Ok, Enough With the Hysteria About Clinton's Kennedy Statement
Ok, based on Hilary's mention yesterdaythat RFK was still campaigning in June when he was assassinated, I'm hearing reasoning that Clinton is staying in because if Obama gets assassinated, then she'll get the job.
Enough. Does no one think these things through for two seconds before setting fingers to keyboard?
So follow with me down the following logic chain. Clinton drops out this very second and does not release her delegates. Obama is assassinated before the convention. Who has the most nominees? Who is most likely to get the nod?
It is, in fact, damn near unthinkable that Clinton would not get the nomination in that case. Hilary Clinton does not need to stay in the nomination race in order to be the nominee if someone assassinates Obama.
The level of near hysteria, of complete unwillingness to read Clinton's words in any context with any good will that is sweeping large portions of the blogosphere is tiresome. Clinton has used the exact same examples in the past, and no one has objected.
If you don't believe me, believe Robert Kennedy Jr., who said:
It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband's 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.
Turns out Hillary was wrong about her own husband, amusingly, but the point remains that all she was doing is saying "races have gone this long before."
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"Bittergate"?
.
But the Clinton campaign fueled the controversy in every place and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are vying for not only in Pennsylvania, but in upcoming primaries in Indiana and North Carolina as well.
The Clinton campaign handed out "I"m not bitter" stickers in North Carolina, and held a conference call of Pennsylvania mayors to denounce the Illinois senator. In Indiana, Clinton did the work herself, telling plant workers in Indianapolis that Obama"s comments were "elitist and out of touch."
Clinton attacked Obama"s remarks much more harshly Saturday than she had the night before, calling them "demeaning
"I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in America and its policies," she said. "Now, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it"s a matter of constitutional right. Americans who believe in God believe it"s a matter of personal faith."
"I grew up in a churchgoing family�," she continued. "The people of faith I know don"t "cling" to religion because they"re bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich �
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We are coming up on the 40th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy's assassination. In all likelihood, her campaign has been anticipating how she's going to answer the reporters asking "Being a current candidate for the Presidency, how what does this anniversary mean to you?"
So, she probably has been recently coached by someone on her staff with all the details of the assassination so that when the questions come she can answer them without making any embarrassing factual errors.
That's probably why when trying to come up with examples of races that ran into June, Kennedy's (and her own husband's) were the ones that first came to mind.
I suspect that a lot of this hysteria about her comments is a tactic to try to get her to back away from pursuing the vice-Presidency. I don't want her on the Obama ticket, either. I DESPERATELY don't want her on the Obama ticket. But I think that the idea that "she said she was staying in the race because she's hoping Obama might get assassinated" hysteria needs to calm down.
She said it before months ago. So try another excuse.
I desparately don't want Obama on a Clinton ticket. Never. But a Mc Cain - Clinton ticket would be the very best thing America could ever have. Hope he chooses her.
Given that HRC and McCain are polar opposites when it comes to all the major issues....
OK maybe you are a canadian. I am 62 yrs old and rememer when anyone who gaveus hope in this country was shot and killed. I live in Illinois and have visited Lincoln's tomb regularly.
America is not Pakistan!!
Or maybe it is.
Hillary DID say she regretted her choice of words in making her point if ANYONE was offended,and that she didn't mean it the way they are taking it. THAT's called an APOLOGY ....just as much as BO's 'bitter' remark was 'regretted'.
She most definitely did NOT say "she didn't mean it the way they are taking it." She said that if someone was offended by her remarks she regrets it. She is NOT admitting she said anything offensive, She is saying if you were offended it's pretty much your problem. A sane, grown-up would say "OMG, I'm so sorry I said that. It was an awful thing to say." But who are we talking about?
It's not clear what would constitute an apology here - she stated a fact, which is that RFK was murdered in June while the campaign raged - to bolster her claim that long-lasting fights for the nomination happen.
However, some people read a more sinister agenda in her words. She can't say "get over yourselves. No rightminded person could imagine I'm using the possibility that Obama might be assassinated as a reason to vote for me," so she's left with the typical platitude that attempts to soothe without admitting wrongdoing.
She didn't say she regretted her choice of words, she regretted if anyone took offense. That's not an apology.
