The WORM (What Obama Really Meant) Re-Turns

Even the most articulate and well-intentioned make gaffes. With a H/T to Laurie Marsen, the following comments were gathered from letters written to councils in the U.K. (Councils provide subsidized housing.)

1.. It’s the dogs’ mess that I find hard to swallow

2.. I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off.

3.. I wish to complain that my father burnt his ankle very badly when he put his foot in the hole in his back passage..

4.. And their 18 year old son is continually banging his balls against my fence.

5.. I wish to report that tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was bad wind the other day that blew them off.

6..My lavatory seat is cracked, where do I stand?

7.. I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall.

8.. Will you please send someone to mend the garden path. My wife tripped and fell on it yesterday and now she is pregnant.

9.. I request permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen.

10.. 50% of the walls are damp, 50% have crumbling plaster, and 50% are Plain filthy.

11.. I am still having problems with smoke in my new drawers.

12.. The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is Cleared.

13..Will you please send a man to look at my water, it is a funny colour and Not fit to drink.

14..Our lavatory seat is broken in half and now is in three pieces.

15..I want to complain about the farmer across the road. Every morning at 6am his cock wakes me up and it’s now getting too much for me.

16..The man next door has a large erection in the back garden, which is Unsightly and dangerous.

17..Our kitchen floor is damp. We have two children and would like a third So please send someone round to do something about it.

18..I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man on top of me every night..

19..Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job and satisfy my wife.

20.. I have had the clerk of works down on the floor six times but I still have no satisfaction.

21. This is to let you know that our lavatory seat is broke and we can’t get BBC2.

22.. My bush is really overgrown round the front and my back passage has fungus growing in it.

23..He’s got this huge tool that vibrates the whole house and I just can’t take it anymore.

 

Other times, less-than-well-intentioned people make gaffes from which they and their confreres spin like dervishes to try to avoid being tangled in their contradictions, lies, or bad conduct. Often they are caught in the absurdity of their act.

For example, Obama made much of the fact that he made a speech against going to war in Iraq in 2002, whereas in 2004 he said he did not know how he would have voted on going to war, had he been in the US Senate.  He also said:

“On Iraq, on paper, there’s not as much difference, I think, between the Bush administration and a Kerry administration as there would have been a year ago. There’s not that much difference between my position and George Bush’s position at this stage. The difference, in my mind, is who’s in a position to execute.”

Clearly, the events of 2004 nullified the force of his speech in 2002.  Nonetheless, Obama knowingly propagated the ridiculous claim that he had always been against the war.  When confronted in the press that his claim about always being against the war was not true (i.e. it was a lie) because of what he said in 2004,  as with Russert as linked above, he slithered about the issue saying it would have been impolitic of him to critique the front-runners.  In other words, when he was quoted in 2004, he was lying for political gain.  In other words, “I’m not lying lying now.  I was lying then.”

Please share the WORM moment, outright contradiction, or Obama apologetic that you find the most laughably absurd.  If it brings laughter at his expense, so much the better.

This is why we can’t get over it

Over at Booman Tribune in his review of Eric Boehlert’s Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press,  Booman includes this revision of reality:

There were six weeks between the Mississippi and Pennsylvania primaries during which the Jeremiah Wright saga unfolded with frightening force. The assault on the culture of the urban black church was so severe that friends of that culture were put under the utmost stress and pressure. It was in this context that Obama supporters, who knew Obama had already secured the nomination short of disqualification, turned savagely against all signs of racial coding from the Clinton campaign. The race issue had simmered prior to that with occasional nasty flare-ups (see Bob Kerrey, Bill Sheehan, Bill Clinton and Bob Johnson in South Carolina). But it was only in the full glare of the Wright drama, with the full knowledge that our candidate had it wrapped up, that Obama-supporting bloggers lost all patience and turned on Clinton (and some of her supporters) with fury.

Oh really Booman? Only then?

Then how do you explain the founding of The Confluence as a refuge months earlier? Were we just imagining the fury of Obama supporters back in December 2007 thru February 2008?  Boehlert himself says “all hell broke loose” in Left Blogistan right after Edwards dropped out in mid-January.

I guess Booman missed the fact that HILLARY WON THE POPULAR VOTE. She also would have had the lead in pledged delegates if Florida and Michigan had been counted properly.  Booman must have been watching too much MSNBC.

If Booman had been paying attention he would have realized that the controversy over Rev. Wright originated at FOX News and consisted primarily of them playing clips of Wright’s sermons over and over.  The wingnut blogs were having a field day but other than No Quarter the pro-Hillary blogs were very circumspect in their handling of the story.  In mid-March Obama gave his “Greatest Speech on Race EVAH” where he defended Wright but denied ever hearing those sermons, but then a few weeks later Obama denounced Wright and threw him under the bus.

I’ll be charitable and assume that Booman’s recollection is faulty due to excess use of Kool-aid.  Otherwise I would have to say he is either lying or delusional.

