If there is a progressive blogger that is universally respected throughout Left Blogistan it is Digby. I was a regular reader of her work at Hullabaloo back when nobody online even knew her gender. That’s why I find it sad and disturbing to learn that she has officially drunk the Kool-aid:
Keep in mijnd that the GOP does not do this stuff for a knock out. They operate on the death of a thousand cuts. Little criticisms, relentlessly played, dribbled out over time designed to create a running theme. This one is obvious: elitist, aloof, and — presumptuous. That last carries quite an amazing amount of freight — presumptuous, uppity, doesn’t know his place. It applies neatly to any Democrat who deigns to lead Broderville but the historical, subliminal American memory that attaches to such a word when the person in question is black is particularly powerful.
Calling Barack Obama “presumptuous” is the same as calling him “uppity.” The missing word that is implied with “uppity” is “negro,” or even worse, “n*gg*r” The nuclear weapon of epithets in our country, worse even than “cunt”
So, according to the premier “A” lister among progressive bloggers, calling Barack Obama “presumptuous” is a racist epithet, delivered as a dogwhistle. This isn’t the only time she has made this argument. In response to this story:
ABC News’ Christianne Klein reports that at a breakfast with Republican insiders at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, former White House senior aide Karl Rove referred to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, as “coolly arrogant.”
“Even if you never met him, you know this guy,” Rove said, per Christianne Klein. “He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”
Digby had this to say:
It’s very clever to add in the country club and martini imagery, even though it’s patently absurd. Gives it a nice sort of cover to what he’s saying. After all, conservatives can’t just come right out and call someone an Uppity Negro these days.
Personally, the image I would expect people to associate with “uppity negro” isn’t a smart-ass hipster enjoying cocktails at a country club.
I started referring to Obama as the “Presumptuous Nominee” when his campaign and supporters (both in and outside of the media) started referring to him as the “Presumptive Nominee” before he had attained enough pledged delegates and superdelegate commitments to make a plausible claim to the title, and when he was passing on the remaining primaries in order to begin his campaign against John McCain.
Wiki Dictionary defines presumptuous as “Full of presumption; presuming; overconfident or venturesome; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent; as, a presumptuous commander; presumptuous conduct” with the following synonyms:
- overconfident; foolhardy; rash; presuming; forward; arrogant; insolent.
I don’t see “uppity” anywhere in either list.
One of the common criticisms of Senator Obama is that he is arrogant and exudes an elitist attitude. Bostonboomer, in answer to the question “What is Wrong With Barack Obama?” said:
Well, in the first place he is incredibly arrogant, haughty, full-of-himself, and entitled.
That about sums it up for me too. But what do we know, we’re just bitter racists.
I don’t know of any PUMA that thinks Obama is presumptuous because he is black. They point to his resume, which is far thinner than any Democratic nominee for President since before FDR. Even John F. Kennedy had completed a full Senate term (along with three terms in the House) before becoming President, and JFK was a war hero who was groomed for politics by his father since his childhood.
At first, only the serious deluded bought into the racism meme. When the Obama campaign started pushing the idea that Bill Clinton was making a racist putdown of Senator Obama when he called Obama’s story about consistently opposing the war a “fairy tale,” or when he referred to the 15 years-younger man as a “kid.” Anyone who wasn’t suffering from Clinton Derangement Syndrome found that idea laughable.
Some people found an earlier incident slightly more credible, when Billy Shaheen brought up Obama’s already admitted drug use by saying that he might be less electable because the press might wonder if Obama had sold drugs in college saying “”It’ll be, ‘When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?‘” But Shaheen never made any racial inferences, only mentioning the drug use. Nevertheless, Obama’s admitted cocaine use has been a taboo topic ever since.
We’ve heard it suggested that calling Obama “inexperienced” was racist. Comparing his win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson’s was also racist, although Jackson was the last person to win that primary besides Bill Clinton who wasn’t still in the campaign. Actually, Clinton and Jackson were the last two-time winners in South Carolina. (for a thorough description of the false racism allegations made early in this campaign, see “Race Man” by Sean Wilentz)
Then there was the recent New Yorker cover controversy. Obviously meant as satire, Obamanation went ballistic because it allegedly was racist. This is the New Yorker fer gawd’s sake, a supposedly “progressive” publication! Of course, any caricature or Obama will almost always portray him as black, because (believe it or not) he is of half African descent.
So, according to Digby, “presumptuous” and “arrogant” are racial epithets when applied to Obama. So is pretty much any criticism or ridicule of The Precious according to the “Obama Rules.” We’ve seen the “Clinton Rules” in use for years (any action or statement by the Clintons, no matter how innocuous, as proof of evil intent) epitomized by the RFK assassination wankfest last May, but the Obama rules are completely different. They are the political equivalent of a “get out of jail free” card.
That’s because the Obama rules don’t apply to Obama, they apply to everyone else. Obama is free to make accusations of racism without any proof, even preemptively. He has already stated that the GOP will run a racist campaign against him. In fact, pointing out the racist nature of something he or his wife says is racist too.
And of course, he gets a complete pass on sexism and misogyny, because pointing it out is . . . well, you know.
(Cross-posted at Klownhaus)
Filed under: Barack Obama, Blogosphere, Media, Politics, Presidential Election 2008 Tagged: | Barack Obama, Digby, racism
I think that this is all so sad. I never connected with Digby, but maybe it is because she does not have a clue.
HAHA!!!! Ahhh – finally somebody calls out Digby other than in the comments section!
Thanks MYIQ for this – Race has nothing to do with the fact that he’s a raging azz-whole.
OBAMA = NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER (h/t BostonBoomer).
You know what’s racist? THIS statement is racist:
“It’s very clever to add in the country club and martini imagery, even though it’s patently absurd.”
And just exactly WHAT is so absurd abut using the imagery of Obama belonging to a country club, and drinking a martini? Is Digby suggesting that Obama wouldn’t fit into such a scenario? Hmmmmm. I’m guessing someone is using a rather stereotypical way of viewing the races.
Besides being Hillary’s fault, when he loses it’s going to be because he’s black. Even Obama implied it when he was hit by the Wright scandal and said something like “I should have known I wouldn’t be treated as a conventional candidate.”
I refuse to take this. He’s arrogant. Bush is arrogant. That french guy, also arrogant. Putin, arrogant. I fear that we have become a world of purely arrogant leaders. You know who wasn’t arrogant? Bill Clinton. I prefer my leaders full of humility.
Essays built around that theme are designed to “keep us in our place”. What a better way to kill the opposition than to appeal to their sense of themselves. How does one go about proving a negative? Silence in this instance.
For a man who supposedly sold to us as “transcendent” he is making a lot of hay out of his race. The thing is, he is more white than black. His black experience is very much unlike that of the ordinary black experience that it is laughable to try and compare. He has benefited from through Affirmative Action and has become the darling of the “eltite set”. And why not, he is really one of them.
awesome post. I said before I never thought Digby had any more insight than a lot of other bloggers and the whole idea of elevating her to some guru status to me was just another symptom of the presumptuousness of the whole “progressive blogosphere”.. her commenters have also become increasingly vile and even violent. I really think that if she beleives what she is saying, then she is actually racist because the only reason one might call him arrogant is because he’s black, color trumps all. Personally they can all cram it. They’ve played that hand out….and people are becoming desensitized. That helps neutralize its effect, but it also gives cover to real acts of racism….bad all the way around. Digby can cram it too…
AMEN PAT!
and AMEN GARY!
masslib–Digby, also arrogant
I am going to puke. The only people concerned with race are the Obama Campaign supporters that continue to play the card.
Attention Obama supporters:
Shut the Fuck UP! You are the r*cists! We don’t care if he is purple, green, red, orange………and oh yeah, black!
He has plenty of attributes (wooooo, is that a racial remark?) that disgust us, we don’t need to go with color!
