Emanuel turned testy and declined to talk with a reporter who approached him Thursday at Chicago City Hall, where he was watching his children perform in a concert. The Chicago Sun-Times reporter pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the criminal complaint.
“You’re wasting your time,†Emanuel said. “I’m not going to say a word to you. I’m going to do this with my children. Don’t do that. I’m a father. I have two kids. I’m not going to do it.â€Â
When pressed for comment, he said, “I’m not as capable as you. I’m going to be a father. I’m allowed to be a father,†and he pushed the reporter’s digital recorder away.
And here I thought “testy” was reserved for McCain.
Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday>Oopsie! I don’t think that people ought to hold political fundraisers for madmen.
More: Your Speculations Are Going to Get Me Killed!!!
The President-elect’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said today he won’t go to the Chicago Presidential transition offices in order to avoid reporters seeking to ask him whether he had contact with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama’s election.
Emanuel appeared “beet-red,” according to an ABC News cameraman who was invited inside by Emmanuel to use his bathroom this morning.
“I’m getting regular death threats. You’ve put my home address on national television. I’m pissed at the networks. You’ve intruded too much, ” Emanuel said, according to the cameraman.
Well, at least they’re not the premium kind. I gotta say, losing your cool like this before Dude’s even in office isn’t a good start.
Maybe Obama should replace him with Sarah Palin.
When he kept saying “I’m a father”, he wasn’t by any chance wearing a big black techno-helmet with, like, an iron-lung sound to it, was he?
Oh, the humanity. A reporter had the temerity to ask Rambo a question. That reporter will be getting a dead fish delivered to his home, to be sure. How fuckin’ racist can these reporters be?
Do we get to have an Office of the Special Prosecutor-Elect now?
(swiped from AoSHQ)
I’m conflicted here. My utter disdain for democratic partisan hacks is strong, but also for reporters. I’m not sure of the full particulars of the confrontation, but it “seems” as the reporter was kind of out of line. Emanuel was trying to watch his children sing and was(possibly) badgered by a reporter. As a father, I can relate to his anger. Of course, I’m not the chief of staff (or whatever the hell he is) to the president elect. Ahh, the hell with it. They’re both dicks.
Yeah, it’s kind of like the time that neo-Nazi broke Geraldo’s nose.
On the one hand, it was a neo-Nazi scumbag. On the other hand, it was Geraldo.
If the press turns on Obama, look out.
<snif>
Poor Rahm. Nobody told him being an elected public official would mean people might actually find out where he lives!
Hell, I had to give out my home address just to run for office.
I thought Ted Stevens was also “testy.”
Or was that “irascible?”
Hey, snippy: How did Blago know that Obama wasn’t going to fork over the loot?
Ignore that question all you want, snippy.
It’s not going to go away.
I don’t see how this helps Michelle Obama put fruit on the table?
Rahm, “death threats”, especially against elected officials are a crime. So, report ’em, already.
“You’ve put my home address on national television.â€Â
Maybe Joe the Plumber can give him some pointers.
He should ask Biden what to say.
SBP,
Blago already knew Obama was squeaky clean, of course.
Same way I know the Blago story is just the first of many phony attacks on Obama that far right blogs will be stroking over the next eight years.
I ain’t psychic!
Guess Obama’s “Shield of Blackness” doesn’t protect his Chief of Staff (elect) from embarrassing questions.
“You’ve put my home address on national television.â€Â
Big Fuckin’ Deal. We’ve all known Bush’s address for the last 8 years. And Clinton’s the 8 years before that. Ain’t you fenda move into govt housing in DC anyway?
Same way I know the Blago story is just the first of many phony attacks on Obama that far right blogs will be stroking over the next eight years.
US attorney’s office and FBI = far right blogs
Caught on Tape = phony attacks
That whole drawing a picture by connecting the dots in ascending order shit was beyond your cognitive skill level when you were a kid growing up I guess.
