This Week: Gov. Pawlenty Wants To Know When Obama Has Ever Stood Up To His Party
By Nicole Belle Saturday Jun 28, 2008 7:00pm 
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
Republicans sure have funny ideas to what does and doesn't make for a good President. They framed the dry drunk frat boy as the kind of guy you wanted to have a beer with, the guy with nice hair as too effete to be considered--maybe because he cared about those unfortunate souls who couldn't afford to be a campaign donor, the three time Purple Heart combat veteran as hating the troops and now the man who voted with Bush 95% of the time in 2007 and 100% of the time in 2008 as a "maverick" willing to put country before party. I got an idea: let's ask the vets if they think McSame is a maverick when it comes to the GI Bill. But Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) on This Week with George Stephanopoulos thinks he's come up with a great gotcha for Rep. Rahm Emanuel: when has Barack Obama stood up against his party for what's right for the country?
PAWLENTY: And, actually, John McCain is the one person who says, I'll stand up and do what's right for my country even before party. And I'll challenge you once again. Name me one instance, even one, where Barack Obama has stood up and said, I will take on my party on a matter of principle, on something large...
While Rahm Emanuel doesn't take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn't needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies.
Transcripts below the fold:
PAWLENTY: Well, we should worry about the country first.
EMANUEL: I agree with that.
PAWLENTY: And, actually, John McCain is the one person who says, I'll stand up and do what's right for my country even before party.
And I'll challenge you once again. Name me one instance, even one, where Barack Obama has stood up and said, I will take on my party on a matter of principle, on something large...
(CROSSTALK)
PAWLENTY: ... as a United States senator, not some remote vote in the state legislature in Illinois.
EMANUEL: Tim, I like you. You and I...
(CROSSTALK)
EMANUEL: Everybody knows we like each other. Our friendship goes way back. We've worked on issues together. In the last seven years under George Bush, median household income...
PAWLENTY: Can you name me one?
EMANUEL: I'm going to say it. Median household income in Minnesota dropped $7,000. Uninsured went up 30 percent, and employment went 3.3 percent to 5.6 percent.
That's the legacy of the Bush economy and you're struggling against it, as a good governor, against a legacy of a mismanaged and a bad economic plan that's put too much resources over in Iraq and not enough resources here in America. And there's consequences to that policy.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor, the last word.
PAWLENTY: If you look at any argument that Senator McCain is an extension of George Bush, it does not hold water, in a whole bunch of categories. He's the one who said we've got to change the conduct of the war. He's the one that says we have to take a different approach
on energy.
You have got Barack Obama saying no to tax holiday, no to more drilling, no to more nuclear, no to tax credits for...
EMANUEL: Yes to alternative energy.
PAWLENTY: And let's put some more taxes, according to Obama, on energy. That's exactly the wrong thing...
STEPHANOPOULOS: I'll invite you both back. You guys have a lot to talk about.
CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Thank you both very much.
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Rahm didn't answer the first question!!
Because he CAN'T!!!
He was dead on the rest, and Pawlenty still can't get his wife to sleep with him!!
The FISA vote indicates the opposite is true. The lack of real effort to bring the troops home and pursue the administration for impeachable offenses indicates the opposite is true. People like Feingold and Kucinich, though I disagree with them on a number of issues, have shown true backbone and it's a shame Obama couldn't follow suit.
LJM @ 2:
Nicole, I gotta go with "LJM" on this one. I am definitely gonna vote for Obama. I think the Dems are the way to go, but, lets not be fooled. The Dems are in bed with the corporate elite, to one degree or another, also. They all need to be monitored. I think a "healthy mistrust" of politicians, regardless of party affiliation is a good thing.
",,,,,the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies."
What? Are you serious? The Dems have plenty of corporate semen on thier eager chops. The only real difference between DLC Dems and the Repukes is that a DLCer will play golf with a black guy. Both parties have done plenty to sell the middle class and the workers of this country down the river. Holy Jebus, when are people going to wake up and reject these sold out staus quo protecting sacks of shit.
Nicole Belle said,
"While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait,"....I say a smart fish Knows when he can get caught. If he woulda taken the bait...he would have been reeled to the surface. ...and eaten for dinner
Nicole Belle actually said,
"the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies.
I say you are joking...right Nicole?
