
....................you would still carry a large influence at the convention, you could be the spokeswoman that women throughout the world need....
OR THE SELF-DESTRUCTING JOKE YOU ARE BECOMING...
........PLEASE BE THE BETTER CHOICE AND SUPPORT OBAMA ON HIS QUEST
A woman is being accused of sexism?
wow this is different.
Up until a weak or two ago I had a slight leaning toward Hillary, because of my sense that many of her pocies are more mature and more completely thought out. But this woman is clearly more concerned with her political ambition than democracy or the Democratic party. She'd gladly accept the Democratic nomination if she could accomplish the wildly undemocratic maneuver of convincing delegates committed to Obama to switch their votes; and she'd rather risk McCain taking the White House than see Obama as the Democratic candidate.
The Clinton campaign is as deaf, dumb and blind as the Bush administration....
Strap up ladies and gentlemen, we've gotten off the Hindenburg to ride the Titanic!
Get it Hillary supporters? KO is right. Is this the candidate you want? When Dem supporters like KO are comparing to Republicans? Nice.
Thanks Keith! I now not only have Clinton fatigue, but complete disgust! She is worse than Republicans and I believe she is enjoying trying to take Sen Obama down. Now all we need is for her to run as an independent when he gets the nomination!
By throwing the kitchen sink, Hillary will have no place to clean herself up after the mess she's making of the party.
She sorely needed the Olbermann kick in the behind. Wake up Hill and smell the offal!
Yeah I was thinking this might push Edwards and a few others to endorse Obama. I can just imagine what John and Elizabeth Edwards might have to say.
The ONLY way to hold the party together is for the party elders to jump in and stop this vile crap - NOW!
Perturbed @ 9 well said:
"this woman is clearly more concerned with her political ambition than democracy or the Democratic party."
I am with Olberman 95% of the time, but I really think he and much of the rest of the world has gone completely overboard on this Geraldine Ferraro thing. Saying that Obama is the leading Democratic contender because he is black is NOT RACIST! There is no denying that part of Obama's appeal to many black and white voters is because he is black. If he were another eloquent, attractive white guy, he would have dropped out months ago with Edwards!
We really need to get a grip on what qualifies as racism. Saying that Obama is doing well because he is black is not racism. I think Ferraro's critics must lead very sheltered lives if they think that kind of statement is racist.
I found a fitting post on another blog suits her perfectly.
"How could you Hillary? After Democrats defended you and your husband through all those years, you run a campaign like this? Sad, truly sad"
It is so disgusting that the democrats are fighting among themselves this way, all this racist garbage that one would expect from republicans. The American people want change for 8 years of rampant Republican fascism and yet our own candidates are destroying the chance of that change. People will vote for that idiot McCain if the campaigns keep up all this negativity. I personally am so sick of the way Democrats are acting. It is an embarrassment.
And thus Olberman makes his complete transition into another MSNBC Hillary hating hack. GE must be very proud.
I love it when white people say it wasn't racist.
No wonder this country is so fucked up.
good on ya, keith...
but, from what i've seen so far, just these past short weeks,
she must be the kind who will only dig those heels in deeper...
"how could you hillary?" ... boy, i'll say...
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 18:
...Should be on the DNC's homepage. Kudos!
Maybe Hillary should just crucify Geraldine. There would be one less middle-aged,baby boomer female to upset the Obama supporters. In my opinion, Edwards was made to leave by the DNC because he was a white man. I know this wasn't discrimination, this was history in the making. When the party is run over in November because we have started to devour ourselves, what will we this?
What she said was offensive on so many levels. It wasn't that you can't talk about race in America, you just can't be a racist.
There is a good reason why nobody heard anything from Ferraro for the last 20 years. It's because she's a serious idiot. I know she thinks that Hillary is woman's best chance. But you know what? Hillary wouldn't be where she is if she wasn't married to Bill. How does her getting elected help other women? Are they supposed to get a successful husband first? If we didn't have term limits, how many of you Clinton supporters would rather vote for Bill than Hillary.
What is truly a shame is that we'll never know how qualifed Hillary really is. Maybe she could have done this on her own. Maybe she's better than Bill. Who knows. What I do know, is that her getting elected just sets a precedent for wives to follow their husbands. It doesn't help even the field.
:\
Finally! Thanks, Keith for speaking the truth...again. It's troubling that some in America are still holding to Ferraro mentality.
Gion @ 6:
This IS a Clinton campaign strategy and Im don't think it is suicidal as Olbermann suggests, simply because there is still a lot of racism in the country and she's tapping into it as a desperate tactic, because she is losing, and she may even gain from it, despicable as it is. But then she is despicable anyway. We all knew that a long time ago.
Compare the classiness of Obama (including his wife) with the low class vulgarity of the Clintons (despite their education). Americans have a way of voting for the wrong people. Bush was not a fluke. You reap what you sew.
I generally agree with KO's positions but disagree with his pompous delivery but he really nailed this one. Hillary and Geraldine really f*cked up on this one. Pathetic.
Vote Obama.
Maybe Hillary’s just a Descendant of Eddie Haskell
For once, Hillary, think of your party, think of your country, think of the mission, think of the chimpident and his erstwhile successor. Think of what will happen if you split your party like the rovian repugs want. Unless you're a closet troll, you might give the progressive agenda a chance along with a candidate who is actually working to win an election rather than treat it like a birthright. For once, give it a thought. Just stop and think.
I am here to admit that I voted for Hillary in an early primary.
I thought that she was going to walk with the nomination.
I just wanted a strong candidate to win the white house for the Dems.
As things have progressed I see the true colors of her and wish I could take my vote back.
I will try to right my mistake by helping to get Obama elected. For the sake of our future I will be active.
Hillary is destroying the Democratic party.
I worked on Bill Clinton's campaign in 1992 while at university and was a proud supporter. But, today considering what has past since that time I cannot and will not support their style of politics any longer.
tballou @ 17:
Obama is leading in SPITE of being black, in SPITE of having that name. Being black doesnt write record setting donations in cheques, being black doesnt win you Iowa, Wyoming and Maine's ridiculously white populations. As much as someone might say being black helped him with certain southern states, it just as easily hurt him in the more rural - frankly, blatantly racist - populations in the Applachians...
America is racially divided, but Obama isn't a symbol to heal the wounds, he's simply the preferred candidate with the right inspirational vision and go-getter work ethic that people want.
