Monday’s Mini-Report

April 14, 2008

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* We now have right-wing Republican members of Congress referring to Barack Obama as “that boy.” The lawmaker, Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.), has since apologized.

* On the Hill, Dems and Republicans finally seem to agree on one part of Iraq policy: “From the fiercest war foes to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq’s surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the shattered country.”

* Hillary Clinton tried to bring up Obama’s “bitter” controversy again this morning in a speech in Pittsburgh sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Apparently, by the time she said, “I know that many of you, like me were disappointed by recent remarks that he made,” the crowd was groaning. When she added, “I am well aware that at a fundraiser in San Francisco, he said some things that many people in Pennsylvania and beyond Pennsylvania have found offensive,” the union members on hand were even less receptive. Are people tired of this flap already?

* The great global challenge on deck: “Finance ministers gathered this weekend to grapple with the global financial crisis also struggled with a problem that has plagued the world periodically since before the time of the Pharaohs: food shortages. Surging commodity prices have pushed up global food prices 83% in the past three years, according to the World Bank — putting huge stress on some of the world’s poorest nations. Even as the ministers met, Haiti’s Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis was resigning after a week in which that tiny country’s capital was racked by rioting over higher prices for staples like rice and beans.”

* Jeremiah Wright delivered a eulogy for the late R. Eugene Pincham, a retired judge, over the weekend. Wright said Pincham befriended “Jews, Muslims, rabbis, imams, fathers in the Catholic church and (Louis) Farrakhan in the Islamic faith.” He added, “Fox News can’t understand that. O’Reilly will never get that. Sean Hannity’s stupid fantasy will keep him forever stuck on stupid when it comes to comprehending how you can love a brother who does not believe what you believe.” Mourners gave Wright a standing ovation.

* National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley seems to be having some trouble telling the difference between Nepal and Tibet…

* …but the Associated Press is covering for him.

* The Maliki government fired 1,300 soldiers and policemen who refused to fight during the recent Basra offensive.

* McClatchy: “With the price of crude oil hovering near $110 a barrel and gasoline prices at record levels, a Washington senator says federal regulators need to stop delaying and start investigating whether petroleum markets are being manipulated. Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell said the Federal Trade Commission should move quickly to implement a provision she inserted in a national energy bill approved by Congress late last year that gives it authority to investigate whether excessive speculation and manipulation have driven up prices.” (thanks to R.K. for the tip)

* A historic collapse in audits: “The I.R.S.’s scrutiny of the nation’s biggest companies is at a 20-year low.”

* A key Supreme Court case to watch: can a state execute someone for child rape?

* A petition to get Sam Seder a permanent daily show on Air America Radio.

* My friend dnA tackles the broader dynamics of white people “keeping it real” in the context of a presidential campaign.

* I bet Vitter is one happy guy today: “Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), your prayers have been answered! The D.C. Madam’s attorney tells the AP that he will not be calling her most famous former client as a witness.”

* I have a hunch there’s more to this: “Count former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias among those who are critical of prosecutors’ use of FBI agents to contact jurors from the Pittsburgh trial of Dr. Cyril Wecht.”

* And finally, after McCain criticized the media’s coverage of the campaign, the Associated Press responded by giving him a box of donuts. When the book is written on how news outlets gave McCain a pass in the 2008 presidential election, there’s your first-page anecdote.

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

Are people tired of this flap already?

Jack Cafferty’s 4:00 question tonight was whether the “bitter” comment will hurt Obama. There were 275 answers as of 5PM. Of the first 65, 50 said either no or yes but only because of the media. Only 15 said yes and it should.

  • I think you took a cheap shot at the Republicans. (Or you made a simple typo.)

    We now have right-wing Republican members of Congress referring to Barack Obama as “that boy.” The lawmaker, Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.), has since apologized

    Did I miss something? It seems that you are implying that there are OTHER Republicans who called Obama “that boy”?

    If there are others, then you probably should have mentioned them. If there aren’t others then your statement is misleading, at best.