Impeach? telecom immunity? Patriot act? I dont see democraplicants trying to do anything for anyone else exept for the corporate elites...Bush goes on unimpeded...
rahm is a corporate shill and thus acceptable. he's on the hillary team.
i am a democrat and have been all my voting life of over 40 yrs, but when
people like Rahm Emanuel doesn’t even have the BALLS to point out
real positive attributes of Obama, especially in instances like this,
well, he can just BITE ME!! what a fucking wimp.
Gomez Adams @ 3:
i am with you on voting for Obama, but it's time to
just sweep some of these corporate ass-suckers out
the door, regardless of pary affiliation. those in bed
with the corporate interests, as far as i am concerned,
are of ONE PARY ONLY.
milquetoast @ 5:
There's no one less happy with the Democratic Party right now than I am, but in the context of Pawlenty's attempt to show this to be some sort of standard by which McCain is preferable to Obama, I'm going to stand by my statement.
McCain is a maverick who allegedly puts country before party (all evidence to the contrary). My point is that if he followed the Democratic platform, Obama would not need to do that.
Obama is abandoning the Democratic party for a few votes from Dobson's idiots. He better rethink FISA (and read the bill) or many of us will tell him to go away when he asks for money. He's on his own as far as I am concerned. I continue to hope his campaign people iare reading this, but I think they care more about Republicans disillusioned with Bush. That's fine--there are a lot of you out there--but I don't have a lot of $100 checks to send to someone who won't uphold the constitution.
And Rahm--take a poll and get out of Washington for 5 minutes. You might meet an actual Democrat.
Pawlenty needs a long vacation away from the stresses of spewing his crap on TV,
soon be time for him to lose his next election and slither back under his stone.
Nicole Belle @ 9:
here's someone who has had two glasses of the koolaid.
LJM @ 2:
Exactly. Rahm is showing the dems to be week.
Oh brother! You are kidding of course?!
This country has a right wing party and an ultra right wing party.
Choose your poison.
Say FISA fifty times, rinse mouth, repeat.
Since when did any representative give a crap about the people? By the time they get into office, they are so entrenched to insiders and donors, that they soon forget about the little people. The air around Washington contaminated, and all politicians are infected.
"While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies."
does anyone else find the last half of this sentence to be just a bit of an exaggeration?
if obama sides with the telecoms, then how is that putting country before party?
if obama's foreign policy team is a carbon copy of bill clinton's, how is that putting country before party?
dadams @ 12:
As compared to a Republican?
Whatever.
I'm a registered Green. I'm not a Democrat, but frankly, the Democratic platform--whatever the reality actually is--stands for American citizens. The Republican platform stands for corporate America. I realize I'm over-simplifying, but the whole format is designed for easily digestible soundbytes.
If you think you're going to get an honest and in depth evaluation of the respective platforms of the two parties on Sunday morning, more power to you.
"the Democratic platform–whatever the reality actually is–stands for American citizens. The Republican platform stands for corporate America."
again, total nonsense. corporations will give money to whomever gets the nomination, or who they think will get the nomination.
anyone who thinks the democrats put people before corporations are living in a fantasy world.
I count three dickheads (including George)
bryan @ 19:
Okay Bryan, I'm glad you have this avenue to get your hate on for the Democratic party. On a day when I'm not trying to fill the day with content, I might be happy to join you, because again, I'm not happy with their actions, and I've been less than quiet about it both on this site and in my communications with DC operatives.
Let me make this clear...Emanuel is representing both Barack Obama and the Democratic Party on this show. Pawlenty uses a bizarrely fallacious argument to show why McCain is the superior candidate. How would you have had Emanuel respond?
Nicole Belle @ 21:
Something else? Anything else?
Iraq, anyone?
Nicole Belle @ 18:
i don't watch the sunday side shows for either party, just to biased in both cases.
i am a democrat with an open mind. i don't believe the democrats in congress
are without SIN, because everyone of them has some ties to some group
that is despised by some of their constituents. frankly, i would just as soon
clean the entire bunch out of washington and start with some new unspoiled
representatives of the people, but we all know that will never happen.
Noticed @ 23:
Iraq would have been the correct answer, just stay away from FISA.
Nicole Belle @ 21:
He should have said "YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT."
Nicole Belle @ 18:
at one time...I also (believed such) ...but I'm not so sure anymore.
iraq ding ding ding! even so, the mere fact that you oppose your party doesnt mean shit. if your party is always right then opposition is stupid. this maverick notion is so backwards it hurts.