It’s pathetic (whoops, there I go again with my r*cist remark) that you can’t think of anything to win with other than your trumped charge of bigoty!
Punishment, Retribution, Reform 2008
It is true that we are becoming desensitized. Calling me a ra*ist is not going to get me to change my vote nor will I be made to feel guilty as a result. If Obama were a blond, blue eyed female, she would still lack the proper credentials to apply for the job of POTUS.
If this were another male with solid experience, say like Biden or Dodd, I would have little trouble supporting the ticket. But handing me a candidate covered in fluff and vagueness is not going to cause me to vote for him.
In American popular culture the “black snob” does not exist, primarily because no matter how insufferable, a true snob has to have the credentials to back their arrogance up.
We have never been presented with such images of black people, George Jefferson and Cliff Huxtable may have had the creds, but they were deliberately played against type in that regard, shown as being “down to earth,” not “nose in the air.”
Black characters pretending to be upper crust have been a staple of pop culture since minstrel shows, portrayed as buffoonish clowns, never to be taken seriously, only to be mocked.
However, Barack Obama IS a snob.
His Harvard Law, University of Chicago, holier-than-thou, pompous better-than-you-ness comes across loud and clear.
Those who insist upon comparing others’ impressions of him to minstrel-esque characters of history are the racists, not the ones comfortable enough to call him what he is.
Snob.
I have never heard of Digby, but she reeeeekkkkksssss of Dowd and Noonan.
Punishment, Retribution, Reform 2008
What really sticks in my craw is the sanctimony of his supporters sticking like glue to this sham. Like Lanny and “impressive”. Cut the crap! Someone who leaks his “prayer” to the Jewish press and feigns outrage. Someone who cannot be bothered with visiting the wounded. Someone whose plane is covered with campaign decals but omits the American flag. Impressive? Folks, that is really a slice of uppity if you ask me.
It’s clear censorship. Preemptive censorship at that. We call him presumptuous, playing on the word presumptive combined with his acting like he was already the President, they don’t like it. Call us r*cist and we have to stop. Sounds like they’ve got this all figured out.
Help!
I’m in moderation.
I used the “r” word.
I just let you out!
This is and will continue to be a deliberate attempt to silence any opposition.
One problem, though. HIllary never quit, and they had to use it over and over again. Now, we have all been somewhat innoculated from the charges, because the card has been over played so much. Looking back, I think their plan was to get Clinton to drop out early and they could save up the race charges for McCain.
They are going to look like such jackasses trying to peddle this crap after August.
You know, I have to think that any candidate who goes around with a fake Presidential seal acting like the election is a mere formality is going to be called presumptuous.
And as for entitled, the Obots called Clinton that since day one. It only became out of bounds, horrendous, and a racial slur when people started saying it about Obama instead.
(shaking my head)
I think the terms “racist” or “dog whistle” have no real meaning any more.
When that cocaine use question was labeled “racist” I was astonished. That was my first awareness that questioning Obama’s past indiscretions or their extent was considered racist. Even when those questions were based on indiscretions he had bragged about himself!
Certain bloggers like Digby are extremely intelligent. That is what is so off putting. If Obama were a Repub these same writers would be jumping all over his ass. Instead, they bow their heads and proclaim his eventuality as POTUS. Sickening.
As I have stated before, I am down to a few like minded blogs and perezhilton.com. Ask me anything about Amy Winehouse.
The neocons called us unpatriotic. The Dems call us racists. I call us “sane”.
Until recently, I held Digby in high esteem.
But I’ve seen people giving her chops for not openly endorsing Obama and occasionally being mildly critical of him. For that she was attacked by Obamanation (for not being worshipful, and for having a vagina)
But if you can’t be impartial you should choose a side or stay out of the fray.
They attacked Digby for getting the WVWV award (right before the faux-controversy) and all she did was claim ignorance to the alleged vote suppression.
She didn’t investigate or try to defend the group that had just given her an award.
I’m still puzzling over the ‘fairy tale’ thing……..
last week I was listening to right wing talk radio driving home from work……it was the day O gave the speech in germany. the host, a local guy who’s sort of a screeching nutcase, was replaying bits of the speech and screaming replies to them. at one point, O said something about standing where JFK and Reagan had before him, and made a ‘joke’ about looking different than them. the host yelled “look at me, look at me – I’m black! but you better not mention it or you’re a r*cist” crudely put, but oh so true. this is craziness.
I prefer to judge candidates on the content of theiir character, but evidently we’re not allowed to.
What hospital was Amy admitted to today and what was her malady?
“Patently absurd” ?? THAT is a racist quote.
Half the Democratic Party is racist, and all the Republicans are racists. Whew, thank goodness we have this band of the pure-hearted Obots, who only see good in themselves, and evil in everyone else.
I looked up the word presumptuous and guess what….nowhere does it say “racist term” or presumptuous is a synonym for uppity.
Imagine that.
I’m getting really sick of people re-defining words to suit themselves.
Mountain Sage
My second choice for that award was Melissa McEwan over at Shakesville. She at least puts topics and questions out there that make you think. Sorry now that I did not make her my first choice. She tries to remain balanced and was the first to start counting the number of sexist comments applied to Hillary. The count went over 100 if I am correct.
A London hospital for treatment of allergic drugs.
Anglachel’s Journal is way better than Digby but unfortunately she does not write as often. I only went over to Digby a few times because many people would reference her and never became a fan.
I think Digby talks in circles just like Obama. I’m not so sure either one of them is that intelligent.
MyIQ? “faux-controversy”
I totally missed it.
The writers on this blog are equally or have surpassed many of these mainstream bloggers. Their content is usually poised to inform. Digby relies on her own opinions.
Puke:
http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=385#5720
Why do people insist that Obama is black?” He’s half white too, but self identifies as black.
Actually, I think of him as a white guy with dark skin due to African heritage.
But he was raised by his white family in a state with almost no black population. (Actually, whites are a minority there too)
If he was half asian or latino instead of black, would everyone still emphasize his race?
Speaking of Anglachel, she has a new post up. You can judge for yourself: http://anglachelg.blogspot.com/2008/07/precious-little.html
Speaking of Anglachel, she has a new post up. Judge for yourself:
http://www.anglachelg.blogspot.com/2008/07/precious-little.html
Women’s Voices Women Vote (WVWV) was supposedly doing stuff to suppress the votes of minority women in NC because they kept registering people after the primary deadline (but waaaay before the GE deadline)
If you want to see media bias click onto MSNBC homepage.
An article at the top of the page speaks to Alzheimers in old men. Directly below is a picture of McCain and another topic. Subliminal? Intentional?
“….conservatives can’t just come right out and call someone an Uppity Negro these days.”
No, but many liberal Democrats can come right out and call Hillary whore, c@@nt, bitch, racist, and just about every other derogatory name imaginable.
[To her credit, Digby denounced this name-calling of Hillary, I'm not referring to her.]
It is quite amusing — those of us who feel free to criticize him without encumbrances are doing so without regard to his race (I don’t buy their conjecture that we are all racists — that is far too many of us to be that) and those who walk on egg shells around him are doing so cognizant of his race all the time and stipulating others that we can say this or we can’t say that because of his race. Who is being racist (ok, race conscious) here?
myiq said:
Probably. But the thing is that in the beginning he said he didn’t want this to be about race, and then he proceeded to take every opportunity to make it about race. I find that disingenuous.
OK, could someone free me from moderation, please?
The BZero “image mavens” must be out shopping for Hawaiian Tropic for their upcoming vacay since the last time “uppity” was used it was followed quickly by “high-tech lynching” which was quickly followed by the confirmation of the mute Justice (next scheduled to ask a question from the bench sometime in late 2018). Of course, in both instances women were/are hindrances to their ascension so equal opportunity misogyny was/is okay.
I only read Digby once. I can’t remember what it was about. I do remember when I read the comments they were totally fawning, along the lines of “we mere readers are not worthy to be in your presence”…i was like..huh? I went back and re-read and still didn’t get it. i figured maybe you had to read her all the time and let the reverence build up, like medication in your bloodstream. I forgot to go back and do that.