You’re trying way to hard. Seriously. I’m pretty sure I saw you go “all in” on one of those poker shows the other night. You were the one holding a two and six off suit.
And if he’s not capable, as he himself just admitted, shouldn’t his kids come first? I mean what kind of father would he be.
Why would he be getting death threats? From who?
Rahm’s wigging out on the media after 2 weeks on the job should give one a bit of respect for Bush, who has stayed cool for 8 years of media bull shit thrown his way.
All Democrats are the same Sticky?
Just like all Republicans are like Larry Craig?
Haha, I think that’s a fir trade.
Blago knew that Obama was “squeaky clean” which is why he still demanded quid pro quo for the Senate seat.
The Logic: IT BUUUUURNS!!
Blago already knew Obama was squeaky clean, of course.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You’re a card, snippy. A real card.
A squeaky clean pol (if there really is such an animal) wouldn’t disable the identity check on credit card campaign contributions, but feel free to pull the wool over your own eyes if it helps you to keep on cheering for the ‘home’ team.
These peckerwoods aren’t handling any of this well. I can’t imagine the clusterfucks that will ensue after January, and they have REAL problems to deal with. Like Iran.
What a bunch of tools. And their douchebag supporters make them look like geniuses. Jeez.
Who would be making death threats to Rahm? And why?
“Comment by parsnip on 12/12 @ 1:44 pm #
All Democrats are the same Sticky?
Just like all Republicans are like Larry Craig?
Haha, I think that’s a fir trade.”
Looks like alpo is playing the non-sequiter tango again.
Even if Obama is clean on this (and it looks like, from an issue of “pay for play,” he is) he and his spokepeople are being way too obfuscatory on this. Axelrod first confirms that Obama and Blago spoke regarding the Senate seat, then says he “misspoke”, even though the Tribune reported on the meeting both being planned and reported about it on Nov 8 after it took place. People involved in Obama’s team are shown to have discussed the seat with Blago at certain points.
Really, this in of itself isn’t a big deal, since a replacement would be SOP for something like this. And if Blago tried to play the “wet my beak” game, all Obama, Axelrod, or anyone else could simply say, straight up, “yeah, he implied that he expected some kind of compensation, but we weren’t comfortable with what he was insinuating and decided to move on and simply offer our suggestions. Furthermore, we alerted the feds that we had concerns about this happening, and now we know for sure he was crooked.” Instead, all this rhetorical smoke and mirrors on what Obama and his people knew about what was going on makes them look suspicious.
It’s pretty clear that the left expects us to believe that Obama was the only virgin in the whorehouse, but if the man is openly willing to skirt campaign funding law by disabling the credit card verification donations on his website, when he acts like this why shouldn’t anyone suspect that something fishy is going on? Especially when he can’t give a straight answer without turning into the Wizard of Uhh’s.
What’s he worried about? I thought Emanuel did time in Israeli army. Aren’t all these guys like kosher ninjas or something? That’s what I learned from “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan.”
(Well, that, and that Emmanuelle Chriqui is a delicious little crumpet.)
Snip, the FBI is not given to pursuing “phony” crimes. It’s real, so get used to it.
Revealing the you ain’t psychic is no news around here. Hell, you’re not even moderately smart. Or well-informed. Or perceptive. You’re not even occasionally lucky. Just another leftie pantload, with a lot of time on your sticky hands.
“My utter disdain for democratic partisan hacks is strong, but also for reporters. I’m not sure of the full particulars of the confrontation, but it “seems†as the reporter was kind of out of line.”
Wait, wait, wait, the is a reporter asking a Democrat a difficult question about a scandal.
Did the Earth just wobble in it’s orbit?
BTW, dollars to doughnuts that Rahm is “Advisor B” in the complaint.
I mean, jaysus, snippy, all this time and that’s the best you can do?
Here’s some reading material for you: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, and JOHN HARRIS
Fun quotes:
In particular, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has been intercepted
conspiring to trade the senate seat for particular positions that the President-elect has the power to appoint (e.g. the Secretary of Health and Human Services).
