September 10, 2008
And the McCain campaign is not giving Obama a pass on the Lipsticked Pig remark.
(Via HotAir.)
I'm surprised the campaign is forthrightly using this material, and it's interesting to see how they've chosen to do it. It's a skillful presentation the 2 "lipstick" remarks. Palin's line, beautifully delivered, has a charming self-referential humor. It's a cute, folksy boast that is also self-effacing.
Obama's line is intended to be mean. If it doesn't refer to Palin -- and the intertitle tells us it does -- then it's just an old cliché. His delivery feels off. He stammers before he says "You can put lipstick on a pig," as if he lacks full confidence in what he's about to say. Then he scratches his forehead while he pauses, and the audience laughs. Only then does he go on to say "it's still a pig," after which he puts his hand in his pocket. I can see how that pause cues to the audience that this is where you're supposed to laugh, and they do laugh. The punchline of the old cliché is "it's still a pig," not "you can put lipstick on a pig." So the pause -- as well the forehead scratching -- suggest that Obama wanted people to think about Palin as the pig wearing lipstick.
In any case, Katie Couric pops up in the end to instruct us that sexism has been at play in this election.
The ad is essentially saying: Here's the evidence. Make up your own mind.
UPDATE: Hey, the McCain ad is no longer available, and I can't find it on the McCain YouTube page. Did the campaign take it down? Does someone have a link to it elsewhere? I am seeing this new ad, which, in a more general way, complains about attacks on Palin.
AND: I'm moving the new ad to a new post, since there are already over 200 comments here.
AND: Here's Katie Couric in the original context, which is commenting on the sexism aimed at Hillary Clinton.
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«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 288 of 288vbspurs - Approximately 90% of the world's population is right handed...if not more.
What is your point?
victoria, that still doesn't mean she's not sinister.
Oooh vbspurs-
Chills! I love Jack Kennedy trivia.
Hey, madawaskan. If you had any idea how many books I have read on the man since I was 8.
Starting with "Meet John F. Kennedy" (hey, does anyone remember that series? I bought it at a garage sale, alongside the other ones, "Meet Martin Luther King, Jr./Gandhi" etc.)
"90% of those here could care less what anybody has to say...unless of course, it conforms to what they themselves already believe."
Well actually I could care less what anybody has to say. That's my problem. I care too much about other people's nonsense.
Anyway, usage gaffes aside, this is rich coming from the likes of you. You appear from your numerous (and I mean numerous) comments here in the last weeks to be an extraordinarily dogmatic and rigid thinker. People always use the "echo chamber" argument when they're spouting nonsense in a room full of people that disagree with them. We've heard your "arguments" (for lack of a better word) and some of us disagree with them. There's a difference between close-mindedness and disagreement. You should figure it out.
victoria, that still doesn't mean she's not sinister.
I'm sure for some she is. But the problem is that so many American women are like her.
It's hard to call her sinister without slapping a lot of women's faces whilst one is at it, and that's a problem politically.
I drink it occasionally for a change-up, but wondered how popular it was down there today.
I must be a parochial goober - I didn't know anyone outside of Louisiana drank chicory coffee. Next thing, you'll be telling me you had boudin for lunch.
VB -- bar sinister = left-handed. It was a joke!
Now we have Hoosier comparing Obama to...Carter?
Yes. Next question.
Obama was a community organizer for three years out of college, working in inner cities projects. He helped the community petition for things like better plumbing, for repairs to be made, etc...
The reason people laugh at "community organizer" is because it's a made-up name for someone who is basically a "runner" for the local political machine. Obama was simply paying his dues so he could get in good later. His duties probably entailed less of the warm-and-fuzzy stuff you listed above, and more things like paying people in homeless shelters to show up in picket lines (or voting booths) and the like. He was probably spent more time helping out unions and fatcats than the empoverished.