IQ,
No one gave a sh*t that Richardson was half Hispanic. Obama’s was the only “historic” campaign for a person of color this year. If it were a fair world, Richardson would have been in Obama’s position in challenging Hillary. Few candidates iin history have had Rhardsons credentials.
And if you looked at some of Steve Clemons’ posts, they were essentially a “not this Hispanic” line. Where have we heard that before? Hmmm.
Not all racism is directed against blacks. Some of it is directed in favor of them. Some of it is directed against whites.
Digby is the very thing she accuses us of being…a racist.
Barack Obama expects to ride white guilt into the White House. I think he may be in for a surprise. You can only browbeat people for so long before they start wondering why you’re doing it. When they realize why…that racism is all you’ve got…they’ll vote with their feet first and their pens second.
Anglachel just delivered another huge homerun! Great post!
Pat, well 2 months ago, MSM would have put the Big Dawg’s pic up there. They spent endless time discussing how Bill’s anger showed he had mental problems due to his bypass surgery. No, a@@holes, he’s angry because you’re calling him, his wife, and his daughter every vile name, and making sexual jokes that would shame a sailor.
Let’s call the mothers, wives, sisters, daughters of Tweety, Keith, Shuster et al a few of these names and see how those men handle it. Of course, maybe they don’t have women they care about, and that would explain some things.
I was completely stunned to find out Digby was a woman. I assumed I couldn’t follow her train of thought because she was a man.
Let me give everyone a tip:
Spammy the Moderator is dedicated but not too bright. Certain words trigger his attention, one of them being r-a-c-i-s-t
But if you type r*cist he won’t notice you
Can’t I just base my preference on the best choice I feel to serve and not be called every craven name in the book? I should not have to justify my preference to anyone. But neither do I deserve to be vilified and labeled simply because I won’t.
Digby’s line is one I hear more and more from Obama supporters. Basically, it means you can’t call him arrogant or presumptuous no matter what he does. Because there’s that – you know, the “are you calling him an uppity negro???” kind of defense.
Get ready boys and girls for the next 99 fun filled days of seeing the race card played over and over again. All of this from the “post racial, post partisan” canidate.
Disgusting.
It is tempting to think that Digby is stupid, but she clearly isn’t. The simple truth is that some of us look at Obama and see a fraud, a moderate Republican/Libertarian Trojan Horse, and others look at the same man and see an acceptable mainstream Democrat, not much different than Bill or Hillary. (Not to mention the crazed Obamabots who see The Messiah.)
Why we see such different things in the Unity Pony is an interesting question, but it probably comes down ultimately to the fact that our views are shaped by who we are and the lives we live, so that we can no more talk Digby into our view than the reverse.
I liked Hullabaloo better when it was just Digby. She’s usually much better than her co-bloggers, but “much better” is a relative term
I eliminated at least half my bookmarks during the campaign, and I still only visit the ones I cut once in a while, usually to see if anything has changed.
Left Coaster is really bad since eriposte when into seclusion, especially Steve Soto, CA Pol Junkie and Paradox
Myiq, Sophie: I found it amusing that the MSM/Obama campaign consistenly pretended that Hillary supporters were low-information and uneducated, etc. Asian-Americans came out for Hillary in high numbers, but they were ignored by the media.
There were some interesting Asian-American bloggers that I can’t remember right this second, but who had very thoughtful pro-Hillary posts [think one was Asian-Americans for Hillary, duh].
Great point gqmartinez
by the way there’s a great “new” site for all “people of
color”; http://www.POCPUMA.com.
It was started by a GREAT GUY named Wayne. He’s
“AA”; but it’s open to ALL diversities.
Check it out & spead the word.
Nite-Nite fellow PUMA’s
P.S. Before he “lost his mind” he was my 3rd choice after Hillary, 2nd was Biden. See I can’t be “SPEECHED” into supporting someone/ EXPERIENCE MATTERS!!
Leading up to Super Duper Tuesday, there was a weird assumption that asians and hispanics would automatically support Obama because he was a minority.
That wrong assumption had a lot to do with him losing California by 10 points when they were predicting he would win.
They insist on categorizing us as elderly women. Like we are sitting around in nursing homes waiting for someone to change our Depends so we can join the others for an afternoon of Bingo in the lounge. It is so misleading and insulting since that is so far from the truth. This blog itself is a hybrid of age, sex, education, interests. And I can still change my own diapers thank you very much!!!!!
myiq: but he has superior judgment. Dare you contradict hm with facts?
Pat: ROFL!!
That was a good post from Anglachel, although I do not entirely agree with her opinion of McCain.
myiq2xu, on July 28th, 2008 at 11:50 pm Said:
Let me give everyone a tip:
—————–
Thanks for the tip. I knew my post was loaded with the objectionable r word and its variants.
That is another issue that drives me nuts. His make believe judgment. When there are so many instances that this did not bear out. Yet they continue the empty progaganda knowing full well his judgment is just another figure of his imagination.
LoL .. kiki and all — so funny and wonderful !
to me any public dem/blogger who could/would not make a clear loud objection to the misogyny and sexism used against Hillary – lost me .. It took her a long , long time to make a mild peep … by that time I was pretty much gone .. and yes
I read her every day all most – the exchange of information , – however – Anglachel is the most superb writer of that sort – hands down. Our people here are in that same category .. The BEST ..
choosing someone who supposedly has great judgment is a leap of faith. Choosing someone who has expreience is scientific.
gary: BINGO!!!!!!
I think we need a Lexicon of Forbidden Obama Words.
Then, when we use one of those words, we’ll feel better knowing we’ve struck a blow for freedom!
Oh, the irony of me making this joke, someone who has repeatedly argued in the past for respecting political correctness.
I am so sick of seeing so called progressive use us blacks as a club to bludgeon anyone who disagree with them or has anything other than worship for their chosen candidate, I don’t even know how to express myself coherently.
This has become patronizing beyond description.
Jesus H. Christ!
Enough already!
tdraicer, I read an interesting comment at Black Agenda about how Obama has purposefully presented himself as sort of an empty slate, so that anyone can see what it is they want to see. he can be black or white, but it’s not just a racial thing. he can be liberal if that’s what you want to see, or conservative. he’s tough on terrorism, he’s anti-war. he can be mainstream if that’s what you want. he’s country club, he’s street. you name it, he’s got it covered. he’s a shape-shifter.
Let us begin with: President Barack Obama. If this gets stuck in moderation I could not care less.
And that sole claim of judgment is based on giving a requested unrecorded speech against the war to supporters in a district that was against the war; a speech that was nonbinding and that he later effectually renounced, while voting to continue the war when he got into the Senate.
Jeez Louise, my husband has spoken out against the war more consistenly that that; can we elect him POTUS, based on his superior judgment?
There is an uninvited guest in the house.
I see voting for McCain as a necessary evil, or perhaps something like chemotherapy.
Bitter medicine that makes you sick in the short-term so you can regain your full health in the long-term.
kellyanne, they’re not traipsing around europe like they are already president. nobody else made up their own fake presidential seal. no one else has had to have reporters remind his advisors that he is not president yet
Pat, if anyone comes to my door asking me to vote for the big o, I’ll throw a Depends [well, a puppy one] at him/her, how’s that?
KellyAnne:
The great seal of Obama
Calling himself the presumptive nominee before he was
Running for President after 2 years in the Senate
Why do they feel the need to come in here and deride? There must be a clinical term out there for this syndrome.
KellyAnne: I already gave mine (see my comment here at 11:29).
Now, tell me one reason why you think you fit in here.
as far as I know, there’s only one other actively campaigning candidate at the moment, and he actually has the pledged delegates to be nominated.