  • Keep in mind that Geoff Davis is two-and-a-half years older than Obama. “That boy” was a racial jab and nothing more.

  • I know that this is probably uncalled for, but Clinton looked like a fishing lure in that outfit. I understand that she can’t just put on the same charcoal gray suit and blue tie every day…but there are some colors that shouldn’t be in anyone’s closet.

    Tibet, Nepal…neither has any oil, so what concern could they be for a US national security adviser?

    Why yes, Baghdad should certainly pay for the shit that we blew up…they didn’t expect us to clean up our own mess, did they?

    Show of hands: how many people think that anyone in Congress or within the cloistered world of finance minsters will connect the dots between high oil prices and rising food costs?

    But there isn’t really a shortage (though harvests of late have not been stellar). There is plenty of food*; the problem is that people don’t have the money to pay for that food. The “shortages” will be used to convince us that only GMO’s can save us now. And more money will flow into the accounts of the world’s largest corporations that don’t get audited.

    *This is not to say that there won’t be real shortages in the near future. The possibility for an agricultural perfect storm is high.

  • MSNBC said the crowd groaned in Pittsburgh at Hillary Clinton’s campaign stop. Let’s first consider the primary source of this ‘news”, and remember that this is the same MSNBC network that simply begged to tell us that Hillary cried in New Hampshire, Dean screamed in Iowa back in ’04, and McCain is always, first and foremost, a manly man’s man.

  • Donald, have you listened to the clip? You can very clearly hear the cries of “no” and the groans from the crowd.

    Are you claiming that MSNBC doctored the audio?

  • How do you know whether the crowd was groaning because Clinton brought up the comment instead of groaning at the remark itself? Why weren’t they perhaps saying “no” to indicate that they reject Obama’s remarks and do not consider themselves bitter?

    When there is ambiguity, why is the interpretation unfavorable to Clinton always selected as if it were not only true, but the only interpretation possible?

    When a Yankee crowd boos any mention of the Red Sox, do you assume they are booing at the person instead of the team’s name? No, you assume they are booing the Sox. I think Obama got booed, especially since there is no reason to assume this was an Obama crowd. Are the poll numbers today showing a huge drop also suggesting that people are tired of the issue?

    And I’m the one who gets accused of endless spin!

  • Mary, there is no way any reliable or decent polls can reflect something that happened OVER the weekend by Monday. I know many of us are probably a little too obsessed with what is going on, but I think most people really aren’t playing that close attention, so if this has any effect it won’t be measurable by mid-week, at the very earliest.

    Ugh. Lou Dobbs is now talking about this– just because Obama mentioned immigrants in a way that wasn’t overtly hostile, so now he’s going to be Dobbs’ enemy #1. I have to change the channel before I vomit on my keyboard. Just another out-of-touch elitist telling us all how offended we should all be, meanwhile Dobbs is one of the looniest, stupidest people on news tv– he needs to go to FauxNews already.

  • Mary, have you watched the video? I don’t see much ambiguity. The crowd was definitely not approving of what Hillary was saying.

    I didn’t like what Obama said. I found it offensive. But the crowd was groaning at Hillary, not Obama. Any other interpretation is indeed “endless spin.”

  • How do you know whether the crowd was groaning because Clinton brought up the comment instead of groaning at the remark itself?

    She said: “I know that many of you, like me, were offended by his comments…”

    And at that pause in her remarks, they all started saying “no.”

    I don’t see much ambiguity here, but then again, I never lived in 1930s Chicago.

  • A White House task force that was supposed to devise a federal plan to research the issue of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has missed its deadline and failed to produce mandated reports and recommendations for coordination among numerous federal agencies, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

    Well, that’s just dandy. Doncha feel safer and safer every day?

    http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ip7CEurHqf9xtdqMQBwPCQDtENEwD9013GS80

  • Pay for almost all of the top 10 execs at the Blues’ Chicago-based parent, Health Care Service Corp., at least doubled in 2007 thanks to hefty bonuses, a recent state filing shows. Longtime CEO Raymond McCaskey’s $8.7-million bonus pushed his total pay to $10.3 million, up 78% from the previous year. The top 10 execs made a combined $35.8 million last year, up 131% from 2006

    Next time you are struggling to pay your healthcare premium or are denied taking a test your doctor ordered, take heart that the CEO’s are making multi-millions in salary and bonuses.