But if you want to put yourself in Buchanan's camp defending Ferraro's words, I wont stop you.
I am a Obama supporter, I voted for Obama when it was my turn in California when my first choice John Edwards dropped out of the race. If anyone has been paying attention I have defended Hillary Clinton on this site many times and still do at times when I thought the criticisms were not fair. It is getting harder and harder not to believe that she knows she can not win the Democratic nomination so she is willing to try to get McCain elected so she can try again in 4 years. It makes me sad.
Oh, heeeerrreee we go.
The Clinton desperation is blossoming. I have said that I will vote for who ever the dems nominate. Starting to rethink that one. And if I am, then every independent voter out there may well too.
It all does make for great television, though.
tballou @ 143:
So, is that why you're so good at promoting it?
GonzoD @ 279:
What the fuck is this? Is this for real? What's with the random words at the end of the message?
nm @ 352:
That must be why life is so wonderful for Blacks in South Africa now. Nice try-- Apartheid might be dead in name, but it's still kicking in practice.
Case @ 350:
Land of despair? compared to africa, america is sheer heaven! I will cast my vote for pragmatism not new age holistic drum beats and chants.
Ferraro said the same thing she said about Obama in 1988 about Jesse Jackson. I believe it's time we ask former President Jesse Jackson what he thinks about this.
Oh, he's not a former president? Well i guess that whole being black strategy didn't work too well, did it.
Olbermann should go back to sports center. At least back then he didn't spend all his time cheer leading for his favorite teams.
Johnny2Bad @ 71:
I Refuse to Buy into the Obama Hype
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/20/201332/807
I found the BEEF - Obama's Senate Record
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/21/164117/783/290/461422
Rico @ 302:
Well, I think their reputations are tarnished greatly by what has happened. I think by 2012 there could be some major backlash, but we shall see. They better hope Obama doesn't have a good term in office. They might have a better time of it with McCain as president. He might die in office or something.
Why is everyone making such a big deal over this? Her comments were true. Barack wouldn't be where he is right now if he weren't black. Hilary wouldn't be where she is right now if she wasn't a female. That is a valid point. Whether we like it or not, race and gender matters in this country. I think her comments would have been even more on the mark if she had included how the media has chosen both Hilary and Barack and helped them to get where they are. Our mass media loves controversy. Black versus white. Man versus woman. This race is just exploding with awkward angles and fake controversies to stir up. A race like this is their wet dream. Other candidates did not have nearly as much of a chance as these two because of our flawed media didn't allow them to get their message across as effectively.
Also, I have heard more than one politician interviewed during this primary season make a comment about not wanting to be the person that votes against who could possibly be the first black president. What about the person who could be the first female president? Doesn't this seem to be exactly what Ms. Ferraro was saying? By the way... Who gained the right to vote first? Women or black men? Gender and race make a difference to many voters. Neither Clinton nor Obama were in my top 4 picks in the Democratic field, and I am still not sure who I would rather have as a candidate, but all the anger against Clinton over this seems pointless.
nm @ 207:
Gee, Mr. Africa, if in fact you are, you better go tell that to Nicholas Kristof who just filmed around his grandmother's house and described the goats.
Or maybe you would like to read this report from allafrica.com, dateline Nairobi, that says this Others taunt him as a "skinny kid with a funny name," whose Kenyan father herded goats and lived in a remote village in Siaya, Nyanza province. Wouldn't they be laughing at the characterization? Alego is inland from Lake Victoria. Nowhere near any fish.
nm @ 360:
Thank you for making my point for me, nm. Bonus points if you can tell me why America is heaven compared to Africa.
wunderkindwunder @ 358:
I don't know, but I'm sure that it's a contest of some sort. Maybe the 5 people who figure it out get a Wonka bar with a golden ticket.
Case @ 350:
You dig into that "pie" too.You could use some.
tballou @ 17:
I don't think the issue is racism either. As a 30 year old african american male, I'm not terribly offended nor do I think the former congresswoman is a racist. I do think the comments are insulting to Senator Obama and beyond that the American people only in that they downplay what is truly the appealing part about his campaign. I liked John Edwards too and I truly believe that if Obama were not running, he would be doing very well against Sen. Clinton. I also believe that if he were running against Sen. Clinton and brought to the table a well articulated vision of hope and a concrete plan to defeat the gridlock in Washington through a mixture of transperancy and trying to find common ground with the right, an amazingly organized ground game, and a new technology based understanding of the modern news cycle, he would probobly be beating her even more the Sen. Obama is now.
The comments weren't racist, just amazingly ignorant. No one even called the comments racist- even Obama's comments were basically about them being in bad taste and adding mud to already murkey waters.
The only problem I have to echo keith is the thought of someone wanting something so bad that they'll say and do anything. What's wrong with the two of them standing up and saying this is what I believe and what I'm going to do and then letting the American people decide who they think will be the best for the country?
Johnny2Bad @ 132:
Why are you whining about whiners?
I'm starting to wonder if Olbermann might make a good president. Well said.
Jon Henry @ 365:
Hillary sure as hell WOULD be where she was if she wasn't female. We're talking about Hillary Clinton here. I may hate the way she is campaigning, but she is only one of the most successful people in U.S. poliitical history. If she were a man she would have been president by now.
Obama's supporters on the Internet have done more to turn me off Obama than this comment by Ferraro has turned me off to Hillary.
Obama is about "we" and change and unity, and all I see coming from his "we" supporters are whining, complaining, vulgarities. No thank you. No way do I want to be responsible for voting this kind of gleeful Internet reflected hate speech in to office for 4 years. Obama is like the wonderful OZ, but pull back the curtain, and there's no telling the Hillary dems from the Obama dems. You're ripping each other to shreds and nullifying Obama's words with every word you type. Unless it really is about "He" and not "we". In which case, again, why bother to vote for just another pretty face and talking head?
Nader in 08. Has to be.
seth @ 343:
Why is Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court?
What I'm saying is this:
If Obama was white, do you think Oprah would be holding fund-raisers for him?
Obama speaks well, he has charisma, but there's not a whole lot of substance there.
He doesn't have much a record, doesn't show up for his day job, and while he says he was against the war, has yet to vote to stop funding it.
He's no better a candidate than Joe Biden. Probably not as qualified as Biden.