Ok Women over 40 we have now been named the deciding vote this election
Posted on July 28th, 2008 by kmr1964
Tonight on Hannity & Combs, Dick Morris had fox do a poll to see which demographics were falling where and why Obama is not leading in the polls. Well it seem that women over 40 (which is me lol) are going to McCain by 4 points. This is a groups that is supposed to be democratic by 10 to 15 points. Women over 40 usually go democratic by large margins but not this year. It seems that this is the year of the mature woman. Keep up the work PUMA. We are making a change, we are making a difference. For the first time McCain took the lead in the Gallop polling.
Obama 45 McCain 49 McCain +4 This is just amazing in every other election the democrat has always been ahead by large margins even in elections that the democrat lost they were always ahead during the summer, but not this year. Obama is in deep s**t. We are a voice that needs to be heard and needs to be listened to, we will not be silenced this year.
USA Today/Gallup 07/25 – 07/27 791 LV 45 49 McCain +4.0
WOMEN STAND STRONG WE ARE THE DECIDING VOTE THIS YEAR.
parentofed: Sounds good to me. But I was being facetious. Just in case anyone had any questions.
ok, next…she/he is just a dumbas…bye bye krazyanne..
If this Digby person has a problem with me having a problem with Bo, then how does she feel when i have the same problem with Nancy Pelosi , heck we are even the same sex.
I think Np is an arrogant ,smarmy , approval seeking from males , backstabbing , Hillary wanna be .
Presumptuous to the extent of writing a book about herself called “Know Your Power” A Message to Americas Daughters The book is on her life and times and
( crawl ) rise to power . She was just on Jon Stuart , and she is so smarmy she makes my skin crawl . When I think of what she did
Can i just say ewwwwwww and I hope no American Daughter learns from her except as a really bad example of what not to do and how not to be a woman .
The election of 2008: For the woman who wasn’t born (or registered) yesterday.
In the same fox poll it showed that Obama would be leading 59 to 36 If Hillary was the VP but I am gald he will never pick her. He will lose.
McCain wasn’t acting like he was already President
Ticks me off too, MAB. I spent a lot of time trying to increase minority participation in grad school as a way to counteract institutional racism. But all these spurious charges of racism trivialize real racism and make dealing with the real problems of racism harder. I’ve long called Obama a regressive when it comes to pursuing racial equality.
I never understood why its fine for Obama to perpetuate derogatory stereotypes (Popeye’s chicken, lazy Black fathers, etc) while its wrong to criticize Obama as arrogant and unqualified.
Have they run out of worshippful Obama blogs or something as I cannot fathom one good reason why KellyAnne is here. Thinking of changing our minds KA or just wiping your shoes off as you trip through?
Presumptuous:
Writing 2 “memoirs” before the age of 45
Writing the first one before you ever held a full-time job.
KellyAnne: 1 out of 3. Not bad. Thanks for playing. Ba-bye.
wow…I’m having delusions again.
heh heh I think KellyAnne confused a trip to a german restaurant with a trip overseas.
go do your geography homework!!!!
Gee Gary, let me have some fun too.
I don’t have admin privileges so I can only boot trolls from my own posts.
Kim, FNC should be tanking in viewership now, since Bush and the Republicans are so low in the polls. Instead, they are reinventing themselves in their “fair and balanced” credo by giving a voice to PUMAS, etc.
We’re pretty sure they will support McCain, but they also have a lot of positive stuff on Obama, and their numbers are healthy. CNN/MSNBC totally blew this primary, instead of dealing a death punch to Fox, they themselves have lost credibility. Roger Ailes must be as smart as people say.
KellyAnne, “uppity” is sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong and then talking down it to people who think you’re funny.
Pat, yeah, I know you’re a smartass. That’s why I like you.
If Obama really wanted to look serious and Presidential he would have taken the trip with McCain, lots of joint meetings and briefings, no speeches.
And they would have visited the wounded vets.
Instead it was one big photo-op and Obama couldn’t have learned anything because he did all the talking.
I did admire Digby a lot also, but I saw the handwriting on the wall and have not read her blog for months. She and Duncan Black seem to go hand in hand. Also Jane Hamsher. I will not go near these blogs now. What a disappointment to think that these people that I admired had so much to offer and they cannot see the forest for the trees so to speak. They are making this a racial issue where there is none. He is just not qualified ,and he is arrogant, and he is presumptuous. I just say NO DEAL.
What the hell is KA’s problem anyway? No one here sought her out. Yet she comes over and wags that finger in our faces for whatever reason. Stupid person.
KellyAnne: you want free speech? Then get a fricken’ clue. Fight for free speech in the country, not on someone else’s blog. Are you equally disgusted about the Free Speech Zone in Denver? Didn’t think so.
Let me point out that we are getting extremely close to our 2 million hit mark. I thank any and all trolls for even the slightest help in getting there.
Someone, can’t remember who, has a birthday coming next week & hopes it will hit the mark then.
Wow. KellyAnne is the church lady.
and you know, racism is bigotry against a GROUP of people because of theri ethnicity. So far, the only black person we call arrogant is Obama…I also think Howard Dean is arrogant, Pelosi presumptuous, Axelrod, stuck-up, Ayers aloof, shall I go on, oh yeah throw in Arianna, Markos, and Josh Marshall, um…oh yeah I guess I do think Donna Brazile is full of herself too…so I guess there are two…jesus can’t you come up with anything better than that?
{From Heidi Li’s blog }
Heidi Li, on NQ, brought attention to this point and even referred to some calling it poetic justice. But my own thinking is that it will only backfire for the AA community — how often will they get a AA candidate like Obama to play games like this again and get away with it? If anything, they may pay a big price next time around in their local politics because of Obama’s repugnant use of (historically) racist mechanisms as you aptly call them. What is personally galling to me is that he used all these questionable means against one of his own party instead of letting the chips fall where they may and help the party to win in November.
KellyAnne,
Barack Obama has never worked a full time job. And he’s used the part time job that he had as immediate stepping stones to something better.
I consider it beyond presumptuous that he is running this year. And I believe that it’s rock-bottom stupid that our Democratic Leaders think he can win.
Obama’s been losing since the end of February. He’s an embarrassment.
KellyAnne, pass the salt. I am eating my heart out right now.
To be frank, you sound like some teen who just got her turn on the computer. Not too intelligent I might add. And by the way, please point me to those other blogs you mentioned who leave dissenting views up for all to read. They sound like a real rarity in the world of Obama worshippers. Like seeking and finding the Holy Grail.
isn’t that presumptuous of him to go to a foreign country and “do the job Bush is too stupid to do” as you claim. Elections are important sweetie….and you obots hate that fact because deep in your rancid hearts you know its true that he will lose…
Red Rover, Red Rover send someone a little more entertaining than KellyAnne over!
KellyAnne,
We’re “made fun of everywhere”?
Really, now.
On what side of the pond do you reside, pray tell?
Can we say goodnote to KA? She really isn’t adding anything substantive to the conversation.
McCain *goaded* Obama into traveling overseas? interesting. I would have figured it was Hillary’s fault.
myiq2xu, on July 29th, 2008 at 12:24 am Said:
——————–
One more time at the moderation before I call it a night. I was too quick to hit submit before modifying the r word. Thanks.
(blinking)
Well, she suspended her campaign after the DNC Rules and ByLaws committee broke a half dozen of it’s own rules giving Your Precious just enough votes to scrabble over the 100 delegate mark.
Sure — she lost in that committee.
What I don’t get about you and your ilk is that you think shutting us up would change something. It wouldn’t.
Obama will lose the November Election. He’s Unqualified, illegitimate and unelectable. Shutting us down wouldn’t change that at all.
We need to talk RD into upgrading the site. I wish it would play a little zap sound every time a comment disappears.
who am I jealous of? seriously, this is only about a level 4 trolll…NEXT!
This whole story just brought back memories from one of the best posts of the primary season:
Isn’t life just an endless cycle of Greek tragedies?
I have heard uppity and arrogant are racist. Elitist also. That’s why I’ve used classist, condescending and dismissive.