    Greedy fuckers!

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Despite_economic_slowdown_defense_contractors_and_0414.html

  • And you think it’s not about oil?

    World civilization is based on oil. The world is running out of oil. The oil companies and governments are not telling the truth about how close we are to the end. Dick Cheney knew about peak oil back in 1999 when he spoke to the London Petroleum Institute as Halliburton CEO. He predicted it would come in 2010. After that it’s just a matter of years before it runs out. Whoever controls the remaining oil determines who lives and who dies.

    Sixty percent of this oil is under a triangular area of the Middle East the size of Kansas. In that speech Cheney said: “The Middle East with two thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies.”

    I hear those drums beating louder towards Iran. Anyone else?

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-lauria/the-coming-war-with-iran_b_96428.html

  • McCain blames ‘greedy’ investors for recession. McCain’s Recession Fix? “There Has To Be A Modification Of Greedy Behavior”

    Is that a fact? Nothing about job loss, eh? Nothing about corporations floating credit to those they shouldn’t have, eh? Nothing about gas more than doubling in the last seven years, eh? Nothing about food costs going up, eh?

    And this is the media darling, Mr. Mmm Mmm Manly Straight Talker Extraordinaire.

    Dandy, just flipping dandy.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/NATION/195874612/1001

  • Funny how when commodity prices go up – supposedly benefiting farmers and raw resource producers – those on the lowest end find they don’t get paid more for their part – usually producing those commodities.

  • The world is on eff’ng fire and we’re arguing about what the groan meant?

    It meant we’re sick of being distracted by meaningless drama and drivel when there’s real work to be done. Or, that’s what it should have meant.

  • As ABC News helpfully reminds us, April 15th is John McCain Tax Flip-Flop Day. McCain, as you’ll recall, twice voted against President Bush’s budget-busting tax cuts for the richest Americans who need them least. But having undergone a supply-side conversion on the road to the White House, John McCain now wants to make them permanent.

    For the details, see:
    “April 15th is John McCain Tax Flip-Flop Day.”

  • I heard McCain wants to double the Bush tax cuts. Because then things will be twice as good. And he’ll be twice as conservative.

  • Because then things will be twice as good. And he’ll be twice as conservative.

    I think that was Romney’s thought process on Guantanamo, too.

    Maybe he and McCain can run together as the Bush Doublemint Twins

  • On the Clinton clip from this morning, not only are people yelling, “No,” you can clearly hear people yelling, “No, he wasn’t!” and “No, he didn’t!” Mary would know this if she had watched the clip before making her usual knee-jerk post.

    Would it kill someone pretending to be an academic to do basic research and obtain the merest outline of facts before shooting her uninformed mouth off? Just once? Just one time?

  • Read DnA’s post it was illuminating and very sad at the same time, America is not only not ready for a woman it is also not ready for anyone of any color but white, I feel his outrage (quiet and well spoken) and his sadness. As a species man is no better than the rest of the mammals on the planet. DnA’s lyrical prose should be considered a national treasure.

  • If no one’s invited you today, Mary, I will echo what has been yelled at you since you came here: kindly go fuck yourself. If I were Hillary Clinton, I’d be appalled to have people like you toting my flag. Your convoluted morose unsupported statements lose more votes for her than ever would be gained in a forum like this simply because you come across as a hateful selfish bigot who only gives a fuck that this President has a twat.

    The Horror!

  • Anyone that tries to justify shillary’s “slash and burn” campaign is not capable of seeing the truth anyhow – so let the likes of mary post all the foolish comments they want.