Didn't you love how she ended her "apology" tying herself to the RFK legacy? Typical polspeak.
She didn't mention Obama at all -- it was only about bringing up Kennedy, not the justification for her continued campaign being to hang around in case Obama is shot.
Obama flies off the handle over Bush and his appeaser comment. Obama flies off the handle over this Kennedy comment. Are we seeing a pattern here? A short fuse and a narcissistic obsession with himself. You betcha.
What Hillary said had absolutely NOTHING to do with Obama
LIKE GRANDMA SAYS TWO WRONGS HAVE YET TO MAKE A RIGHT.
In this campaign, the Clintons have repeated a few themes hoping to undermine Obama's candidacy : "he's leading because he's black", "hard-working white americans won't vote for him", "the medias are giving him a free ride", "he's an elitist", "he doesn't want voters in Florida and Michigan to be seated".
So, when Hillary Clinton makes REPEATED references to Robert Kennedy's assassination, it's not unreasonable to ask WHY. We all know that Obama has received death threats and that there is a real fear that he could be assassinated. Personnaly, I believe that this woman is shrewd enough to talk about assassination just to keep that fear alive.
Obama keeps repeating how many women support Clinton. What a role model she has been for women, Yet, shhhhhhhhhhh, no one dare mention how many blacks support Obama and what a black role model he allegedly is? Explain that one to me ....... and make it good.
I am sick of Obama's double standard. He is the last thing we need more of. He sold out to the establishment yet continues to lie he will change things. Yeah Obama, then turn down every single union endorsement. Ha, knew you were a phoney.
Then try driving your Prius instead of leaving it in the garage. You are one huge carbon footprint, Obama and that includes your hot air too.
Um, Obama's gotten loads of union endorsements. Has the news not yet reached Hillaryland? Or is that place still a fact-free zone?
Hillary follows Bill, both are 2 politicians who can not make a heartfelt, I was wrong and I apologize.
She still has not for her vote for this war in Iraq or any other blunder.
Clinton's remarks are appallingly insensitive in any context, and RFK jr.'s inability to recognize this - and what it portends politically - is seriously disappointing.
Yeah... it's a shame that the family that's dealt with this tragedy doesn't share your same narrow focused viewpoint.
Tee, hee. Good one.
Welsh is generally correct that Clinton's RFK comment is being misinterpreted and over-hyped.
However the reason this is happening is that the majority of Dems, including many Hillary supporters, have decided that her campaign has become futile, unseemly and is hurting the party. The notion of her taking the question all the way to the convention with a divisive and nasty credentials fight over MI and FL is pretty scary.
Since she won't end her campaign gracefully, which she could have done after Indiana, West Virginia or Kentucky, people are looking for a way to force that end. When this gaffe surfaced, it was an opportunity to do so.
So criticism of this gaffe is really a proxy for the "get out" argument.
Okay, enough with the hysteria over "bitter"
Okay, enough with the hysteria over Reverend Wright
Okay, enough with the hysteria over Michelle Obama being proud for the first time in her adult life
Okay, enough with the hysteria over imaginary sexism coming from the Obama camp
Okay, enough with the hysteria over commonly used phrases, such as "pimped out"
The list goes on and on.
When Hillary says something blatantly stupid or overeacts massively, it's our fault for recognizing it for what it is instead of her fault for doing it in the first place. When Obama doesn't wear his patriotic pledge-pin he's a commie-pin
That attitude has been seen by Americans since 1992 and what never ceases to amaze is the notion on the part of Hillary supporters that she is having troubles because of Obama, who most Americans didn't even know about until 2004.
Hillary Clinton's worst enemy is the last 15 years of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
If only it were "hysteria", in truth.
Her words were calculated, rehearsed, and reiterated more than once. One can much more easily attribute calculating behavior than stupidity to HRC.
Moreover, It is, damn TOTALLY THINKABLE that Clinton WOULD get the nomination in the case of Obama not being available to get it, for whatever reason.
I went to a Memorial Day BBQ at the home of the immigrant parents of my Japanese friends. We were talking about vacation plans for the summer, and I said that "I maybe able to get some time off in August.
But sometimes crazy things happen in August. Like the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Even the Akita's jaw dropped. I was just using it as a time reference. Really.
