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Ten. Dems Blame Fox News And GOP For Their Own Skewed Perceptions Of Obama
Last week, Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee member Fred Hobbs set off a firestorm when he was asked by reporters why "Blue Dog Democrat" Representative Lincoln Davis was delaying his endorsement of Obama, and Hobbs answered,
"I'm not sure we know enough about him. He's got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be."
He went on to say,
"[Obama] has associates who are connected to terrorism. It does throw a red flag up for me ....I certainly don't think he's a terrorist. I've just heard he has associates who might have those ties."
Davis's Chief of Staff Beecher Frasier made matters worse when he was asked if he thought Obama had ties to terrorists. He answered that he "didn't know for sure" whether Obama had ties to terrorists. Within 24 hours, Frasier issued another statement, "No one in their right mind, including me, believes Senator Obama has ties to terrorism. It is truly ridiculous for anyone to try to make hay out of these comments."
The Tennessee Democratic Party also quickly issued a statement on Friday that the Tennessee Democratic Party is united behind Obama. On Monday, they published the statement on the front page of their website. The statement also blamed Republicans for the outrageous comments coming from its own party leaders:
Mr. Hobbs is obviously misinformed, and his statement highlights the perpetual efforts of the Republican Party, especially here in Tennessee, to turn internet smears and highly offensive gossip into their party's message against Senator Barack Obama as we head into the General Election. Instead of debating the issues, the Tennessee Republican Party continues to rely upon slanderous and salacious tall tales. They are borrowing from the playbook first written by Richard Nixon and employed in the race against Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Tennesseans of every political persuasion are tired of these tactics.
Harold Ford Jr. also jumped into the fray, disassociating himself with Frasier, who managed Ford's failed senate campaign in 2006:
Let me be clear about two things.
First, Beecher Frasier is dead wrong. Senator Obama is a Christian, American patriot with a vision to make America safer and stronger. I am going to join millions of Tennesseans and Americans by working this year this to bring life to that vision by electing Barack Obama President of the United States.
Second, Beecher's past association with me is just that -- past. I've had no relationship with him since 2006. I don't want a relationship with him, or anyone else who says these things. His comments offend me as an American and embarrass me as a Tennessean.
On Monday, Fred Hobbs wrote a letter to the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee in which he apologized for his comments about Obama and blamed Fox News:
I am writing to apologize for my recent remarks about Senator Barack Obama. My statements to various Nashville media were wrong and offensive. I apologize if my remarks in any way hurt any of our great Democratic candidates, including Senator Obama. Also, I apologize if my comments embarrassed our state or my friends at the Tennessee Democratic Party.
I was not as well prepared as I should have been when speaking with reporters, and I should have taken more time to research Senator Obama's positions. My comments did reflect questions I had after what I had seen reported on Fox News, but I should have taken some time to check the accuracy of what I saw on television before speaking publicly. My statement that Senator Obama "may be terrorist-connected" was incorrect, and I apologize for making it.
As a lifelong Democrat, I believe in the values and ideals of the Democratic Party. I am honored to represent the 13th Senatorial District, and I look forward to working with Senator Obama, each of you, and every Democrat in the 13th District to elect Democrats this November.
Tennesseans were calling on Al Gore to endorse Obama over the weekend as the senior and most-respected Democrat in the state. Gore appeared with Obama at a rally in Michigan last night to announce his support. Gore's endorsement leaves only two Tennessee superdelegates undeclared, Rep. Lincoln Davis and Rep. Bart Gordon.
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I suppose the old fashioned idea of thinking for yourself has been replaced by some sort of magical Groupthink mechanism radiating from the tube. "Oh, what fools these mortals be." Watching too many late night zombie movies, I'd say.
Does anybody really think that there is anything out there that would really hurt Obama that Hillary Clinton hasn't used yet? DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT HILLARY WOULD HOLD BACK SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAVE SUNK OBAMA THREE MONTHS AGO??
If so, then Hillary must be a lot nicer than you NeoCons would have us believe.
Demcrats watching FoxNews? Why?
This is the old guard. They don't matter. These are the people that believed their own foolish lies and thought the electorate was even dumber than themselves. The information age is removing them from the landscape.
I think these people will be on the street faster than they can understand what happened to them: "I doan know whut happen'd ta me!"
Good riddance.
While I hope Dr. Dean has some super-secret plan for purging the"Old Guard" that's dominated Southern Democratic politics for the last 40 years, I ain't holdin' my breath.
"These are the people that believed their own foolish lies and thought the electorate was even dumber than themselves. "
Unfortunately, when it comes to a large proportion of the electorate, they are absolutely right, especially if you substitute "more ignorant" for dumber. Keep in mind that the smear attacks haven't even really begun yet and we have no idea at this point how much effect the efforts of the right to disenfranchise "unfriendly" voters, or the still paperless and manipulatable voting machines, will have.