    Thankfully, most Americans realize that we were never meant to be ruled by the same criminal cabal under the figurehead leadership of bush-clinton-bush-clinton.

  • I agree with Lex. It’s amazing to think that after the stuf we blew up in shock’n awe and the other operations where we ripped Iraq a new one that we’d want to make them pick up the tab. It reminds me of Mao charging families of executed political prisoners for the bullets. Iraqis are having a hard time making ends meet and the economy over there is not well. Why not use some of that revenue for economic stimulus and cut each Iraqi a check from their own oil revenues. Maybe then we’ll get some goodwill and progress.

    I can’t argue with what Jeremiah Wright is saying.

  • okay–I’ve been lurking (and enjoying and learning and loving it all) but I’ve had enough. It’s scary how people will listen to anything: how can they buy the crap Hilary shoves? I’ve got a headache–in the end, I know Obama will win and he’ll be our next president, but damn this road is getting old. Btw, I voted with my pissed-off headache by making a $100 donation to Barack–not bragging, my donations are usually much more modest; just aware I could do without those cute, cute shoes, and help make the “boy’s” day. Please pray with me: “God, please make this end. Amen.”

  • The Wecht case just got odder. In the news story that ran in the attached link, it appears that per an odd judge ruling at the start of the trial, the jurors names were stricken from the court record and per the ruling the prosecution and the defense were barred from writing down the juror’s names. So the question is How did the FBI get the names?

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08105/873236-100.stm

  • Clinton looked like a fishing lure in that outfit.

    No, Lex—she looks like the after-effect of drinking too many strawberry daiquiris in too short a period of time—with that after-effect being splattered all over the sidewalk. And her overkill on “BitterGate” is drumming up about the same amount of support as a shotglass full of Ipecac syrup.

  • Btw, I voted with my pissed-off headache by making a $100 donation to Barack

    Same here. I dropped $50 to the campaign today. Best therapy possible.

  • Bill, interesting. It doesn’t make sense to me from the article posted. The PP-G should have spelled this out a little better:

    Lead defense attorney Jerry McDevitt argued that Judge Schwab erred technically in the way he declared a mistrial Tuesday by not following certain steps suggested by an appeals court and not giving the defense a chance to comment in court as is called for under federal trial rules.

    This doesn’t say why the comments would go towards double jeopardy. I don’t see how it does. This would apply technically towards an appeal (the comments) but since he wasn’t found guilty, there won’t be an appeal. I don’t see at all how this applies to double jeopardy.

    I know a little about law but would welcome one of our law people to explain.

    The whole thing about the FBI stinks to high heaven. The prosecutor already admitted that she was the one who sent the FBI to juror homes as a “commonplace” event. (Yeah, right!)

    I don’t know about the trial or the defendant, but I tell ya what, I would love to have the Feebs pay me a visit over a jury decision. (Prepare cake with file for me…I gots a big mouth!) Fuck you and your intimidation tactics! First go after dems and then go after the jurors.

    Who says we’re not living in a banana republic! HA!

  • DebbyeOh…

    Payday for me is Friday…

    I’ve usually enjoin the good folk in the good fight to click and donate on those days.
    Don’t feel right asking others to give when I don’t…
    So glad to see someone else perking up afore and reminding everyone to settle into their duck blinds, pull the cash trigger, and knock that double-tongued, republican-bellied clown bird out of the sky.

    Well-aimed DebbyeOh!
    Boom. Boom. You came out with both barrels blazing….

  • The need of tiny, threatened men to mock powerful women has reached a new low. Looking at Senator Clinton’s tasteful outfit in a joyous, unbitter color that speaks to women’s souls and comparing it to a fishing lure is obviously meant to dislodge her from her rightful place as a more sporting individual than Mr. Michigan Avenue. It won’t work.

