Is this Presidential behavior?
Thanks to Shainzona & Ghost2. I guess it’s Movie Night.
Riverdaughter donated a link to a longer version of Obama’s crude behavior that proves it wasn’t just an accident:
Here’s a more complete video of the *two* gestures . No only were they insulting and offensive but considering the subject he is talking about they were hypocritical.
You know, the small town insult was one thing, the Archie Bunker comments just showed how ignorant he was and I can even handle Reverend Wright, But the gestures towards a sitting Senator and former first lady, just because you were bested by her? Unacceptable. At some point the behavior crosses the line into something that just damages the whole process. He is hurting his party at this point. There’s a huge difference between mockery and disrespect.
Filed under: Barack Obama, snark |
The Confluence 
He did another nasty gesture about 30 seconds later. There was no ambiguity with it.
I could replace the video with that one if it would make it more clear — although I thought it was plenty clear….
Or we could add it below the fold.
I am truly disgusted. This is how I have ALWAYS given the finger to associates behind their back AND everyone – EVERYONE – knew what I was doing.
This is unbefitting a POTUS candidate – from any party.
Fuck Barack Obama. I WILL VOTE FOR HILLARY NO MATTER WHAT – BUT never – NEVER for Barack Obama.
Thats why I am Indy now. I will never ever vote for that guy.
Here’s a more complete video of the *two* gestures . No only were they insulting and offensive but considering the subject he is talking about they were hypocritical.
You know, the small town insult was one thing, the Archie Bunker comments just showed how ignorant he was and I can even handle Reverend Wright, But the gestures towards a sitting Senator and former first lady, just because you were bested by her? Unacceptable. At some point the behavior crosses the line into something that just damages the whole process. He is hurting his party at this point. There’s a huge difference between mockery and disrespect.
Watch this CBS video. The camera angle is even more clear.
Watch the woman in red shirt at the far left (our view). The comment comes around 0:32. Look at her mouth ‘oh’, and then she seems to explain to her neighbor by mouthing two words, and they are laughing as if they are on the joke.
sorry, forgot the link:
CBS Video
Actually, it looks like more than two hand gestures. It looks like several nasty little “digs”. Despicable. How am I supposed to vote for this man?
ghost2–you are right, and the women to Obama’s left go from listening to laughing at the exact moment that Obama gets an itch. Seems odd to me.
Forget that this is a former First Lady , a sitting Senator and a candidate for the office of POTUS – she said last night that he can beat JMc AND that she will support him and this is how he treats her the very next day.
BTW, what does that hand flicking off the shoulder gesture mean? I’m a WASPy-MIC. We don’t speak with our hands.
OK, gentlewomen, I just wrote to the DNC, Senator Dodd and Congressman Larson, who represent me and who have endorsed Obama, and I gave them the link to the video of Obama giving Hillary the finger. I said it was degrading to the Democratic Party to have a nominee who would behave like that, and I expected them to withdraw their endorsements, because I believe them to be decent men. (We’ll see.) I urge everyone to write to your senators and representatives about this. Obama did this publicly. It is humiliating to the Party. Obama should be made to withdraw from the race. If he isn’t, I just can’t stay in it.
He is disgusting. I couldn’t watch the whole thing. He’s every bit as obnoxious as George W. Bush. Please don’t tell me we are going to have to put up with this crap for four years. If the Democrats nominate Obama, I will no longer be a Democrat. I’ve never felt that strongly about it before, but I mean it.
Sha: see, this is the part I don’t get. There is a lot I would do if Hillary asked me to but I was also given free will and I’m afraid I just don’t think I can do it. I mean, literally, I don’t think my mind will let my hand push that button for him. I am faced with the very real possibility of leaving the top spot blank or just not going at all. The only thing I can console myself with is that somehow the Dems retain Congress and McCain is a one term weakling. But even this is unlikely if it turns out that Obama manages to suppress the votes for the downticket party members.
Is he working for the Republicans?
riverdaughter,
I don’t know what the brushing the shoulders means, but it looked like brushing off dandruff or something. But what was the gesture he made where he reached down? The crowd reacted to that one too. Honestly, this man really thinks he is cool or something. But he’s just a sexist creep.
actually, i think it is funny. He got his ass kicked and thinks that this little bird flip makes up for it.
The finger brush on the shoulders means to brush it off.