How can anyone be proud of a r*cist? Obama is one.
And if he’s a liberal, Pat’s a gourmet cook.
KellyAnne: Speaking for all of us, and I honestly mean to be presumptuous here, you are an idiot. Your arguments are weak, your tone is disrespectful, your taunts give away your age, your talking points are senseless, and your demeanor is uncivil. Other than to say you are probably a fair typist, you are still and IDIOT!
lol MABlue!
Jmac: I resent that! Just about everybody raves about my microwave skills!
KellyAnne, on July 29th, 2008 at 12:31 am Said:
————-
oh, put a sock in it!
Pat makes a mean jello pie!
uh .. uh ………………..uh ….uh … uh ……….comfort..uh ..uh …able ..??
Being comfortable is a really , really important trait to have on your resume to become president of a country .. really , really huge attribute .. even more important than ever having a full time job and much , much more important than betraying the country on FISA …
AH yes ! .. comfort is necessary
I admire you, Pat. I’m a fake feminist – retired domestic goddess – I took the easy way out.
Goodnight everyone. (Poor KellyAnne, we hardly knew her)
KellyAnne: Have you ever spent two seconds thinking?
KellyAnne,
Never fear.
If it is indeed true we’re made fun of everywhere, we can handle it.
Your candidate cannot.
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008
A reading from the Obama Scriptures – wandering the money desert.
Gospel of Donna the Brazilian Chapter 66, Verse 6 -
Backstory:
This gospel which was rediscovered by a biker in a drug treatment center just south of Atlanta. It was wrapped tightly in a bong, that had been squirreled away beneath a sink in the basement. Sadly the Biker smoked most of this Gospel before long time counselor “Tiny” Gonzalez could taze and sit on him. The gospel, when smoked, is reported to have caused such incredible euphoria for the biker that he has never returned to sanity, and now sits bolt upright in his room all day – completly covered by a blanket he crocheted during an America’s Next Top Model marathon. When anyone approaches he says in a spooky little person voice: “Do not go into the light Carol Anne.” or, in the same spooky voice, “I’m not gay if I’m on top. booooooooo” and occasionally: “Mommy please don’t make me play naked air hockey with your boyfriend again tonight.”
Here is all that remains of the lost Obama gospel written by Donna the Brazillian:
In came to pass in those days that the Lord Obama’s money lenders had accomplished their goal.
For they had given-eth all their cash-eth for to defeat-eth the “qualified one” named Hillary.
And now they no longer cared.
And The Lord Obama’s Cash Cow was sent out to be slaughtered.
And the Lord went into the Lobby where the the People of the Money lingered and said:
Why? Why have you forsaken me, money people? It is my hour of need for I have just bought a new plane for myself. To bring-eth the message of Hopey changey to all the 57 states.”
The People of the Money in the Lobby said to the Lord Obama:
Wow. Dude. You think we really cared about that hopey change schtick? That was crap for the potheads in Berkeley, stupid college kids, and the rich white liberal morons in Marin County. You did not think we actually LIKED you, did you? Come on. Take a look at yourself. You’re pathetic. You’re not even junior law partner material yet. And that shrew you married. Yikes! She makes the crazy cat lady on the Simpsons seem like Jackie Kennedy. Barry, dude, we just needed someone to defeat the Qualified One named Hillary. So thanks. Cheers!
And they raised their Scotches in salute. Which a a great honor from the Gaseous Money Men of the Lobby. And then went back to watching Tiger Woods on the Big Screen-eth at the Country Club-eth.
Then the money people laughed at the Lord, saying to him go ask David Geffen or Arianna Huffington for an advance on your allowance. The money people LOL-ed mightily at this. And then they hacked and coughed and turned away from the Lord.
But the Lord did not leave for he was confus-eth and said:
Money people, Money people, why have you forsaken me?
One Money Person said to the Lord Obama – Shush, freak.
For the money people were watching Tiger Woods Golf-eth and the Lord was being a Pest-eth.
Yet the Lord would not leave.
So one money person asked Barry for a light.
And another asked him if he would do one of those hopey changy speeches at his daughters sweet 16 party in the Hamptons, offering him 1,000 dollars cash and a car for to pick him up at the JFK. And possibly a free night at the La Quinta just over the line in Connecticut.
And another asked him to fix some drinks.
And Barry was upset. For Donna, the beast like Brazilian, had told him that he was actually beloved by the money people.
And the Lord went out back for a smoke-eth.
And while he smoked he decided to blame the “Qualified One” for his problems. Because she was a female. and White. and it was easy to blame her.
And the Lord decided to make-eth a speech about hope and change in a foreign land near a large gate.
And the Lord decided to have Rev. Jackson say something stupid to all the land to make the Lord Obama look less Black.
And the Lord decided to flip flop many times, for this will make them love me again, he thought.
And the Lord tooketh a deep drag on his Camel Wide.
And the lord was happy. So he went to Denny’s for a late night waffle.
josgirl: yeah, that “everyone makes fun of you” seems to be the meme right now of trolls. The person who writes the script for the trolls must have just taken Psychology 101. Have you noticed how they love to diagnose us: we think this, we’re that.
These people are so off the mark. When you get to my age, and have raised kids, etc, schoolyard taunting has no effect what so ever. Not only did I deal with it as a kid, I had to teach my own children how to deal with the silliness of it.
Pat, add some zzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s to your comments and we’ll all sit up and take notice
She is relentless! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz yourself! How’s that for a “snappy” comeback and I omitted words you would have to look up in the dictionary. That’s how much I have come to regard you. My new BFF!!!
KellyAnne: Can we get together over coffee real soon? We have so much in common and so much to discuss. Please be my new BFF!
josgirl: That was excellent. Did you write that?
wow josgirl, did you write that?
My browser is loading sloooow otherwise Helter-Skelly would have left earlier
josgirl: That was fabulous!
myiq2xu: You usually like to bat them around a few times before you zap.
Sophie,
Nah, I got it from the good folks at Liberal Rapture.
The’ve been writing the Obama Scriptures for a long time.
OT, but my mother’s friends from France came for a visit, a lovely gay couple. They are just the nicest guys. Anywho, we sent them to P town for a couple days R and R, and they loved it. They said it was so nice to be able to just hold hands walking down the street. They said they could do that in France but a lot of people wouldn’t like it. I had no idea France was like that. I pictured the French so much more progressive than here. They also went on a whale watch and saw 16 whales. I saw two the time I went. What gives?
Excellent find!
The semi-scary part is these trolls lurk here waiting for a new post to crap in
masslib: I only saw a couple the last time I went out a few years ago. I guess you have to be lucky and go on just the right day. But it is worth seeing since they are so intelligent and gentle.
thanks josgirl, even if you didn’t write it, it was fun to read!
Like I said, my browser is loading slowww.
I shoulda let Gary handle it.
Usually they bombard later in the evening. Noticed that the last couple of weeks.
KA forgot to start out schmoozing us “I used to be a Hillary supporter!”……she needs to go back to the Bot factory for a tune-up
‘nite guys. Oh, also, I am late with the book stuff. I’ve got so many angles with this one, it’s taking me a bit. Hopefully tomorrow.
They get all talked out in their circle jerks/echo chambers so they have to come here to keep their adversarial skills honed (or else to get new material) .
Kiki: yeah, I miss the foreplay we used to get from the classier trolls.
There are lots of mornings Rico has to clean up messes in the old threads.
It’s like a homeless shelter for trolls some nights.
The Gerard Baker satire was quite similar to the ones Liberal Rapture has been doing for a while. Baker’s was hilarious; it’s funny that these are coming out now.
Me thinketh people are getting tiredeth of the Oneth.
myiq: can’t the older threads be closed for comments (like CNN does)?
The recent one is probably a Balloon Juice regular.
He/she/it made reference to something that makes me think that.