The way I see the whole FISA debate is this:
1. Why are we discussing holding the telecoms accountable instead of the Bush regime? The whole debate over whether they have immunity or not seems like a bait and switch to me. Why has nobody mentioned this?
2. The entire NSA surveillance program will not survive if Obama is elected. Republicans will never tolerate it falling into Democratic hands. If Obama wins, you will hear a hue and cry like no other from Republicans turned over-night into civil liberties advocates. They will become the biggest advocates of returning to the old FISA rules, mark my words.
QUESTION: When has Obama ever stood up to his party for principle over political gain?
ANSWER: He opposed the Iraq war when the democrats went sheepishly along with the republicans' war march because he alone refused to fear being called "unpatriotic." And in the end he was RIGHT.
Next question?
Someone please tell me why the media airheads always have on buffoons like Rahm Emanuel, Harold Ford, Joe Lieberman, etc?
This is clearly an official talking point from the Republicans. I first saw it from a troll at ThinkProgress, but the local "conservative" columnist here in Portland ran it up the flag today, although comparing Obama to Gordon Smith, up for election and always trying to look like a bipartisan moderate once every six years. It's the same meme, though: Obama isn't really bipartisan because he never sides with the Republicans against his own party. Coming from Republicans, this is pretty damn funny, but it also presumes that the Republican Party has had a lot of great ideas that any sensible person would support, regardless of party. Har de har har har.
Otay @ 31:
They have them on as the "good cops" patrolling the borders of what the beltway elite considers legitimate dissent. Their role is to ensure that the Democratic party does not fall into the hands of Progressives. The Corporate Media, being the mouthpiece of the elite, employs them as useful foils to parry any hope of meaningful change or anything that would threaten the power of the establishment.
Scott @ 30:
Well he DOES get credit for opposiing it from the start. But he was not in a position to vote on it so how he would have voted is moot.
And before you say that you are SURE he WOULD have voted against it, let's count the things he has said that he is against and then voted for (FISA) or spoke in favor of (SCOTUS on the DC gun law).
I haven't heard a good idea that was in the best interest of our country from the Republican party since Eisenhower challenged the Military Industrial Complex.
How does it feel to be a complete shill for those in power, Nicole? Do they give you any shiny medals or tiny flags for your blind devotion?
Pete&Pete @ 36:
How does it feel to be an ill-mannered prick who doesn't take into account my entire body of work on this site?
I have no blind allegiance to anyone. My point is the response that Emanuel SHOULD have made.
For all of you throwing temper tantrums over Telecom immunity, I believe you've been had by a sophisticated bait and switch. We should be more concerned with the Bush regime breaking FISA, if they used it against domestic opposition and that if McCain is elected, there will be no hope of accountability ever. It's really irrelevant. What is relevant is that Republicans might be successful in convincing you to not vote or throwing away your vote over this issue.
.
Dear Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN),
America waits the answer, have you stopped beating your wife?
.
If Rahm's statement were true, Obama would be standing up for the rule of law rather than taking the wrong stand on FISA.
Snowball @ 29:
The simple answer to one is that investigating the telecoms is the path to indicting Bush.
The answer to two is, "You Wish!"
Pete&Pete @ 36:
I doubt you know this word so i took the liberty of getting the definition for what you are.
Call me paranoid xiotes, but I contend the only real purpose of the program was to spy on Democrats and anti-occupation and environmental activists. Republicans know it and will not stand for a Democrat having that power.
And as for potential lawsuits against Telecoms leading to any accountability for the Bush regime, I highly doubt it.
Snowball @ 43:
There is more to it than that, even if i am wrong. (It is certainly what Bush is worried about.)
If we allow people to break the law because the Government told them to we exonerate the Nazis convicted at Nueremberg.
xoites defends Constituion @ 41:
I actually think that #2 is highly likely. And they will be helped out by the "librul media" that will search out any and all excesses because after all "the public has a right to know"
Rob (Formerly In) Toronto @ 45:
I certainly hope you are right. I will accept someone doing the right thing for the wrong reasons as long as we get a good outcome.
xoites defends Constituion @ 44:
You are precisely right. This FISA bill blows... but I think that the most egregious bits will suddenly become big news every night when there is a Democrat sitting there pulling the levers of power.
Should the guilty pay? Absolutely!