Who scratches their cheek with their middle finger?
RD– I may be off here, but it looked like Obama was getting bird poop off of his shoulder. Then he acted he stepped in something. He must be a wonderful role model for the girls, and here I thought Michelle was the loose-cannon. PS maybe the shoulder thing just means that he needs to stop wearing black and get Head and Shoulders.
Are we really this close to electing another immature buffoon to the presidency? Mister keeps reminding me that people actually re-elected Bush (even after Iraq) — maybe we’re fighting a hopeless battle?
I think the lower gesture was him pretending to twist a knife into his side (meaning he says she did that to him).
Maybe Hillary needs to show the world how it looks to be stabbed in the back because she certainly has been.
The day after she says that she’s sure he can win in November, he says “she twisted the knife a little bit.” What a jerk.
Over at Matt Yglesias’ Blog, we find this comment:
Yeah, this works no matter what. For me, a middle aged, severely un-cool white woman, who was utterly clueless about the Jay-Z reference it worked great as simply “brushing the dirt off my shoulders” (and then did he bend down to mimic scraping dog poop off his shoes? or was he just brushing off his pants leg??)
I also love the huge (genuine not forced) smiles and interaction with this wonderfully feisty audience! This guy will make such a fantastic president, I can’t wait.
Posted by Ruth | April 17, 2008 5:53 PM
No, RUTH, that was not the gesture of a feisty, fantastic future president. That was the mark of a fucking coward. If he’s so damn wonderful why doesn’t he do that to her face? Yeah, at the next debate, she can forgo the “I’m so proud to be here on stage with Barack” part and he can brush her off his shoulder like bird droppings and off his shoes like dog turds. Ohhh, I forgot, he doesn;t want to do anymore debates. I can’t say I blame him. He was much better in the first 45 minutes of last night’s debate. The HARD part is where he sucked. She kicked his ass last night. No wonder he prefers to fight her at a distance.
Yeah, let’s see the BMOC do that to her in person. If it were me, I’d kick him in the nuts. But she has too much dignity to sink to his level.
God! We have to *live* with Ruths.
RD, could that be sarcasm? “Ruth” sounds phony & doesn’t ring true…
Oh . now Obama & Kerry are going to butt in on Cobert tonight … with Hillary ..
“Update: I just got an e-mail from the Colbert Report. John Edwards and Barack Obama will also make appearances on the show. Edwards will be in person and Obama will appear by satellite.”
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/4/17/20461/0384
cute .
Rivedaughter: I live in Arizona (go TusconLynn!) so I can write in Hillary – because BO can’t win here.
BUT, if I lived anywhere else, I would leave the top spot blank. Absolutely.
Hey, can you capture the still of Obama flipping Hillary off with the picture of Bush flipping someone off that has been all over the web? It would make a great side-by-side statement.
I love you all! You are my sanity!
oh nos … it’s worse .. it’s John Edwards .. not Kerry ..
No, Kbird, I fear she is the genuine article.
I’m having this visceral reaction, which I’m trying to tamp down, but…I’m feeling sick to my stomach, I can’t believe he did this in public (I can understand venting with staff or friends)
What was he thinking? And this is not the first time he’s gone from a debate where she made some gracious gestures and then did something very negative to or about her.
I can imagine he doesn’t give a rip what I or any of her supporters feel or how it affects us, but there are many people in this country who are far, far, far more socially conservative than I am, who value simple courtesies and gestures of respect, and these people will see this the way we look at McCain calling his wife the four-letter c-word in public. But that was only related as an anecdote by reporters who saw it—no visuals–this is on tape for all to see.
Good grief! What have we done to deserve this?
Anyone think this will not be promulgated by rightwad 527’s? By Rush and his ilk?
I cannot believe he did this.
I cannot believe he behaved with such immaturity.
I’m not sure I can deal with the negative feelings this is causing in toward him. I will try to be rational, realistic.
But, right now, the rational thing is that he is unfit for high office.
WHAT A JERK.
Want to feel better?
Go to SUSA matchups out today. State matchups with McCain/Clinton, McCain/Obama.
Also, Republican internals show Obama is easily beatable.
Bewlieve me, they are laying low, because NO WAY do they want her to fight.