Well there is just so many times you can praise the One. After awhile your brain begins to melt so it is best to seek out sites like this where you aim to sharpen the senses. Usually they send the ones who are still in the beginning stages. You can tell since they sound like they are chewing gum at the same time.
Thanks all, but like I said, the good folks at Liberal Rapture deserve all the credit.
They really get it and was one of the first plaes I found where people were outraged about the RBC debacle.
Their archives are full of fun stuff.
I don’t know them from Adam, but it’s a good place to check in once in a while.
http://www.liberalrapture.com/index.html
Here is what he/she/it said:
There is only one site that considers me a troll, even though I was a regular there before the primaries even started.
Sophie:
Ask RD, KB or GCH, I dunno
thanks josgirl, I never heard of it but I bookmarked it.
well, I better get to bed. I’m pretty depressed now that I know the whole internet is laughing at us. or is it the whole world?
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
nite y’all!
hmm – Melissa over at Shakesville is not particularly impressed with Kaine from VA being floated about as a possible VP candidate.
The fact that we keep getting so much of their attention is revealing.
If they weren’t scared of us, they would ignore us.
myiq2xu,
Has the older, more traditional base of a party ever pushed back against a power grab like this before that you know of?
1972
But that wasn’t a movement, just a voting phenomenon
Like we don’t already know that the internet frat boys make fun of us. We’re the scum of the US, the women, the gays, the older people, the Latinos and Asians and Jews, the disabled, otherwise known as the US population. Ewwwww.
How does that saying by Ghandi (or is it the Dalai Lama) go?
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you–then, you win.
George McGovern
I had gone to Digby’s and read her things a few times but never really *got* her. I’m probably too low-information.
Donna B, Howie and the others really got *their* perfect candidate in that since he is half black, anything you criticize about him leads you to being labeled r@cist. And as has been said earlier in the thread, they are going to devalue the word. They have shouted this out so many times when it was not true that people will become immune to it.
Speaking of ridicule,
http://blog.pumapac.org/2008/07/28/why-are-these-people-in-charge/#comments
has a list of sd responses to voters.
OMFG. It is not a mystery why we lose every election. These people should absolutely be stripped of their votes. What a damn circus.
I discovered recently that I’ve become immune to being called racist. It just makes me laugh now. I own my vote & I feel POWERFUL.
I saw a bunch of anti-PUMA people talking about using “tough love” on us, not putting up with our whining, not paying attention to our childish demands. It must be terribly frustrating to them to realize that WE DON’T CARE what names they call us. It won’t make us hide our heads in shame & it won’t make us change our minds. It won’t do anything to me except to be amusing.
I know a few people who have met the Obamas and they say Michelle is especially arrogant and cold.
OT, but has anyone seen this op-ed by Cindy McCain in the Wall Street Journal about women in Rwanda? I have to say, the more I see of Cindy McCain, the more I like her. I may not agree with her politics, or her husband’s politics, but I will say that I respect greatly what she has done for women and children in developing nations. She seems genuinely compassionate and concerned, and while she has been criticized for being a rich heiress, it seems to me that she is putting her money to good use.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121720134007588395.html
Even the Santa Fe paper is on Richardson’s case about his spending all of his time outside of NM, instead of governing, and they are usually fawning to anything liberal. With cuts in defense spending affecting the national labs, NM has some bad times a-coming and where is our governor? Oh yeah, out helping the Dems campaign with “use the drilling leases that you already have before opening new areas to drilling”, but then saying “not in our back yard” by extending a ban to drill existing leases in NM. And we’re all glad he has a fancy new jet so he can get out of town in style, while his much touted health care initiative remains just words. Too many similar absurdities during his tenure as governor.
Ultimately, I believe that Richardson would be crucified if he were a serious candidate because of his performance at DOE — remember Wen Ho and that crazy little idea called due process? And how we all hate racial profiling, except apparently when it’s against Asians? Kind of ironic, Richardson avoiding the r-word towards himself, when he was blatantly practicing it towards others just a few years ago.
He tours Europe as if he IS the president and to call him presumptuous is racist?
Digby, Digby, you’ve completely lost your mind.
Trolls — I was thinking today that I don’t think we get the real trolls. I think we get the apprentice trolls, the ones that haven’t graduated from troll school yet. I’m wondering if zipping over here and dropping a few bits of bird-poo isn’t their final exam or something.
They are particularly weak as trolls, so I think they’re just baby trolls.
I want the good trolls, damnit! Nothing less than Troll Cum Laude for Pumas!
For those interested in more on this, please read my Sunday post, “Obama, Racism…and Digby”:
http://polculture.blogspot.com/2008/07/politics-sunday-obama-racismand-digby.html
http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=375
Near the end I ask people to politely complain by writing Digby at her e-mail address, digby@writeme.com, and to drop her site from their blog rolls until she apologizes for this inflammatory garbage. She saw the post and e-mailed me about it: She has no intention of stopping this.
I never got the whole “what Digby said” thing anyway. Her “writing,” which is supposedly her big thing (isn’t that what all bloggers do, write?) is turgid, garrulous, unorganized and flaccid. Her positions are wobbly and cowardly. Wasn’t she the one who, after winning some big BS award, started blathering on about “military solutions” to terrorists? She didn’t have the guts to endorse Hillary, or anyone else even, during the primaries.
Now she’s going to decide what we are or aren’t allowed to call Barky? For a year, the O-bots have used every right-wing, Republican, Rovian anti-Clinton “meme” in the book. But anytime anyone criticizes Barky for any of his nearly infinite failings and shortcomings, they are accused of racism and repeating Republican talking points by
Barky or his minions. Now, I guess, Digby must be considered as one of them.
Get stuffed, Digby (and, by the way, that’s a stupid name!). I’ll call Barky any damn thing I want to, with or without a signed permission slip from you, Axelrod, or Prince Barack himself.
And another thing. Barky is not “Black.” Here in the US, “Black” means African American. And “African American” means a member of a unique ethno-cultural community, complete with its own history, linguistics, art forms, folklore, religous practices, and so on, who are descended from the slaves brought to the US from Africa. Barky is not one of them. Not by birth, not by family upbringing, and not by community. Just because Baky, as a grown man already in his 20′s and a college graduate, moved to an African American neighborhood, joined an African American church, and married an African American woman, and started pretending to be an African American, does not make it so. Barky is half White (Caucasian, European) American and half Kenyan. He is no part African American. Therfore he is not Black.
That being the case, Digby (and anyone else who tries to play the “race card” in terms of the usual Black/White dichotomy) is just making shit up.
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”
I missed you 
— Mahatma Gandhi
Nice to see your name here Regency
I think perhaps people who call women racists are just sexist ………
will that work ?? lets try that
not only do I think Bo is arrogant and presumtuous , I also think he is a sexist
hello every one I am having an extended birthday-the official day was July 28th seems all my friends want to take me out and pick up the check….
I am going to gain 10 lbs as well as a an extra year in age! Everybody knows from watching yogibear(dating myself again!) a bear can never turn down a picnic basket so not going is out of the question.
hopefully this nonsense will be done by Thursday or Friday and I can get back to leaning on everyone! I plan to donate the money saved on all these free meals to hillary once I get a total to night I am going out for steak with some friends…
See Carol I think of you even when I am supposed to be thinking me me me! (does this make me a meme RD?)
love to all Fuzzybeargville
{{{Fuzzybear}}} !! It’s a sign of love when your birthday events don’t all fit into one day. I hope you are enjoying every minute of it. If you don’t have time to visit with us while all this is going on, maybe we could celebrate your birthday on Saturday — drawing it out for another day….
I hope you’re having an absolutely wonderful birthday-time, Fuzzy!
xxoo
NYT says Hill wanted VP, but the Obama people think the “costs” outweigh the benefits. Have not seriously considered her:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/us/politics/29dems.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
My comment didn’t show up.
masslib: That article turned my tummy.
The Senators advisors haven’t decided when Senator Clinton will speak.