I'm just saying that it seems with Obama you're not allowed to criticize. The MSM loves him - and I'm not talking about Fox or Glen Beck - the rest of the press hasn't laid a glove on him until the last 2 weeks.
It doesn't matter anymore, it's been made quite clear that it has to be Obama or McCain. So be it!
I guess everyone here still hasn't gotten over Kucinich droppinf out. LOL
pinkobait @ 309:
Of course he is not endorsing anyone personally on the air. He does want a democrat to win though, which unfortunately makes him a statist. He feels betrayed because a democrat (Hillary) is so outwardly a statist, which has traditionally been the GOP's job for the last 7 years. He doesn't get it that politicians think about themselves and not Olbermann or the country. Human nature is one of self-interest, not primarily generosity as Olbermann wants from the politicians. He wants them to "do what is right", which in real terms means he wants them to do something against their own self-interest. Won't happen. Olbermann is doing what is in his own self-interest, which is to chastise anyone in politics who does not act according to what he thinks is right. That's why I admire him, and why lots of others do too. But I can say he is completely mistaken about human nature. He has the same, I wouldn't call it an affliction, but a naive devotion to authority figures, as do many others. Usually the people who are relatively weak in their self-esteem admire authority and power. Hillary is a powerful woman, Chris Matthews likes her a LOT, and my guess is because he is weak on the inside. Usually people who bark really loud have something about them they want to cover up, such as fear, guilt, or feelings of powerlessness. Some people become EXTREMELY good at hiding it.
For Olbermann, he definitely shows traits of liking power, but he is definitely not a violent sort of power seeker. That's why I like him in that respect. But in another, he fails gigantically. Olbermann is basically asking Hillary to do whatever she can so that democrats will win the WH, instead of doing everything she can for HER to win the WH. He doesn't like her because she is acting for herself primarily, which is a big no-no for most democrat thinking people. Obama is too you know, but he is better at hiding it. People I think WANT to believe that Obama is doing this for his country and not for himself, but they are mistaken.
Praxeology, or the study of human action, is a logical and consistent philosophy. Everyone, when they act, expect that their situation will be better then it would have been without the action. That's why people act. So ANY action we take, is taken with the expectation that our final state will be better than the beginning state. If this were not true, then we would not act. This is what ALL the candidates vying for the WH are doing, and trust me, the prospects of being the most powerful person in the world FAR outweigh the prospects of "doing what is right for the country". They all could have helped the country in other ways you know. They could have become writers, or philanthropists. WHY THE FRIGGIN WHITE HOUSE??? Isn't that a little too extreme if your goal is to do what is good? The state can only take from some and give to others, so if your goal is to win the WH, you are the type of person who LIKES THE POWER OF USING PHYSICAL FORCE. There is no question of this.
krisken @ 368:
I think its a google thing.
I put the words in and hit the feeling lucky button, and it comes up to marge williams wikipedia page, she was hillarys assistant
He looked like it pained him to do it. I think he put more blame on her advisers than he did her. Either way, Ferrarro was toxic. She should've been dumped a long time ago.
If Obama was white, do you think Oprah would be holding fund-raisers for him?
Right, because Bill Clinton never had a lick of support from black celebrities - give me a break. Toni Morrison, Oprah's personal book goddess, called him the first black president.
Use your brain. Please.
Jon Henry @ 365:
Herein lies the bulk of my frustration.Thank you for putting so succinctly what I have been struggling to do.Its a crying God Damned shame that such an historic occasion in the life of a sadly,desperately failing Democracy has been sullied beyond redemption or repair,largely because of the cowardly needy whims of a corporate media totally out of control.It sickens me to the very soul.
Bravo again Keith. Your special comments are truly special.
Here's where I'm at in vetting these two. I am not a supporter of either. I try to use policy as my measuring stick for who I will support. I actually consider these two pretty much the same policy-wise, way to centrist. That said, I obviously want a Democrat to win, even though I am so disappointed and so disenchanted with the Democratic party that I voted for David Cobb in 2004, fully knowing and understanding I was throwing away my vote.
After this Ferraro debacle, there is no way I would ever vote for Hillary. Ever. Not in primary, not in general election. At one point a few months ago, in that one debate where Obama showed truly how right wing he is after the Reagan comments and Edwards pointed out his hypocrisy on health care and on (I think it was) free trade, I actually, for a brief moment thought about Hillary. That day feels like a million years ago. I'm left with Obama, Ralph Nader, or other Green party candidate. Say what you want about Nader, or anyone else I might throw away my vote to, but you go and vote for Karl Rove Jr.
I realize a lot of women see Hillary as their chance to finally break through the ultimate glass ceiling. Is this how you want to do it? I believe and know deep down, that any true feminist will not be voting for Hillary. I would not have said that a week ago. I can say that know with a clear conscience.
speiling75 @ 377:
Man, people are going to get those tickets faster than I thought.
Elsewhere I wondered if Joe Lieberman was controlling Hillary's campaign. What else explains such bad judgment but a closet Likudnik's attempt to torpedo a Democratic ticket?
Problem is, even given bad advice, a good candidate must know the difference.
I am long past wishing for a perfect Democratic candidate for president, but I do have certain minimum standards. Where is Hillary's wisdom? Where is the common sense it takes to instantly say "No" to Geraldine Ferraro's vile, Rush Limbaugh race baiting?
I truly feel sorry right now for Hillary's supporters. Having to defend this...
No, it's indefensible. It's what Republicans do.
Ree @ 121:
fixed!
Hareli @ 366:
LOL! of course the goats are near the house. That's where they usually are and it's the reason i said they are not herded. do you know what herding involves?? you obviously don't. Do you know where Alego is? LOL! africans can walk long distances to get to the lake or wherever else. Lake victoria is the mainstay of economic life in nyanza province.
Please.
If anyone thinks this is a non-Olber-bama-neo-cocksucking thread ,...
GonzoD @ 50:
DAR
Every line of that is pure gold and exactly right. I have had it with Obamaites and I have had it with Olbermann.
D.
tballou @ 17:
This is a load of horse crap. If Obama was a white guy named Joe Smith I'd still be behind him because he's an inspiration, intelligent and driven leader. I think it's sad that anyone would take the melonan content of someone's skin or where they keep their reproductive organs as critical judgment points. I don't love Obama because he's black the same way I don't have Hillary because she's a woman.