I wonder What Obama Really Meant…
Riverdaughter and Katiebird,
I seriously suggest you watch the CBS video I think above and look around 0:30 for the woman’s reaction. There is clearly the word “oh” mouthed, and then she explains it to her neighbor, who didn’t seem to clue in as what was happening.
Oh, and those scary simlarities to BushBoy?
Here’s another one.
I’m gobsmacked.
gqm: LOL! It was probably a reaction to his dandruff shampoo.
okay – I can see I am out of tune tonight here so I will make this my last comment
I thought he was just trying to cover for making such a mess last night. He has to blame her – he is embarrassed that he sucked so bad. He lives and breathes by his cool guy image and she dented that pretty badly simply by knowing her stuff.
I thought it made him look kinda weenie-ish and I laugh at it for what it is.
Have a nice night everybody. See you after PA.
gqmartinez, 🙂
(steaming) I had hopes that I was over reacting. But I just showed it to my 31 year old son and he was pretty shocked.
Which says something. Like, maybe most of us expect more from our president…. He (my son) said it seemed like something Bush would do — and he wasn’t home when I said it!
WRITE TO YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS. CALL THEM UP.
Seriously, the way to fight back is to publicly embarrass them if they support him.
Earl Butz had to resign from being Nixon’s Sec’y of Agriculture b/c he made a joke about the Pope and birth control, but now it’s OK to give the former first lady, a senator and a presidential candidate the finger!
I will ghost (I promise), but we’ve got a lot going on around here right now and I can’t play it yet…
“I thought he was just trying to cover for making such a mess last night. He has to blame her – he is embarrassed that he sucked so bad. He lives and breathes by his cool guy image and she dented that pretty badly simply by knowing her stuff.”
Judith — On the motivation I think you might be right. But I just don’t think it’s presidential. And I also think it adds to the Laughing At pattern from the San Francisco event.
That periodically when he’s down, he laughs at people.
And I think that while it’s understandable, it’s also immature in a presidential candidate.
ghost2: are you suggesting that the woman in the red sweater is a plant?
Watched the CBS video at 9:59–the woman in the pink top clearly gets the gesture, explains it to the woman to our right, and both laugh/gasp sort ot.
It’s also clear other people haven’t seen the gesture (as opposed to the brushing off the dandruff or bird droppings0–and some folks don’t look that pleased….
OMG–he’s calling her pieces of shit.
I do not like this man.
I have urged restraint up to now.
No longer. Obama is giving US the finger.
If he’s the nominee, I’ll vote for McCain. If McCain’s VP choice isn’t too scary, I may do more than that. And the same goes for Democrats down ballot who hang with Obama.
If I can’t write in Hillary, I’ll skip voting for the top spot if BHO is the nominee. I live in the heart of BO country. And have neighbors who now think of me as “racist” because I support Hillary. This is CRAZY.
And if I were to show them these videos, they would say that I’M making something out of nothing. If Hillary did anything like that, they’d be aver me like flies on whatever-flies-land-on.
BHO will never get my vote — not even in 2016. It would be like voting for GWB or Nixon.
This man is a disgrace to himself and the party. I guess we can take solace in that this behavior means he must be on his way out.
Sorry Judith. He just looks like coward. He got beat by her but he waited til she wasn’t around so he could talk about her and make fun of her with his friends. Yeah, get into friendly territory and act like a total asshole. Denigrate her like she’s bird poop. Real nice guy.
Think it over, Judith. Is that the kind of behavior you want to see in your president? That he’s acting like one of those mean girls in a Heather type click?
Nooooo!, ronk. We do not vote for Republicans. It’s bad karma. We voted for Bush and got 9/11. Then we did it again and got katrina. It’s bad, bad, bad. Obama will just have to make do with his base. McCain isn’t that popular either. Obama will have to win without our help but I won’t vote for McCain. It’s baaaaad.
Lambert’s posted a couple of versions at Corrente. I think they’re the same as these (I wish I knew how to embed Riverdaughter’s link) but maybe not.
Also, he’s got great comments too.
Obama is a Mean Girl/Heather. That’s got to be a post.
And, now, for the reverse visualization exercise:
Hillary is at a rally and she’s knocking Obama about something he said, and casually brings her hand up to her face with the middle finger extended and pretends to scratch or brush away something on her cheek. She smirks slightly. Some rally attendees seated on the stage clearly get what gesture she has made.