Well, then, Hillary is just plain stupid because 1968 is not a good example. RFK's campaign started in what... March 1968?!!! It had not been going on for 2 years like Hillary's has. California voted last spring. If Hillary suspended her campaign right this minute, Puerto Rico, Montana, and South Dakota would all still vote and she would be credited with the votes she received. This explanation/faux apology is the most disingenuous I have ever heard. There is no comparison between this election and any other in history, least of all 1968. She needs to stop saying that.
Hillary said it more than once. Once is a gaffe, twice is a tactic. She helped fan the "Bittergate" flames and now she is reaping what she has sown. I don't know how insensitive a person has to be to forget about those of us, who remember the RFK tragedy. I was a child, but I remember my parents horror and sadness. My mom still tears up when she speaks about Robert Kennedy. I was a toddler and remember my father holding my mom while she was curled up on the sofa crying at the broadcast of John Kennedy's funeral. My father wasn't crying, but he looked so sad. Hillary made many people angry, but she made a lot of us, remember one of the saddest days in our lives.
Everything must be looking pretty good now, in Arizona, at McCanes.
I've read many of these comments. For what appears to be Obama supporters, her remarks are virtually unforgivable. For those who are Ms. Clinton's supporters, the remarks are simply misunderstood. The simple fact is that this is an offensive statement to many. If she apologizes which can certainly include a statement that no offense was meant, that would be helpful, but we have not seen that. I thought Obama's remarks about a bitter rural electorate were intelligent and something I have remarked on myself. Ms. Clinton never spared him even though for most of us it was an innocuous remark.
One person said that for those backing Barack Obama, this is just another example of them grabbing any excuse to get Hillary Clinton out of the race. An excuse? Out of the race?? In any current version of reality, this contest was over in February. This is not another excuse for those supporting Barack Obama to get Clinton out of the race. It is another sad event in the comedic continuation of a race long over.
What do you mean we have not seen that.
She came out with a statement.
Of course no one else has exactly played that clip since. They play what she said... the out of context piece, talk about it and then say she issued a statement or words to that effect.
Again, if his own son is not offended why is anyone else?
Well, we know why. Another opportunity to feed off hate.
This is much more serious than the 'bittergate' scandal, would you not agree? Look what happened to Obama because of bittergate. The point is, the world (the status quo) is out to get Obama, and will pounce on any gaffes, and Hillary herself called Obama 'elitist'. Obama has not pounced on this assassingate. The entrenched interests, faux news network, the people in power is doing everything they can to sway the masses to topple obama, and this episode has once again added fuel to that argument.
Her remarks we inappropiate, not just to Obama, but the American people. It's not about Hillary getting out of the race, it's about her desperation. Most agree, she has a right to stay in the race, but her negative tone: and her "by any means necessary" attitude to gain the presidency is just not right. I'm an Obama supporter, and I agree Hillary has a right to stay in this thing, but she should focus on policy issues, not personal issues. She has gone too far, and I believe this was the last straw. We can forgive Hillary, but I honestly think her politcial career has been damaged.
At this point, Obama supporters are not jumping on Hillary to try to get her out of the Presidential race. You're right...it was over in February.
They are jumping on her to keep her from trying to force her way into the vice-Presidency.
Clinton's remarks were more than misunderstood. They were viscously and callously exploited by the Obama crowd, from the top of his campaign to the bottom.
And yet again, he tries to dance away from the very flames he fanned. He is one phony this country does not need. At least Bush never pretended he was anything other than a stupid good ol' party harty boy.
Obama on the other hand is happy to present himself as everyone's healer and savior. He ain't and the country is catching on which is why he is starting to drop in all the polls when pitted against McCain.
And Clinton is gaining in every poll against McCain. Democrats again will go down in flames they lit with their own matches. So much for the super delegate system to save them from themselves. Best they stay out of government for a few more years until they prove they won't shoot themselves in the foot again.
"Viciously, callously?" Say what?
What a strange missuse of words. I guess her feelings were hurt by being reminded of her tasteless reference to the RFK assassination.
First, she said the words. She owns the implications. And still owes a real apology.
Second, the Obama staff have been scrupulously kind in their remarks.
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
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