Conspiring with who, snippy? Santa Claus?
ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed the open Senate
seat in a three-way call with JOHN HARRIS and Advisor B, a Washington D.C.-based consultant. ROD BLAGOJEVICH indicated in the call that if he was appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services by the President-elect, then ROD BLAGOJEVICH would appoint Senate Candidate 1 to the open Senate seat.
Who is “Advisor B”, snippy? Santa Claus?
ROD BLAGOJEVICH asked whether he could get a high-ranking position at the Red Cross. HARRIS stated that “it’s got to be a group that is dependent on
[the President-elect],†and that a President probably could not influence the Red Cross.
HARRIS said that Change to Win will want to trade the job for ROD BLAGOJEVICH for something from the President-elect. HARRIS suggested a “three-way deal,†and explained that a three-way deal like the one discussed would give the President-elect a “buffer so there is no obvious quid pro quo for [Senate Candidate 1].â€Â
ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Advisor A discussed leaking to
the same particular Chicago Sun-Times columnist that ROD BLAGOJEVICH is seriously considering Senate Candidate 5 for the open Senate seat, in order to send a message to the President-elect that there are options for the Senate seat beyond Senate Candidate 1.
Why would he want to “send that message”, snippy? So Santa Claus wouldn’t leave coal in his stocking?
Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.â€Â
On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor B. ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed with Advisor B his idea for a 501(c)(4) organization. Advisor B stated that he likes the idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the President-elect’s perspective, there would be fewer “fingerprints†on the President-elect’s involvement with Change to Win because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, “you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.â€Â
On November 13, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with JOHN HARRIS. ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he wanted to be able to call “[President-elect Advisor]†and tell President-elect Advisor that “this has nothing to do with anything else we’re working on but the Governor wants to put together a 501(c)(4)†and “can you guys help him. . . raise 10, 15 million.†ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he wanted “[President-elect Advisor] to get the word today,†and that when “he asks me for the Fifth CD thing I want it to be in his head.†(The reference to the “Fifth CD thing†is believed to relate to a seat in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois’ Fifth Congressional District.)
Emanuel’s seat, snippy. Ooops, not Santa Claus after all.
I was trying to work up a parody, but the fact is you just replace “Oz” with “Uhhs” and it’s done.
Blagojevich isn’t crazy. He’s the governor of Illinois.
“You’re a card, snippy. A real card.”
Does a card mean a fucking moron? Because if it does, he’s a card.
“These peckerwoods aren’t handling any of this well. I can’t imagine the clusterfucks that will ensue after January, and they have REAL problems to deal with. Like Iran.
What a bunch of tools. And their douchebag supporters make them look like geniuses. Jeez.”
And that is the point, I think some are missing. In no way does this look good for O!. Either, he or someone on his team was playing dirty OR he and his team are dumbfucks of the highest order, at least as it pertains to communicating. And no, whichever turd is going to bring it up, the ONLY thing they communicated during the election was, “We are change. We aren’t Bush”.
The regular death threats that Rahm is recieving are from O!, telling him that he’s dead meat if he screwed the pooch on this deal by getting caught on tape with Blagojevich…
The premium death threats come into play when the SEIU begins trying to, ahem, persuade him that he needs to keep his mouth shut and take the heat for this without implicating either O! or big mobbed-up labor…
doubled,
You’re correct sir, this should underscore the class and grace with which eeeeeevil Booooooosh! has dealt with all of the press gyrations…
ginsocal,
I’m on board with your intuition all the way. Rahm is definately on the FBI wiretap tapes…
“(Well, that, and that Emmanuelle Chriqui is a delicious little crumpet.)”
And I have to concur. Oy.
Sorry. I didn’t here Rham real worried when the media was parked outside of Rove’s house reporting the contents of his garage.
hear, not here.
I think Rahm is getting death threats from Advisor D to Candidate 7.