Liberals forget that other people don't fall for the way they paint craven politics as "caring for the poor" or "the elderly" and of course, "the children." It's brilliant marketing, really, but non-liberals see through that stuff--that's why we're not liberals. You can talk til you're blue in the face about what a great guy he was, but essentially, everyone else perceives that "community organizer" is a BS job title.
Incidentally, there is a word for someone who helps take care of the poor and works in the community: it's "volunteer"... and millions of Americans do it all the time.
Henry, does she really have five kids? Wow. I hear McCain was a POW, too.
Obama has a funny name? Oh and did he mention he's black?
Sorry Beth but that meme has been beat to death too by your side.
"I must be a parochial goober - I didn't know anyone outside of Louisiana drank chicory coffee. Next thing, you'll be telling me you had boudin for lunch."
Never had it. I'm just a coffee (and tea) fanatic. I currently have 9 different kinds of coffee and at least 7 different coffee brewing devices. So I, to paraphrase Frost, I'm acquainted with the bean, and the many ways of serving it, chicory included.
knox, non-profit agencies have budgets to oversee, volunteers to use effectively, reports to present to justify their use of funds to the funding sources, whether private or public -- lots and lots of executive duties. They're not run by volunteers.
Never had it in my last comment refers to boudin not chicory coffee.
Bah, Beth. I feel like Pointdexter. ;(
;)
Palladian, nine devices? That's appealing.
Coffee and chicory is best brewed in a drip pot -- one of the ceramic types with multiple chambers -- then left in a saucepan of water on the stove, to keep it hot.
I just googled "ceramic drip pot" and found this -- the photo on the right is exactly what I was trying to describe above:
http://www.frenchdrip.com/
I figured that, Palladian; I also decided to forgo any sausage jokes.
palladian says this about me: "You appear from your numerous (and I mean numerous) comments here in the last weeks to be an extraordinarily dogmatic and rigid thinker."
I'm a liberal, and far from "rigid" about damn near anything.
As for being "dogmatic," everybody here is free to dispel what they feel is in error.
And please, don't try to act as if you're not far enough to the right that you actually care what anybody who is even the least bit liberal has to say...your "echo" bullshit ("spouting nonsense in a room full of people that disagree with them") exemplifies exactly what I said.
What YOU refer to as "nonsense" is really just what you don't believe or want to hear.
Beth, we call that a cafetiere, albeit yours is ceramic.
I have two Bodums made of glass, also called cafetieres.
The only thing being smeared here is lipstick.
Just keep this in mind: McCain voted with Bush 90-95% of the time.
Obama voted with Bush 40% of the time. Which, apparently, translates to having voted the wrong way 40% of the time. Maybe he forgot to check what Bush's position was before he voted? He's been awfully busy running for President since the day he entered the Senate; he might not have had time to do the job he was actually hired to do. :)
knox says: "His duties probably entailed less of the warm-and-fuzzy stuff you listed above, and more things like paying people in homeless shelters to show up in picket lines (or voting booths) and the like. He was probably spent more time helping out unions and fatcats than the empoverished."
Are you daft?
Provide any kind of evidence of what you're saying.
Obama was director of the Developing Communities Project,
a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland. Accomplishments includedg helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization.
knox, non-profit agencies have budgets to oversee, volunteers to use effectively, reports to present to justify their use of funds to the funding sources, whether private or public -- lots and lots of executive duties. They're not run by volunteers.
Well, sure. But that's not what we're talking about. "Community Organizer" is a pretty nebulous title. Why can't he hang his hat on something more substantial?
I do recall that Obama headed the non-profit founded by the Ayers family. The Ayers are HUGE in Chicago politics--eh, not a compliment by any measure. Working for them for years? Not inclined to see that as a selfless, apolitical move.
Most people running non-profits are working incredibly hard and have little time for getting on the good side of guys like Bill Ayers and Rezko. Obama benefitted greatly from his associations with those men. He eventually got himself a Senate seat.