John Dean seems to think that the language is sloppy enough to allow for criminal prosecutions. I predict that the first one will be a high profile Democrat though. In the interests of bipartisanship of course .. cough cough
I think (occasionally when I'm sober), that anything bush does or has done can be undone with a Democratically controlled congress and Obama as Predident. Any retroactive legislation that is enacted now can be repealed, revoked, overturned or revised by the new regiem. What's good for the goose being good for the gander has the republiscums feeling like the gander right now knowing that they will not be in power come January.
Saint Augustine @ 48:
I found a passage in a lawbook a few days ago. Repealing a law that amends other laws is extreemly difficul even if everyone is for it. FISA amends hundreds of laws.
....I wouldn't go quite that far. I'm registered as a liberal, and vote pretty much down the democrat lines, BUt, democrats, at least at the federal and state levels, are politicians. As politicians, they are in it for themselves. Yes, the republican party has reached new levels of corruption, fear mongering, and is now mystifying in it's total abandon of American ideals. But the democrats are right there enabling it. Obama is a great candidate, and I will vote for him, but as some are finding out over FISA - Obama IS just a politician, playing his politician games.
Sure republicans are bad, but just because the dems arent as bad as they are doesn't make them perfect.
gummitch @ 32:
This "talking point" assumes the position that McCain is a TRUE BLUE politician who has the best interests of the LITTLE GUY at heart, and takes positions counter to his party because he is right and good.
THE TRUTH is that the Republican Party has been so OPPOSITE from the "general good of the country" that his FLIP FLOPPING and "maverick" positions are simply examples of him COVERING HIS ASS to prevent personal embarrassment.
xoites defends Constituion @ 49:
X, my Women's Hospital brother, you may be right, but right now the effects of working all day tasting beer in my official as Patron Saint of Breweries makes me believe the Obama administration will do what is necessary to undo the damage that Bush's tenure has caused.
xoites defends Constituion @ 46:
I'd be willing to place a bet on it happening. Republicans will claim Obama is abusing FISA and the Corporate Media will be all over it. No evidence will be needed.
i know one thing, i'm ticked with obamas' capitulation to the traitorous bush regime on the fisa issue.
i'll vote for him in November, but if he supports retroactive immunity and evisceration of fisa i'll not donate another red cent to him.
Snowball @ 29:
The only way to get to Bush's deeds is through civil lawsuits. Take away these, and we may never know the extent of the Bush's damage to our rights. And may never correct or even reverse the direction we're going.
That may be, but as soon as another Repub is back in office, they'll reinstall all of the provisions under Bush. Like they reinstalled (despite the laws enacted due to the Church committee) the eavesdropping carried out under Nixon. And who knows but that they'll take it a step further.
Without justice, the same criminal activities will be committed again, insofar as the GOP/administration/government profits from them. The rule of law requires justice to have any meaning and force.
Nicole Belle @ 37:
Ignore the attacks, Nicole. Know that you are appreciated. You do great work. I think people are just venting at the inane actions of the Dems lately. BTW, good choice of an independent party. I'll be choosing one after these elections. I'm beyond sick and tired of the Dem party.
Rob (Formerly In) Toronto @ 47:
Only if Bush does not pardon the telecoms. Then, with immunity against civil suits, there will be nothing but a black hole of knowledge about what the hell happened under the Bush.
Everytime I see a republican talking about taxes, I tell them they can stick their piddly $200 tax-cuts up their ass!
I also like to add that the day is quickly approaching where the 25% of the nations wealth the richest repukes have stolen from the middle class over the last 25 years (with their tax cuts across the board scam), is about to be reversed big time!
Grover, say hello to Mr. 94% marginal tax rate!
Nicole Belle @ 37:
Good for you Nicole! You folks at C & L have a terrific site. Don't take any shit from rude guests in your own home!
While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies.
says who?
good thing we have the dems in the legislature doing the best for the country or else we'd be screwed.
/sarcarsm
nicole, no disrespect but are u sure this assessment is reality based?
"While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies."
the *only* reason obama is supporting the new FISA bill is because......
he has received tens of thousands of dollars from the very telecoms which would have been targeted with lawsuits from the EFF and the ACLU (if the FISA bill had never been rewritten)......
A year ago, when nobody thought he could beat Clinton, Obama told the National Teacher's Convention that he was for merit pay. It was a very quiet room, and I think this qualifies. (N.B. I used to be a teacher and I would have found it enchanting of someone told teachers what they didn't want to hear, as long as they could make a reasonable case for it.)