I was hoping Obama was a different kind of Democrat but after his support to give the corporatists everything they wanted on telecomm immunity this week I'm beginning to have serious doubts. Never underestimate the lengths to which the hard right will go to win at any cost or the capability of the spineless Dems to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. If McSame wins, especially with ANY majority in the Congress, I think you can kiss much of the Bill of Rights, and the middle class in America, goodbye.
I notice people are getting upset about this story. It does have its downside. However, the upside shouldn't be overlooked. Eight years ago, these guys would have gotten away with saying worse than this. Even four years ago, people got away with such shite. Not this time! No more. And hopefully, never again.
Unfortunately, we lost the only true unbiased news reporter who would and could present the facts for this election season - Tim Russert.
What are we to do now to get the truth? I love KO, but much of his segments are railings against issues/people. We need someone to report.
Non-Issue.
Really. I mean, c'mon - Bill Frist comes from Tennessee.
If your area breeds DOCTORS who don't hesitate to cut funding for food and medical programs that aid the impoverished, what more do you need to know?
What is a "good democrat" doing watching faux news to gather their information? I mean it is the titular head of Republican propaganda machine!
I agree.. What the heck is this guy doing watching faux and then spitting it out as if it was real news??? Come on!
Tennessee is about 50 years behind the rest of the country. I grew up there, left, and have no intention of going back. You do have some enlightened people, but they are exception rather than the rule.
People in Tennessee have to be spoon-fed the news - they're too ignorant to research and learn about the candidates, also too ignorant to turn the tv channel to CNN. LOL
Nice sweeping generalization schicklett3. Like most sweeping generalization, yours is just wrong. Tennessee has a very popular democratic governor and almost elected an African American democratic senator last election. Unfortunately it also has some idiots like Fred Hobbs in positions of power in the state democratic party leadership. Yeah, there are some really politically ignorant people here just like everywhere - don't forget that W won (and I use the word loosely) the presidency twice - but making ridiculously biased remarks like yours doesn't contribute to a solution nor for that matter to anything except allowing you to hear yourself. If you want to talk about ignorance, what label should we attach to someone who claims everyone in an entire state is ignorant just because of a few examples?
i somewhat agree, but you would hope that the person charged with speaking for the people would get his news from a reliable source.
Well said , tjntn!
not cool
"also too ignorant to turn the tv channel to CNN."
Doing so would be no help. Since the last election CNN has become Fox News light.
oh, brother!
who in their right mind would ever believe Faux News?
Obama's flaks in the press have adroitly deflected any attention on what IS a concern. Obama
DOES INDEED have some disturbing long-term relationships which need to be addressed. Unfortunately a corruptly partisan press blithely laughs them off in the HOPE that people see them as manufactured. Be very careful. This stuff is a ticking time bomb for Obama. You DO NOT SERVE the Democratic Party but pretending his personal history with avowed enemies of our country does not exist. You know this material has potential "legs." Why do you want to see it blow up after the convention? Better to find out NOW whether this info could sink Dems in the fall so that the convention can fulfill its mandate to forward the most ELECTABLE candidate?
klassy
I assume you are talking about Rev. Wright and this ex-Weatherman guy Ayers. What makes them enemies of our country? That they saw what the government was doing as 'wrong' and spoke or acted out against that??? Using your logic... we'd still be British citizens since Jefferson, Franklin and company also didn't like what their government was doing and spoke and acted against that. Then again... I guess the British did see them as the enemy.
Anyway... I may be in the minority... but I believe that it is completely American and one of the most patriotic things you can do to speak up and/or stand up against what you believe your government is doing wrong.
Well-said PATina. Dissent really is the highest form of patriotism (no matter who said it first).
I refer specifically to Tony Rezko's ties with unsavory characters in the mideast who have indirectly bankrolled Obama's career. But yes, the unrepentant Ayers who chose to use violence as a tool for making "change" will haunt this campaign til the end.
You Repugnantcan trolls pushing HRCs talking points never give up, do you?
A wacky Rev doing the black church smack talk, and a passing acquaintance who has a 40+ year old connection to a radical group constitute "disturbing long-term relationships?" That's thin even for the usual 'guilt by association' crowd. What else ya got, pal? I think you're nearly out of ammo.
Day before yesterday I sent a scathing email to the TN Democractic Party outlining my contempt for this dude, Hobbs and Lincoln Davis. I told them that both of these characters should (a) resign or (b) go on public TV and apologize. I also stated that my donations would go directly to the Obama campaign and that the TENNESSEE DEMOCRACTIC PARTY could go straight to HELL !!
I grew up in TN, moved to Las Vegas and then to CA for 30 years. I'm back in TN because of my 98 year old Father and his need for caregiving. I stopped going to the local Democractic meetings after the sorry way that they treated Harold Ford in the last election.