If Hill wins the primary, I'm voting for Nader!!! I
Glad to see that someone is taking on the self-appointed queen of American politics, Hillary. What a shrew. A low buzz going around that if she doesn't get the nomination she'll run as an Independent.
Peter G @ 107:
That is true... however it is fair to look at the reaction each campaign had to each of their supporters words. and blaming them for the action or lack there of is fair.
can'tBelieveHRC @ 202:
True and Well Said!
John Moody @ 20:
Stop shooting the messengers. Clintonism 101: When your campaign sucks and you are down to throwing shit at a wall, blame, blame blame........and NEVER accept responsibility for a terrible campaign.
tballou @ 17:
You didn't really just say something that pig ignorant did you? If he were an attractive eloquent white quy who has been leading the campaign since Iowa he would have dropped out. Is that what you are saying. Are you really this fucking stupid?
John Moody @ 20:
Like those Hillary-adoring hacks at SNL, right? I thought KO approached this issue much more objectively than most.
nice comment...personally, I hope it sinks her campaign...
Fascist States of America @ 16:
Should she be concerned about the Party? Is Obama? Uh, no and uh, hell no. These are p-o-l-i-t-c-i-a-n-s.
Oh and what makes these two parties (D or R) so worth saving? They both have abandoned their core principles...so what's so precious?
Less righteous indignation...Pu-leeze.
Get over this whole race thing, she made a comment, get over it, she's probably right anyway....
Actually I sent this to Dan Abrams and Keith Olbermann and his cheap shots need to be addressed, but you guys should think about this too.
Plain and simple if Obama was not black he would not get the black vote. Is not racist. You have think about this in “absolute” terms, just votes and obviously that is not acceptable at anytime for Mainstream Media squirrel spin, or Clinton haters and did Keith turned everyone’s mind into a gerbil dumb down wasted time to squirrel cage hate.
Or, let’s say Clinton was with a white person, anyone, just not black. Who do you think would get the black vote? This is a tough one, especially for the minority, if you have any bias here, and especially if you’re a black, you have an affinity to embrace this ideal, just as Obama did when he said Ferro said something ridicules. Or, what the media says is racist.
But if your a person who is just looking at the evidence. Most white persons would not receive a majority of vote from the black community running against Hillary. Hillary would receive the votes and it is not racist to think that.
Keith Olbermann which I have a lot of respect for went off on a tangent into serpent’s lair painting a picture of demonic desperate deliberate deceit that did not happen. Keith showed America what a fool he really could be and fell into a contextual slip stream where he lost control. Going on a rant that spent time in squirrels caged spin of English manipulation that just wasted time to create hate.
Shame on you Keith, all you had to do was simplify the so called race statement which can be done by simply saying if two white people who were not Hillary or Obama in this primary election, likely fewer blacks vote at all. Don’t you think?
Gion @ 6:
CNN's old motto was the "Clinton News Network" so no surprise.
Arrow @ 4:
Olbermann has been quoted as saying that if a Democrat transgressed enough to warrant one of the ol' Special Comments, he wouldn't shy away from doing so. And tonight, he was proven true to his word.
John Moody @ 20:
the second anyone disagrees with Hillary apparently they become a hack, rather than just among the millions and millions who have grown disillusioned by HER OWN ACTIONS!
This excuse sounds like the angry rebellious teen on Maury Povich who blames her parents and the crowd for not understanding. Wake up and smell the coffee - people are PISSED and you should maybe think a second before simply calling yourself the victim. otherwise you're as naive and blind as Ferraro.
tballou @ 17: \
get a perspective, please.
I really want every one trying to defend the Clinton campaign to imagine this scenario. In all seriousness, I want you to imagine it. Obama finished Clinton off on super Tuesday and one of John McCain's advisers said what Ferraro said. I want you tell me you wouldn't have considered it racist. Come on humor me.
tballou @ 17:
I think Olbermann was a little melodramatic, if only because he seems to be just as disgusted now as when he recites each and every single travesty committed under the Bush administration, up to and including one million dead Iraqi men, women, and children. This is an off-hand remark that has blown up into scandal, because that's now the U.S. mainstream media operates. I don't disagree with him that Hillary Clinton should outright disown the comments and attitude by making it clear that the attitude sported by Ferraro is utterly toxic and reductionist in the worst way, of course. And I want to make that brilliantly clear. I have simply found Olbermann's indignation to be overwrought at the best of times, and when you place his fist-pounding and red-faced words into this particular context, I think it seems somewhat silly. Can't he express any sentiment at all without becoming self-righteous? Oh well.
In any event, those who hate Hillary Clinton will use this tidbit and add it to the Katamari Damaci-esque ball of trivia they wholeheartedly and condescendingly believe a solid argument makes. It's frustrating because one of the first posts in this very thread dubbed her "Shrillary," which is obviously a gender-specific term. And most of those who believe she's the anti-Christ repeat talking-points that are, in and of themselves, reductionist. But I digress, and really, I'm only commenting on why trying to debate anything online is futile at best. In any event, for those of you out there that have read my rubbish and are still doing so, thanks, and if you're someone who doesn't hate or even dislike Clinton but chooses not to support her without eerie emotional investment, thank you again. We need calm, rational thinkers who can think of a situation as unfortunate (Clinton's reaction, in short) or even angering without talking about how soon, ding dong, the witch will be dead. I mean, I think she's a better choice for President of the United States myself but this has left me stunned. I think she's listening to the wrong campaign advisers.
Olberman made a mistake by putting his dog in this one.
Ferraro is right. Look at Obama's stump speech, fulfilling the dream of his black father. To be a black president.
It's very noble, but it relies on good amount of tokenist appeal. Tiger Woods father wanted him to be the best golfer, race was secondary to performance.
For Obama to claim outrage by his ever willing proxies is the height of hypocrisy. The guy is where he is because he is black. End of story. He gets 9/10 of the black vote. And it's not based on policy. It's awesome that the black community is demonstrating its power. But racism in America is a live and well, and needs honest and open dialog, not Bush II will to power nonsense.
"Yes we can!", is not a plan. MLK did not run from racism. He didn't use every attack to play the victim card to shield him from speaking about reality. He ran headfirst into it, and spoke about it, and demonstrated, and organized and marched. And got the job done. Team Obama uses race a crutch and then invokes the base to whine about it when they are called on it. Effectively the media is just enabling a fundamentally weaker candidate. And it's becoming more obvious by the day.