Then, continuing her criticisms of Obama, she says it should just be brushed off, and goes through pantomiming brushing dandruff or something off her shoulder, then brushing or shaking something off the sole of her shoe……
Anyone want to 1) guess how the MCMers react, 2) guess how the left blogosphere reacts, 3) guess how the rightwing/RNC/Repubs respond, and 4) guess how the Democratic Party elders and wise folk respond. Toss in McCain’s tut-tutting. I’m guessing he’ll meniton it in passing, altho’ he may lay low until the general, if Obama is the nominee.
How long before this little gag gesture results in a howling mob screaming for tar and feathering the…candidate?
There is video from slightly different angles.
jawbone — I would have said before today that the whole scenario is completely unreal. People who want to be President enjoy acting Presidential.
Usually.
Hillary can’t do it. Bill can’t do it. Jimmy can’t do it. Presidents can’t do stuff like that.
Let the howling begin.
hey RD – was on the phone and kept the pc on – dont be sorry – I am just out of tune.
but think over what? i already think he is a dick so I cant be suprised. And sometimes laughing at people is the best thing to do anyway – he cant touch her with this stuff. what undecided is going to be on his side when he admits she won.
Now let me know if he sticks his finger up his *ss and twirls around. THAT would be wirth seeing. 🙂
enjoy y’all – I appreciate how hard you are pulling for Clinton. I feel pretty good about PA so let’s see what PA and Indiana have to say about it all!
Judith: Thanks for that image. I have to go bleach my brain. Too funny. 😉
In a word — CRASS.
Pam: Thank You. That just about sums it up. Crass. And cowardly.
rd — Half-measures are bad karma. (And don’t tell me about karma … I’ve been hangin’ with HHDL all week.)
Tomorrow night I’ll be drinking in a very small group including at least one SD, and (OT though it will be) I will make this a point of discussion.
Riverdaughter,
No, I don’t think she is a plant. But if you look at her reaction (in the CBS video when the camera angle is really good and the gester is really clear, you can see that the index finger is bent down), she sort of gasps, and clearly mouths “oh” (as in “Oh, I can’t believe he did that”) and laughs. Her neighbor turns around, a bit inquisitive, and notice the woman in red (right behind Obama’s right shoulder, our left) mouths a couple of words of explanation and they both laugh.
RD,
you have to watch the CBS version to get the gesture and the woman in the back clearly.
I wanted to update the post to say “I spit on him”
But I couldn’t make myself do it. I guess I’ve got too much class.
In the corrente and your second version, look at the girl right behind him on his left (right in our view) in the middle row. Look at her facial reaction as soon as he does the gester. It’s unmistakable.
Note, at the same video at about 3:10 mark, that’s what says:
I bet you Rove and Bush are watching with admiration.
I thought after Bush that we could not go any lower. I was wrong.
ghost, is there such a thing as Snorting Out Loud?
ghost ~
How did you make it to the 3:10 ?
Frankly, the whole thing so sickened me, that I just turned it off. I am tired of misogyny and the falseness of BHO. I cannot tolerate him and I don’t think it’ll get any easier.
Disturbing. A very aggressive gesture, if you think about it. He wants Hillary Clinton intimidated, out of his way.
I never thought I’d see this in my party of 30 years. He gets my damn vote when hell freezes over.
After viewing this video I have only one thing to say to His Highness: Back at ya!!!
James Carville summed it up best: there are some in the party who think they can win w/o working class whites. By his action, he is telling us, they don’t need our votes so why give it to him.
Edgar08 at TalkLeft posted this link. It must be what gave me the idea that this was a Bush Move
…if he is elected president who will they hate? Not Republicans since they will play nice with them. That only leaves us.
OK look – I taught in the public schools for 35 years.
MAKE NO MISTAKE – I know when someone is giving the finger. I know all the tricks.
This is so “high school” and wiseass teenage boy….oh yeah the teacher won’t know what I’m doing, I can always deny, aren’t I both cool and smart, heh, heh, heh, they’ll never know
right – just before I give your sorry ass detention, call your parents, and send yuou to the principal Barack honey
I’m so tired of this alternate reality we’re forced to exist in where up is down, right is left, and the truth is a damn lie. He fucked himself over last night and he’s blasting Hillary for it. Beyond pathetic. This man has issues. Period.