BTW – Playing the “race card” was a pre-planned strategy of the Obama campaign.  There was no attempt by Hillary or her campaign to exploit racial divisions.

The Low Road 2008

In terms of political beliefs and ideals last year was the most trumatic of my life.  It pales in comparison to 2000 when the will of the people was thwarted and George W. Bush was selected over Al Gore by a 5-4 vote of the Supreme Court.  2008 was divisive, vile and nasty and was a nightmare that seemed like it would never end.  Here are what I think were the ten worst events of the ugliest presidential primary campaign in modern history:

10)  The “3am ad” fauxrage – Hillary ran an ad questioning Obama’s experience as a leader.  Obamanation reacted with allegations of racism and party treason.  The 30 second ad showing sleeping children was even compared to the racist movie epic “Birth of a Nation.”  Really –  I shit you not – in the NYT’s no less.

9)  The “Muslim Garb” fauxrage – A picture turned up of Obama getting dressed in traditional Muslim clothing during an earlier trip to Somalia.  Hillary’s campaign was falsely accused of being responsible for distributing it.  Obamanation alleged that distributing a photo that he had willingly posed for was racist because it made him look like he had Muslim roots. The allegations originated from online tabloid scandalmonger Matt Drudge, who was reborn as a progressive hero and paragon of honest news reporting.

8)  The NAFTA fauxrage – An Obama advisor (Austen Goolsbee) told the Canadian government that they should ignore Obama’s NAFTA rhetoric during the Ohio campaign because he was just lying to get elected.  The Obama campaign denied the story, then claimed it was a Hillary advisor instead, and then admitted the story but blamed Hillary anyway.  It later turned out Obama really was just lying to get elected.

7)  The “not as far as I know” fauxrage – Hillary was interviewed by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes and was asked several times if she thought Obama was a Muslim.  After repeatedly denying that she thought Obama was a Muslim she finally qualified her answer with “not as far as I know.”  Obamanation went postal and claimed that by repeatedly denying the allegation she was implying that Obama was indeed a Muslim.

6)  The “darkened video” smear – Obamanation (led by the head cheeto himself) claimed Hillary had intentionally darkened Obama’s image in one of her ads to make him look “more” African American.  It turned out that the darkening was due to the video being compressed when a copy was uploaded to YouTube.  When the truth was revealed, Markos pulled an Emily Litella (“Nevermind“) and never mentioned the subject again, not even to apologize.  (Later on he would exercise his powers as self-appointed Democratic Party membership chairman and declare that Hillary was no longer a Democrat.)

5)  The “ding-dong the bitch is dead” media celebration – Following the Iowa caucuses the media (especially at MSNBC) gleefully declared that Hillary’s campaign for the nomination was over and even questioned whether her political career was finished.  Their over-the-top behavior spawned a backlash that was dubbed “the Tweety effect” after the nickname of Chris Matthews.  The media spent the rest of the campaign fluffing Obama and presenting him as the “inevitible” winner.  (WWTSBQ)

4)  The RFK assassination fauxrage – During an interview with a local paper Hillary was asked why she was still running and in her answer she mentioned that RFK was assassinated in June 1968 which was the night of the California primary.  Obamanation interpreted that to mean that Hillary was calling for Obama to be assassinated.  Keith Olbermann even made it the subject of one of his rare daily spittle flecked rants.

3)  Playing the “race card“ – Following Hillary’s unexpected win in New Hampshire the Obama campaign blamed racism on the part of the voters for his loss and in the following weeks and months repeatedly accused Hillary, Bill and her campaign of racism for anything and everything.  The truth is the racism was a fairy tale.

2)  The DNC nomination roll call vote – Rather than allow an honest open vote that reflected the will of the voters in the primaries, the DNC conducted the vote “the Chicago way.”  State primary and caucus results were ignored and the votes of delegates that were pledged to Hillary went to Obama instead.  It is unknown how many graveyard delegates voted.

1)  The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting – If I have to explain this one you haven’t been paying attention.

That’s my list.  There’s lots of stuff missing but I tried to restrict it to things directly connected to the candidates and their campaigns.  That left out things like the meltdown of the so-called progressive blogosphere, Randi Rhodes and the “Hillary Nutcracker.”  I also left out run of the mill stuff like posturing, flip-flopping and lying.   The ones that didn’t quite make the list were Obama’s recycled “Harry and Louise” ad, his “periodically” comment and his flipping Hillary the bird.

Your Breakfast Read, Served By The Confluence

Couple of “Oh No!”

Obama said to be open to taxing health benefits

President Barack Obama is leaving the door open to taxing health care benefits, something he campaigned hard against while running for president, according to senators who met with him Tuesday.
[…]
“It’s on the table. It’s an option.”

Torture photo ban has O’s blessing, Lieb says

President Obama backed Senate efforts last month to exempt the so-called torture photos of detainees from sunshine laws — and Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested she was open to the idea on Tuesday.

Did Maliki get to Nancy Pelosi too?

