Thursday, December 18, 2008
Double standard, Chicago style
One of the most annoying take-backs of the Blago scandal involves Rahm Emanuel's admission that a small four-man cabal (including Obama and Emanuel) ran Blagojevich's 2002 campaign. When Blago's stench became overpowering, Rahm issued an unconvincing correction: "Oops. I misspoke!"
Obama and Blagojevich have undeniable links. Time and again, the same "pay to play" businessmen who gave Blago his pound of flesh also gave smaller donations to Barack Obama. The pattern is there, for all who have eyes to see it.
So why didn't the media scrutinize Obama's role in the Chicago morass? A number of small-scale bloggers (including yours truly) spent months begging for greater scrutiny. We were called racists. The agenda is set by the larger bloggers -- Moulitsas, Marshall -- who preferred to ignore this heavily skeletonized closet.
The Palin comparison made in this clip is one of the most powerful and inarguable pieces of rhetoric I've ever heard on cable news. And I don't want to hear any carping about whether or not you like the person who makes the comparison.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
All the worst habits of the Democratic Party seem to be in full display again, the corruption, the favoritism, the back-room deals, the stench and slime... And it's not just the Blago stuff, but also the maneuvers around the NY Senate seat vacated by Hillary, the all-around nepotism and clear trading of favors for cabinet posts, etc. Are they insane? Don't they remember it was that sort of stuff that fueled the Gingrich Revolution? This whole mess reminds me of what was said about the Bourbon Restoration: "they forgot nothing, and learned nothing".
If this is how the country is going to be governed in the next four years, I can just see the GOP nominating Sarah Palin and campaigning on a platform of clean government and anti-corruption, something that she can do very effectively and convincingly (and what accounts for much of her high popularity), given her own political past.
Did anyone else enjoy how they tried to play him off 2 minutes into the thing and he didn't stop?
HAHAHAHAHA.
"C'mon and take a free ride. Free ride!"
I think that sums up the whole Obama/MSM thing perfectly. THANK YOU MSNBC!!!
And the editor relies on his intuition? "We don't know anything"... because you haven't investigated anything. How can you know the facts when you don't bother to get the facts?
This is active denial. This is why they are bleeding money. This is why they are no longer relevant.
This is a great moment. Scarborough never gave Obama much of a pass; he was the lone voice of reason on that network. And nothing he says can be argued - because neither Harwood nor Barnicle manage to.
Let's not forget that Mike Barnicle, the "editor," got fired from the Boston Globe for plagiarizing articles. He's a disgraced journalist - getting a pundit gig with MSNBC says a lot about that network.
"instinct!" Who was the guy who tried to justify the Palin witch hunt as opposed to Obama pass
Back in the day when I was still a loyal Democrat I believed everything 'they' told me about Scarborough. I began to change my mind during Katrina when I saw him report live from the city and said something like, why can't we get food to these Americans. This is terrible he went on. My God this is the United States of America he said. These are our citizens, they deserve more and better.
WOW!! That did not sound like some right wing nut case to me.
Then during both the primary and the generaL this year he was often the lone voice of reason in the media and he dared to pose questions no one else would ask.
I have come to respect him. I may not always agree with his position or his way of solving some issues, but I do know he is intelligent, thoughtful and a good American with a good heart. And for that I will at least listen to what he has to say.
And what he said on that video is spot on!!!!!
bert in Ohio
While I have nothing to substantiate my theory, I think the deal that was made is that if Obama was the nominee, the Democrats would have the majority and they could do their business. When i look at the degree to which the DNC was willing to cheat on Obama's behalf, i have to think that they had a larger vision in mind than simply preventing Clinton from becoming the nominee. Clinton is going to carry out Democratic business very well, indeed, and even her detractors within the party know that - so why cheat on behalf of an unknown quantity to defeat a known quantity? There had to be something in there for the DNC. And I don't think people like Alice Germond, are swayed by personal gain. They're swayed by their policy preferences being acted upon.
I'm betting the pitch from the GOP was something along the line of "Clinton's negatives are too high to win, and we're willing to let Obama win. We'll go after Clinton and defeat her, but we'll let Obama win, and the Dems will have four years to do their business. But only Obama gets that deal."
i find it hard to believe that the Democratic party engaged in the kind of corruption they engaged in just because. There is no reason for Pelosi to be invested in obama winning over Clinton, unless she is given a reason.
So, much of the commentary fits if that is what happened. The pride so many Democrats have in having stolen the primary from Clinton has got to be rooted in something larger than CDS.
Misogyny isn't the reason Clinton was brought down, it was the tool used to bring her down.
Like the good old days when MCA would select a president, we learn that after Obsama gets a call from Ovitz or Geffin to run in 2008. The fix is in like the MCA days, which BTW started in Chicago. MSM asleep at the wheel? Nah, MSM couldn't find it ass with both hands.
I couldn't agree with you more Lori!
OK, I know. Joseph said no carping about the messenger, but I am SORRY, Mr. "Anonymous" --- Joe Scarborough is a scum, and does NOT have any kind of "good heart."
Yeah, Barnicle is a scum, too, but just because Joe Scar is saying something we agree with does not change his scumdom. Anderson Cooper was also stellar during Katrina, but since then he has pimped big-time for Obama. Katrina doesn't give any of the scumbags a lifetime pass.
Joe Scarborough is the last one to talk about a double standard since he benefited from one. Back when Gary Condit was getting the same kind of around the clock media hounding as Palin got...Scarborough was being given a more complete pass than Obama ever dreamed of. Both congressmen had dead aides, but only the Dem Condit was getting the treatment while the thug Scarborough got a complete pass.
And that's not even touching the fact that he knew he was quitting congress to become a media pundit, but ran for another term anyway so that there would not be a fair contest for his vacated seat. That's not a "good American" --- it's as anti-American and anti-democracy as you can get. He gave the usual BS reason for quitting after re-election--- "to spend time with his sons" --- then promptly dumped them to move to NYC with his mistress and become a media darling.
Good heart, my ass!
And I'm not saying he had anything to do with the tragic MURDER of his aide, Lori Klausutis, but I know for a fact this precious media pundit personally called up all the Florida news sources and lied to them that Lori had "previous medical conditions." I know because I triple-sourced it from station managers myself.
So, please forgive me, Joesph...I had every intention of sitting this thread out. I don't mind ignoring the messenger as you asked, in order to focus on the message. But I can't sit by while "anonymous" tries to rewrite history and rehabilitate the messenger!
We should be crystal clear on exactly how discredited not only Barnicle is, but also Scarborough. That's all.
What a video.
It's not misogyny. Americans are just as racist, classist or whatever ist you want as they are misogynist. Upper class white males like Matt Yglesias have class anxiety and their biggest threat isn't black men but white women.
That was a nice vid with Mika being the way I like her: Mostly quiet!
There's no doubt Obama has enjoyed better treatment from the media than any Democrat in years. I think the media's relative kindness to him was a huge factor factor in Obama's victory.
People like Scarborough are finally finding out how Democrats have felt for decades, and from this I take a distinct satisfaction.
But I don't think Obama is getting anything like the free pass Republicans get. If George W. Bush had connections with someone like Blagojevich, it would not even be mentioned in the media.
As much as I dislike JS, he was one ofthe few coomentators to be fair to Hillary during the primaries. Further: he is an example of one of Hillary's amazing talents, one which displyed in her Senate run: the ability to turn formerly virulent ememies into her staunch defenders.
Sergei Rostov
Post a Comment