There was a hell of a lot more going on in Obama's doings than selflessly helping out the poor. It's obvious.
Victoria said: You forgot the bit where he called her a "moose shooter".
Really? That is a disparaging remark aimed at hunters. I thought Obama learned his lesson with the "clinging to guns" remark.
Revenant said..."Obama voted with Bush 40% of the time. Which, apparently, translates to having voted the wrong way 40% of the time."
Based on this rather inane logic, I hope you're not in management. (Even Bush can't be wrong 100% of the time)
Better yet: Do you happen to know what the 40% you mention related to?
Let's take a wild guess...no?
Enjoyed your blog but have decided today that I can read no longer. I have been waiting for you to call out the McCain campaign for its recent "untruths" (aka lies) but this Pig remark is ridiculous. 40+ white female now deciding to vote Obama.
Ahh, there's already a call to send Obama our lipstick. You know, I might just do that.
What a jerk!!! I suggest ALL WOMEN SEND OBAMA OUR LIPSTICK!!!!
Send him a message that we are voting for Palin. What a sexist PIG!!!
He is going to lose big among women!
SEND OBAMA AND THE DNC YOUR LIPSTICK!!!!!
Mailing Address:
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Main Phone Number:
202-863-8000"
That's from a Hillary Democrat too. What a dummy.
Not only did he get a lot of women mad with such a pointed allusion, but those Hillary Democrats on the fence about him or Palin, well, his support today has taken a nosedive, I'm sure.
He's going to have to WOO those Hillary Democrats back now. He's not really good at wooing people, I've noticed. He expects people to be on his side, as a matter-of-course.
This is a waste of resources, and valuable time when he could be campaigning about pressing issues of national concern.
And he has only himself to blame. Nice going, Bams.
MOOSE SHOOTER...in CONTEXT:
In a now-familiar riff on how the Republicans spent their convention talking about personalities and not about issues, Obama praised the biographies of both Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
"You notice, at their convention, they spent a lot of time talking about John McCain’s biography, which is compelling," Obama said. "They talked about Sarah Palin’s biography, which is compelling."
When some members of the audience laughed at the notion that Palin's biography was compelling, Obama insisted he was being serious.
"No, no, it’s an interesting story," Obama said. "No, no, look, I mean that sincerely. I mean, mother, governor, moose-shooter, I mean, I think that’s cool, that’s cool, that’s cool stuff."
Obama's larger point, he said, was that the Republicans "didn't talk about the issues. And so, that gives you a sense of what the strategy’s going to be over the next eight weeks."
How horrible...
I thought Obama learned his lesson with the "clinging to guns" remark.
Original Mike, he's out of his element around guns. Hasn't his staff told him to ixnay with the ungay?
Wait, that sounds gay.
Linda said..."I have been waiting for you to call out the McCain campaign for its recent "untruths"...
When hell freezes over.
This is the kind of trash McCain has resorted to:
A new 30-second TV ad attacks Barack Obama's record on education, saying that Obama backed legislation to teach "'comprehensive sex education' to kindergartners."
The announcer then says, "Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family."
This is a deliberately misleading accusation. It came hours after the Obama campaign released a TV ad critical of McCain's votes on public education.
As a state senator in Illinois, Obama did vote for but was not a sponsor of legislation dealing with sex ed for grades K-12.
But the legislation allowed local school boards to teach "age-appropriate" sex education, not comprehensive lessons to kindergartners, and it gave schools the ability to warn young children about inappropriate touching and sexual predators.
Why do you suppose this happened?
Laziness. A word that covers a multitude of sins.
Linda -- From all your posts here, I rest assured that you were an avid reader. Those damn Republicans and their lies. Lies! Lies! Lies!
Truly, when will the sheeple wake up?
Michael: If Obama really did mean that formulation as a compliment (as it appears he might have "that’s cool stuff"), then Victoria is right. He's waaay out of his element.
