October 6, 2008

Wow. She handled that well.

I have the feeling we are entering a new era.

IN THE COMMENTS: Cyrus Pinkerton accuses:
Althouse throws out some red meat for her hysterical rightwing base. A mindless feeding frenzy ensues. Good stuff, Althouse!
My response:
My point is -- call it red meat if you like -- that Palin did not grovel at the accusation of racism. She just went right for the point that she had to make... which was never racist. What's new is that she didn't bother to respond to the charge. She wasn't cowed by it. It was utter bullshit of course, and her response treated it as the bullshit it was.

Cyrus:
It's new that Palin is unresponsive to questions from the press? Really?

Meade:

Unresponsive to the charge of racism. Think about that, Cyrus. It is Palin, not Obama supporters, who is post-racial.

279 comments:

1 – 200 of 279   Newer›   Newest»
bleeper said...

Obama is not aware of a lot of things, conveniently.

Anonymous said...

Greetings:

There was a football coach who used to say "the best defense is a good offense." I wish Governor Palin, having suffered the "slings and arrows of outrageous" media would start returning in kind.

P.S. What's Black & White and Red all over?

Unknown said...

A new era? You mean the one that they try to rehash the old stuff already out there when the Dow drops 369 points?

Good luck with that.

How are your starbursts today, Ann?

Palladian said...

"A new era? You mean the one that they try to rehash the old stuff already out there when the Dow drops 369 points?"

OMG!!!1 THE "DOW" DROPPED 369 POINTZ!! ALL OTHER CONVERSATION MUST STOP!! WHAT WUZ OBMABA TALKING ABOUT?! I'M SURE IT WAS DOW ALL DAY!!!!111

vbspurs said...

I have the feeling we are entering a new era.

Do you know why she's appealing to so many Conservatives, and Americans? Because she can kick ass with a smile on her face.

She's like a cross between George Patton and Sandra Dee.

Cheers,
Victoria

bleeper said...

Stocks go up, stocks go down. The smart money is already elsewhere.

Red all over? Got to be America's first Communist President, Obama Bin Lyin'.

vbspurs said...

P.S. What's Black & White and Red all over?

Titus, his new boyfriend, and a bottle of Johnnie Walker?

blake said...

Doh! I just get a "general error" on the flash screen...

Keith said...

Well, at least until the Troopergate/Tasergate investigation results are released! And how 'bout Todd and his separatist organization, AIG? That, my friends, is change we can believe in *wink*!

Moose said...

Wow.

I dunno about Lowry's "starbursts". Watching her take that comment down and throw it back produces real "shrinkage factor".

Too bad she couldn't have found her footing before now. It would have made a huge difference.

If McCain's campaign tacticians could handle it right, they'd could make some hay in the next 30 days.

But I doubt it...

Darcy said...

Would anyone mind posting what she said? I can't get the video to run, either. I mean, just the gist of it?

blake said...

Wait, is this the "My son is fighting in Iraq for your right to protest" vid? 'cause I've seen that.

It's...lawdy, it's pure red meat for the base, innit?

Revenant said...

I can't tell if keith is sarcastically poking fun at the Obamabots or if he actually believes the public will care about either of those two "scandals". Anyone have a guess?

Lorelei Leigh said...

Wow. I think Andrew Sullivan and others might want to stop calling for her to give a press conference. If she could repeat that effort, she'd kick some serious ass.

Given her previous performances, I would not have thought she was capable of such a sharp response.

I agree with m00se: if she had been able to come out of the gate like this, it might have actually made a difference in the election. I think this might be too little, too late.

MadisonMan said...

I can't see the video either. But why does everyone ignore John McCain? What's he doing lately?

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

It's good to see that one of the four candidates running for high office has a set of balls.

dcwilly said...

Which new era is Althouse talking about? In case you wingnuts haven't noticed, doggone it, the governor isn't polling too well these days. She's tanking faster than the Dow.

Revenant said...

Would anyone mind posting what she said?

Well, it starts off with CNN claiming the remarks had a racial undertone. Then it goes to a scene of Palin responding to a shouted question on a runway in California.

PALIN: The Associated Press is wrong. The comments are about the association that has been known but hasn't been talked about. And I think it's fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career, in the guy's living room. And he, of course, having been associated with that group, a known domestic terrorist group, it's important for Americans to know. It's really important for Americans to start knowing who the real Barack Obama is.

CNN then goes on to quote the Obama campaign's talking points, and downplays Ayers as merely having old "ties" to the terrorist group he founded and designed bombs for. The usual, basically.

vbspurs said...

Blake, no, it's a shouted question by a reporter as she arrived at an airport.

The reporter asked her if about the AP's racism charge.

She used the Reaganesque ploy of pretending not to hear the answer, so that she form an absolutely crushing sentence in her head as he repeated it.

Notice how when she gets to the punchline about Obama, that she lowers her head, raises it, and raises her voice as she notices that an airplane's engine will drown it out.

A word pops out to describes her performance: seasoned.

Host with the Most said...

If John McCain goes after Obama and his lies and incompetence tomorrow night like he did today, he will turn this thing around.

Obama is responsible for the economic mess we're in now. McCain tried to stop it in the last several years, but didn't have the votes, especially with the Democrats in Fannie's and Freddie's pockets. Why should we trust Obama's economics going forward?

Press that point!

CarmelaMotto said...

She did handle that well.

For those who can't see the video, a reporter shouts, 'The AP called your remarks about Barack Obama yesterday are racially tinged. What do you think about that?"

She said the AP is wrong, and comments are about an assocaition that has been known, but hasn't been talked about and that he kicked off his political career in the living room of a man who had ties to domestic terrorist group and the American people have a right to know who the real Barack Obama is.

The CNN annoucer says, the Obama campaign said that when he kicked off his career in the living room of Bill Ayers he did not know,(he repeats) did NOT aware of Ayers past ties with the radical group the Weatherman.

I love how the CNN annoucer goes to bat for Obama accentuating he did NOT KNOW. Has "ties." So freakin in the tank.

And that Obama would like us to believe, that he had NO idea who this guy was. Unbelievable.

I just can't believe it.

vbspurs said...

But why does everyone ignore John McCain?

This is sweet. For 3 weeks, liberals complained that Sarah Palin was being sequestered.

Now that she's all over the place, tearing Obama a new one, they want the genie put back into the bottle.

Joan said...

Damn -- cross-posted with Rev & Vic -- well, I won't waste all that typing, excuse the repetition:

The question, on the tarmac: "The Associated Press called your comments about Obama yesterday racially tinged (on the repeat, includes: and unsubstantiated). What do you think about that?

Palin is signing autographs; the reporter repeats the question. It is very windy there.

Palin's response: The Associated Press is wrong. The comments are about the association that has been kown but hasn't been talked about. And I think it's fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career, int he guy's living room. And he, of course, having been associated with that group, a known domestic terrorist group, it's important for Americans to know. It's really important for Americans to start knowing who the real Barack Obama is.

(According to CNN's captions, which match the dialog well.)

The anchor closes the segment by noting that the Obama campaign maintains that in 1995, Obama was unaware "of Ayers' past ties with the radical group, the Weathermen".

Pitch-perfect response.

George M. Spencer said...

Sen. Clinton couldn't push the issue because her husband pardoned two Weather Underground lunatics on his last day in office. Susan Rosenberg and Linda Evans. A pair of stone-cold killers. Look 'em up.

The GOP has held back on this until now because it knows that it will take the story several weeks to peak. Most people have only started to pay attention to the race. Now--tomorrow at the debate--this is going to be the issue everyone's buzzing on.

If you think about it, the GOP's doing guerilla warfare against the mainstream media.

Any minute now some TV reporter is going to chase down Ayers and get him to say something stupid. Or, even better, is there anyone in Chicago with a video camera? Just go to the guy's office and do a Mike Wallace ambush....

The FBI is still hunting Weather Underground lunatic Elizabeth Ann Duke who skipped bail in 1985. Here's the Wanted Poster.

Elizabeth Ann Duke wanted by the FBI for UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF UNITED STATES IDENTIFICATION; CONSPIRACY; UNLAWFUL STORAGE OF EXPLOSIVES; UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS AND DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES; STORAGE AND CONCEALMENT OF STOLEN EXPLOSIVES; UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FIVE OR MORE FALSE IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS; POSSESSION OF COUNTERFEIT SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS; AIDING AND ABETTING; UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DOCUMENT-MAKING IMPLEMENT

Patm said...

Obama sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years and never heard a racist/anti-American word.

He worked close enough with Bill Ayers to use him as a reference and kicked off his political career in the guy's living room...but was unaware of who he was. Never seems to have read a paper.

Good, Gov. Palin. Say more things like this. I'm starting to like her a lot.

Lorelei Leigh said...

I can't see the video either. But why does everyone ignore John McCain? What's he doing lately?