Dovetonsils, I didn’t see that movie, but Google tells me that you are a man with excellent taste.
Yowza.
cranky-d,
I too have enjoyed tossing about the whole Wizard of Uhhs moniker since I first saw it a couple of months ago in tghe commentary to an American Thinker piece…
It’s too good not to! We should all try to make it become a widespread colloquialism…
real worried when the media was parked outside of Rove’s house reporting the contents of his garage.
Or when they were digging through the kotex disposal bins in the Alaska State Capitol, looking for evidence that Palin wasn’t really pregnant.
OI,
As I mentioned in another thread, I get the impression that O!& Co. are feelin’ the hubris and figure that there is nothing they can do flub that their media lackeys won’t bury or toss down the memory hole…
I mean, the MSM did help drag them across the finish line, no?
Who would be making death threats to Rahm? And why?
Voice: “Just how the f*ck can I introduce my girls to society when you can’t even handle a million dollar bribe? Can you tell me that?”
Rhambo: “Look Michelle….”
When will these pukes learn to stop electing lawyers?
cynn: May I just say that that was pretty effin funny.
Haha, I think that’s a fir trade.
That reminds me, I need to shop for a Christmas tree.
Rezko’s sentencing date has been pushed back.
Only one real explanation for that: he’s talking.
Rhambo to Blago:
“What do you effin’ mean Jesse Jr. outbid us?”
Rezko singin’ alright, but somehow I don’t think that O!&Co. are gonna dig the tune…
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1327730,CST-NWS-jackson12.article
And, plus, “Candidate #5” ain’t out of the woods yet. . .
*So* very gratifying to see the MSM finally decide they might want to vet Obama and his myriad associations in Chicago. How wonderful that all these reporters can clear their consciences under the cover of a Fitzgerald indictment.
“Oh, well, before the election it was all rumor and conjecture and right-wing conspiracy hate-mongering. Plus teh racism. But now there’s a bonifide indictment–so we HAVE to investigate it.”
Obama and Co. can’t claim Executive Privilege because, this may shock some Democrats, the Office of the President-Elect is a mythical, made-up position. There is no “co-presidency”. Obama ain’t Executive of shit yet.
“What a bunch of
toolsknobs. And their douchebag supporters make them look like geniuses. Jeez.â€ÂIn the sprit of collegiality.
“Comment by cynn on 12/12 @ 2:38 pm #
I think Rahm is getting death threats from Advisor D to Candidate 7.”
Evans to Tinker to Chance.
DOUBLE PLAY!
Or Blago to Emmauel to Obama!
Foul ball…..
“Only one real explanation for that: he’s talking.”
I’ll bet a lot of Democrats are getting that funny feeling in their pants.
SBP,
You’re own post shows what morons you guys are:
Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.â€Â
Haha, enjoy soiling yourselves once again.
Define “appreciation”. Some people in this country would consider anything less than 7 figures “mere appreciation”.
Obama and Co. can’t claim Executive Privilege because, this may shock some Democrats, the Office of the President-Elect is a mythical, made-up position.
Has the Electoral College met? If not, he isn’t even President-Elect, yet.
You’re own post shows what morons you guys are:
Sure it does, snippy.
Sure it does.
It must be very painful to be you right now, huh?
Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.â€Â
So how did he know they weren’t going to give him anything if there had been no discussions?
Damn this boy is dense.
As reality based as The Balloon Fence Missile Shield,™ BMoe.
Ah, memories…
Yeah, because the “appreciation” of the President couldn’t possibly be worth anything.
Anyway, the issue isn’t so much Obama’s direct involvement as his trusted advisors’ stonewall BS about the whole matter.
If it makes you feel any better, think of it in terms of Prsident Bush’s “involvement” in the Enron scandal. You’ll recall that he was asked to grant federal help by his old buddies at Enron, and refused. Merely being asked was enough to tar him in the media, and bailing out a failing company (clearly) isn’t even illegal.