It is shocking to me that Obama would vote that way when he had the well-worn option to vote present.
Professor,
Maybe this has been addressed, but I'm wondering why it's the pig remark that gets all the attention: because Palin's a woman? What about Obama calling McCain an old fish? Is "McCain = old fish" (wrapped in "change") okay while "Palin = pig" is not?
Although the more I think about it, I'm not buying it. It was a little dig he thought he could throw in along with the compliment.
eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland
You are proposing that as presidential experience?
Man, that is hilarious.
Original Mike wrote:
compliment (as it appears he might have "that’s cool stuff"
In England, we call that a backhanded-compliment. A compliment that is worded as such, but is really an insult.
I wish I had the video to show you his inflection when he was saying it. "No, it's cool, that's cool" as the audience were laughing at his very obvious dig at "moose shooter".
This entire little performance on Obama's part made him look extremely unpresidential.
It fact, I'll go on record by saying it was worthy of Reverend Wright's onstage shenanigans.
Revenant said..."Obama voted with Bush 40% of the time. Which, apparently, translates to having voted the wrong way 40% of the time."
Based on this rather inane logic,
Obama defines agreement with Bush as being wrong. I agree that this is an inane worldview, but it happens to be the one Obama and his legion of fanboys have been harping on for months.
If you take away the assumption that Bush=bad the "90%" complaint makes no sense. The honest complaint would be that on those votes whether McCain's view differed from Obama's, he voted with Bush five times out of six. But that doesn't sound as good as the "90%" line he likes to feed the rubes.
Better yet: Do you happen to know what the 40% you mention related to?
Not only that, I know what the 10% disagreement between Bush and McCain entails. Obama avoids describing it because it generally consists of McCain being closer to mainstream opinion than Bush was. It is hard to peddle the "McSame" meme in the face of hard evidence that McCain is, for centrists, a step in the right direction from Bush.
That is a disparaging remark aimed at hunters.
Does one eat moose? Just curious.
"ixnay on the ungay" -- VB, you need to send that to Palin -- it's her church doing the ungay work.
Here's an interesting question for the McSame crowd (and I don't know the answer. Wish I did).
What were the issues on which McCain voted against Bush that other 10% of the time?
People do eat moose burgers. It's like in Louisiana, where they eat the guts of crawdads.
A compliment that is worded as such, but is really an insult.
How could such a technique be employed in a campaign?? My god, the nerve! Suggesting that one's opponent isn't a good choice! What's next? Will Obama say "Vote for me, not them!"? I hope liberals will see through that blatant call for favoritism.
The more interesting question is when did Obama vote with Bush the 30 percent of the time? (I know the math is off, but we are ballparking here.)
Does one eat moose?
Of course. Why wouldn't you?
Rev, can you list an example or two of the 10% issues?
Does anyone have a link to either a complete video or transcript of the event in question? I really would like to know more of what he said leading up to and after the pig comment.
Middle class, generic Christian working mom here.
If you assume that he didn't at all mean to bring Palin to mind, then it's obvious that it breaks down like this: GOP and/or McCain = pig and Palin = lipstick. That's my take, hold the cynicism.
However, it doubles me over in laughter to think that some of his supporters (nope, I'm not one, for far more substantive reasons) would state that he didn't mean to bring her to mind. C'mon. Palin's lipstick line is all over the place - and it's too fresh in everyone's mind to think that a subsequent reference by the opposition to lipstick (of any kind, on any animal) wasn't going to point a finger right back at her.
So, is it offensive? Not to me. I don't give a crap what he thinks of Palin. I don't think it's sexist, but then again, I don't think much of what is considered sexist behavior/speech by certain pearl-clutchers is offensive.
However, I think he's making some stupid decisions about what to say (or not say), and I believe the pause Ann refers to was one that we've all lived: that split-second moment before that maybe-sorta-kinda-possibly offensive thing comes out of your mouth when you think about whether you should say it or not.