Maybe he's hiding out in that super-secret location with Dick Cheney.

hdhouse said...

Hey all ya' Republicans on this board.....go out side, wait for the wind to start blowin' and pucker up and whistle....

ya'betcha gonin' ta lose...

this is so much fun. it would be more fun if it weren't so easy.

Revenant said...

This is sweet. For 3 weeks, liberals complained that Sarah Palin was being sequestered.

More specifically, they complained that she wasn't spending enough time being interrogated on-air by registered Democrats. :)

Darcy said...

Thanks for posting Sarah's comments!

I think it is hilarious how, just today, all of a sudden...Obama did not KNOW at the time this guy threw a party for him in his house, that he was considered part of a domestic terrorist group.

Well, let's see if Americans buy that.

AlphaLiberal said...

She continues to be a stubborn liar.

Obama didn't "pal around" with Ayers. He barely knew the guy.

Peggy Noonan is right about Sarah Palin. Palin is a lightweight engaging in trivia while our nation is saddled with two wars and an economic crisis.

Meanwhile, Palin openly supports a secessionist political party whose leader says he "hates America." She spoke at their convention and her husband was a member for years.

They literally hate America! She's out there!

(I will continue to criticize Sarah Palin as I would any male candidate and do not accept that she should be treated like a China Doll. Especially when she slings the shit).

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Any minute now some TV reporter is going to chase down Ayers

Wouldn't you think so? The media has sought out everyone they can think of when it comes to stories about Palin. Somehow, it never occurs to them to check out Barry's Ayers connection. The lack of curiosity is just stunning.

vbspurs said...

If John McCain goes after Obama and his lies and incompetence tomorrow night like he did today, he will turn this thing around.

Maybe, Host. I am hopeful but think it might be too late.

Carmela: Abt that anchor.

That's JD Roberts, now known at CNN as John Roberts. My BF is Canadian, and so is Roberts. He used to be a music veejay, apparently. He was at CBS, because I recall he was the colour-commentator during John Paul II's funeral (he did well).

To anyone who doesn't believe in "liberal media bias", I give you as evidence Rick Sanchez, the old local Miami news anchor.

I have a friend who's related to him, and I was invited to a BBQ party when he, his wife, and kids arrived.

One of the most right-wing Cuban guys you can imagine. But since he joined CNN, he's become unflinchingly liberal.

I wonder how that happens. Is it an editorial line that you kind of pick up, and you go along, because you want to please your bosses? Or is it a personal transformation?

bleeper said...

They had a business together for years. "Guy in the neighborhood" is a ruse. Obama consorts with known terrorists then plays stupid. Thank goodness he has a willingly blind and stupid group of disciples.

Palladian said...

Here's my transcript:

Reporter: The Associated Press called your comments about Obama yesterday racially tinged. What do you think about that?

[Palin, while signing an autograph, makes a startled face when reporter says "racially tinged"]

Palin: Racially tinged?

Reporter: It said your comments about Obama yesterday were racially tinged and unsubstantiated.

Palin: The Associated Press is wrong. The comments are about an association that has been known but hasn't been talked about. And I think it's fair to tak about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career, in the guy's living room. And he, of course, having been associated with that group, a known domestic terrorist group, it's important for Americans to know...

[Reporter tries to interrupt]

Palin: It's really important for Americans to start knowin' who the real Barack Obama is.

AlphaLiberal said...

Did McCain learn anything from the Keating Five scandal?

He intervened with regulators on behalf of the convicted fraud Charles Keating. After the fiasco of S&L dereg, he went on to push for MORE financial industry dereg, which he supports to this day.

Unlike the English Professor, this is a very relevant issue to the crisis we face today. It speaks to McCain's judgment after being burned once by dereg.

To this day, his campaign manager, transition team manager and others are deep in the pockets of the finance industry as lobbyists.

McCain didn't learn a thing from the favors he did for Charles Keating.

Palladian said...

OK, I see that about 10 other people posted transcripts and descriptions while I was making my transcription. But mine's better!

vbspurs said...

Bushman wrote:

The lack of curiosity is just stunning.

Obama's strategy is to run out the clock.

He's up by 10 in the 4th quarter, he's got a decent running game, but other than that, no plan past counting on the other guys' incompetence and biased refs.

I'm sure I don't need to mention. the media are the biased refs.

BTW, McCain deserves to lose based on how he has handled his campaign. Except for a moment in late July to mid August, where he used Obama's hubristic trip around the world against him, he has run a ridiculously neutral campaign.

The only political move was choosing Sarah Palin as his running-mate, other than that, he's been a boy scout. Ugh.

Zachary Sire said...

The day this dingbat heads back to Wasilla will be a great day for America. As if she even knew who Ayers was one week ago.

Her favorables continue to fall, even after that "win" in the debate. The majority of Americans don't trust her on anything, so have fun in your bubble here.

One more month people...one more month.

dcwilly said...

Keep telling yourself how Americans love the Governor, and ignore reality:

More Americans appear to have an unfavorable view of Gov. Sarah Palin, and that may also be helping Obama in the fight for the presidency. Forty percent now have an unfavorable view of Palin, up from 27 percent a month ago and from 21 percent in late August, when McCain surprised many people by picking the first-term Alaska governor as his running mate.

"A majority of Americans now believe that Sarah Palin would be unqualified to serve as president if it became necessary, and her unfavorable rating has doubled," Holland said.

chickelit said...

@AlphaLiberal:

Does anybody care about the Keating Five Scandal today? Get back on track!

chickelit said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CarmelaMotto said...

You know, it's not just his association with radicals, but what did Ayers see in Obama...what did Jeramiah Wright see in Obama? I don't think they saw a dupe.

AlphaLiberal said...

"They had a business together for years."

WTF? Where do you get this? Please name the business. Back up this allegation.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I wonder if Vegas is giving odds on the chances Palin will be president someday?

Whatever happens in this election,it is nice to know there are up and coming Americans like Gov. Palin.

I'm Full of Soup said...

On the other hand Fuck You Alpha. Heh.

George M. Spencer said...

Alpha-

Barely knew?

They were co-CEOs for four years.

"The English professor"?

Is this is "the English professor" who was gleeful over his successful bombing of the Pentagon?

If this is going to be Sen. Obama's defense, this will be the laugh of the century.

AlphaLiberal said...

Palin supports America-haters. Here are the words of the founder of the Alaska Independence Party, which seeks Alaskan Secession. Her husband Todd was a member of this party from 1995 to 2002.

Joe Vogler, founder of the Alaskan Independence Party:
"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government."

"And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home."

She just spoke at their convention!

Darcy said...

Those polls are total crap. I do believe they are weighted with way too many Dems, but we'll see.

We don't have that long to go.

Anonymous said...

Obama must have been either a Mafia wife or a Good German in a former life.

It was imprecise of Palin to say Obama was associated with the group, which was long defunct before he had the chance.

blake said...

MadisonMan sez...I can't see the video either. But why does everyone ignore John McCain? What's he doing lately?

Who cares, that's why.

Seriously, McCain lit the sky up with his choice of Palin, and since then he's been...well, McCain.

He and Obama had a chance to shine on this whole bailout thing, but did either do anything, you know, interesting?

They covered each others' asses, is what they did.

[yawn]

Darcy said...

And I totally agree with you, Victoria. McCain has run a very weak campaign. Honorable, but weak.

AlphaLiberal said...

Does anybody care about the Keating Five Scandal today?

Yes. It's much more relevant than a washed up old English Professor.

The Savings and Loan scandal was the predecessor to today's financial crisis. How McCain handled himself and what he learned speaks volumes to how competent and ethical he would be if granted the power of the White House.

Doesn't look good.

vbspurs said...

I don't think they saw a dupe.

For sure, not. In classic Marxist style, they saw a willing, and able front man.

This is what he has been the whole of his life. The front man of men who know their words and actions are alienating to people. From Ayers, to Wright, and now to Soros, they all realise he's a pliable man, because he's internationalist by disposition, and has an overweening ambition to be validated.

Cheers,
Victoria

bleeper said...

VB - I am with you on that point - McCain deserves to lose if he can't beat a known Marxist who sits in an anti-American, racist church for 20 years and hears nothing, who wasted millions of dollars on "organizing" while working with a terrorist. If you lose to Obama you have earned a degree of political ignominy that is stunning.

As for liberals knowing nothing of their Beloved Leader, go do your own research, you close-minded fools. Read something other than Kos.

AlphaLiberal said...

Darcy, that former McCain fan Joe Klein disgrees with you very much:

I'm of two minds about how to deal with the McCain campaign's further descent into ugliness. Their strategy is simple: you throw crap against a wall and then giggle as the media try to analyze the putresence in a way that conveys a sense of balance: "Well, it is bull-pucky, but the splatter pattern is interesting..." which, of course, only serves to get your perverse message out.

chickelit said...