I am certain the best he could possibly do in the GE is to avoid a landslide. This is especially true since he’s smeared the Clintons beyond recognition, neutering their ability to whup up support come November. The only silver lining is that I don’t have to worry what he (and his Messiah complex) would do with all that post-Bush executive/imperial power and I’ll be able to enjoy the hysterical shrieks of despair from his fans.
I am going to hold out hope until the results come back from PA and IN.
Oh, and just a quick add to my previous comment: I’m well aware how terrible McCain would be with all that executive/imperial power.
[…] More coverage and longer clips at No Quarter, Corrente, and Riverdaughter. […]
Kind of puts that 99 Problems But a Bitch Ain’t One flap in a new light. He loves the little coded misogynist messages to his fan boys.
it looks like he flipped her off in 2 different venues on the same day – here is the video from the LA Times:
LA Times blog video
the phrase timing is slightly different and the audience in the background is different from the CBS video.
twice is not just an itchy nose.
Hillary should give a speech where she mentions Obama while simultaneously holding up her hand with the thumb and forefinger about 1/2 inch apart.
Just by coincidence, of course.
OldCoastie is right.
The same gesture in the same place in the same remarks: “Senator Clinton looked in her element.”
But two different appearances.
Unbefuckinglievable.
Is it no wonder his die hard fans are immature college students? I have guy friends who think this kind of stuff is cool. I ran into a guy friend (white male, educated, mid-20s – typical Obamabot) at the library who said he is voting for Obama because it is “cool” to have a black man in the White House and he could “get a lot of ass” because the women love him. I’m sure my friend will get a kick out of Obama’s latest stunt.
Another Obamabot friend (white male, educated, 20s) have made casual comments around me like “My future wife doesn’t have to live with me. All she needs to do is breed and visit once every week to do the laundry”.
Another guy who is a Republican and will vote for McCain told me that he still thinks Obama is so much cooler than Clinton (the anal bitch) and that he would vote for Obama before Clinton (because of that reason).
Yea, this is Obama’s key demographic. Immature boys (not men) laugh when other guys do this kind of shit to women and make snarky remarks. Obama will score points with his college aged crowd but this is going to lose him even more Clinton supporters if he is the nominee. I was so pissed when I saw that video. This will probably be the last straw for many Clinton supporters. They will vote for McCain or stay home if Obama is the nominee and he’ll only have himself to blame for that.
I wish all of us Hillary sisters could meet someday when this is over. I feel closer to my feminist self than I have since my Womens Action Coalition days.
Sigh…now I’m a stay at home mother.
Riverdaughter…I’m not voting for him. I can’t for me,even if Hillary asks me to. And I don’t want my son to grow up like these sexist “progressive” Daily Kos types that have destroyed my democratic party. So, I’ll take him into the booth with me and show him Mommy writing in Hillary.
Commenter over at TL found second rally, but with black crowd–same words, same pause, same gesture, but with even more vocal crowd reaction.
Not only did he give the FU gesture about a fellow senator, but he definitely planned to do so. (Wonder if he practiced it in the mirror, getting all his anger out about the debate. )
Busted, Barry! But good.
Defiitively flipped Hilary the bird.
The BIrd Man of Obamaland.
CURSES! I thought we had him on 2 different events today flipping the bird! but between the camera angle and the video quality we wuz fooled! drat!
but THAT would have been very funny!
riverdaughter, remember whe we were doing pre-post debate analysis. Could you have imagined these would be WaPo’s headlines today?
Obama Looks to Turn Debate Into a Victory
‘Elitist’: The Rarefied Term That’s a Low Blow
’60s Radical Considered Mainstream in Chicago
This is it: the last straw. I don’t care if Howard Dean personally begged me to vote for Barack, it ain’t gonna happen. Unity my ass. Did he, a forty-plus year old grown man think that was cute?
If he is the nominee I’ll either write in Hillary, vote for McCain or Nader or whoever else is on the ballot.
Speaking of writing in…check this website to see if write-ins are allowed in your state: writehillaryin.com
Correction:
On closer examination, it seems the two videos which seemed to be of different rallies are of the same rally. Different camera angles and different colors due to the camera or something. Some of the same people are in the background, from different angles and partial views of some heads. But do seem to be the same crowd.
So, not definitively busted, our Barry.
There’s a freeze frame from the CBS video here: http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2008/04/17/did-obama-give-hillary-the-finger-today/
It’s unmistakable.