And then he said it. Dumb. Not because it was truly offensive, but because there are lots and lots of folks out there who WOULD be (and are) offended by it.
(Side note: I do hate disagreeing with Victoria, because she's always so polite, so civil, and so thoughtful in all her comments, and God knows we need more of that. Thank you for treating everyone with respect and kindness.)
Does one eat moose? Just curious.
Now you know how Louisianans feel when they hear they eat rats (nutria).
But wait, you must have heard that, no, Beth? And felt the sting of the pointed barb calling ya'll down there hicks.
Which is basically what "moose shooter" is supposed to mean, since we're decoding terms today and all.
seven, it's probably more like elk or venison than crawfish.
We eat the tails of crawfish, and the fat. The guts are purged by soaking them in saltwater and rinsing them before boiling.
Aww, Kelly, thanks, shucks. *kicks pebbles*
Your kind words actually puts a damper on my reply, because I was going to write, "See, a sensible, practical reply from a woman, not a disgruntled one from me, or a shocked one from others."
But I mean it. :)
Cheers,
Victoria
This gaffe points to a really serious issue.
The Democrat candidate has no experience being seriously questioned about anything, he's never been anything but a member of a committee, he's never had to take responsibility for his words. Once off the Teleprompter he's just another absent minded professor.
This is just another data point showing that Obama just isn't ready to lead.
Vb, there was an effort to persuade people to eat nutria, but it didn't go anywhere. I assume there are poor folks out in the boondocks that might eat them, but they were meant to be raised for fur, not for meat.
I asked if one eats moose because I didn't know if it was a source of meat. Some animals are hunted to cull their herds, or for being nuisances (that's Nutria! they destroy levees), or for their trophies. Some are sources of food. I don't hunt, and don't live where there are moose, so I asked. Keep your panties on. Palin supporters are sooooo defensive!
My panties are on, Beth. I'm just amused.
And felt the sting of the pointed barb calling ya'll down there hicks.
I live in one of the oldest cities in the US, so no, I'm rarely called a hick. But if I were running for office, and my party put out an image of me hauling in crawfish and hunting nutria, I couldn't complain if the opposition wondered just what that had to do with being VP.
The GOP fans started the whole meme of lauding Palin for her hunting, for being a mom, yada yada, and now they call the waaambulance when the same purely surface images are turned back on her. They've been marketing her as a rockstar, as an image. That might not be a great idea, not for long.
Bristol Palin pregnancy hypocrisy?
A funny thing happened when WRKO conservative talk host Reese Hopkins (inset) told listeners 17-year-old Bristol Palin's pregnancy makes him question VP hopeful Sarah Palin's parenting skills.
Angry Republican listeners blew up his e-mail box, claiming Bristol's condition is family business. And Hopkins, who talked extensively on-air about the suspicious Gloucester teen pregnancy pact, was a little shocked.
"You called these girls sluts, you said their parents were horrible," he said of his listeners. "But in 125 e-mails I have stacked in front of me, you're telling me [Bristol Palin's pregnancy] is not a big deal."
Hopkins went back to the e-mails he received on the Gloucester story and compared them to his Palin e-mails. He found 70 listeners who flip-flopped on the teen pregnancy issue and invited them to explain.
On Monday, Hopkins will broadcast live from George's Coffee Shop in Gloucester with Gloucester Daily Times reporter Patrick Anderson and editor Raymond Lamont.
Keep your panties on. Palin supporters are sooooo defensive!
Okay, Beth, no worries. I understand, and believe me if I didn't have a Canadian boyfriend who I tease by calling "a mooseburger eater", I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't know that mooseburgers are out there.
We've had an onslaught of Palin "mooseburger" coverage, which however you didn't have a chance to listen to, being evacuated and all. :(
They've been marketing her as a rockstar, as an image.
I think I'm safe in saying few to none in the Republican Party views her as a rockstar. That Boomerism thankfully has less to do with our side, than with an aging MSM trying to come up with a suitable analogy for Senator Obama.