I'll tell you the republicans will have no mercy on this guy and will not even bother to try to fairly address any of these issues. if you are afraid to break a nail, you shouldn't be president.
And at this point the endless victimhood thing is really a huge turn off. As a democrat I am less and less willing to vote for this guy in the general, if the campaign only about marketing, victimhood outrage, and orwellian online group think.
Obama has shown the right exactly the weak spots of the left blogpshere online. It's just a matter of time before they drive tanks through it, because Team Obama has picked their man over party, and progress.
Every time I see some speak for Obama, rather than Obama fight for himself it shows just how much of a pale imitation of MLK he really is.
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 18:
Even if KO's special comment reaches Hillary and moves her, it won't move her supporters, who all seem to be (those that comment at the blogs) just as logical as Geraldine Ferraro. There is no getting through to them. They are as willing as the Clintons are to gut the Democratic Party and cut its throat if that is what it takes. They are strangely uninterested in "right" and know no "purpose" but HILLARY as POTUS.
They won't be reached by this. They've already declared MSNBC in total to be "misogynistic" (always a handy card to play). They remind me of my mother. Not a compliment. She's a republican harcase and still holds it against my brother that he cleverly got out of going to Vietnam. Bad medicine...people of that cloth...
This is such a ridiculous debate. What is this 1982? Are we really debating whether it's OK to say someone got a position just because of how they look? What is this, Working Girl or Pretty Woman? Come on.
No. It isn't OK to degrade someone's intellectual qualities just because they used them to get ahead. What geraldine said is completely stupid and she needs to go back to the 80s with her shoulder pads and her
Tyne Daly haircut.
God- I feel like we're debating the question of whether or not Martin Luther King Jr. needs his own holiday. Yes! He does!
Mister Anderson @ 98:
I come from a society where smoke and mirrors and cloak and daggers are all part of the game. Perhaps you give the earth woman from the state of New York too much credit Mister Anderson? Please be my guest aboard the Khazara to discuss further and how we might be able to work this situation to our mutual advantages. Not to worry Mister Anderson, the cloaking device will keep your presence shielded from agent Smith.
Lucinda @ 374:
waaahhhhh! you're full of shit!
Darrel @ 388:
Thanks so little for your self righteous indignation. What's your next act, if Hillary isn't the nominee, hold your breath until you pass out?
uncle joe mccarthy @ 66:
DAR
If we left you could then combine your conventions with the libertarians. There would probably be a high school auditorium available somewhere.
I am coming to despise Obama supporters too. This racist charge is pure fake outrage and bullshit.
D.
tballou @ 17:
I don't think they have been or are leading sheltered lives, they just refuse to see the truth that they are blinded to by their pure and undying hatred of Senator Clinton and all things "Clinton". They call acknowledgments of truth "endorsements". They call truth about race being a factor in the run for the Democratic presidential nomination "racism". They call a woman an "evil bitch", a "murderer" and the "destroyer of the Democratic Party". They do all of these things, blinded by their hatred and believing that they where a halo above their heads and that their s*it doesn't stink.
It is not Senator Clinton and her supporters that are tearing apart our Democratic Party. It is not Senator Clinton and her supporters that are causing a "racial divide" in American public. No, it is Senator Obama and his "holier than thou" attitude that he has continuously exhibited since he first came on the national scene in 2004 as an unknown, but rising Illinois State Senator. It is Senator Obama's supporters that have anointed him as the "savior" of the Democratic Party. The "unifier". The "non-racial" candidate.
We have popular, so called "progressive" blogs (whatever happened to the word "liberal"?) who claim to not "endorse" a candidate, yet repeatedly do nothing but support that candidate through their interpretation of the events of the day. We even have now, a so called "progressive" commentator attacking a Democratic presidential candidate because a supporter of her's spoke the truth.
Mr. Olbermann, sir, did former Congresswoman Ferraro lie? Did she utter an "untruth"? No, good sir, she did not. Her only "crime", according to so called "progressives", such as yourself, was for speaking of the taboo, the off limit. She spoke of race, a climate that has all the trappings of being about race and she spoke nothing but the truth. How dare you, sir, condemn a candidacy from behind your desk, supposedly speaking of truth, when you refuse to acknowledge the real truth: Race is still a very big part of our culture and if you refuse to talk about race and allow race to be talked about, it will always be a big part of our culture. How dare you deny that when a candidate receives 90% of the black vote in the Mississippi Democratic Primary and is a person of color, that they did not vote because of that candidate's race.
You, sir, have disgraced your own good name, by refusing to openly choosing sides, while clearly favoring one candidate over another. You have refused to call out the sexism in your colleagues comments and you have refused to be truthful to your viewers. It is time for you to resign. It is time for you to go back to the dugout and calling the games for a sport network. It is time stop living the lie.
That is all, on this upteenth billionth day of Senator Hillary bashing.
Good Night and Good Luck.
RayC @ 34:
I am starting to think the same thing. It's all about the Clinton's. It really is pathetic.
akahn @ 363:
There is a certain amount of truth to the notion that Obama is where he is because he has been crowned the official Popular Culture Politician, though I don't think that has a damn thing to do with him being black. A brilliant orator of any nationality--and dare I say it, either gender--would have achieved the same level of success. He's charismatic, young, semi-hip, ad infinitum. He's the Too Good to Be True™ candidate, in other words. What concerns me is that once you strip away the hype, the rabid followers who project all of their hopes and dreams onto him, ad nauseam, what are you left with in terms of politician Barack Obama? Not a heck of a lot. I know it's a buzzkill, folks, but frankly, a shitload of eggs are being thrown into the Obama basket. Nonetheless, he's careening for the White House and he has millions of feverish supporters in tow, so we'll simply have to wait and see if he can deliver on his idealism. I really do hope that he does.
patience @ 395:
take off your blinders
What Keith did took REAL Courage...he spoke the TRUTH ,Hillary's Campaign has run amok...and she has to at Some Point bare responsibility for it....( but I guess her Leadership Style means that she is not accountable AT ALL.....it is pathetic...) I am sick of watching people defend her campaign and her antics and her Surrogates ( Ben Johnson and Bill Clinton and Mark Penn.....). And sadly I see in this thread, we as a Country have a REAL problem....Racism pretending to be a Viable Campaign Strategy........we as a Nation should be ashamed.....Hill let this Campaign Turn into this mess...she is Responsible....and not Presidential....her "Leadership" let this Debacle happen.