[…] More coverage by Lambert and Riverdaughter. […]
I’m in agreement with you on many things,but I don’t see it.
It is well known that he is a no-class phony.The sad thing to me is the dumb women who think it is funny. What does that say about them? I received a joke email entitled THEY WALK AMONG US about all the stupid things people do. All i can say about Obama supporters is THEY WALK AMONG US.
It’s been hard for me to get a fix on him. There are so many contradictory elements in his background and message. But this gives a glimpse into his soul. He takes a sly pleasure in putting things over on people. He gives her the finger in front of a large audience, they understand what he means but he has deniability. Makes one wonder what else he is putting over on us.
He thinks he can get away with anything. Look at him smirk as the crowd boos when he says “Clinton”. He is so slimy.
Classy. I guess he’s ready for the summit with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putie, president for life. They can gaze into each other’s souls. Quick, someone bring garlic and a crucifix!
I just wrote to Howard Dean. This man is not fit to represent the Democratic Party. I thought I couldn’t get any more disgusted with him, but this is sickening. How could any superdelegate support this man for the nomination. I’m ashamed of my party today.
I am increasingly wondering whether and how much Obama knows he is working for the Republicans.
He uses Hillary Hatred to fire up the troups. He’s a student of Alinksy (“Rules for Radicals.”)
Don’t remember much about Alinsky, but “rubbing the wounds raw” is one of Alinksy’s tactics. In Obama’s case, that means “poking the zit..”
All this week, I’ve devoted my prayers to the election. One of things I asked of God was that everything be laid bare, so that we can see the truth behind the words. So far, my prayers have been answered.
I kind of felt that if he was pushed hard enough (thanks George and Charlie), the public face would drop, and we’d get to see the real man.
What you all need is to get hip to Jay-Z, whose video explains what the shoulder brushoff means.
Obama supporters are delighted that Obama is a Jay-Z fan and posting/sharing Jay’s other cool election-pertinent songs at The Atlantic. You know, like:
Now once upon a time not too long ago,
A n**** like myself had to strong arm a ho.
This is not a ho in the sense of havin’ a p***y,
But a p****y havin’ no God Damn sense, try and push me.
…
Got beef with radio if I don’t play they show,
They don’t play my hits well I don’t give a sh*t SO.
Rap mags try and use my black ass,
So advertisers can give ’em more cash for ads…f**kers.
I’m from rags to riches ni*** I ain’t dumb,
I got 99 problems but a b*tch ain’t one.
Hit me.
[Chorus]
99 Problems but a b*tch ain’t one.
If you having girl problems I feel bad for you son,
I got 99 problems but a b*tch ain’t one.
Check it out!
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/04/dirt_off_your_shoulder.php
Obama’s behavior is much better than Hillary’s. He is not acting like GW Bush with the ethics of Bill Clinton.
She’s a class act!
Sorry, but reading this into a guy giving a speech being videotaped who’s scratching his cheek ? You folks are nuts.
Bitter much ?
Madmong apparrently still heavy on the kool-aid. He’s exactly like GW Bush. He’s arrogant and he smirks all the time. As for his ethics, he’s a Chicago pol. His BFF who helped by his home is on federal trial for political fixing.
Overreact, much?
My father actually points with his middle finger. I have never seen someone go, “OH MY GOD WHAT AN ASSHOLE!” Then again, my father isn’t running for president.
Unless someone is brandishing the finger full frontal or people are grasping for straws, there is no way you can call it offensive. You’re an idiot.
panda: Go look at the video on The Swamp, visit Matt Yglesias’s post and them come back when you’ve come to your senses.
We’re not overreacting. We’re calling the party over.
Then why did the crowd react to that? Without the hand gesture, it doesn’t make sense.
panda: Watch your mouth when speaking to rd. There’s a bar of soap waiting for you, kid. Do you speak to your “father” this way?
panda – you need a new posting name. I know pandas and You sir are no panda!
Good luck trying to get your man elected without half of the Dem Party, panda. Somehow I doubt you’ll be over acting conciliatory when you realize you guys shouldn’t have been so rotten to everybody starting to day Obama got into the race.
panda clearly personifies “the audacity of hope”. 😉
In the spirit of American politics and debate, and to prevent group-think, I have to say:
Your post suggests that his behavior in this video is less than Presidential. However, if you listen to the context of the entire video, and not just the snippet that you have posted, you can see that Obama is clearly attempting to redefine what it is that the words Politician and President mean.