Sauce. Goose. Gander. Bon appetit.
What was it PUMA PAC was claiming, something like ~$100 Million of Obama’s campaign funds have yet to be accounted for?
That’d buy a lot of appreciation.
You have to love the way Rahm is hiding behind his kids. I was waiting for him to bust out crying. Way to man up, Rahm!
Scratch a lefty, find an impotent, feminized, whiney little wuss; full of sound and fury (and estrogen)!
Yeah, because the “appreciation†of the President couldn’t possibly be worth anything.
The thing I am wondering is if Blago is really as fucking stupid as the transcripts so far make him appear. I mean, we are talking parsnip level idiocy, you know?
The fed prosecutor is hiding all the transcripts wherein Blago and co. sat in reasoned and learned discourse on the proper qualifications and aptitudes requisite for a US Senator, B Moe. [guffaws behind hand]
Yeah well if I was him I’d have told the reporter to go to hell too. Ambush interviews are crap no matter who the target is. Get a life, reporters.
Speaking of Enron, the Messiah’s zeal for some sort of cap-n-trade carbon scheme was something Kenny Lay was eagerly anticipating and laying the groundwork as being the prime broker for credits. Potential for corruption, anyone?
This is nothing Rahm. Wait until Andy and the other media jackals start saying your three children were birthed over the years by your mistress, and your wife just wore “pregnancy suits” made by the Israeli Mossad.
And God forbid your ass ever owned a tanning bed.
The wheels on the bus go round and round…
Rahm, I hear the bus’s right front tire kills you the quickest.
That’s the one what did for Franklin Raines.
Cuz he and Obama were “like family.”
The One is merciful.
And that’s what reporters want to catch on camera, Christopher. Have a news conference, say you can’t comment regarding an ongoing investigation, and then there’s no reason to follow you(PR101).
Sure, Rahm Emmanuel is scum, he’s a loser for dodging reporters (and the more the Obama administration does this the worse they look), but that kind of jounrnalism deserves a duel challenge, not a response. It’s some of the lowest kind of journalism.
Now ‘Fast Eddie’ Rendell of Pennsylvania has come out and said that, “of course they did”, when asked if Rahm had discussions with Blago about the Senate seat. He also had quite a bit to say about how badly Obama is handling his first executive position. The dems are beginning to eat their own and they don’t even have the office yet! I bet Hillary had her first orgasm in years this week.
But, but… he was a community organizer, Eddie! He knows his stuff!
Change you can believe in.
So now a card is a “discourse particle” too?
I’m having trouble keeping up.
“I bet Hillary had her first orgasm in years this week.”
Glad I wasn’t drinking my water when I read that! Too funny.
By the way, what is up with people sniffing about death threats? I’ve gotten death threats in the past online and I’m nobody, someone like Emmanuel has gotten hundreds of them by this time in his career.
BTW, Christopher, since Rahm doesn’t seem to be in the mood for news conferences, how do you propose that reporters, you know, ask him questions and shit? it’s only an ambush if you’re not expecting it.
Hey, Reporters are scum, so I’m opposed to them and their actions in general no matter what happens. Someone else brought up the neo-nazi breaking Geraldo Rivera’s nose, you don’t really cheer for either side. Clearly the Obama team has something they really don’t want to talk about and that’s bad, but that doesn’t make the sort of ambush crap at a family event okay.
I for one am joyful to see Lamont back.
“This is not the media I thought I knew.”
but that doesn’t make… ambush crap at a family event okay
Depends on the family.
So much for the phony “left wing bias of the MSM” meme the right has been pushing?
The root family, for instance.
Man some comments by leftists just make my head hurt, how can anyone be that dumb and still be able to type? Is someone holding their hands?
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 7:24 pm #
Exit polls are even worse bullshit than the “real†polls. Ignore them.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 7:32 pm #
McCain can win without Pennsylvania, but that blows most of his margin.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 7:35 pm #
I didn’t even have Pennsylvania colored red on my map.