This is exactly the kind of silliness I refuse to believe comes from thinking people:
Jim Howard said..."The Democrat candidate has no experience being seriously questioned about anything, he's never been anything but a member of a committee, he's never had to take responsibility for his words."
First of all, you do realize he's been running for over two years, has had 100's of face to face interviews with news organizations, TV pundits (including O'Reilly), newspapers, periodicals and Sunday news shows right? That his finances and family history have been thoroughly vetted time and time again?
And your comment that "he's never been anything but a member of a committeehe..." is ridiculous.
He was a State Senator for seven years, and is currently a U.S. Senator.
Do you even know what a Senator does?
Pundit Joe asks: "Does anyone have a link to either a complete video or transcript of the event in question? I really would like to know more of what he said leading up to and after the pig comment."
See my posting at 11:00 AM.
The GOP fans started the whole meme of lauding Palin for her hunting, for being a mom, yada yada, and now they call the waaambulance when the same purely surface images are turned back on her.
You miss the point. I don't take Obama's moose-shooter remark personally. Couldn't care less. My point is that it's dumb for Obama to insult a portion of the electorate he's already on thin ice with. How can you argue with that?
Thanks Micheal :) I appreciate your post, but I'm looking for a complete transcript or video of the event. Heh heh, I guess I should have said that in my original request. Sorry about that.
knox: ""Community Organizer" is a pretty nebulous title. Why can't he hang his hat on something more substantial?"
When has he ever said that was his only accomplishment or that he was "hanging his hat" on it?
*He was a community organizer 23 years ago.
He was a State Senator for seven years and is currently a U.S. Senator.
"Coffee and chicory is best brewed in a drip pot -- one of the ceramic types with multiple chambers -- then left in a saucepan of water on the stove, to keep it hot."
Beth, I use a french drip pot like that quite often for regular coffee: mine looks like this and I also have an old French enamel one like those depicted in your link.
"Beth, we call that a cafetiere, albeit yours is ceramic."
No, that's a Moka pot, Victoria. It makes espresso-like coffee by forcing the hot water and steam from the bottom chamber up. They're always made of aluminum or other metals. The cafetiere that Beth and I are talking about works by pouring boiling water in the top over a chamber containing the grounds whereupon it percolates through them into the carafe below. The one I have is made by Pillivuyt, the more common version is porcelain-enameled metal.
"I have two Bodums made of glass, also called cafetieres."
Yes, confusingly those are also called cafetieres, but are most commonly called "French Presses" in the US.
Actually I think maybe all coffee pots are called cafetieres in French. Anyway, I counted: I have 3 Bodum French Presses, 1 enamelware French Drip, 1 porcelain French drip, three Chemex pots, 1 aluminum Moka Pot, 1 vacuum brewing pot, 1 Melita porcelain pot and filter cone and three Turkish cezve, which makes 14 coffee devices rather than my original estimate of 7. This also doesn't count the espresso machine.
Pundit Joe: Video
http://news.google.com/news?q=obama+lipstick+comment&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&oi=news_group&resnum=1&ct=title
Original Mike: How did Obama insult anybody with the moose shooter comment?
Obama: "No, no, it’s an interesting story," Obama said. "No, no, look, I mean that sincerely. I mean, mother, governor, moose-shooter, I mean, I think that’s cool, that’s cool, that’s cool stuff."
This is insulting...to who?
Thanks again Michael! :) It is blocked here at work, but I will watch it as soon as I get home.
John McCain attacked Barack Obama recently saying Obama would “slow” FCS, the future combat system which has been a procurement nightmare with corruption and overruns all around.
But...back in July, the McCain’s campaign’s senior economic adviser submitted a “plan to balance the federal budget by 2013 to The Washington Post editorial board” that specifically set out what McCain would do about it as president.
