Apparently being caught lying on your resume brings out the venomous side in Sen. Clinton.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a wide-ranging interview today with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporters and editors, said she would have left her church if her pastor made the sort of inflammatory remarks Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor made.The problem for Hillary is that this plays into the larger metanarrative about her campaign, that she'll do or say anything to get elected. She's smart enough to realize that dragging the Rev. Wright matter back into the news makes her look petty and despicable, but in the end it's probably the best option she has for two reasons."He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."
The Clinton campaign had refrained from getting involved in the Wright controversy, but Clinton herself, responding to a question this morning, denounced what she said was "hate speech."
For one, slinging mud out of sheer desperation reinforces a negative perception, but it's a more favorable one than the emerging storyline that she's a chronic liar whose falsehoods cut to the very notion of her campaign strategy that she's more "experienced" (Never mind the fact that were she to be judged by her own definition of "experience", she'll lose to John McCain in November). Moreover, for a lot of Clinton's supporters, her willingness to engage in character assassination is considered an asset in November. For Obama supporters, this makes her look like an asshole, but Clinton's base (the "fight fire with fire" wing of the DNC) will see this as another example of her being "tough".
Of course, the other upside for Clinton is that in distracting attention away from embarrassing news, she refocuses attention on the emerging right-wing meta-narrative that Barack Obama is unpatriotic. This has been the thread that unites many of the right-wing smears against Obama, from the "lapel pin" flap, to Michelle Obama's comments about being proud of America "for the first time", to the Obama singing the national anthem without his hand over his heart, to Rev. Wright's "God Damn America" comments.
Now in their efforts to use the "Tonya Harding option" against Obama, the Clintons have resorted to doing the GOP's work for them. Just last week, Bill implied that Obama, unlike McCain and Hillary, doesn't "love this country". Now Hillary is dragging the Wright matter back into the spotlight. These sort of attacks make perfect sense for the party that turned a yellow ribbon magnet into a form of wartime sacrifice, but are Bill and Hillary Clinton really buing into the notion that a patriot should be judged by his ostentatious and self-aware displays of nationalistic fervor? Or are they just throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and hoping something sticks?
Contrasting the two dominant meta-narratives, it seems that Obama is the one with the upper hand here. After all, unlike Hillary Clinton's weasely admission that she merely "misspoke" in her tall tales on the stump, Obama has already addressed the Wright matter in a straightforward manner (as more than 3 million YouTube viewers can attest). Bringing this up again runs the risk of making Hillary look foolish, like in the Ohio debate when she criticized Obama for "denouncing", but not "rejecting", Louis Farrakhan. Rather than get caught up in Hillary's silly word games, Obama just pithily insisted that he would "reject and denounce". It was a moment in which a nation's eyes rolled in unison. Whatever, Hillary.
While the "Obama isn't patriotic" storyline will have some staying power (if only to give the bobbleheads a way to burn-up airtime between commercials until November), the notion that Obama doesn't sufficiently love his country is pretty stupid on its face and will only really have legs with voters who would never vote for him in the first place. Like the Farrakhan exchange, it's a narrative so childish that it can only be rejected through mockery. "Sure," I can imagine Obama saying, "I hate America so much...I'm running for President."
Yet, here we are, in the tail end of a primary season in which the losing challenger for the Democratic nomination has sunk to reinforcing right-wing smears against her party's likely nominee in a transparent attempt to distract the media from the fact that she's been caught in multiple lies about her experience. Granted, Hillary Clinton lost her chance to win my vote long ago, but I can't help but wonder how favorably superdelegates will look upon a former frontrunner cutting off her nose to spite her face.
I believe the media has it right she would rather see John McCain win against Obama in hopes that she can run at the end of McCain's term because she figures he will be too old to run. So they are willing to destroy the party for this long shot. It's amazing that they have not realized that she will loose then because the party and the voters will not support her after having supported the party. Or perhaps the media has missed it and if current events reveal her intentions perhaps she plans to run and the Republican candidate the second time around.
..and the only way I can explain virtually NO ONE pointing out that it was Florida's REPUBLICAN CONGRESS that gleefully passed the early primary that disenfranchised the Florida Democratic voters! Way too many people in the media have been saying "It's the Democrats fault for insisting on having the early primary."
The Democrats don't control Florida's Congress... THE REPUBLICANS DO!
Even Howard Dean is too stupid to realize he was HAD by the Florida Republicans!