Don't be fooled by anyone saying they worked hard for Ford, because that is not the case. They only gave lip service to his run for Senator and we got the fool, Corker. It will be the same with Obama here in this state.
I also told the Party that I was ashamed of them and ashamed of being from Tennessee. I'm mad as Hell and not going to take it anymore. I will keep sending my pittance to Obama who deserves it more than the ignorant bunch here.
P.S.
I also told them that Obama didn't need Al Gore either. He won the primary on his own without Gore and he would win the presidency on his own.
I'm ashamed of Al Gore. He didn't stand up when it might have made a difference, but cowarded in his home in Nashville and he hasn't said a word about his fellow TN Democrats who put out such tripe as those ignorant pukes did about Obama.
Fox News is no excuse and I'm not ready to make nice or accept the apologies from the TN Dems !!
I LOVE AL GORE FOR HIS APPROCH TO THE PRIMARY SEASON. What in god's name is wrong with allowing the ELECTORATE to make up its own mind? These ridiculous theatrical parades of endoresements are really just photo-ops foar wannabes which are merely pandering-for-jobs exercises. Al wants NOTHING but to serve his causes passionately. EITHER Dem candidate would enthusiastically support his climate initiatives, so where is there value in choosing sides? He's the smartest man in the room.
Spot on post TN60.
In many places this is the Democratic Party still.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esl2NNOtHQE
So this Tennessee Dem leader's a Fox News fan? Sounds like he might have a little touch of the racism there too, what with his beliefs about Hussein's connections to terrorism. Exactly the sort of guy the Dems should be dumping as fast as humanly possible. Blue Dog Dem=right-wing Bush fan.
There have been reports of Obama's ties to terrorists & to Chicago politicians on the Internet for months. The media has chosen to ignore them, to give them no credence or investigation to verify or disparage the reports. I give these men credit for even considering the fact that there might be something in the shadows about Obama & holding back their endorsements of him until they know for sure. My local paper, on the other hand, refused to investigate Obama when I told them of various reports & actions of Obama that upset me. I was accused of being racist, unrational, etc. They endorsed Obama, impressed with his speaking, when Obama visited them. They may as well have endorsed Burt Lancaster who gave those eloquent speeches while playing the part of Elmer Gantry. Obama plays a role, also. A few days ago I wrote & asked what the writer felt about Obama & his stories of his releatives liberating Auschwitz.. The reply was, "and he killed Lincoln, too".
"Terrorists and Chicago politicians"? Which ones are supposed to be worse? Got any facts to go with these "reports"? Anything at all? You know, Obama's great uncle didn't help liberate Auschwitz; he helped liberate Buchenwald. Is that what you've got on Obama? Are these your "somethings in the shadows"? Because if this is all you've got, you've got nothing.
I think what you're missing is that the claims about Obama having ties to terrorism are based solely on his connection to Ayers. Obama was eight years old at the time that Ayers was involved in a violent anti-war group, and by the time Obama met him, Ayers had turned his life around and become a well-respected member of the academic community. Ayers and Obama are not friends, they just travel in the same circles because they both teach at the same university, live in the same neighborhood, and are active in local Chicago politics.
Nobody "refused to investigate" your suspicions because those concerns HAVE ALREADY BEEN DISPROVEN and debunked so thoroughly there was no need to delay for repeat of such a process when the only one still having questions due to remaining uneducated on the topics is YOU.
To reiterate: the reports and actions you demande the newspaper investigate have already been reviewed and proven to be mostly blatantly false with a dash of false concerns being born of utter misinterpretation, misquoting, and context-switching such that they have been confirmed as obvious and egregious lies through various mean.
Your local newspaper HAD ALREADY FOUND OUT FOR SURE that Obama had no terrorist connections of any sort nor involvement in your other claimed misdeeds, and it is hard to imagine intelligent and informed citizens being unaware of this.
Accusing them of being unprofessional and biased, claiming they gave these issues no credence or investigation when they did so LONG AGO and thus already know you're wrong and require no delay to prove as much, simply highlights how clueless and self-righteous you are acting.
And Obama's relative DID help liberate a concentration camp; if you find it suspicious that a person who wasn't close with a relative and has only heard stories of their deeds mistook his precise relationship to that relative and named the wrong concentration camp even though the story was accurate in every other detail, you have serious issues.
Fox News doesn't even let you talk with they do Interviews, they do their best to drown out the oppositions views when they come on....Interviewee's can't get two words out if they are against the establishment. I however flip back and forth between all the major cable news stations Cnn, Msnbc, and FOX....
Fox should not be called a News station, they have no true journalistic capabilities, none what so ever, thank God for the Internet this time around otherwise Obama would've been swiftboated by Fox along time ago, they are still doing a fairly good job of spreading half truths, which all these clowns do, it's just that Fox is so obvious in the way they do it, NO CLASS!! No Balance!
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Posted June 16, 2008 | 07:52 PM (EST)