I have a more contextual video posted here:
A True Politician
May the best representative of the peopl win.
Wow. This just looks like a mindless gesture. I had a professor who did this on occasion, and was quite unawares. Maybe people are reading, oh, way too much into this?
[…] Obama just can’t stop himself […]
Jocko: Hey, he could have made his point without the gestures. He might have gotten some sympathy from us. (not that we didn’t warn the Dems after the first Philly debate that there was a bad precedent being set but did they listen? Nooooo)
I think it is time to accept the fact that the gestures (plural) were intentional and were delivered in front of a friendly crowd in order to rally his base after a humiliating debate where he was clearly unprepared on policy.
But thanks for being so polite, Jocko. We truly do appreciate it.
“they are laughing as if they are on the joke.”
That is probably the most shameful part of the whole video.
Go ahead, post this-
madmonq:
Don’t you have anything substantial to say? What is Obama going to do about Global Warming? Clinton plans to shift the economy onto green jobs, revive a falling construction market and clean up the environment. I hear Obama wants to switch to ethanol, which requires 7 barrels of oil, to get 8 barrels of ethanol, and is no cleaner than oil based gasoline.
Has Obama even mentioned the fact that the Chinese are now manufacturing key parts of our defense infrastructure?
Does he have any policy proposal that is nothing more than a watered down Clinton policy, in an attempt to compromise who’s greatest wish is to destroy any progress from a future Democratic administration.
The fact is, Clinton has demonstrated that she wants to go to the White House and go to work while Obama wants to play politics.
And there is a substantial difference.
And Pete, I won’t even go into the tortured identity politics that has brought you to support the man who used his opportunity to lead, to instead guide his supporters into a crusade against women. Surprise how many have decided to emulate the Precious.
He’s replaying having done it the day before. The fact that the woman behind him gets it right away is evidence that his audience is in on it.
He’s lost me, and I’m “creative class” .
I’m sending this video and my complaint to the supers, heres the list at
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/primaries/superdelegates/search.php
and you should too.
Hey, madmong, if it weren’t for the irrational, Obama wouldn’t have a campaign.
Skippy: LOL! Thanks for that. If only it weren’t true. *sigh*
madmong: Nope, not hysterical. Hysterical would be if *MY* candidate had done something this stupid 5 days before a do or die primary. I’d be freaking out big time.
No, I’m not hysterical, I’m *disgusted*. Big difference. But not something I worry about too much. Not my problem, It’s yours and Barry’s.
My god, I thought this was overblown until I actually watched the video. He did do it on purpose, didn’t he? Pig.
PS: Was that the Church Lady in the background? His crowds are getting scarier and scarier looking.
i left both my senators emails requesting that mr. obama’s fu sign to hillary be addressed in the open senate and rebuke for such conduct.
i hope the rest of you will follow suit.
People, Senator Obama flipped off Senator Clinton last Thursday.
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?
The media has fallen down big-time on this disgusting behavior on Senator Obama’s part. Since when is “flipping off” your opponent acceptable political discourse? I have been writing all Democratic members of Congress asking them to disavow Senator Finger and support Senator Clinton.
Throughout this primary season, I have seen widespread misogyny on the part of the public and especially the media. Recall Senator Finger’s pointed use of “she” at the debates when referring to Senator Clinton even though she is sitting right next to him.
Women, are we going to take this? We can do something about this. Contact Congress.org and email Democratic members. Contact Howard Dean at http://www.democrats.org/page/petition/chairman.
Ladies, the time is now and the last big state is Pennsylvania. We can do it.
Also, log onto http://www.hillaryclinton.com, contribute, even 10 dollars would be tremendous. And, volunteer to call for Hillary, especially in PA. There is an application that lets you help with phone calls to primary voters and it is free!!
[…] he can’t control himself. Is this unifying […]
[…] Obama giving Hillary Clinton the finger? You can see the offending moment here. CBS News offers a longer and clearer video, but you have to watch a commercial first. On the CBS […]
You people are nuts!
You are really making things up.
Hmmm? Did you say something, Don?
[…] The Confluence, “Obama just can’t stop himself” […]