Al Sharpton emerges as Obama ally

So far, Sharpton has been to the White House more times, and for more close-up conversations with Obama, than the leaders of other long-established civil rights organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League.

An Obama voter asks what went wrong

You are breaking my heart.
[…]
We fell in love with your vision of what we might be, and the desire of all of us to see justice prevail with an investigation into atrocities committed by the Bush/Cheney administration and finally, put the shame and damage of the past eight years behind us.
[…]
What happened?

In Video From Presidential Motorcade, Obama Knocks The Media

[T]he President knocks cable news culture, name-checking Pat Buchanan, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. “I don’t find most of the cable chatter very persuasive,” says Obama, adding “I don’t feel as if I’m learning anything from the debate.” He prefers print media, he explained.
[…]
The President’s media criticism is pretty tame, however, compared to Rahm Emanuel.

Oh no! These guys get no love from Daddy? Suckers!

Congress honors Reagan with figure in Statuary Hall (This will certainly ruin Dr BostonBoomer’s breakfast)

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Democrats=Weaklings

W.H.: Sotomayor what Right wants

The White House, in talking points distributed Tuesday to Senators, casts Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a model of judicial restraint who strictly adheres to precedent and is willing to take on abortion rights supporters and side with conservative judges.

Are we (Liberals) supposed to be happy about that? Why is a Democratic White House trying to convince Rightwingers that the SC nominee is what THEY like, while leaving its own constituency in the dark?
We all remember last time a Republican had to appoint SC justices. George Bush’s White House had to reassure Chuck Dobson, Gary Bauer and other such cooks that they were getting 2 Right Wing tools to the Supreme Court, other people and their concerns be damned.
Now we have a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic super majority in the Senate but we still have to reassure only Rightwingers? WTF!

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Hottest Potatoes

“Whatever you do will be wrong, including nothing.” – Henry Kissinger (Boy I hate to quote him)

Netanyahu cites secret deal with Bush to justify more settlements

The Israeli government of Benjmain Netanyahu is seeking to deflect Washington’s demand for a total settlement freeze by complaining that it ignores secret agreements between his predecessors and the Bush administration that construction in existing Jewish settlements could continue.

Likud: US meddling in Israeli politics

Kadima officials responded to the allegations by disagreeing that the US was meddling but expressing concern that such a perception by the Israeli public would harm their party and end up strengthening the prime minister. They accused Netanyahu’s associates of portraying Obama as an enemy of Israel in order to unite the public behind him.

Israelis growing increasingly anxious about Obama policies

Barack Obama is blind to his blunders over Islam

The new President’s approach discourages change in Middle Eastern countries that need it most

Obama Faces a Chasm in Mideast

What the Muslim World Wants to Hear From Obama

President Obama’s tour of the Middle East is intended to set the groundwork for a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and improve the image of the United States in the Muslim world. On Thursday, he is scheduled to give his first speech in Cairo. Here are seven views from the region about what he should say.

In Afghanistan, time is running out, Pentagon worries

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Dick Cheney: Torture-Loving Freak

Cheney Led Briefings of Lawmakers To Defend Interrogation Techniques

Former Vice President Dick Cheney ‘a strong believer’ in waterboarding

Cheney: No ‘evidence’ of Iraq, 9/11 link

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Economy Watch

Why China’s Banks Are Stronger Than America’s

Former powerhouses such as Bank of America and Citicorp have turned into shadows of their former selves as they shed assets and withdraw from foreign markets. Meanwhile, lenders in China and India that are little known outside their home countries now have the wherewithal to expand internationally. They have the potential to become the Citicorps of tomorrow.

China forced to support dollar to make yuan become convertible currency

China is uncomfortable about being the principal creditor of the United States. Asia’s largest nation became the hostage of the US economy in the 21st century. The reserves of the People’s Republic of China are based on dollar assets – $2 trillion. US Treasury Bonds make $700 billion of the amount. China is forced to continue crediting the budget deficit of the United States not to let these reserves go down in value.

Fed Said to Raise Requirements for Banks to Repay TARP Funds

Federal Reserve officials surprised bankers in the past week by demanding they raise specific amounts of new capital before repaying taxpayer funds, applying a more stringent assessment than the stress tests in May.

Martin Wolf responds to Niall Ferguson so Paul Krugman doesn’t have to
Rising government bond rates prove policy works

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Snafu

U.S. Releases Secret List of Nuclear Sites Accidentally

The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an online newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document had been made public.

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“Catcher in the Rye” vs “Coming Through the Rye”

Catcher in the Rye: The Sequel (or why JD Salinger is heading for the courts)

Hermit author sues to block publication of novel about Holden Caulfield in a nursing home

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No More Excuses

Clinical Data Says Antidepressant Preserves Sex Drive

Clinical Data Inc.’s flagship antidepressant is effective without reducing sexual drive, according to a study that paves the way for the company to seek U.S. approval for the medication by year’s end.

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Happy Ending

Man, dog reunited 4 years after Katrina

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Late Night Open Thread

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