Only twice in my life have I ever had anything bad to say about either of the Clintons.
1. When Bill admitted he had an affair.
2. When Hillary turned this campaign into a win at all costs.
That's it. These people are personal heroes of mine. And they way they are behaving has saddened me to an immeasurable level.
If the tables were reversed, I would feel no differently about Obama. But he and his campaign are not the ones behaving like a bunch of whining babies who can't accept the fact that the majority of the Democratic party does not want them, and has not voted for them.
Most states.
Most votes.
Most delegates.
Obama.
patience @ 395:
Next time why don't you actually watch Keith Olbermann instead of spouting off your opinionated garbage about Obama. Ferraro is right? Orwellian group think? Did you forget your meds today? Or did you mistake C&L for Redstate?
Keith Olbermann is getting tiresome with his attacks on the Clintons. I used to look forward to his program every nite, not anymore. One person on here hit the nail on the head, these constant attacks against Hillary are going to split the Dem. party down the middle. I LIKE her. I like Obama. But she is my choice. If she doesn't get the nomination, fine. I'll vote for Obama. But damn it Keith, don't tell me HOW to vote.
Darrel @ 401:
Go vote for Nader or join the Republicans. They're good at defining what they're against, not what they're for. People like you are worth nothing to the Democratic Party.
I stop believing everything Olberman expounded when he started making fun of the mentally ill. His bias for Obama is obvious. MSNBC is the Obama/anti-Hillary network and not worth listening to for serious commentary. If Obama wins the nomination I'll actively support McClain. I will not support another empty suiter like Bush!
We can not wish or hope our problems away no matter how much we want to. There is a time to inspire and a time to get things done. It is time to get things done. I don't know if you would call that change, but I call it a MUST!
391
Emma Goldman Says:
If Hill wins the primary, I’m voting for Nader!!! I
That'll show 'em!
By the way, as a general rule of thumb:
Firstly, supporters of either--or any, for that matter--candidate need to stop using childish arguments such as, 'Those who support [candidate] are [pejorative]! What can you expect?'
People don't support someone who isn't the person you support because they're stupid. You aren't the centre of the universe and if you think that people who support the candidate you dislike--or even loathe--are idiots then you are certainly far from the apex of possible human rationale. You are a closed-minded child.
Secondly, let's cease with the pseudo-religious bullshit. 'Those who know better support [candidate].' You might as well say, 'Those who've seen the light support [candidate].' It's holier-than-thou logic, and guess where that term comes from? Yup! It's a reference to condescending, smug religious nuts who tell you that they simply know that their religion is right and that yours is wrong and they tell you this with a sickening smile.
This has been a public service ann-- well, more of a request really.
Thanks!
sharonk @ 223:
Indeed, Where's Edwards? Biden? Any of em! And the horror film analogy.........fuckin hilarious!!:)))))
Hypotheticals are stupid. People who state hypotheticals as fact, even more so.
This whole thing was deliberate, not inadvertent or dumb or accidental, by the Clinton campaign to turn Barack Obama from a great, legitimate, Kennedy-esque candidate, a long-awaited "miracle" for many, who just happens to be of mixed ethnicity, into a "black" candidate, a Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton candidate, and to bring angry black leaders out in the open to foolishly help her do this. It is the REASON Ferraro is accusing Obama of "attacking" her, and playing the victim--to be so wrong and unfair that the New Black Panthers themselves will come storming to Obama's "rescue." It would be the end for Barack. That's the plan. Keith Olbermann may just have AVERTED THIS. YAY. I can never thank KO enough. Too, the black leaders, I'd bet you anything, see right through it and will never take this bait. Hillary and Geraldine et al, however, think the black leaders are stupid. That much is evident in everything they've said.
Joshdavis @ 407:
We need more people like you. I'm not supporting Obama (technically, as a Canadian, I'm not supporting anyone - but you catch my drift), but reason is a commodity nowadays. Thanks for utilizing it.
PS: I also like Obama.
It's been like weeks of the Obama supporters banging their heads, wondering why the MSM has been so blind to all the clearly one sided negativity spread by Camp Clinton. And such a stroke of luck that Geraldine Ferraro, a high profile brand, made such a major stumble. Which got ignored for a few days. But it was clearly the event that woke up the MSM to what has been going on in this campaign. Clinton has no choice but to straighten up her act.
Hillary's modus operandi seems to be if she cannot reliably get black support (which she seemed to cede to Obama rather early) then she would get by on white and latino support. So the easiest way was by scorching the earth. Her supporters are justifying what her campaign surrogates are saying by claiming 'free speech.'
Fine.
Reasonable people can choose to oppose her by claiming 'free choice.'
#6, don't think too much of it. Hill's folks were preparing for the worst with a heads up on Olberman, and expecting another day of Ferraro. HRC has a lot of folks on various sites by my tracking, checking whether she's gonna get bashed, then flood the site with proHil posts.
She still has to deal with how her defunct Kristen superdelegate and his replacement affect her in the count. It's been suggested DPatterson may actually change his vote. DP's staff dislikes ES's staff evidently, and the two potential history making events (first Black governor of New York, first Black President in same year) may lead this very reasonable and highly respected gentleman to walk away from the mess that is 'HRH HRC' as they would say in England. Now that the Duke is also a client of Emperor.
Oh. Emperor isn't going away anytime soon. And sorry about the really long post John. You know, the one about Hillary is 44 and all the 'viagra' 'wellbutrin' 'state name' 'porn search' 'hispanic search' terms. For those who have a minute (and the right browser) you go to that site. Then you do a 'select all' and 'copy.' Then you paste the text into a Notebook or Text Edit blank. And voila, you'll get to see all the search terms they embed behind a pretty picture of Hillary.
Meaning you can find Hillary using porn site search terms. That's good stuff!
So you noticed Bill Clinton is being kept away from the cameras. And had to defend NAFTA today.
Phoenix Justice @ 402:
An erudite endorsement of racism. How charming. Your candidate will continue to get beat up until she decides to take the high road instead of using surrogates to voice her manipulative message. Good night and good luck, you'll sure need it.
Joshdavis @ 407:
I understand you 100%. I'm from Wisconsin, and I always said that Brett Favre and Bill Clinton were both like living legends to me and I'd literally take a bullet for either one if given a chance.