@Alpha: Instead of blowing smoke, why don't you counter Palin by pointing out what a plus Ayers is for Obama and America?

Palladian said...

"As if she even knew who Ayers was one week ago."

Obama's been hoping that the majority of Americans don't know who Ayers is. But, thanks to this "dingbat" from Wasilla, a lot more of them might.

"One more month people...one more month."

Do you think that if McCain loses you've heard the last of Sarah Palin? Think again, missy. Hehehe.

AlphaLiberal said...

wait, wait, wait.
Get your bullshit straight.

One winger says Obama had a business with Ayers (but can't name the business).

Then two more say Obama is a Marxist.

Perhaps he's a Marxist Capitalist!!

BEHOLD! The conservative mind at work!

Unknown said...

"Obama is not aware of a lot of things, conveniently."

His answer seems to be "I'm too dumb to know who my associates are."

But hey, he has written an important scholarly law review article, contrary to earlier reports.

George M. Spencer said...

Alpha--

I give you credit. You are working hard. Your fingers will be tired tonight.

This Alaska liberation group? How many bombs did it detonate?

As for secession...Norman Mailer wanted New York City to secede from the US when he ran for mayor in 1969. Heck, my ancestors did secede. It's a tradition!

I notice you're now saying Ayers is not just an English professor but a "washed up" one. I guess hiding from the FBI does make a guy tired.

vbspurs said...

Speaking of overweening ambitions, I'm surprised Ann hasn't blogged about the article a lot of people are talking about.

A book on Michelle Obama. The article focuses on her demeanour at her law firm.

"But Michelle could also frustrate her supervisors. Quincy White, the partner who helped recruit Michelle and who headed the marketing group, remembers finding her a challenge to manage. White, who is now retired from the firm, says he gave her the most interesting work he could find, in part because he wanted to see her advance, but also because she seemed perennially dissatisfied.

She was, White recalls, "quite possibly the most ambitious associate that I've ever seen." She wanted significant responsibility right away and was not afraid to object if she wasn't getting what she felt she deserved, he says.


Strong, ambitious women are always accused of trying to want too much, too soon. But whereas some women go up the ladder themselves, like Palin did in her career, Michelle Obama wanted the juiciest plums as a matter-of-course.

She DESERVED it.

Darcy said...

alpha: Joe Klein is a liberal. I hate to break that news to you.

Much of the liberal media were "fans" of John McCain's when it was useful to them - and to the Democrats. Does he have any fans left in the liberal media? Any?

No. And that's OK. I'd worry if he did.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

And under bus goes Bill Ayers...

"He's not the Bill Ayers I used to know and respect. In fact, for 21 years, I didn't know the guy at all...or he did something despicable when I was 8 years old. Now let's talk about our plans for these 57 states of ours..."

Must be a crowded place down there...

AlphaLiberal said...

chickenlittle, Ayers is not involved with the Obama campaign. ha ha though.

This is a desperate act from a desperate campaign tanking in the polls. It's scraping the bottom of the oppo research barrel.

The only people who believe this drivel are base Republicans.

p.s. the NYT story concluded the association was overblown and they barely knew each other.

AlphaLiberal said...

Does he have any fans left in the liberal media? Any?

No. McCain is a "maverick" no more. He abandoned the ways that made the media love him. He abandoned his previous maverick positions to embrace the Bush agenda.

McCain, the former maverick, wears the Bush brand.

Meade said...

Palladian: Best transcripterizer EVAH!

The anchor closes the segment by noting that the Obama campaign maintains that in 1995, Obama was unaware "of Ayers' past ties with the radical group, the Weathermen".

Okay. Let's stipulate that in 1995, Obama had no idea that Bill Ayers was a founding member of the Weathermen and that Ayers declared war against the United States in 1970 while John McCain was in prison. You're aware of it now, Barack and all you can say is he was just some guy in your neighborhood? Yyyeah, and Ted Kennedy just forgot he had driven his car into the ocean

chickelit said...

the NYT story concluded the association was overblown and they barely knew each other.

I guess that settles it then

Palladian said...

"Perhaps he's a Marxist Capitalist!!"

Um, Bill Ayers considers himself a communist (with a small 'c', mind you) and yet he lives in the expensive Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago. In fact, almost every American I've ever met that considers themselves a "Marxist" was carrying a Prada handbag. Have you ever heard of "cognitive dissonance"? Oh right, you're still working on the "cognition" part.

Revenant said...

Do you think that if McCain loses you've heard the last of Sarah Palin? Think again, missy. Hehehe.

Exactly.

Obama will take office next year. The economy will be heading downhill. It will keep heading downhill for years afterwards. Taxes will go up; government benefits, down.

Obama could try his usual political stunts. He could accuse the economy of being racist, for example. He could claim not to have heard that the economy was bad. He could blame George Bush, in 2009... and 2010... and 2011... and 2012. Odds that the American people will be interested in hearing a 100% Democratic government complain about Republicans four years from now: approximately 0%.

While the fact that Obama is a clueless newbie with no managerial skills is a downside for America, it is an upside for Republicans in 2012 (and possibly 2010). The Magic Negro won't be so magic anymore, and there will be a dynamic and charismatic two-term Alaskan governor heading the Republican ticket. :)

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

In 1932 The New York Times convinced the USA that Stalin's USSR was a paradise, and that at least 2 million Ukrainians had not died of starvation during forced collectivization.

And let's not talk about Herbert Matthews...

Revenant said...

almost every American I've ever met that considers themselves a "Marxist" was carrying a Prada handbag. Have you ever heard of "cognitive dissonance"?

Forget cognitive dissonance, has he ever heard of China? :)

blake said...

Actually, no, I believe this stuff, and I'm not even Republican, much less part of the base.

Am I reflective of any significant demographic? Probably not.

Darcy said...

revenant: Preach it, brother (or sister? sorry...I'm rather new)!!

vbspurs said...

Bleeper wrote:

VB - I am with you on that point - McCain deserves to lose if he can't beat a known Marxist

Bleeper, by saying he was trained in the classic Marxist tradition, I am not claiming he is one personally. I think I made that point clear in one of my blogposts, A Dissenting Voice.

I quoted an Althouse commenter, Helen Cadogan, who said:

Furthermore, I know a communist when I hear one. Barack Obama lacks the basic understanding of capitalism and how it informs a market economy; of taxation and how changes to it can either uplift or degrade the lives of the people functioning within an economic system; of the role of government as the Founding Fathers envisioned it—not cradle to grave.

I replied:

I've been around very genuine, very scary Communists to know the difference between someone merely influenced by Marxism, as would include the majority of politicians in the world today, to a real one)

I mean, after all, I was also surrounded by History professors who were to a man, Marxist. And I escaped unindoctrinated.

In Obama's turn, his world view is anti-establishment. Patriotism. Religion. Capitalism. Anything that advances that cause, is suspect.

Cheers,
Victoria

AlphaLiberal said...

Well, I find the faux outrage over the Ayers connection to be a joke in light of the way Republicans dismiss Sarah Palin's much stronger connections to the Alaska Independence Party.

A wee bit hypocritical and it gives the lie to your claim to actually give a damn over Obama's tenuous connections to Ayers.

I forgot this one: "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

It was very unpatriotic for Sarah and Todd Palin to support an anti-American political party whose founder openly hates America.

vbspurs said...

Palladian wrote:

In fact, almost every American I've ever met that considers themselves a "Marxist" was carrying a Prada handbag.

Champagne socialists. Limousine Liberals.

That's why I respected the hippie doctoral students who would slog up Rio's most violent, putrid favelas, when I lived there. They dressed like bums, and stank of pitsweat, but they lived the same life as the people they studied for their Ph.D's. That's part of walking the walk.

Give me those activists over the phoney baloneys who live in rarified Chicago and New York neighbourhoods any day.

George M. Spencer said...

Over at Tipping Point Media, Josh Marshall is writing...

What Kind Of Campaign Is McCain Running?
The sort of campaign in which a supporter can apparently yell, in response to the central question of McCain's speech today -- "who is the real Barack Obama" -- "terrorist!" The sort in which a crowd responds to McCain's portrayal of Obama as an alien outsider with a kind of visceral roar.

---

WHO THEY ARE, WHAT THEY'RE ABOUT
So we have McCain today getting his crowd riled up asking who Barack Obama is and then apparently giving a wink and a nod when one member of the crowd screams out "terrorist."

And later we have Sarah Palin with the same mob racket, getting members of the crowd to yell out "kill him", though it's not clear whether the call for murder was for Bill Ayers or Barack Obama. It didn't seem to matter.

These are dangerous and sick people, McCain and Palin. Whatever it takes. Stop at nothing.

Zachary Sire said...

Do you think that if McCain loses you've heard the last of Sarah Palin?

What so many of you fail to realize is that it is partly because of Palin that McCain is losing. The more people see her and hear her, the lower the McCain poll numbers go down.