    Since her father taught her to fish moments after her birth, Hillary has been landing the big ones with the confidence and skill of a natural fisherman who connects instinctively with other outdoors types. You can’t fake that kind of enthusiasm, and the anglers of this country know it. Don’t think the women of this country don’t also know that relegating her to fishing accessory with this sexist snark at her clothing — oh, yes, women are well versed in how men comment on our appearances instead of our achievements; the men around me never stop remarking on my perfectly serviceable glasses and practical haircut — is a transparent attempt by the supporters of Mr. Must Have Indoor Plumbing to denigrate her accomplishments in the sporting world.

  • Insane Fake Professor – you really are nuts. Its a shame that people like you vote, but then again, perhaps yours will just cancel out some other extremely insane person that is still writing in for Mitt or Fred.

    The intellectual masturbation you spew is just too much – please, stimulate yourself somewhere else.

  • Obama is a genius, and extremely subtle. With all the talk about the ‘bitter’ remark and his supposed ‘elitism’ he countered it. He got an endorsement from Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you don’t know football, or don’t know Roney, you won’t realize what this means.

    The Steelers are the ultimate ‘working man’s’ ‘rust belt’ team, and always have been. Unlike most teams that are corporate, the Steelers have been owned by the Rooney family for decades, father and son. The Rooneys may be the most authentically loved figures in sports, and in the whole area of Western Pa. And loved for their human qualities, their inherent decency and fairness, and because they always remained ‘one of the crowd’ even as owners. (Stories of players crying because they lost a crucial game, not for their own loss but because they ‘let down Dan’ or his father are true and numerous.)

    Furthermore, sports team owners never involve themselves in Presidential politics directly, for fear of offending fans on the ‘other side.’ And those sports figures. players and coaches who do get involved in politics tend to be strong Republicans, and frequently (as with Tony Dungy and Mariano Rivera) are involved with some of the scarier Christian groups. (And the ones that get elected are worse, J.C. Watts, Jim Bunning, Steve Largent, even the (quasi-)Democrat Heath Schuler.) I don’t remember any owner supporting a liberal Democrat.

    This will mean a lot more than it looks at first blush. Give Obama an extra 2% in the vote from it alone.

  • He’s not getting my vote. Ever.

    Mmmm, what an obedient little Republican. Vive war! Fuck the constitution, the poor and the middle class! Yee-ha!

  • Moron Suffrage:
    I am serious. This crap is turning HRC supporters to stone.
    Obama will be a monumental failure. Skin’s too thin.
    He uses right wing talking points that have been used against HRC for more than a decade now.
    He’s not suffered a fraction of what the GOP will do to him and already he’s a whiny brat. And he has not rescinded the “cling” statement yet.

  • Well this is just friggin’ special!

    BALTIMORE – Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients.

    Nine low-income families agreed to let researchers till the sewage sludge into their yards and plant new grass. In exchange, they were given food coupons as well as the free lawns as part of a study published in 2005 and funded by HUD.

    Comparable research was conducted by the Agriculture Department and Environmental Protection Agency in a similarly poor, black neighborhood in East St. Louis, Ill.

    The chairman of the 2002 academy panel, Thomas Burke, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says epidemiological studies have never been done to show whether spreading sludge on land is safe.

    “There are potential pathogens and chemicals that are not in the realm of safe,” Burke told the AP. “What’s needed are more studies on what’s going on with the pathogens in sludge – are we actually removing them? The commitment to connecting the dots hasn’t been there.”

    That’s not what the subjects of the Baltimore and East St. Louis research were told.

    Rufus Chaney, an Agriculture Department research agronomist who co-wrote the Baltimore study, said t… said the Baltimore neighborhoods were chosen because they were within an economically depressed area qualifying for tax incentives. He acknowledged the families were not told there have been some safety disputes and health complaints over sludge.

    And when Pastor Wright mentions this, will there be outrage? Only at his words.

    http://my.earthlink.net/article/hea?guid=20080414/4802d6c0_3ca6_15526200804141768367295

  • Neil Wilson, @2

    You are technically correct: it *was* just one Repub Congressman who called Obama a “boy”. OTOH… Given the audience and given the reception of the “witticism” (the relevant fragment from the linked article is quoted below), it’s not much of a stretch to use the plural form of the noun…

    “Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) has apologized for using the word “boy” to describe Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at a Republican fundraiser Saturday night in Kentucky.