But I'd have to be crazy to ignore and dismiss the type of campaign the Clintons have run. Before, during and after the Lewinsky scandal I still supported them religiously. I said that it wasn't a big deal because it was a family issue since he didn't gain or give any political favors with the act.
But I can't carry their water anymore. They have run a absolute disgusting campaign ever since Iowa and their reputations are FOREVER tarnished in my eyes.
Winning at all costs is a lost cause in politics because a 50+1 majority as President won't get your anything but war as Bush has learned the hard way.
Obama was trying to build a 60+1 coalition and Hillary is destroying his efforts by the day by pitting women against Blacks.
Keith is acting like a pompous ass.
The white men of MSNBC scolding the ladies.
Prick
When is anyone going to have the courage to call out Hillary for being the empty pants suit that she is? What has she ever done that didn't come with a huge assist from her husband's coattails? Do you think that a carpetbagger simply named Hillary Rodham would have won the NY Senate seat on her own? Does anyone honestly believe that anyone as dull and uninspiring as Hillary would have made it this far in the primaries if her last name was Clinton? She has done little or nothing to demonstrate leadership, good management or good judgement in her campaign. What makes her think that we should trust her with our country? She has failed the test virtually every time she has had a chance to do the right thing or the smart or the smart thing, and she just gets worse with each passing day.
Frankly, I do not believe that a participation ribbon from the Laura Bush School of International Diplomacy passes as a sufficient qualification for serving as Commander in Chief. Setting aside all the nasty campaigning, the attempt to steal the nomination Florida style, and her scorched earth, ego driven drive to enhance her resume, even if she has to destroy the Democratic Party to do it, I just don't see a qualified candidate there. It's all smoke and mirrors. You can go all through the Senate and find smarter people, you can find those with better foreign policy credentials and you can find more ethical people, but you can find only one who is a woman with the last name of Clinton. In other words, a commodity that can be marketed effectively.
If she succeeds in either hijacking this nomination or destroying the party's chances for victory in November (or both), it will destroy the chances for any woman to be a serious contender for the Presidency for at least a generation.
Hillary needs to drop out, and she needs to do it now.
Somehow, I don't believe Senator Clinton is the devil. I don't believe Senator Obama is the messiah. I don't believe they control the every utterance of every supporter. I don't believe they should toss good friends to the wolves when those friends fail to put their feelings in the best words. To err is human, to forgive is to be a better human.
Darrel @ 401:
Keep saying it over and over, maybe it will become truth.
Meat @ 413:
So pure and so bright
A shining light of logic
Who knew it was Meat?
tballou @ 17:
it was wrong what do you call it . he earned it not because of the color of his skin . if being black was important we would have had a black president years ago. and if this had been used regarding her sex as a reason for her being where she is. sexism would have been sky written.and before SC
[Deleted. Don't post in ALL CAPS-Sitemonitor]
Hillary isn't alienating the left.
Obamaphiles like Keith are marginalizing the Democratic party.
Three months ago we had a front-runner and a lock on the White House.
Enjoy the Kool-Aid.
Enjoy McCain.
coleshack @ 423:
I think you forget to understand that Geraldine Ferraro has been saying ridiculous things on the public stage ever since she ran for VP. For the Clinton to even let her near this campaign is a mistake on their part. Part of my problem with the Clintons is how poorly they have run their campaign. A simple repudiation of Ferraro's comments would have gone miles with me. The underlying problem with all the underhanded things the Clintons have done in the past few months is that they go against the very nature of the Democratic party. A Democrat does not run a campaign like this. Not only because it's awful and lacks an ethical core. Not only because it shuns the wishes of the voters. But because it's the kind of campaign that will ultimately LOSE.
KyleXY @ 421:
Playing the card. Workin it, workin it. No debate, not ever. Just workin it like this. Just like I said you'd do. Can't get through to people who have no purpose but HILLARY AS POTUS, and god damn the Democratic Party, the country, and the world.
Is it possible that when she loses the nomination to Obama she will become McCain's running mate? She is becoming more like Lieberman every day. IT seems this a suicidal attempt on her part for the nomination, willing to take down the party with her sinking ship of a campaign. I used to think she would make a good president, I now believe she would make a "good" republican.
Olbermann is certainly correct. The Democrats are imploding on a very public forum and by doing so may, incredibly, be opening the door for McCain to become president. As Ralph Nader has wisely observed, if the Democrats are unable to win in a landslide against a war monger like McCain, then they should pack it in, dismantle their organization, and start all over again in the hopes of coming up with a legitimate party to govern the United States.
Johnny2Bad @ 40:
Really? Obama took a risk supporting foster because if he lost it wouldn't have been good for his campaign. When Lieberman ran against Lamont obama supported leiberman. When Lieberman lost the primary, Obama endorsed the DEMOCRAT. Try again.
What a pile of bullshit!
Everyone who campaigns has to be responsible for what everyone who supports them says?
Ferraro was right by the way.
It's like me saying that Clarence Thomas is on the Supremes because he is black. It's true! He's certainly not there for his brilliant legal mind!
Obama wouldn't be where he is if not for his skin colour!
Is he smarter than Chris Dodd? No!
Does he have the experience of Joe Biden or Bill Richardson? No!
But you can't say anything bad about him, you'll be accused of racism!
You can blame Clinton all you want for tearing the party apart, but the truth is, it's this kind of bullshit political correctness that will destroy the Democrats.
PS When you rip the Clinton supporters, remember that you're alienating half the Democratic Party!
vonrking @ 46:
There is no difference between Ferraro's words and Limbaugh's McNabb comments, and it would be insane to suggest there is no Hillary supporter forgiving Clinton who didn't attack Limbaugh.
Keith's telling it like it is.
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 42:
"Clinton News Network"?
I smell a freeper.
tballou @ 17:
Hello! Many blacks were 100% supporting Clinton, not Obama, until her campaign decided to stoop to sly racially divisive framing of Obama and his supporters. Wake up! There is something tragically wrong and destructive about the Clinton campaign's strategy that are befitting only the Republican party, not Democrats. Obama's campaign is succeeding because it has taken the high road and preached unity and hope, powerful political messages. The Clinton campaign is flailing in the wind because it has mocked hope as cultism, preached against change and promised more of the same fear mongering and divisiveness that has characterized the last seven years of the Bush regime.