The truly crazy thing is that Palin has been and would have been a popular pol had she not have been handled so horrifically by the McCain people. After being re-manufactured by McCain, she's totally toxic. The only way she'll have a future in national politics is if she goes away for a long time and re-emerges as her own person.

Unknown said...

Ann,

I disagree. She handled that as anyone could or would. The bar is so low now that "average" is "well"? What is this, something like ivy league grade inflation?

vbspurs:

But why does everyone ignore John McCain?

This is sweet. For 3 weeks, liberals complained that Sarah Palin was being sequestered.

(1) The "liberals", the "liberals." Like it's one huge identifiable mass? You shoul maniacal when you put everything you see that you disagree with in one blanket category.

(2) The jokes about Palin being everywhere and no one knowing anything about McCain have been around since the very beginning. Palin what's-his-name jokes (jokes he's used to, after all, the minister at his OWN WEDDING didn't remember his name when he announced the married couple!)

(3) The complaint wasn't that she wasn't around. The complaint was that she wouldn't be interviewed. Her comment wasn't made in an interview.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

alphaliberal said...
Well, I find the faux outrage over the Ayers connection to be a joke in light of the way Republicans dismiss Sarah Palin's much stronger connections to the Alaska Independence Party.

A wee bit hypocritical and it gives the lie to your claim to actually give a damn over Obama's tenuous connections to Ayers.

I forgot this one: "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

It was very unpatriotic for Sarah and Todd Palin to support an anti-American political party whose founder openly hates America.

8:51 PM


One group shoots moose, the other killed people.

One uses the ballot, the other one used bombs.

Explain the
moral equivalence of this again...

Lorelei Leigh said...

Give me those activists over the phoney baloneys who live in rarified Chicago and New York neighbourhoods any day.

This was one of the things I hated the most about a great many of the students at my undergraduate institution in New York City. As Palladian says, "cognitive dissonance" indeed. I was up to my nose in it there. The stench was awful, and I very nearly choked on it.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"Obama can accuse the economy of being racist". LOL.

And fuck you Alpha. You been hiding since I called you out on the Biden crap re Iraq / Afhgan huh?

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Rev, I wish I had your optimism. Just check out the media response to McCain tonight. They are in full court press mode to protect Barry. Do you really believe they will give up once he is elecgted? Don't worry, no matter how bad things get, new narratives will be invented as necessary to keep him in office.

I once had faith that Americans could see through such emptiness. I don't believe that anymore. Once we have all become dependent victims, there is no turning back.

Wince said...

Wasn't it just a week ago Friday that Obama hissed that he and McCain should be able to campaign and deal with the economic crisis at the same time while the legislation was still pending?

Now it the economy all the time?

AlphaLiberal said...

AJ, I don't know what you're referring to and don't care. But I'm flattered you hang on my words. Try turning the computer off now and then.

And, ElcubanitoKC, one group has been dead for nearly 40 years (Weather Underground). One group (America hating AIP) is alive and well and hating on America.

------------------
This is good:

Bill Ayers isn't going to save John McCain. The race is over.

John McCain's candidacy is as much a casualty of Wall Street as Lehman or Merrill. Like those once vibrant institutions, McCain's collapse was stunning and quick. One minute you are a well-respected brand. The next you are yelling at the messengers of your demise as all around you the numbers start blinking red and stop adding up.

AlphaLiberal said...

good night.

Don't let the bile fester to long.

Darcy said...

That Josh Marshall bit is scary. Would the media go so far as to falsely accuse McCain/Palin of inciting violence against Obama for merely pointing that his friend was a terrorist?

I fear that they would.

CarmelaMotto said...

Does anyone want to discuss the anchor guy seeming to stick up for Obama and that he did not, DID NOT know who Ayers was.

Just curious.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

And Ayers's and Dohrn's ideology die with the group?

John Stodder said...

Obama's claim not to know anything about Ayers' politics and association with the Weather Underground is actually a Olympic-quality variation on his "he is not the man I thought I knew" trick.

It's more like: "When I knew him, I didn't know him. Then I didn't know him. And now, he is not the man I thought I didn't know."

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Carmela, it is the same on every outlet. I was listening to NPR today, and they only interviewed people who refuted the charge, it's just pretty sick.

Cedarford said...

PatCA said...
"Obama is not aware of a lot of things, conveniently."

His answer seems to be "I'm too dumb to know who my associates are."

But hey, he has written an important scholarly law review article, contrary to earlier reports.


I followed your link, only to discover you never read what you linked. Obama did not write that "scholarly law review". He was only involved in Board funding.

That said, it's still a good link showing BO's involvement in anti-2nd Amendment activity.

You should read it.

Ger said...

Darcy at 2030 said:

"Darcy said...

And I totally agree with you, Victoria. McCain has run a very weak campaign. Honorable, but weak."


Honorable?!?!?!?

You have got to be kidding.

John McCain is not an honorable man. He never has been and never will be. He talks the talk but...

Yet the myth persists.

chickelit said...

@Bushman: David Axelrod has faith that Americans cannot see through such emptiness.

Fight his faith with your own faith.

Once we have all become dependent victims, there is no turning back.

Fight Axelrod's hope with your own!

vbspurs said...

As Palladian says, "cognitive dissonance" indeed. I was up to my nose in it there.

Lorelei (great ID, BTW), I know the feeling. They are Leftists not because just because they believe in that ideology being better, but because it purifies them by extension.

Unfortunately, history has always shown that the rich Lefties are usually the first to get whacked when the various revolutions come along.

In 1917, the Liberal Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovitch led his Imperial Marines wearing red kerchiefs on their lapels and bayonets, down St. Petersburg's streets. He and his mother and brothers had long agitated against Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, and even planned to assassinate the Empress.

His cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovitch was an noted Historian of renowned Liberal political views. He befriended many Bolsheviks, and even allowed Maxim Gorky to hold clandestine meetings with them in his Palace. He greeted the Revolution with glee and appealed to Lenin to allow him to become the "Official" Marxist historian.

1 year after, Grand Duke Kirill was lifting his pregnant wife over a fence to escape by miracle to Finland, with Bolsheviks minutes away from slaughtering them.

Grand Duke Nicholas didn't become Official anything. They killed him along with the most conservative of his brothers.

They had outlived their Useful Idiocy.

Darcy said...

Go chickenlittle!

And I mean that positively!

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Victoria, you live in a city full of those. They would deny it now, but many of them were indeed useful idiots. Search Miguel Angel Quevedo, director and owner of Revista Bohemia. I posted his suicide letter the other day.

vbspurs said...

Would the media go so far as to falsely accuse McCain/Palin of inciting violence against Obama for merely pointing that his friend was a terrorist?

Darcy, considering that many journalists have dropped very broad hints that there will be riots in America if Obama isn't elected President, I would say they are not in any position to insinuate anything.

Anonymous said...

Check out the video at michellemalkin.com in which Palin slam dunks a heckler. Too bad this Palin didn't show up at the MSM interviews.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

Althouse throws out some red meat for her hyserical rightwing base. A mindless feeding frenzy ensues. Good stuff, Althouse!

vbspurs said...

Ernie, alas, I do know that. All those anti-Batista intellectuals are amongst the most bitter anti-Castristas, as if that would exculpate bringing Castro to power.

Did you read Babalublog's piece on Quevedo?

Lorelei Leigh said...

I seriously think the commenters here are among the most informed that I've seen anywhere.

Thanks, Victoria. The thing is, before I went there, I fancied myself a liberal. I always knew there was a difference between liberal and left, but until going away to school, the difference was largely academic to me.

Of course, I knew I wasn't really a conservative either, though I'm probably more conservative than liberal. And I don't think of liberal as a dirty word like a lot of other conservatives. It was mostly the hypocrisy that bothered me, and the fact that the hypocrites were in so deep that they didn't even notice their hypocrisy.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Yes, that's the piece I linked to. It is very prophetic in so many ways.

George M. Spencer said...

The crisis is pushing Barack to negotiate with Tzipi Livni.

She's a former Mossad spy who is Israel's Prime Minister elect.

That's Ehud Barack, the defense minister.

Wonder what Israel will do vis-a-vis Iran if they think Obama is going to win or if he does win? Would Israel strike before Jan. 20 or before the election; if Israel hit Iran before our election, would Iran attack the U.S.?

No one knows much about what she did with Mossad in Paris. It involved "taking out Arab terrorists." Hot dates, guess.

"Both her parents were arrested for terrorist crimes in the 1940s. Her mother Sarah, who died recently aged 85, was a leader of Irgun, the militant Zionist group that operated in Palestine at the time of the British mandate and whose exploits included train robbery.

“I was disguised as a pregnant woman and robbed a train carrying £35,000,” she said in an interview shortly before she died. “Then we blew up another train en route from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.”