Just sayin’
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 7:38 pm #
Right. I was counting Pennsylvania as blue, but still had McCain down for a win.
I’m not going to start worrying until a state I had colored red turns blue.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 7:41 pm #
I distrust exit polls, period. Some of them were off by nearly 25% last time around.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 8:02 pm #
Even without PA, if McCain wins Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada and *one* of Colorado or New Mexico, he wins.
Comment by thorrr on 10/25 @ 11:56 pm
Stay off the guy’s property. What’s so hard about that?
Seriously, thor, what does that have to do with this post?
The dude is plain crazy.
Thorazine will be posting a lot about the past for the next 4 years (barring impeachment). The future of Obama’s Corruption Incorporated isn’t looking so bright these days.
The media themselves were threatened, like ‘fire these guys’. No surprise that they are getting pay-back now from the guys they wanted to have fired. Left is left, but threatening to take away their jobs when the media is not hiring? Not smart.
Plumb loki.
So much for the phony “left wing bias of the MSM†meme the right has been pushing?
Hey, everyone knows the MSM is racist: build ’em up, shoot ’em down, and whatnot/Diversity – also known as “help” and “good intentions”, you know, like Rezko.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 7:24 pm #
Exit polls are even worse bullshit than the “real†polls. Ignore them.
You’re losing it, thor.
Big time.
And I’m enjoying every minute of it.
BTW, thor, here’s a nice picture of that dreaaaaaaaaamy Obama for you.
Doesn’t look quite as smirky now, does he?
What I’m wondering is if we might be seeing the first hints of a breakup of the logjam in the Press.
One of the truly amazing things about the last couple of decades is the degree to which a Press which confesses itself addicted to the spectacular, to depend upon scandal and startlement and “Wow!” reactions, has seemingly deliberately restricted itself to digging dirt in only one category, and that the most boring one. The signature is “Bush AWOL!” OK, so the guy may have missed some Reserve drills. For anyone who’s in, or understands, the Reserves, this is about as startling as sunrise, and for everybody else it’s “So the F* what!?” Even if true, it’s trivial. By contrast, Kerry was credibly accused of dereliction of duty at best and, at worst, outright treason; even if the charges were false and proven so, the investigation could have provided lots of scandal-fodder. So what did we get? — endless interviews with graying Reserve vets, each more boring than the last, in a full-court-press effort to Get To The Bottom of the Reserve Story about Bush, and if Kerry’s accusers were mentioned at all it was to dismiss them. It’s not so much that it’s biased, it’s that if they really wanted to sell papers and/or air time they picked the wrong horse.
More recently there’s Sarah Palin, of course. The Press goes dumpster-diving with a vengeance, looking for something, anything, to dish up as dirt, and the great American middle looks up from writing the child-support check, glances over at the unmarried daughter and her infant, screws up its brow, and wonders: “Hunh? Is this supposed to be unusual or something?”
I’ve been saying for years that one of the main drivers of the current political climate is that Katherine Graham has the head of a President on her rumpus-room wall, and Pinch Sulzberger has no such trophy to show. If it ever dawns on the minions of the Press that doing a Woodward&Bernstein act does not require that the President be a Republican, interesting times may ensue.
Regards,
Ric
Kick ’em when they’re up; kick ’em when they’re down…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBiol_QzXqY
Yeah, the press sucked Clinton’s dick for quite a while, too, until the story got too big to ignore.
Once the blood is in the water, though, it’s all over.
This assclown hasn’t even taken office yet. Heh.
Ric:
You have something, I think on the ‘________gate’ obsession and how it only flows one way. And the Boomer navel-gazing has to be added to it. “It isn’t 1968 now – get over that” has yet to be clearly acknowledged in news rooms.
At least the French General Staff in 1940 had some excuse for their outdated assumptions…
Reporters are dirty socialist scum I think, Christopher. Regular scum I can respect cause sometimes scum is cute and drunk and you don’t have to buy dinner.