"Balance the budget requires slowing outlay growth to 2.4 percent with slower discretionary spending in non-defense and Pentagon procurements ($160 billion; there are lots of procurements — airborne laser, Globemaster...as in:
Future Combat System — that should be ended and the entire Pentagon budget should be scrubbed.
You've read the previous comments, Michael. Accept it or not.
pundit joe,
If you Google the phrase; "Obama lipstick comment" you'll get plenty of videos, transcripts, etc.
No longer bringing a knife to a gunfight?
There’s been a spurt of 527 activity on behalf of Sen. John McCain, but Barack Obama campaign has suddenly gone silent on the subject.
That’s because, after a year of telling donors not to contribute to 527 groups, of encouraging strategists not to form them and of suggesting that outside messaging efforts would not be welcome in Obama’s Democratic Party, Obama’s strategists have changed their approach.
An Obama adviser privy to the campaign’s internal thinking on the matter says that,with less than two months before the election and with the realization that Republicans have achieved financial parity with Democrats, they hope that Democratic allies — what another campaign aide termed “the cavalry” — will come to Obama’s aid.
The Obama campaign can’t ask donors to form outside groups; it can only communicate, through the public and the media, with body language, tells and hints.
The upshot: Obama’s campaign will no longer object to independent efforts that hammer John McCain, just as, in their mind, the McCain campaign has not objected to those efforts targeted at Obama. “I assume with their 527s stirring, some [Democratic] ones will as well,” another senior campaign official said.
Yikes!
The Dems have got Illinois congresswoman Jan Schakowsky on CNN doing talking points about Palin/Lipstick/blablabla.
The Congresswoman, a total dumbkoff (I have met her), says that Palin wanted to charge women for rape kits.
WTF?
They really are worried if they are trotting this idiot out on the national networks!
Ann, didn't read all the comments so some of what I write may be redundant. Most important is that it's clear that this was no slip of the tongue. These were prepared remarks. Other Democrats were making other lipstick references during the day. The Democratic website has lipstick and pig references on it. And the Obama campaign had a ready made defense for sexism charges: McCain said it last year in reference to Hillary. I believe the Obama campaign wanted this fight in order to peel Hillary voters away from McCain by pointing out sexism by McCain. The problem is it doesn't fly cuz Hillary made no statements regarding lipstick before McCain's statement last year, unlike Palin. http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/mccain_rolls_out_health_plan_a.html
Ann, didn't read all the comments so some of what I write may be redundant. Most important is that it's clear that this was no slip of the tongue. These were prepared remarks. Other Democrats were making other lipstick references during the day. The Democratic website has lipstick and pig references on it. And the Obama campaign had a ready made defense for sexism charges: McCain said it last year in reference to Hillary. I believe the Obama campaign wanted this fight in order to peel Hillary voters away from McCain by pointing out sexism by McCain. The problem is it doesn't fly cuz Hillary made no statements regarding lipstick before McCain's statement last year, unlike Palin. www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/mccain_rolls_out_health_plan_a.html
These ads aren't bad, aren't great -- and aren't addressing the real smear that's gotten some traction. The campaign and the "Truth Squad" have got to get on top of the per diem story.
From what I've seen, many of those who read or heard about the WaPo story have the mistaken impression that Palin charged/took a HOUSING per diem for staying at her Wasila residence. Not so -- she took the other portion, essentially for travel expenses. One could get into an interesting discussion about whether it cost the state more for her to commute from Wasila or to stay at the mansion in Juneau, plus what she gained in effectiveness by staying in Wasila -- plus how much latitude a mother in a high-profile position should have to make things easier for herself and her family, while overall spending a lot less than her predecessor. That discussion won't happen while most of those not obsessed with politics have the impression that she sought hotel-type expenses for living at home.
Obama may not have made the connection when he said those words, but his audience certainly did, and had a great time with them. He needs to make that clear. "I never intended to insult anyone, but I see that it came out that way, and that the audience took it that way. That's not what I want; I'm really sorry."