Livni’s father, Eitan, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for attacking a British military base. He escaped."

Bet she'd like to meet Bill Ayers!

BJM said...

Alpha: the only difference between Ayers and McVeigh is that Ayers was too whacked out to build a massive truck bomb.

The intent is the same, fortunately the outcome was not.

Obama and Ayers knew each other prior to 1995, that Obama would not know of Ayers's past in the small elite political circle in which he and Michelle were moving is laughable.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

lorelei leigh wrote:

I seriously think the commenters here are among the most informed that I've seen anywhere.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

vbspurs said...

Ahh, the CNN video is working again, at least for me.

I notice there is an ad to the right, showing a flattering photo of Michelle Obama. She will be appearing on Larry King on Wednesday, talking about the "presidential election and Sarah Palin".

I cannot wait.

Lorelei Leigh said...

Too bad this Palin didn't show up at the MSM interviews.

After her convention speech, this is the Palin I thought we were going to see. Then she kind of fell apart. She's rebounding now, but I still maintain it's too late for her to make any real difference in this election now.

However, I think she is doing well to rehabilitate her image and solidifying a future for herself in national politics.

Anonymous said...

Alphaliberal said:

[She continues to be a stubborn liar.

[Obama didn't "pal around" with Ayers. He barely knew the guy. ]


* * *

And you continue to be smokin' something funny there, fella. Where the heck have you been?

LOL!

Unknown said...

"I guess that settles it then."
LOL!

BTW Michelle O is going to be on Larry King tonight, for one of his hard hitting interviews. Can she hold on to her sweet persona for an entire hour? Every time I see her now, I think of Dr. Strangelove trying to hold his hand down...

AlphaLiberal said...

Wow. What a lot of delusion in here.

Darcy, it was the Washington Post who reported someone yelled "Kill him" while Palin was attacking Obama.

Here's a question for Ann Althouse and her braying base:

If Sarah Palin is so good, then why won't she hold a press conference? Why does her campaign try to keep reporters away from covering her events?

Surely someone so good can easily handle a few pesky reporters. Instead, they behave like some free speech-hating dictator toward the news media.

OK, really going to bed now. this is just too weird in here.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Victoria:
Going back to your link to the Chicago Sun-Times book review on the bio about Michelle Obama. Did you catch the perfect comment?

First Lady Omarosa.

Sprezzatura said...

I'm surprised Ann hasn't blogged about

Michelle's assigned roommate and her family at Princeton working to get a new roommate because they didn't want their daughter in the same room as a black woman.

Actually I don't care. This is uninteresting, and unworthy of blogging. But, vbspurs silliness is even less interesting.

And, I can't tell if Althouse is serious about her praise of Palin. This is the same line of attack that Palin's been repeating (almost half a dozen times) since Saturday.

And, nobody in the comments has fleshed out the Althouse comment. What is revolutionary? Does Althouse know about Palin's factual manipulation? If she does, what is revolutionary about deceit. If she doesn't know about Palin's manipulations, why is it revolutionary to repeat attacks?

Maybe Althouse didn't know that Palin has been saying this in fundraisers and in public for a few days.

I couldn't play the clip. So, I read through the comments looking for someone with a transcript, and I was expecting something impressive. Then, I read the statement; total let down.

Maybe my problem is that Althouse over-hyped the comment. I certainly was expecting more than Palin's already trite comment that she's been repeating for several days.

Not to mention that this blog is saturated with these types of comments. I have no idea why Althouse built up expectations here. I must be missing something.

chickelit said...

BTW Michelle O is going to be on Larry King tonight, for one of his hard hitting interviews.

Is it tonight or Wednesday?

Lorelei Leigh said...

Thanks for your incredibly intelligent response, cyrus pinkerton.

Whether you agree with the commenters here, there is no denying that they are both informed and intelligent.

Then again, since you offer nothing by way of support for your position other than derisive laughter, perhaps I should amend my previous statement to say that some of the commenters here are among the most informed I've seen anywhere. Others are obviously not.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I mentioned it yesterday and I'll reiterate: I think Palin's foray is an attempt to bring Michelle Obama out of hiding. She engaged against Hillary in the primary and she will be unable to stay happily on message like Axelrod and her man.

Emasculating and revealing all at once.

chickelit said...

vbspurs wrote: But whereas some women go up the ladder themselves, like Palin did in her career, Michelle Obama wanted the juiciest plums as a matter-of-course.

Do you suppost she was the first to pick the low-hanging fruit, and introduce him to the likes of Wright and Ayers?

somefeller said...

Unfortunately, history has always shown that the rich Lefties are usually the first to get whacked when the various revolutions come along...

And this is, of course, something completely irrelevant to the discussion of an election in the United States or any other modern Western democracy. But, irrelevant comments and pointless asides are the stock-in-trade of Vicky, after all.

No surprise to see that the conservatives posting here, who are always going on and on about mean liberal incivility and oppression don't have much to say about people calling Obama a terrorist at a McCain rally, with McCain just nodding along, other than to try and change the subject.

B. said...

"Any minute now some TV reporter is going to chase down Ayers"

Ayers and his lovely wife are probably under strict orders from the Obama camp to shut up. He's always jumped at interviews, and to turn down the NYT must have killed him.

Ever wonder why Ayers liked Obama?

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

somefeller, from your same source:

"McCain seemed to pause, and didn't denounce the epithet. I'd argue that there's no way to arrive at a conclusive answer as to whether he heard it or not, short of asking him and getting a frank answer. McCain could have been pausing to admire the pith and artfulness of his smear, or to bask in the adulation it brought. And McCain is not responsible for what some whackjob yells at his rally."

somefeller said...

I have the feeling we are entering a new era.

I'm not sure how a stock response and recitation of talking points by Palin constitutes a new era. On the other hand, if you meant that we are entering a new era because Obama will be the next President, I'd say let's not get ahead of ourselves here. But, yes, that would be a new era, and a good one, if that's what was meant.

B. said...

"Michelle's assigned roommate and her family at Princeton working to get a new roommate because they didn't want their daughter in the same room as a black woman."

Or maybe they could tell that Michelle was a witch. Was she an affirmative action candidate there?

chickelit said...

@b:
I'll bet Ayers regrets the last interview he gave the NYT. Not for it's content but rather the timing.

vbspurs said...

Ruth Anne quoted and wrote:

First Lady Omarosa.

Heh. Quite.

I think Palin's foray is an attempt to bring Michelle Obama out of hiding.

Oh you are good! I thought that just now, when I saw the CNN ad.

"Here kitty kitty kitty".

Darcy said...

Doesn't this yelling of "terrorist" and "kill him" at McCain rallies, purportedly directed at Obama sound a little too convenient?

Was it Washington Post reporters yelling this? No, I'm not kidding.

AlphaLiberal said...

From the New York Times article that attack dog Palin cited:

But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called “somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.”

And, the Associated Press:
Her reference to Obama’s relationship with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground, was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were “pals” or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career. Obama, who was a child when the Weathermen were planting bombs, has denounced Ayers’ radical views and actions

CNN Factcheck:
CNN Fact check wrote about Palin’s claim that Obama is palling around with terrorists, “Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now “palling around,” or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.”

And, from the Sun Times:
Obama has said he ‘‘deplored’’ what Ayers did in the 1960s and that ‘‘by the time I met him, he is a professor of education at the University of Illinois. We served on a board together that had Republicans, bankers, lawyers, focused on education.

Sarah Palin lied through her teeth when she said Obama "palled around" with Ayers.

amba said...

If only Ayers were just a harmless English professor. But he's an education professor, and an influential one.

What he said in a 2006 interview with Revolution -- the Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA:

I actually was listening to Berlusconi the other day in Italy. The right-wing bastard that used to run Italy. And Berlusconi said people criticize us because we have so much power. But the truth is we don’t have the schools, and we don’t have the economy. And that’s very much what’s true in America. You know, if you look at a place like Chicago or if you look anywhere around the country, the right wing—it’s not just conservatives, it’s probably the most reactionary cabal of ideologues I’ve ever seen, operating with a very, very clear ideological purpose—control all three branches of the federal government, control many state governments, control the media—the kind of bought priesthood of the media that does nothing but bow down to them and kowtow to them. And yet, if you hear them talk, they’re whining about how little power they have, how marginal they are, how under attack they are. And on the one hand, you could say, oh that’s just demagoguery, those guys are bullshitting. But the truth is they see something that they know that we maybe don’t know so well, and that is their power is tenuous and short-lived. I think the reason we’re going to see the bombing of Iran is because they know that they have a little window here to do all the bad things that they’ve wanted to do, or in their view, to set the conditions for all the things that they would like to struggle for over the next decade. And they are going at their agenda with a fierce single-mindedness. And whether they are thrown out of power, the one public space that still irritates the crap out of them is education. And it is one of the public spaces that’s left to fight about.

integrity said...