Pawlenty should be the LAST person to criticize any Democrat or be considered to be a McCain running mate given his mishandling of the 35W bridge catastrophe in Minneapolis on his watch as governor.
YEAH! What's this guy talkin BOUT! obamalamadingdong has stood up for misogyny and racism, ant-working class and anti-AmeriKKKanism with the BEST of em!!! LEAVE BARRAK OBAMA ALONE...sniff...LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!! Or you'll answer to ME!!! sniff, sob
When has Pete&Pete ever done anything at all good for this country? My guess is "never". Hard to get much done from your parent's basement.
"While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies".
What a Crock of Sh**!
Your beloved Dumbocratic party has just rolled over on the American public once again. They are poised to ram the FISA bill down our throats as soon as they come back from vacation (rolling over for Bush must make them tired!)
In case you don't get it the FISA bill is total capitulation too Telecom companies that broke the law....... or Korporate protectionism if you will!. Mr. Obama did nothing to stop it even going as far as supporting it, saying that he would put the security of our country first. That makes him a sellout along with a majority of so called Dumbocats so please don't trying selling the "Democrats vote for the people" crap here. There is no difference between the two parties anymore they're all a bunch of Fascist / Korporate lackeys that cave every time they are told to.
When has Pawlenty ever stood up and done right by those of us living in Minnesota? Mr. No New Taxes let the infrastructure of Minnesota continue to turn to shit even after the 35W collapse. He refused to raise the gas tax 4 cents per gallon. Thats 80 cents on a 20 gallon tank even though inspectors found a few more MAJOR bridges up here that need replacing ASAP, some have since been closed. So in order to save 80 Cents per week, or $50 per year, which, by the way I had already planned to use to buy my vacation home in in Florida, he risks letting more bridges fall down. Yup, what a great ass hole he is, a real stand-up kind of guy....
Pretty funny from a craven little weasel like Pawlenty. He _started_ running for senator but the GOP told him to quit it and run for governor because they had already hand-picked Coleman for senator. AND HE DID. Yeah, Pawlenty is real maverick. His own man. A man's man.
If only I had a share of IBM for every time he's mouthed the GOP "No new taxes!" line while Minnesota property taxes were driving the old and poor out of their homes before the mortgage crisis. And fees are skyrocketing. Shameful. The temp worker pool for the county that encompasses Minneapolis is now composed of little old ladies paying off their property taxes with "volunteer" work so they don't get pushed onto the street or into a nursing home.
And not everyone outside the state may know that he had so little respect for the job of transportation director (as in whether the bridges will fall into the Mississippi) that he appointed the Lieutenant Governor to the post as a second job. When she wasn't needed for a baby-kissing photo op affair she could dabble in transportation. Couldn't have more of a fool if we'd elected Dubya to lead Minnesota.
republican = insanity!
Well, one thing I learned from this is that Dem congresscritters really want to be "friends" with the wingnuts.
I'm not sure where Pawlenty gets off talking about standing up to his party. Six Republican legislators in Minnesota helped to override his veto of a major transportation funding bill and the Republican party had them punished for voting the "wrong way" against the Governor.
As the highest ranking Republican in the State of Minnesota, you know damn well this punishment wasn't handed out absent his blessing.
Hypocrite.
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail?contentI...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1AlNVhBzto
"The Dems have plenty of corporate semen on thier eager chops. The only real difference between DLC Dems and the Repukes is that a DLCer will play golf with a black guy. Both parties have done plenty to sell the middle class and the workers of this country down the river. Holy Jebus, when are people going to wake up and reject these sold out staus quo protecting sacks of shit."
This comment cannot be taken out of context and I agree with the writer - Capt Guano at comment no. 4.
Thank you Governor Pawlenty for pointing out that the Republican Party is against the country and can only be stopped when people stand up to them.
Nicole, luv ya, you and bluegal are the best on C&L but this...
“While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies.”
that has to be the dumbest thing I ever heared you write... Please, put down the Red Bull and step away from the keyboard. Take off your I HEART Barry tee shirt and find something with the first GW's picture to wear. Then think. ...
The Constitution, the Constitution, the Constitution.
This the foundation of a government of laws. To give it up for any political gain is unforgivable. The dem ‘elites’ have sold the country down the river for a mess of pottage.
I know you are better than this, Nicole. Looking forward to your next post.
ugggh.. just ugh.
d_s_n_e_u_us
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