    “I’m gonna tell you something. That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said, according to an audio recording of the event that was obtained by The Hill. The lawmaker told the crowd that he participated in “closed, highly classified national security simulations” with Obama.

    The comment, which was first reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader’s blog Pol Watchers, was met by laughter and applause.”

  • Nell – Obama hasn’t built his support with morons like you – don’t vote for him. Idiots that think America should be run by a criminal cabal with the faces of bush/clinton/bush/clinton are not going to lead us into the future anyhow.

  • Want a sample of the Rovian side will do to Obama?
    http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODRlMzM1MTYxMzFhNGQyMTFlZjY2MTUwM2JmZTU1Y2U=

    Ugly. — Nell, @ 44

    I’m not about to read it, but I’m not surprised it’s ugly. I thought the name of the publication rang a bell but, given my poor (almost 60yr old) memory, I thought I’d better Google-check… The very first hit brought up this:

    “National Review Online
    Columns by William F. Buckley Jr., Rich Lowry, Jonah Goldberg, Kate O’Beirne, Ben Domenech, Ponnuru, O’Sullivan, George, Kopel, Kudlow, Moore, Podhoretz, …”

    The day I take *anything* from that crew as credible (much less quotable as bolstering my argument), is the day my son has the power of att-y to check me into a psychiatric facility, because I’ll have lost *all* of my mind, including the two still functional grey cells.

    But it’s nice to know where you’re at; I used to think you were a bona fide Clinton supporter and, misguided — maybe — but a Dem. Now I’ll know better; if you take your marching orders from that bunch of pricks, you’re just a Repub shill.

  • Yeah Nell, doing what you’re supposed to do in college (learn and work hard for good grades) is always frowned upon by the GWBs of the world. You have to be kidding if you think that article is a slam. Only in the mind of those who want a beer and a bowl with their prez.

    Give it a rest…that was lame.

  • Like several others here, whenever I get really ticked off with the moronic world of the Corporate Media and with some of the wolves in sheep’s clothing (Repubs masquerading as Clinton supporters), I drop a little something into Obama’s collection basket, to vent my frustration. Can’t match y’all big ($100 ) donors, but figure he can use $25 too 🙂 Right now, he’s having a match the donors drive, matching “old-timers” (repeats) with first-timers. You can even leave a message for your “match”… Go visit:
    http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/janmatch

  • This “boy” thing is a non-issue. I’m a strong Obama supporter. If people want Obama to have some leeway in how he words things, give others the same leeway.

    “Boy” is a term used ocassionally, esp. in the south, to refer to a man. In the past it was often a racial perjorative. Today, it’s used more generically. When I lived in Memphis, I would hear it around the office between white men of the same age: “boy, what are you talking about?”, or “that boy is crazy!”. Heck, anyone remember the theme to the Dukes of Hazard? “Just good ole BOYS never meaning no harm”. How about the “good old boy” networks of lore? They sure the heck weren’t black networks.

    Unless someone can show me other reason to believe this guy is a racist, I refuse to believe it because he used the word “boy”.

  • Funny you should mention that story MsJoanne (#43), I too found that one a shocker that made me think of Rev. Wright as well. In fact, just posted my thoughts on my usually mundane parade of flowers blog. Glad you posted the link here, because I was going to if I didn’t see it.

    Oh and why do you folks keep reading ‘Mary?’ We all know the scroll by fast names by now, or at least I think I do. 🙂 Kinda makes me miss Swan … /snark

  • libra couldn’t even read it. I guess libra isn’t prepared for what the GOP will send Obama’s way.
    Get real folks. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. You are so busy blaming HRC for Obama’s troubles you are blind to what he’s getting himself into!
    That’s not anti-Obama… it’s reality. Get it?
    Ah, no, you don’t. Stupid you.