If he would have said that, I would not hold it against him one iota. If he continues to stonewall, he deserves what he gets.
The Pillivuyt is beautiful! I am so not in your league, Palladian.
I was quite pleased with myself, though, for recently acquiring a little Vietnamese drip filter for cafe sua da.
That's very cute Beth!
allout1 - Why not actually read the transcript of what Obama said, and in what context...before trowing out inane and unfounded comments?
He wasn't referring to Palin in any way, shape or form.
Here's Obama's COMPLETE "lipstick" COMMENT, in the actual CONTEXT:
"John McCain says he's about change, too -- except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics," Mr. Obama told his supporters here. "That's just calling the same thing something different."
"You can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it's still going to stink after eight years."
He had not yet even mentioned Palin at that point of his speech.
It seems the entire "Lipstick on a Pig" story may have been, at least in part, a diversion to take interest away from the the discovery by the NYT that Obama worked on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.
The piece is considered “unusually deceptive” and an excellent example of “propaganda” by those familiar with his efforts there, but it could simply be that the writer, Sam Dillon, is primarily a writer about education and unfamiliar with the political implications of the story.
Unexplored was why Obama seems to have left out this job from his resume. Considering Obama has been taking a pummeling for not having any executive experience, this would be an excellent comeback for Obama to all those complaints by McCain and Palin.
MikeR - NO, the audience DID NOT make the "connection."
ONCE AGAIN:
Here's Obama's COMPLETE "lipstick" COMMENT, in the actual CONTEXT:
"John McCain says he's about change, too -- except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics," Mr. Obama told his supporters here. "That's just calling the same thing something different."
"You can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it's still going to stink after eight years."
(Mr. McCain's surrogates responded within minutes and called on Mr. Obama to apologize to Gov. Sarah Palin for the lipstick remark.)
*But to those in the audience, it was clear that Mr. Obama was employing an age-old phrase -- lipstick on a pig -- and referring to Mr. McCain's policies.
He had not yet mentioned Ms. Palin at that point of his speech.
ASmith thjinks the "lipstick" story is a "diversion" from a NYT's article about an education program ten years ago in Chicago...and that Obama left it out of his resume?
Which resume? And how do you know it was left out? This was a huge education experiment, with huge dollars and contributions...so it's not exactly a big secret.
And why is it such a negative story for Obama? According to the article he's learned quite a bit from the experience and adapted his views to try to correct the problems related to that specific program.
Also:
"The Challenge’s overall approach — supporting many diverse education projects rather than a coordinated school improvement strategy — had been established before Mr. Obama was named board chairman, and the board came under immediate pressure to approve grant proposals quickly."
Get that part about it being "established before Mr. Obama was named board chairman"??
Rhett Butler put it more neatly in GWTW. But I suppose Obama cannot admit to reading that book.
The twang, or whatever you call his roughened, almost slurred enunciation these days, is most disagreeable, btw.
Okay. If McCain was savvy enough to realize that CBS would force the ad off the air, then I take back my criticism.
Word on the ad is that CBS complained about using Katie Couric in a political ad.
via John and Ken 3PM hour Sept 10.
Obama got a chance to be funny and relaxed about it on Letterman.
It's bizarre that he is good at oratory and good at intimacy -- one-on-one interviews -- but so terrible at "town hall"-sized public occasions.
I am totally mystified that women see this as a big insult to women. Who cares??
Surely, however, it was an intentional insult to Palin (strikes me again as more of a class than a gender insult). Could Obama be so tone-deaf as to have said it inadvertently, without conscious awareness of Palin's recent mention of lipstick? It's true that McCain said it "about" Hillary's health-care plan a few months ago -- twice. But Palin's prominent lipstick remark should have changed the game and rendered it off limits.
It's all getting very childish.
you're such a joker. "mean?" the entire RNC, except for mccain's speech, was "mean."
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