Cyrus Pinkerton said...
Althouse throws out some red meat for her hyserical rightwing base. A mindless feeding frenzy ensues. Good stuff, Althouse!



The best! VD and Pat make it even better.

Revenant said...

Rev, I wish I had your optimism. Just check out the media response to McCain tonight. They are in full court press mode to protect Barry. Do you really believe they will give up once he is elecgted?

I don't think the press has that much power. Yes, they've been shamelessly promoting Obama's candidacy, but I don't think it has had a large impact. The main power of the press is the ability to refuse to cover stories -- e.g., the total lack of media curiosity about Obama's decades-long support of racist religious nuts. But the press can't "not cover" a bad recession; it can't "not cover" incompetent foreign policy. The main benefit Obama has enjoyed from the press -- its aid in maintaining his "blank slate" status -- evaporates the day he takes the oath of office.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

lorelei leigh wrote:

Thanks for your incredibly intelligent response, cyrus pinkerton.

You are certainly welcome, lorelei leigh. Thank you for your very funny joke!

Whether you agree with the commenters here, there is no denying that they are both informed and intelligent.

Compared to what? There are a few intelligent commenters here. However, there are far more partisan hacks who do little more than regurgitate the latest talking points that Rush has fed them. If you are impressed by that type of commentary, it says far more about you than it does about the quality of the comments.

Then again, since you offer nothing by way of support for your position other than derisive laughter

You mean you were serious?
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

perhaps I should amend my previous statement to say that some of the commenters here are among the most informed I've seen anywhere.

You don't get around much, do you?

somefeller said...

Maybe so ElcubanitoKC, but one can also draw the opposite conclusion. Perhaps someone should ask McCain about it, in the hopes he actually does give a frank answer. And that sort of rhetoric is pretty standard among conservatives these days, and I'm not seeing too many people here denouncing the comments in question.

Oh, and Darcy, the "terrorist" comment is on video, so your little media conspiracy theory won't work for that one.

vbspurs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This is one of the problems with a possible Obama presidency.

A distracted lap dog press sluthing racial sweat at every turn.

vbspurs said...

Here's an anti-Palin protester for your viewing pleasure.

I think Palin loves to be heckled. She's aggressive without provocation, but with the provocation, she can turn it up a notch, allowing her supporters to claim she was just responding.

BTW, chickenlittle, I believe it is Wednesday at 9, but Patca may be right! Let me check.

somefeller said...

Going back to your link to the Chicago Sun-Times book review on the bio about Michelle Obama. Did you catch the perfect comment? First Lady Omarosa.

Yeah, perfect. Ha-ha, so witty. All class from Ruth Anne, as usual.

AlphaLiberal said...

The Wash Post actually reported the "Kill him" shouted out to Palin during her speech.

And, Palin has nothing to say to shouts of "kill him."

I guess it wasn't in her script.

So when will she do her first press conference? She's so good and all. Shouldn't someone who wants to lead the nation speak to the press? Yes! What's she afraid of?

(Omarosa is funny??)

Henry said...

Palladian wrote: OK, I see that about 10 other people posted transcripts and descriptions while I was making my transcription. But mine's better!

And AlphaLiberal posted five red herrings in the same time. It's a transcription-red-herring smackdown!

You know, I really don't care much about Ayers. I don't think it can really be held against Obama that he didn't sniff out and shun a neighborhood politico with a shady past.

But I do care about the media covering for Obama. The selective memory of those who would hold press conferences makes me very disturbed.

Now CNN tells us that Obama's defense is that he was unaware of Ayer's past.

I thought Obama's defense was that he barely knew the guy.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

In that case, somefeller, one can draw the conclusion that Obama (PBUH) called Sarah Palin a pig. Don't you think?

Palladian said...

You know if you put AlphaLiberal and Cyrus Pinkerton and integrity together you almost have a believable human personality.

Separately, it's like listening to an id, an ego and a superego scream at each other.

Darcy said...

Actually, it doesn't disprove what I fear is possible, somefeller. It would be awful - almost unthinkable, of course, if the media were to go that far...

vbspurs said...

And as visual accompaniment to Amba's reply:

How Bill Ayers thinks of America

From the August 2001 issue of Chicago Magazine.

Am I safe to say that in 2001, Obama had dealt with Ayers, having launched his career during a meet-and-greet at Ayer's house? Had he served with Ayers on the Wood Funds and Annenberg Challenge boards?

And you tell me that a guy who stepped on his country's flag, and claimed to be sorry he didn't go "far enough" in his terrorist activities, never shared these views with Obama, or that the latter wasn't aware of these sentiments, and didn't distance himself immediately?

Please.

AlphaLiberal said...

Here you go, Darcy. The story was reported by Dana Milbank of the Wash post. Josh Marshal just posted the hyperlink.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.


Vicious lot, these "pro-life" Republicans. Gin up the hate some more, McCain-Palin, you idiots. That's all you have to offer.

=================
No, ElcubanitoKC, she's the lipstick.

Palladian said...

"Here's an anti-Palin protester for your viewing pleasure."

LOL. Bunny ears? And she's supposed to be a polar bear?

And wait until some PETA protesters get a load of her fur coat...

There's nothing like watching lefties bash each other's brains out.

Henry said...

Dana Milbank proves my point.

Palladian said...

"AlphaLiberal said... good night.

Don't let the bile fester to long. 9:02 PM"

What happened, your dealer sell you some fake Ambien?

Lorelei Leigh said...

No surprise to see that the conservatives posting here, who are always going on and on about mean liberal incivility and oppression don't have much to say about people calling Obama a terrorist at a McCain rally, with McCain just nodding along, other than to try and change the subject.

I'm only sort of a conservative, and I don't generally go on and on about mean liberal incivility and oppression (any more than I go on about conservative incivility and oppression, at any rate), but I'll bite anyway.

I don't like to hear these things. And I'm even more disturbed by the reports of someone shouting "kill him" in reference to Obama. I wish everyone would be a bit more civil. I was at an event this weekend with some very conservative friends, and the conversation turned to politics. The suggestion was made that Obama will probably be assassinated if he's elected. I was shocked at this, and even more when no one seemed to be too bothered at the prospect. I know these people well, and they're not bad people, but I found myself staring at them, wondering if these were the same people I thought I knew. It was truly illuminating.

I am big on civility on all sides. I do like the elections to be tough and I don't mind the negativity or ramping up of the rhetoric on both sides, but the kinds of things you're talking about do go beyond the pale. And you're right: conservatives don't jump up to condemn them, just like liberals don't jump up to condemn Sandra Bernhardt when she suggests that Palin should be gang raped or some such nonsense.

I'd like to think that even the truly partisan can be civil, but perhaps the fact that there is so much at stake in this - or in any - election makes that difficult. I honestly don't know. I do think that the ones yelling "kill him" or calling him a terrorist are in the minority, though. Perhaps it is best to just ignore them, and hope that once the election is over, regardless of the outcome, they'll return to resembling humans once again.

CarmelaMotto said...

Ayers is in "hiding" and now only communicates through comic strips.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/in-a-not-remote.html

Palladian said...

"And later we have Sarah Palin with the same mob racket, getting members of the crowd to yell out "kill him", though it's not clear whether the call for murder was for Bill Ayers or Barack Obama. It didn't seem to matter."

So what is Josh Marshall's reaction to some douche-bag pointing a rifle at an effigy of Sarah Palin?

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

The media will say anything to have The Messiah (PBUH) crowned. And they will say anything to keep him on the throne.

vbspurs said...

Chickenlittle wrote:

Do you suppost she was the first to pick the low-hanging fruit, and introduce him to the likes of Wright and Ayers?

No. Michelle is all about blackness, not about Leftism, necessarily.

I believe she did encourage the Wright connexion, but Ayers and Dohrn? I don't know, but I doubt it.

He learnt dissent at his mother's knee. He is comfortable around such people because he heard sanitised versions of their rhetoric from his mother's lips.

But he also did fairly well on his own. After all, a child can rebel against his parent's teachings.

Lorelei Leigh said...

Compared to what? There are a few intelligent commenters here. However, there are far more partisan hacks who do little more than regurgitate the latest talking points that Rush has fed them. If you are impressed by that type of commentary, it says far more about you than it does about the quality of the comments.

And if you think that most of the commenters here are simply parroting Rush's talking points, then that says more about you than it does about the quality of the comments. And if you don't think the commenters here, even the conservative ones, are more informed than your average freeper, then the issue isn't really worth discussing any further.

I do not think people are unintelligent and uninformed simply because they disagree with me. I am sorry if you feel differently.

And I get around plenty. But thanks ever so much for you concern.

Anonymous said...

It was mostly the hypocrisy that bothered me, and the fact that the hypocrites were in so deep that they didn't even notice their hypocrisy.

Never more on display than the Harvard grads like Obama talking about social justice and helping the regular folks.