  • Nell – we all know what a “concern troll” is and you are wearing out your welcome. The campagne will get negative and ugly no matter who wins the dem nomination.

    What else do the repugs have? The economy is in the toilet (perhaps triggering a global crisis), gas prices are at record highs, the American public no longer supports the war crimes and crimes against humanity in Iraq, and dur chimpfurher’s wars have triggered points 1 and 2.

    And you think shillary would somehow escape being dragged through the mud? They have more on her than on anyone else. People around here are too smart for you nonsense.

    Whadda maroon….

  • Give it a rest…that was lame.

    Nell, that has to be the lamest attack piece I’ve ever seen. You’re right — we ain’t seen nothing yet, because that was nothing.

    Seriously, that’s what you’re terrified of? That an anonymous Hollywood screenwriter writing for a right-wing magazine like the National Review will spread rumors that Obama was a brown-noser in Harvard law school? Ooooooooh, how scary.

    Yeah, those same outfits would never be able to put out a worse attack on Hillary Clinton. Never.

  • I am proud and honored that our esteemed, Insane Fake Professor chose something that i wrote to comment on. On the other hand, i’m ashamed that i’ve finally been unmasked as the misogynist that i truly am. I reject, denounce, and repudiate not only my fishing lure comment, but also everything that i’ve ever said that could – in any way – be construed as negative about Hillary Clinton.

  • I reject, denounce, and repudiate not only my fishing lure comment, but also everything that i’ve ever said that could – in any way – be construed as negative about Hillary Clinton.

    I hope that includes the Leading Works of Afro-Centrism™, especially Du Bois.

    Speaking of IFP, we’re rapidly approaching a Kaufmanesque moment in which IFP can simply repaste something Mary actually said and present it as her own, and no one will notice the difference.

    I mean, seriously, this segment from the Governor Clinton thread — I had to recheck the author to be sure it wasn’t IFP:

    I see this as, at best, a sop to Clinton supporters, not as anything Clinton herself would realistically be interested in. Along the lines of “We offered her Governor and she wouldn’t take it…what more does she want?” When a woman has a legitimate claim on a powerful position, it is common to offer her a lesser, figurative position to buy her off, then make it appear she is unreasonable when she persists in her quest for the substantial, more meaningful position. Women in the real world see this gambit all the time and aren’t fooled by it. It isn’t surprising that few of the male pundits see it for what it is.

    Classic.

  • Oh, and Prup, I had the same reaction to the Rooney endorsement. I can’t remember the last time a sports franchise owner did that — as you note, you risk alienating half your fans — and this is one that could matter.

    I’m just glad they didn’t bring out Steely McBeam for the endorsement.

  • JTS (52):This “boy” thing is a non-issue

    Not so fast. While it’s true that southerners often use “boy” to describe any male of any age, it’s also a very sensitive word to use around black people, and they know it well. When I was young, living in Western NY, I didn’t know the impact. I was sitting in the library talking with some classmates, one of whom was a southern black guy who had recently moved there. At one point he said something funny and I replied, “boy, that’s crazy.” He got up, lifted me by my lapels, and asked, “Who are you calling boy?” Until that moment we were laughing together, and there didn’t seem to be any problem. After apologizing and explaining what I meant, we went back to being fine with each other. But that brief moment was sincere on his part and confusing for me. Had I lived in the South, I would have known better.

  • Speaking of IFP, we’re rapidly approaching a Kaufmanesque moment in which IFP can simply repaste something Mary actually said and present it as her own, and no one will notice the difference.

    I thought the exact same thing when I read the particularly tasty passage you quoted. Old Mary’s gotta be a ringer; there’s no way anyone (unconfined) could have the basic underpinnings of intelligence and be so breathtakingly blind to herself.

    I’m thinkin’ some old pig-faced fellow with Trent Lott hair who volunteers at the RNC since current events rendered it a good time to retire from the financial services industry. I would have said a pompous young College Republican with a decent sense of humor, but Mary’s worldview is so genuinely stopped at 1973 that I’m not sure a young person could pull off the extreme limitations she shows.