To Clinton and her militant supporters:
What the hell is the matter with you people?
This is just ridiculuous. Everyone knows that obama's appeal is somewhat tied to his race and exotic background (white mother, african father). Ferraro was speaking the truth! To be honest, I am just getting sick of obama's constant whinning whenever he is attacked and I am getting sick of msnbc trying to turn this into a bigger issue than it is.
btw - I am black, but Obama needs to toughen up. He is not a God and people do have a right to criticize him.
tballou @ 17:
Your statement would be true if he was winning predominantly Black states!
The problem is, he has won 28 contests to date and only Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, DC and Mississippi were contests where he Black vote was the primary reason he won. For God sakes, the guy won Wyoming last weekend and Vermont before then. Where is the Black vote to carry them in those states?
Wisconsin's black vote is so small that the mainstream media didn't even bother tracking it!
People support Obama no because of his race. If that was the case, ANY eloquent Black man would have been the nominee. People support Obama because they LOVE his message. If Barak had Hillary's theme of "experience" and used a scorched earth campaign, do you think he would've lasted long enough to see Super Tuesday?
This is a change election, his WHOLE campaign is about change. Hillary and McCain are running for Bush's third term but claim they will do it better. And you wonder why he's leading in all of the polls? Maybe the easiest answer (other than race) is the correct answer.
miss_kitty Hussein @ 21:
Agreed. I find it totally amazing that the very people who have HISTORICALLY perpetrated race hate not just in this nation, but all over the world can have the audacity to believe that they are the be all to end all of what constitutes what is or is not racism. LOL
GonzoD @ 50:
As much as I don't want to see McCain win, I wont lose sleep being disassociated with these kind of apologetics. I don't for one second think that Hillary supporters are like Ferraro. Those that will look blindly past them however, get no sympathy from me over their disillusionment.
CD @ 53:
LOL.......don't think so.......it was called that up here in the Great White North and we liked Bill.
tballou @ 17:
as a jew, let me say that some of my best friends are goyim
hey, im not a racist, that is a fact
god....the dem party is doomed with people like you in it
edwards got no traction, becuase his message was bullshit
obama's message has struck people to the core
you dont want to accept that, so you use things like white guilt and black pride
the dem party is indeed doomed, because clinton supporters are myopic tools
Another KO from KO... he was on fire! I imagine some sleepless nights in the Clinton camp...
nm @ 55:
I'm so fucking tired of this whole toughen up crap. Its such a weak way of defending anything that Clinton does that it makes me want to scream.
*goose bumps* *applause*
God, I love that man.
Snowball @ 54:
This is true - you can partially chalk it up to lack of Obama name recognition, however in Oct 2007 Hillary had the vast majority of the black vote.
That's my BOY!!!
watch for media matters to come after ko with a blunt object
watch for the clintonistas to attack him as being a hillary hater
i loved the clintons
i now despise them and their supporters
you should all leave the dem party now
nm @ 55:
Who cares about his exotic background???? He is not campaigning with his parents on stage! There are millions of Black people in America with black and white parents. Halle Berry has a white mother, can she be the next Governor of California if she had no message that resonated with people?
And just like being Black doesn't make Obama the most qualified candidate.....you being Black doesn't mean you can't be as ignorant as the Clinton campaign on his issue.
By the way, I'm Black too. Sorry to take away your token position of moral authority based on race!
tballou @ 17:
hey, she is a racist. body language says it all. Ask any black man. Do it! I dare you.
They will indistinctly and intellectually tell you this coming from a racist.
Keith is correct. Hillary should contemn these statements with a passion. Sorry to say she will not. She must believe it.
uncle joe mccarthy @ 66:
haha
Ferraro’s comments are baldly racist and divisive and it’s shocking that people here (ostensibly Democrats) would defend them.
Consider her statement: “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.”
1. Tell that to every other black (or biracial) presidential front-runner in U.S. history… Oh, I forgot. There are none.
2. Ferraro clearly meant that if not for his race, Obama lacks any other salient qualifications. Tell that to every other Harvard magna cum laude/Harvard Law Review Editor, Lecturer in Constitutional Law, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. Senator.
3. Ferraro also said “[Obama] happens to be lucky who he is.” If “luck” is about something good happening for no discernible reason, then Ferraro’s statement is objectively false. Aside from race, there are several discernible likely reasons why Obama is winning. He’s an accomplished orator. He’s well-educated. He’s ambitious. He's intelligent. These are all discernible (whether or not you consider them good ) reasons.
4. Is Ferraro’s false assertion simply a harmless personal insult? No. Saying that an accomplished black (or biracial) man “happens to be lucky” also has deep racist undertones because luck also implies gratitude. When Ferraro suggests that Obama is lucky, she also implies that he should be grateful. This is singularly racist in that Ferraro dredges up the notion that a black (or biracial) man should be grateful for his condition (over which he has no say or control). This is a slave-owner mentality, not unlike that exhibited by Barbara Bush when she said about poor black Katrina evacuees: “And so many of the people in the arena [the Superdome] here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”
5. If we extend Ferraro's remarks to their logical conclusion, she is also saying that the majority of Democrats who support Obama are morons who support him because he's black. So not only is she a racist, she's an authoritarian elitist who believes that the unwashed masses just don't know any better.
How PATHETIC.
whizkid @ 427:
Keith is now an "Obamaphile." If Obama were running his campaign like Hillary, he would be doing a special comment about Obama right now. Actually, if Obama were running his campaign like Hillary, we wouldn't even know who he is anymore.
KyleXY @ 421:
[Deleted. Don't post in ALL CAPS here-Sitemonitor]
bmw H. 528 @ 419:
Then I challenge Senator Obama to stop cowering behind his "surrogates", the Keith Olbermanns of the world, and openly talk about race. I challenge him to put it out there front and center. I challenge our "non-racial" candidate to open a dialog about race in order to put it to rest. He needs to be a leader and he needs to do it now. He just can't talk about "hope" and "change" and not show the leadership to be that vessel of "hope" and "change"
It's not racism... it's PANDERING to racism. There is a difference, but the latter is perhaps even more despicable.
Hillary and Gerry know exactly what they were doing here... and it is sheer ignorance to suggest otherwise.
It is appealing to the worst in people and the worst of people in order to get an edge.
Shame on them and anyone defending them.
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