They have fiddled whilst the Democratic Party has been scorched by the enemy within.
Consider the fact that McCain could reach out to General Clayton Powell as his V.P. choice? What then?
Or alternately when Hillary is "deep sixed" by you youngsters remember "Hell breath no fury like a woman scorned" Perhaps she will become McCains running mate-she could submit to old John as his V.P..!
Yum yum GOP going to make mincemeat of Obambi.
If Hillary run it will be even more fun for GOP in November!
Look folks, if we know that these fools are going to pull that same old tired stunt, then we have half the battle won already, because they are not going to be the one's voting for Obama or any other democrat in the first place.
We know what they are going to do so the party is over for them. All we need to do is continue to come out in the massive numbers that we are known to come out with and vote for the better candidate.
They got away with that crap because we were not sure what they were up too, but that is not the case now. They can run U-Tube videos until the cows come home and it will not move us.
Pretty soon they will get the message that the games are over, like now.
Let's learn how to be as smart as they think they are.
And WHY has the media, in response to all this, neglected to show the FULL video? I call that irresponsible journalism, to say the least!
It's about time someone asks some real hard questions about his moral standings! We know where Hillary is considering her basic "faith" and "Moral" compass! Hillary is a solid secular humanist that attends whatever "Christian" Church is needed to give the media a photo-op! We understand where she is coming from and how she wil get from point (A) to point (B).
However, everyone one is so far in the dark about Barrak Obama about whether he is a Christian, or a Black(Pro-African Islamic sect)! Until Reverend Wright revealed his colors; no one was sure and very afraid to ask! Now it's time to ask Barrak Obama: "Mr. Obama what is your moral compass?" This question is a legitimate one!
Americans vote for persons(candidates) from all walks of life and faiths! Therefore, allow the voters to know what your basic moral guidelines are? WE VOTERS ARE FAIR! We wil either vote for you or against you based PARTLY on your moral compass. IT FAIR TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS.
Americans elect Jews, Christians, Muslims, Atheists, Secular Humanists, Agnostics, Deists, Hindus, Buddhists, and others to governmental offices. But, the voters, have the right to know what's the center of their character!!
Keep asking until we get a clear and concise answer!
And for her religious beliefs, she belongs to The Family, or The Fellowship Prayer Group. Do your research, so you can see their agenda, and the people that belongs to that organization. This will tell you her moral guides.
I dont' have to ask about her, I have a clear and concise opinion, and is not pretty.
Every time she even begins to open her mouth, there is someone there to record it and report it. And I honestly haven't thought about the "unpatriotic" drama for quite sometime, until I read your gathering of all that information into one montage for your readers to be reminded of.
I'm not defending Hillary, though. I think she's a bad person all around.
meanwhile, it's perfectly acceptable that hillary clinton was dumb enough to tell several bold-faced lies about her bosnia trip when there was videotape to immediately dispute her claim and make her look stupid? oh yeah- and how about her claim that she was sent to bosnia because the trip was "too dangerous" for the president himself to make. I guess that's why she brought her only child, a teenager, with her onto the tarmac. puh-lease.
and btw, hillary fans, please let us know when you come up with videotape of barack obama sitting in the church while pastor wright made those remarks... *crickets*...
http://www.rickross.com/reference/alqaeda/alqaeda9.html
This Wright business has branded our party as un-American by many moderates, and it is why more Dems should have condemned him, and loudly. The election will not be won by progressive intellectuals who understand nuance. McCain has cinched MO by March? I now fear that neither Obama nor HIllary can escape this inevitable smear come November.
Look at the polls. Look who is ahead in negatives. Yes, is her. And we have not even seen her taxes yet. The election won't be won by liars, who praise and endorse the opposition.
Check out polls OTHER than NBC. A good one to start: Rasmussan's latest poll out of Missouri. Review sources other than Huffpo, DailyKos and MSNBC for "information" about Obama. Obama is not progressive. See progressivepunch. Hillary and Barack are both centerist democrats. Obama has just as many skeletons in the closet regarding some possible insider trading, ties to big pharma and the subprime industry and deals with the Right wing. I'm not an Obama hater -- I'm a realist democrat who knows all of our candidates have huge flaws. Even my original choice: Edwards. Hyperreal worship of a POLITICIAN is mind-boggling to us skeptics. Obama is a product, pushed by one of the best advertising campaigns I've ever seen. And I was involved in advertising for almost 20 years.
hey obama! watch out for the fat guy with the baton!