I'll believe they believe in social justice and helping the average folks when Harvard becomes a free public university with open enrolment.

What a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites.

Palladian said...

"Ayers is in "hiding" and now only communicates through comic strips."

Funny that he's wearing his commie star t-shirt in his little comic strip...

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Palladian, dearest, to them she is not a person, you and me are not persons. We are not in The Party, and only through the party can one achieve full human status...

Palladian said...

"Compared to what? There are a few intelligent commenters here. However, there are far more partisan hacks who do little more than regurgitate the latest talking points..."

Wow, what does that say about the so-called liberals who comment here? Most of them don't even bother to re-write the talking points, they just copy-paste them.

Ann Althouse said...

My point is -- call it red meat if you like -- that Palin did not grovel at the accusation of racism. She just went right for the point that she had to make... which was never racist. What's new is that she didn't bother to respond to the charge. She wasn't cowed by it. It was utter bullshit of course, and her response treated it as the bullshit it was.

vbspurs said...

Heh, Palladian. Thanks.

BTW, all the other tourists who posed with "Sarah Palin" identified themselves to the reporter. The lone man who didn't, was the guy pointing a rifle at Palin's head.

If Palin gets in as Vice-President, I give filmmakers 2 years to construct a mockumentary where she is killed.

Since PDS is an advanced form of BDS, and the documentary on President Bush being "assassinated" took 5 years in the offing, I think 2 years is reasonable, don't you?

Well, after such pleasant thoughts, I bid you all goodnight...

Cheers,
Victoria

Henry said...

Dana Milbank proves my point.

The A.P. accuses Palin of racism. Not the Obama campaign. Not some anonymous nobody at a campaign rally. The A.P..

Dana Milbank goes to a Republican campaign rally and what draws his attention? A horrible thought shouted by an anonymous nobody.

Darcy said...

Bingo, Henry.

What a surprise that it was Dana Milbank.

BJM said...

Perhaps those of you who were not around in the '60's should read John Murtagh's "Fire in the Night" in City Journal.

During the April 16 debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, moderator George Stephanopoulos brought up “a gentleman named William Ayers,” who “was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He’s never apologized for that.” Stephanopoulos then asked Obama to explain his relationship with Ayers. Obama’s answer: “The notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was eight years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn’t make much sense, George.” Obama was indeed only eight in early 1970. I was only nine then, the year Ayers’s Weathermen tried to murder me.

This was not "protest" or civil disobedience, it was a criminal act.

Does anyone really believe that older progressive elites in Chicago don't talk about the '68 convention?

I know those of us who were at Cal in the '60's often retell events at gatherings, who sat in and did what to whom, it's a natural thing people do and there are younger people in the mix who know the history of the times.

I find it entirely unbelievable that Ayers and Dohrn do not reminiscence with friends in their home.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Is there video of this rally?

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

What's new is that she didn't bother to respond to the charge.

It's new that Palin is unresponsive to questions from the press? Really?

CarmelaMotto said...

Palladian - missed the commie star on the t-shirt. Just in case we were confused about Ayers.

The McCain rally is on C-span. They were playing it on the radio and it's all over. McCain was hittin Obama hard.

And I did not hear someone say "Kill him." There were a lot of shouts at points. If that was said, to pretend that McCain would condone that is delusion.

Randi Rhodes and others who discussed/acted out assasinating Bush never lost their jobs (pointing their fingers like a gun and pretending to shoot Bush in the head). They weren't strangers in a crowd. Where is the outrage their lefties. Yeah, thought so. You only condemn it when it suits.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

It was utter bullshit of course, and her response treated it as the bullshit it was.

Palin's response was to repeat her talking point for the day which, of course, is pure bullshit. Did you miss that point or did you choose to ignore it?

Zachary Sire said...

What's new is that she didn't bother to respond to the charge

That's only because she didn't have a programmed response for that charge.

Althouse, you give Palin way too much credit. How in the world do you know what Palin is thinking? I remember you also saying that she didn't bother to answer Katie Couric when asked about Supreme Court cases because she simply didn't need to.

So, let me get this straight. When Palin doesn't address a question or provide an answer, it's only because the question is beneath her, not because she has no idea how to respond.

(And that AP charge, by the way, wasn't racist, but instead good old fashioned fear mongering. Old McCain is going to have a lot to answer for tomorrow night. Can't wait.)

Henry said...

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

For all we know, the man was one of Dana Milbank's colleagues and he was yelling about McCain.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

lorelei leigh wrote:

And I get around plenty. But thanks ever so much for you concern.

You are most welcome lorelei leigh. I'm not particularly concerned, but I am fairly amused.

Good to hear that you get around plenty, by the way.

Henry said...

Or a California Angels fan and he was just yelling.

Darcy said...

Geez, Pinkerton. What a fine man you are.

Meade said...

Cyrus Pinkerton said...
It's new that Palin is unresponsive to questions from the press? Really?

Unresponsive to the charge of racism. Think about that, Cyrus. It is Palin, not Obama supporters, who is post-racial.

Meade said...

Sarah Palin: genuinely post-racial

Obama supporters: race-baiters

Henry said...

Darcy I was backtracking a bit and realized I riffed on an idea you had first. Credit to you.

Anonymous said...

I just dropped by to check the condition of this topic.

Judging by the vitriol that passes for thinking in some places, it looks like the leftnutz are out in full force again. What an odd bunch, untainted by reason as they are. Pretty sure a couple of them are on the Obama dole, stirring up shit for the One Great Cause.

I haven't witnessed any conversions here, so I'd bet against the effectiveness of ranting and stupidity from the far left as a persuasive tool.

They're too blind to try a different course of action.

Night all.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

meade babbled:

Obama supporters: race-baiters

As you've proven before, you don't know what race baiting means.

Lorelei Leigh said...

You are most welcome lorelei leigh. I'm not particularly concerned, but I am fairly amused.

I've amused far better than you, my friend.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

meade wrote:

Unresponsive to the charge of racism.

She's unresponsive to a fair fraction of the questions she's asked. If she has a scripted answer, she does okay; if she doesn't have a prepared response, she's evasive.

Meade said...

The term "race baiting" is often a critique of anti-racist actions and communications implying that those who criticize apparent racism are themselves guilty of either a form of racism or of simple manipulation

Darcy said...

Well thanks, Henry. I was happy to have you along. :)

William said...

Nowadays Obama pals around with Warren Buffet and Robert Rubin. He accepts their analysis and advice about the nature of American capitalism and how to fix it. Ayers has never outgrown his youthful radicalism, but Obama has outgrown Ayers....I really want to believe this. I really want to believe that Obama had large areas of himself veiled from the harmful rhetoric of his mentor the Rev. Wright. I really want to believe these things.

Cyrus Pinkerton said...

Meade,

Please find an adult to explain the term to you. You're floundering.

Meade said...

or of, in the case of many Obama devotees, simple-mindedness.

Darcy said...

Thanks for posting that, William.

rcocean said...

How long before a MSM reporter "Hears" a McCain-Palin supporter use the "N word"?

And very convenient that the man only "proposed" killing Obama instead of yelling or screaming it. Less likely to be heard - or not heard - on tape.

BTW, I was at a "Vote For Obama" rally and someone suggested Gang raping Palin. But don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting *all* Obama supporters want to do that. I just want to keep everyone informed.

vbspurs said...

William wrote:

Nowadays Obama pals around with Warren Buffet and Robert Rubin. He accepts their analysis and advice about the nature of American capitalism and how to fix it.

[...]

I really want to believe that Obama had large areas of himself veiled from the harmful rhetoric of his mentor the Rev. Wright. I really want to believe these things.


Step 1: The Estabishment reeks. It's anti-black, anti-minority, anti-poor. It sends young men to their deaths for wars specifically made for that purpose. It gobbles up young women by allowing them to get pregnant too early and then prevents them from aborting their children.

Call this step, "Enlightenment"

Step 2: Fight the oppressors. Align yourself with people who have been there before you. They will give you the needed connexions. They will support you when things get tough with the government or with haters. Community is everything. Do what you need to do to advance the cause.

Call this step, "By any means necessary".

Step 3: Infiltrate the Establishment. Leave no paper trail of your earlier activities. Deny. Denounce. Counter-attack if caught. Reach your goal by making even those who once supported you, doubt you. Start to slough off the people who got you to where you are.

Call this step, "Almost there".

Step 4: Arrival. You are the part of the Establishment. Do not antagonise anyone by coming on too strong. Reach out your hand in charity to old foes. To those you denounced recently, make a big show publicly of reconciliation. Get rid of your stronger lieutenants. Start to surround yourself with more hardened men and women.

Call this step, "The Noble One".

Step 5: Pounce. Do what you were going to do, what you sacrificed your whole life to do. You have power. Use it. The people will be with you.

Call this step, "Mission Accomplished".

...what? You think Communists at my University didn't try to recruit me?