He wants a VP from outside Washington, in keeping with his message…. — Well who’s going to run things then? SOMEONE has to have some sort of Government experience!! Who’s it going to be?
Fuzzybeargville
Happy B’day!
Which gville FL,GA, of TX ?
UF?
Carter had no Washington experience and he was creamed as a result. But even at that he was a governor before he was president which far surpasses any experience Obama brings to the table. Why are these pundits so insistent on proclaiming him qualified when he obviously is not?
Bush was bad enough but we are seeing up close Obama’sarrogance which is a forerunner to how he will actually lead should he get in. The signals are coming through loud and clear yet they continue to beat the drum on his behalf.
““Even if you never met him, you know this guy,” Rove said, per Christianne Klein. “He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.””
I hate to agree with Rove, but he sure has Obama’s number here.
The NY Times article says that Obama wants someone from outside Washington, but then says that he’s considering Evan Bayh and Joe Biden, who have been in DC far longer than Hillary. So which is it?
Plural, you’ve got me. Obama and his ways are a mystery to me.
katiebird, on July 29th, 2008 at 8:11 am Said:
masslib: That article turned my tummy.
The Senators advisors haven’t decided when Senator Clinton will speak.
——————————————————————————————
Why do they behave like they own Hillary and can decide what she should do?
Digby – another one among those none so blind as those who will not see. This attitude of the damnable white academic liberals who refuse to see reality as it is has made me totally fed up with the far left wingers. I knew a long time ago, when BH0 was starting to win early primaries/caucuses, that he would be the perfect candidate for white liberals – has black skin, making him ‘black enough’, yet not dangerous-sounding like the Al Sharptons – he talks like an academic (i.e., boring). He didn’t seem threatening to many whites, and I knew he would carry the mantle of ‘viable first black pres. candidate’ who would appeal to the liberal white base just for his Ivy League education and skin colour alone. Ooops, I must be racist for saying all this.
Does anyone else here recall that suspiciously timed meeting of BH0 with GWB at the White House morning after he gave his speech at the Dem Convention 04? My folks and I were appalled to learn of that – and BH0 has been suspect for me ever since.
DownListen, I’m not sure they (think they) own Hillary but, it’s pretty clear they KNOW they own the party…
Here’s Digby calling people RACISTS if they don’t support a man because he’s BLACK.
If it weren’t so fucking pathetic, I’d laugh.
Here’s another example of Barack Obama’s cynical exploitation, and downright insulting behavior towards people. He’s manipulative in the extreme.
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/13021.htm
masslib, on July 29th, 2008 at 8:00 am Said:
NYT says Hill wanted VP, but the Obama people think the “costs” outweigh the benefits. Have not seriously considered her:
———————————————————————————
I think that might be a lie by the NYT. Someone who has a close friend with the campaign said that on June 3rd BO asked Hillary to be VP and she turned him down. How arrogant of him to do that after trying to suppress votes in Montana and South Dakota.
It is also rumoured that during that meeting theyheld before Hillary suspended, he asked her and she turned him down.
Et tu, Digby? Sigh…Dunno about kidnapping, but I know enough about threats and abuse…
Katiebird – it is hard for me to understand how Hillary can tolerate this. She is acting like a victim, like someone who is being held captive and there is no way out. I don’t believe this. Hillary has a choice. Either to continue on the destructive path the Democratic Party is on or stop the madness. Someone has to stand up and fight for the real Democratic principles and sadly at this point I don’t see anyone but PUMAs doing it.
I stopped reading Digby and Open Left when they agreed that Obama’s health care plan was not a good one but we shouldn’t worry because when he gets elected president “we” (meaning, I assume, their powerful selves) could hold his feet to the fire to get a better one.
I read that Kennedy sabotaged Hillary because he wanted universal health care to be his legacy not a Clinton legacy. Now he is in no position to accomplish anything – karma?
No matter where Hillary is, WH or Senate, she will always be a leader, just look at the last few weeks. And no matter where that sorry a** Obama ends up all he’ll ever be is a lost soul sitting behind his pretend presidential seal because he couldn’t face a room full of real governors with out it.
It is Digby that is racist. Rove assumes Blacks are now in the country clubs just as whites. And I believe that is quite true. It is Digby who thinks putting a black inside a country club with a pretty girl, cigarette etc is so preposterous that it is racist.
Contrary to what you might hear, the majority of AA are middle class. There are many AA who are rich.
The fact that Hillary wasn’t even vetted makes me very angry. Makes me want to schedule a colonoscopy for election day and forget to mail in my absentee vote.
Not that I expected Obama to have the guts to have her on the ticket with him, but that they didn’t even vet her. Guess I can’t call that arrogant, so what can I call it? Offensive? If enough of us call it that, I guess it can become the new “code” word.
You know it might be fun to see how many “code” words we can create.
DownListen, There’s something going on that just doesn’t make sense. WHY this pre-convention push for Unity in a year when we’ve never been so closely divided?
Who had so much power that politicians from all sides buckled so swiftly?
It’s arrogant of him not to vet her, and it’s also dismissive of her voters, who are assumed to have no place else to go, as he so arrogantly said.
But he wouldn’t want to have a VP who would be independent of him or in any way outshine him.
No description of Obama which is not cringing toadying is acceptable. Someone could say he has bad breath and it would have some bizarre connection to his race. The fact is that he is dropping in the polls and half of the Democratic party have been alienated because of O’s supporters childish potty mouths and projection of racist guilt. It is too late. They set their path and so must follow it regardless of how ridiculous it is appearing. They are entering “outraged at the outrage” territory.
I’ve posted a few times on your site using the name “Carol” and then I noticed there were two of us and I realized that this was a site for Democrats so I just lurked and read your most excellent articles. But today when I read the digby blog and her accusations of racism against those of us who held a different opinion about Barack Obama I realized that there was something very familiar and downright scary in the rhetoric they are using to condemn us.
It’s as if they have used the 1950s McCarthy handbook and replaced “Communist” with the word “Racist”. When I read digby’s words it reminded me of all those blacklisted and incriminated people who had no weapon to fight back with except their denial. Few could withstand the accusations and even comedian Lucille Ball was accused. Our country doesn’t need a repeat of the McCarthy era but it seems that the witch hunt has already begun. Thank you and P.U.M.A for refusing to succumb to this McCarthyesque criticism.
(I would have joined P.U.M.A but I have never been a member of any party; always an Independent and plan to stay that way so if I shouldn’t be posting here, sorry.)
Barack Obama is the racist in this equation. Everytime something is said that he does not like, the term racist is spouted and I for one am sick of it. All we heard for months was that this election would not be about race and look at where we are now. It is all about race. We cannot use the same terms for describing him as we would with any other politician, because, using these terms with him is racist. He has pulled that card one too many times. It is the same card that has stopped MSM from properly vetting him.
Never been a fan of Didby. Didby is not stupid and knows what she is doing. Turncoat-hypocrite comes to mind. Not surprised by her drivel.
I had been reading and occassionally posting at Digby
for years and considered it one of my favorite blogs.
I posted a comment mildly skeptical of Senator Obama and
all of a sudden I must be a Republican troll.
I have been a rare visitor since.
Senator Obama is presumptuous, because of his thin resume
and few accomplishments — nothing to do with the fact he is bi-racial. I have met several very charismatic people in my
life. I am sure there must be many charismatic people who work
hard but all but one (a Vietnam vet, who passed away) that I have met personally slide by on their charm and let others do the work
for them, if it gets done at all. A few have wrecked
the organizations they have been involved with. Many self-implode. Not what I want in a President.
djmm
Karol! Welcome to the group.
MyIQ — I do remember that “faux controversy” now.
I guess I’d deliberately blocked it. Or something. Registering voters? Outrageous!