  • We all know racism is alive and well in the WHITE south. Even as far north as Southern Md.you can still hear black men referred to as “boy” and the race as coloreds. America really hasn’t come all that far and they call Obama an elitist.

  • It shocks me to my core how little attention is being paid to the world food crisis in the Western media (especially in the U.S. and Canada).

    There are people dying in riots on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Half the nations of Asia have cut off rice exports to make sure they can feed their own people. Philippino police are raiding warehouses where criminal traders are hoarding rice while their neighbours starve.

    And in the news? Not a bloody peep.

  • Today, Digby is nervous because Obama does not seem to be willing to do anything about Bush’s torture regime if he is elected. From Obama’s overly cautious statement, Digby feels he has set the bar for investigation and prosecution so high that it is apparent his opposition to torture is figurative and he will not pursue our current war criminals. Clinton has not given Bush an explicit “get out of jail free card” but Digby extrapolates from Bill Clinton’s refusal to pursue the elder Bush’s crimes to Hillary’s actions should she be elected. I doubt you can judge Hillary’s future actions by what Bill did in the past, under different circumstances. Bill Clinton was hoping to gain cooperation from Congress. It is now clear that the Republicans will not form a unity coalition to address our mutual problems and I doubt Hillary Clinton is unaware of that fact. Obama, with his promise to bring unity, seems less likely to give up on trying to bring Republicans to the table, and thus more likely to ignore Republican wrongdoing, as Bill Clinton did at the beginning of his term.

    You can focus on attacking Nell, myself, and any other Clinton supporters who wander into this newsgroup, or you can look at and deal with current issues. Your vitriol against us will change nothing about this election or Obama’s electability. Your guy is slipping in both Indiana and PA, due to his own statements. Now that more polls are coming out, you can no longer claim that this is a blip or argue about who and what was booed. Obama was supposedly tied with Clinton in Indiana and PA and now Clinton is showing 10 point leads in both states.

    Did anyone else think it was strange for Wright to be talking about his own problems with Hannity and O’Reilly while giving a eulogy at a man’s funeral? That doesn’t seem like an appropriate venue for political talk.

  • You all are so funny. It is no wonder that Democrats can’t win even when a significant majority of the country agrees with us.

    It would have been very simple to change the wording from

    “We now have right-wing Republican members…”

    to

    “We now have A right-wing Republican members…”

    I just think that we, meaning liberals, would be better off if we didn’t give our opponents ammunition to use against us.

    Instead, as many of the comments on this board have shown, liberals are more than happy to shoot themselves in the foot and aren’t willing to admit a minor misteak.

  • Neil Wilson, you should make many more obsessive and microfocusing posts on this subject.

  • Let me include some of the specifics from the Rooney endorsement (thanks to TPMElection Central).

    “Based on the experiences that I have had in my seventy-five years and my assessment of what I think our nation needs to make real the change that is so needed, I am proud and now feel compelled to endorse Senator Barack Obama….

    (snip)

    “As a grandfather and a citizen of this community I think Barack Obama’s, thoughtful, strategic approach is important for America. When I hear how excited young people seem to be when they talk about this man, I believe he will do what is best for them which is to inspire them to be great Americans.

    “This time, we can’t afford to wait. Our country needs a new direction and a new kind of leadership – the kind of leadership, judgment and experience that Senator Obama has demonstrated in more than 20 years of public service, and in a particularly impressive way in this campaign. Senator Obama has rejected the say-and-do anything tactics that puts winning elections ahead of governing the country. And he has rejected the back-room politics in favor of opening government up to the people. Barack Obama is the one candidate in this race who can finally put an end to business as usual in Washington and bring about real change for Pittsburgh and the country as a whole. He has inspired me and so many other people around our country with new ideas and fresh perspectives.”

    Pure molten gold from someone like Rooney.

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