Cheers,
Victoria

mccullough said...

I don't care who wins this election, but Obama is full of shit claiming he didn't know Ayres was a proud domestic terrorist and that Rev. Wright was a lunatic.

And Obama should bring up the Keating 5 (can anyone name the other 4 without looking them up?) or the Alaska secessionist party or Cindy McCain's drug habit or anything else he wants. Let's roll it all out: Joe Biden's plagiarism and hair plugs his son's lobbying on behalf of banks, Michelle Obama's hatred of America and cushy job at the hospital Barack got some pork barrel money for.

Folks, Obama's from Chicago. He's as dirty as the rest of them, so save your t-shirts, slogans, and bumper stickers because he's as full of shit as they come.

vbspurs said...

Finally, the voice of reason without the dose of partisan bullsh*t.

Thanks McCullough.

garage mahal said...

This one goes out to Meade, who I sometimes know. When he ain't being a bitch.

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that you can tell when someone is parroting DNC talking points when they try to skirt an issue the same way that the Obama campaign is doing. You see that these days with Alan Colmes on Hannity and Colmes, and you see it here with AL.

Stating that Obama was 7 or so when Ayers was seriously involved in bombings, or that they just happened to live in the same neighborhood either ignores the question, or ignores evidence that has become ever more available over the last month or so, in particular, their close working relationship during the time that Obama was involved in the CAC.

At one level it really doesn't matter who Obama was working closely with, and who got his public career going with that CAC gig, since Ayers is unlikely to have any relationship with an Obama administration.

On the other hand, like Wright, Ayers does show the sort of people whom Obama is comfortable with, and who helped his early career.

But as importantly, it puts the Obama campaign, at least a little bit, on the defensive, and that isn't pretty. In response to the Ayers connection, we have seen overt racism, attempts to prevent disclosure of public information, and thuggish attempts to prevent those investigating it to go on the air, all on the part of Obama supporters or his campaign.

John Stodder said...

Right. I was only 13 when Charles Manson had all those people killed. Would I be let off the hook if, 30 years later, I teamed up with the Manson family on an education project?

John Stodder said...

Nowadays Obama pals around with Warren Buffet and Robert Rubin.

Don't mention Robert Rubin to Citicorp stockholders. The bloom is off his rose among those people. That bank bet big on those mortgage backed instruments, and when they went south, Rubin said "don't blame me."

He was also one of the big supporters of repealing Glass-Steagel, now deemed to have been a evil plot masterminded by Phil Gramm. In fact, just days after he got it through Congress, he went to work at Citibank and oversaw its merger with Traveler's Insurance -- which wouldn't have been legal before the repeal.

I realize we live in two parallel universes, one where Rubin gets a pass and is considered a sage, and the other where Gramm is reviled and scourged (along with his brother in all but name, John McCain) for personally destroying the stock market for advocating the same things Rubin did. But it's worth mentioning for the record.

Anonymous said...

"[Obama] barely knew the guy" --- but Ayers gave him several million dollars to distritubute from the foundation $$ he was controlling.

How come the rest of us don't have people we barely know bestowing such $$ on us?

How did Barack and Ayers sit on the same board and not know each other?

If Barack barely knew Ayers why did Ayers host that political launch at his home?

How come there's a video on Barack and Ayers sharing a stage in 1997?

Only in ChicagoPoliticsLand --- and in the conveniently moral muddle inside Alphaliberal's skull.

As for this de-reg misdirection: Freddie and Fannie are Government Sponsored Enterprises, not private companies. The idea of Republicans wanting to de-regulating government organizations is an oxymoron. Conservatives want to control or limit government, not give it freer rein!!

Bruce Hayden said...

I also find interesting that it is only from those on the left that you hear that Palin is done, that if she and McCain lose this time, she won't be back in four years.

I would suggest that this is a combination of wishful thinking and deliberate propaganda and misinformation.

I think that there is a large chunk of the conservative base, and I go well beyond the religious part of that here, who are fed up with politicians like John McCain who really don't want to rock the boat and upset their Democratic colleagues and the MSM. And they cheer every time Gov. Palin does something like this.

We just got through a historic bailout caused in great measure by the exact same Democratic politicians who took credit for solving it. The same Sen. Dodd and Rep. Frank who led the bailout were the ones leading the defense against oversight of Fannie and Freddie over the last four or five years, all in the name of providing affordable housing. Dodd was, of course, first in Fannie and Freddie contributions. But who was second? In only three years? Where was the reporting of that? Instead, he got a 5 or so point bump.

So, there is a lot of anger on the right at the Republicans who cannot or will not stand up to the Democrats and the MSM and won't play their game. Gov. Palin is showing that she knows this, and is willing to do something about it. Every time she does something like this, she gets the attention and approval of people like me who are tired of the get along type of Republicanism.

So, no, she isn't going away. If she loses this time, she will be governing almost as far away from Wash. D.C. as she can be, and thus be uncontaminated by Wash. D.C. as usual that will only get worse, much worse, with the Democrats in charge of the two elected branches.

Why is it going to get so much worse? Because Obama's economic and tax policies are sheer idiocy, and he has bought into both big government and corrupt governing. Expect pork barrel and earmark spending to skyrocket as taxes and government spending do likewise. And the economy? In the tank. His policies are close to the worst thing that we could to do bring our economy back.

Unknown said...

You want to know what a pathetic, incompetent Sarah Palin is?

She's so monumentally stupid and incompetent that her ability to speak TWO SENTENCES coherently is cause for Ann to rush to her keyboard and declare "she handled that well!" and proclaim the dawning of a new era.

what other politician who you've ever seen in your life would need such a response to simply speaking two sentences?

It really blows my mind how desperate you conservatives are to believe in this woman.

And it blows my mind even more than Ann can still be pretending to be neutral while posting this kind of stuff.

Sprezzatura said...

Have any of you folks ever been on these types of boards?

I doubt it.

I've been on a bunch of these. Everyone I know in business (at higher levels) is on these things.

It's not like you hangout with the board. It's not like you go on or off these things because you like hanging out the other members.

Never in a million years would I connect my service on a board to the history of the other folks on the board.

It just doesn't work like that. Not in any way shape or form. These boards are how white collar folks "give back to the community." You're not there to attack others on the board, you're there to do the work of the board.

If you haven't been on a bunch of these things you probably can't fully understand how they work. (At least, I know that I wouldn't understand the dynamics w/o my own firsthand experience.)

UWS guy said...

post racial haha

I'm surrounded by folk whom when asked say they won't vote for Obama because he's :

1:black
2:Muslim

Obama is gonna get curb-stomped on nov. 4th yet the 86% majority can claim that means we've entered a new era. Never before has a white women been able to gin up fears about a scarry nigger! Truly, a new dawn for America.

Only post-grad ivory tower living in liberal meccas surrounded by educated elites could think that there isn't deep rural white hatred of blacks. The clintons tried to warn the democratic party but no one listened.

McCain in a landslide

We deserve what we get. Wars abroad and poverty at home.

former law student said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William said...

Victoria: Did you go to Cambridge with the Apostles? I don't think that Obama is all that diabolic. My big fear is not that his ambitions are sublimated to some hidden agenda but that he has no agenda except the fufillment of his ambition....The criticism of both Bushes was that they were born on third base and thought they hit a triple. My criticism of Obama is that he has hit a home run and thinks he invented the game....Obama has had a run of luck, and it is the easiest thing in the world to mistake luck for Destiny. (All those Lehman bankers thought that a few consecutives passes at the table proved their brilliance.) I don't want a Man of Destiny as President... He assures us that he is modest. That's another thing I really want to believe.

mccullough said...

Verso,

The AP is reporting that your comments about Sarah Palin have a sexist tinge to them. What is your comment?

mccullough said...

Verso,

The AP is reporting that your comments about Sarah Palin have a sexist tinge to them. What is your comment?

former law student said...

The trouble with trying to tar Obama with his Ayers-Dohrn associations is that as tenured professors they are as respectable and establishment figures as our gracious hostess. Particularly because, like Ann, Ayers is a full Professor at one of the state's two flagship universities. Further, his wife is a professor at one of our country's top ten law schools. And, as I think Paul Fussell once said, in our classless society, academics are our equivalent to the hereditary nobility.

Unconvicted and unrepentant, Ayers has yet been rehabilitated by the State of Illinois, which has granted him tenure, full professorship; named him Distinguished Professor and Senior University Scholar.

How long before a MSM reporter "Hears" a McCain-Palin supporter use the "N word"?

You've heard of Marianna (Fla) Middle School teacher Greg Howard, right? He thought he would explain Obama' message of CHANGE to his seventh graders. So he wrote "C.H.A.N.G.E: Come Help a Nigger Get Elected" on the blackboard.

But Howard didn't get fired. After a ten-day suspension the school district transferred him to their adult ed program.

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