Obama is (almost) everything the collective wisdom of The Confluence thinks he is. I’m voting for him anyway, because i think the other candidate is worse. While a McCain victory, or more to the point an Obama defeat, might be better for the Democratic Party in the longer term (and that’s not a sure thing, given that history is dialectical, meaning that we have no friggin’ idea what will happen down the road), i don’t really care about the party as such. The idea that the well-being of the party is worth anything vs. the well-being of the country, or of vulnerable people, is too creepily redolent of certain Dustbin of History ideologies.
Give me cyanide-laced Kool-Aid over unadulterated cyanide with a side of dog poop, any day of the proverbial week!
Rich, I think Obama would be worse for the country than he’s been for the party.
Katie- Would he be worse for the country than McCain? If you think so, then you’ve got a clear choice! And if you don’t, well, likewise
In other words, my modest hope is to get this back into a generic discussion of which candidate, of the two we actually have, would be better, less bad, however you want to put it. The thing I don’t want, not that anyone cares, is for people to vote for McCain (explicitly or implicitly, by abstention, write-in, or third-party vote) even though they think he would be worse for the country than Obama. That would be perverse.
Actually, I’m very seriously considering a vote for Nadar if Obama gets the Democratic nomination. I’m not nearly ready to vote for a Republican and I REALLY resent being forced to consider it.
They are the political equivalent of a “get out of jail free” card.
Uh oh–you said “jail.” Since more AA males are incarcerated than any other group, THAT IS A RACIST CODE WORD!
I keep saying we need a manual:
fairy tale
inexperienced
arrogant
jail
puppies (because of the popular hip hop moniker “dawg”)
We can add them as they are “explained” to us, because this list will never end I assure you.
Nader is as big a scuzzbarf as Obama, so if you want to go third party, consider the Greens–Cynthia McKinney–or the Libertarians.
The problem with going third-party or write-in, or not voting, is that it doesn’t do much to upset the balance of votes and may, in fact, help Obama. If you’ve already firmly decided that you do not want Obama to be president, you have already concluded that it would be OK for John McCain to be (not good, just OK). So really, at that point, there is no real viable choice except to vote for McCain. Because a vote for McCain means BO has to recover two votes–the one he lost from you and the one that went to McCain.
I live in a state that will probably go overwhelmingly for BO so I have the luxury of voting Green, which is probably what I will do, but if it looked close I would definitely go with McC.
Yes, I hated having to vote R, hated having to even think about it. But I took the Obama people’s advice : I got over it.
Rich in PA, fair enough, dude. I can actually understand your argument because it’s honest. A variation on hold-your-nose, but with 82% more Kool-Aid.
On the reverse, you respect those who disagree with you. You may try to persuade, but you’re making an argument of the greater good based on odds (Democrats tend to be better for regular folks than Republicans) and that’s a good argument to make.
I’d say first, Sen. Obama ain’t the nominee yet. You may treat it like a foregone conclusion, but I challenge that. And if, as you argue, a Democrat in the White House would be marginally better for a majority of people, then perhaps working hard to get the electable Democrat in place would be in your interests, yes?
Welcome to PUMA, my friend. Would you like a button?
Second, I understand your reluctance to support a Republican, but color me devil’s advocate. If (as many of Sen. Obama’s supporters believe he is doing) you believe a nominee can say whatever it takes to get elected, but will revert back to true form once winning office, couldn’t one argue that Sen. McCain is merely doing what Sen. Obama is doing?
I’m not saying you believe that, but there are lots of people making that argument about Sen. Obama. And frankly, the idea of holding anyone’s feet to the fire after their elected is mind-boggling. What are you going to do, send him a stern email? You hold a politician’s feet to the fire by refusing to vote for ‘em. Anyway…
If you believe Sen. McCain is just pandering (as Sen. Obama is), then it comes down to who you believe he’s lying to—the rightwing evangelicals whose support he needs to win his party’s nomination or people who aren’t crazy?
In which case, you could argue that Sen. McCain’s lipservice to the rightwing base is only that. He may be marginally better on a slim majority of issues (such as the environment, national security, bipartisanship, election reform, and so on) and he has a record we can examine and judge him by.
Sen. Obama not so much. We have a lot of talking, but not much working.
Given Sen. McCain’s record of bi-partisanship and given a legislature that is not favorable to him, a President McCain may actually succeed in bringing about law that marginally benefits the majority better than a Democrat with neither. (And if you want to argue SCOTUS, I pre-emptively counter with Cass Sunstein, apologist for the Bush administration and Obama legal adviser.)
As I say, I’m just the devil’s advocate here. I have concerns regarding the unitary executive and how Sen. Obama has yet to reject it—instead, voting for FISA indicates to me that he’s in favor of such a thing. In faact, many of his moves (telling people to send money to him and he’ll dole it out to non-profits), shifting the party headquarters indicate to me the exact opposite. And that worries me.
But if we’re just playing the margins, then I think your argument (Kool-Aid cyanide vs. Dog Turd cyanide) is vulnerable to an easy reversal.
hmmm…i called out Digby in the comment section of this blog months ago and got slammed by another commenter, although I was defended by Riverdaughter. I’ve been reading Digby’s blog since 2003, donated to it, and have generally been in awe of her. So I’m surprised and saddened by her blind spot when it comes to Obama. I guess the pod people got to her too. Honestly, she usually has such a clear-eyed view of things. Watching her tepid defense of Clinton and her enthusiastic defense of the Empty Suit has been one of the most depressing things about this campaign season.
Anyway, just goes to show, nobody is so awesome that they can’t be fooled. One must be ever-vigilant against the Kool-Aid.
Ohio,
Well said, thank you. I’d rather a McCain Presidency any day. Given the options of Obama and McCain my vote, and many I’ve spoken to, will go to the most qualified and the candidate that earns our respect most- That would be McCain.
Ugh. So unsettling.
Ohio- Well, before I was a Kool Aid sipper, I was a pretty virulent Hillary Clinton supporter. It continues to be the most obvious thing in the world to me that she would a much better president than Obama. If I thought that she had any kind of path to being the nominee this year, I would still be supporting her. But I don’t see any path, and *she* doesn’t see any path unless she’s holding back on us, so that’s what gets me to the Obama vs. McCain comparison.
I never dug digby. What a strained and neurotic connection between presumptuous and racial slur.
Very tiresome. Presumptuous is a very clever and apt extension of presumptive of which the twit joyfully proclaims himself. I guess in the world according to the this digby person, no white, asian, hispanic, native american or anyone else has ever been presumptuous. Barack might be half black (who cares) but he’s 100% arrogant, annoying, pretentious and presumptuous.
As for McCain being a nuclear option… I think Barack is much more inclined to flex his tiny muscles over that button than McCain is and therefore if Hillary isn’t our nominee then I am voting McCain. The never ending boring “choosing between the lesser of two evils” that marks our Presidential elections year after year after year.
Hi Rich in PA! Good to see you. It’s been a while.
Many of us are trying to get Hillary on the ballot for the convention as a short term goal. I personally don’t see that happening, but I’m still fighting for it in the small ways I am able. This is a battle I fully expect to lose – but I am big on fighting losing battles (just ask my parents – or my husband – they all agree)
I will worry about how to resolve November based on August. Leaning McCain – but you’ve been here before, so you might already know that.
Include Heather Parton on the list of bloggers who are dumber than dirt.
I very seldom read her blog anyway.
I took all of the posts critical of Senator Clinton off of my blog. I wonder what the PUMA group is setting out to achieve other than a negative “you can’t have my vote” stance. What would allow a candidate to get your vote? Are you satisfied to see the whole of the Democratic Party’s platform be lost should McCain win? This is a platform of ideas, positions and potential legislation which you and Senator Clinton believed in at one time.
If you think that having McCain as President is acceptable, what Senators and Representatives to the US House are you working toward seeing elected this year?
[...] Who Kidnapped Digby? (by myiq2xu at The Confluence, cross-posted at Klownhaus) [...]
I thought Digby was a guy too. She’s so oblivious to sexism she might as well be a guy. (And this goes back to way before this election.).