Ever notice how they never bother even trying to fold contempt for journalists into the anti-intellectual meme?
I just today ran into a passage of Swift on scum that seems to fit your usage vis a vis journos, hf. From the intro to The Battle of the Books:
happyfeet, I mean this in the kindest possible way: you need to back off and breathe for a while, OK? Relax. Even if you have to buy dinner.
Has anybody tried to get through to the Boards of Director of, e.g., CBS? Somewhere among the myriads of editors and fact-checkers, somebody has lost sight of providing a product the customers want. The trolls are fond of sneering that, for instance, William Ayers was exposed and nobody cared. The truth is quite different.
Partly from a desire to protect Barack (His Glorious Name Be Praised) Obama, partly from an offshoot of Che-worship that really doesn’t see a guy who insisted on fence-staples as shrapnel in a bomb to blow up teenagers as particularly remarkable, any mention of Ayers in public has been brief and, on the whole, either dismissive or outright complimentary. It’s Sarah Palin who has been stripped bare and placed before the public in the least flattering light possible — and the Great American Public shrugged and said, “So what?” I’ve had confessed Obama voters (which is, in context, about like being a Republican in Hollywood) bitch about the obsession with a family that is actually managing remarkably well, considering.
And, as pointed out by several people, we are getting our first look at Barack (The Great Hope of Humankind) Obama in crisis mode, and given the right attitude the only proper characterization is “F*ing hilarious.” Emmanuel is hiding when he doesn’t look like he wants to punch reporters out (and gaining sympathy thereby), DeLeon (?) is lurking in the weeds somewhere, Axelrod is so far off message he looks like he’s reading the book backwards, and Obama himself is getting his first frown lines. The only thing missing is floppy shoes and red noses (no white pancakeRACISTRACISRACIST). From what? — one of his distant associates has been dropped in the shit, and they’re trying to avoid the splash. What’s gonna happen when the Iranians nuke Tel Aviv? I hope everybody loaded up on popcorn futures. Or, tell you what — AIUI, DC doesn’t have a major league sports team any more. Let’s move the whole show to the empty stadium, and defray the costs of the financial bailout by selling tickets, hot dogs, and beer.
Regards,
Ric
Hey, man! The Caps just pounded hell out of the Ottawa Senators tonight. They (with their bountiful compliment of Russian beauties, Ovie and Semin) aren’t exactly chopped liver.
okay. I will. I will start now I think.
The press are and always have been the piranha of mass culture. They smell the blood and further stink up the water.
t
Well, yeah, cynn, and that’s one of their valid functions (and a good metaphor, which can be extended a bit).
Piranha move around all the time, and unlike most fish they can’t really skip meals; it’s why they’re so ferocious when food appears. How is it, then, that they’re starving to death because they won’t attack animals that came into the water from the wrong bank?
Regards,
Ric
Not getting your meaning, Ric. Is this an oblique attack on the media because they won’t undermine Obama’s presidency? Never happened; good luck with that.
One of the best parts of the original Die Hard is the way the press is portrayed as monsters who’ll stop at nothing and hurt anyone for a story.
And, as pointed out by several people, we are getting our first look at Barack (The Great Hope of Humankind) Obama in crisis mode, and given the right attitude the only proper characterization is “F*ing hilarious.”
Tell the truth!
Oblique, cynn? I thought it was pretty direct.
They have to sell papers and air time — well, they actually have to sell brassiere ads and Viagra® commercials, but to do that they have to attract readers and viewers — or die. The “auto bailout” has to be something of an eye-opener; they have to know, somewhere in the back of their minds, that the public outrage over subsidizing the UAW isn’t a patch on what’s would happen if somebody proposed to send money to Pinch and Rupert. There’s blood in the water. How long can they afford to ignore it?
To me? ::shrug:: Adapt or die. Win for me, either way.
Regards,
Ric
Christopher Taylor,
That was clearly a case of art imitating life…
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 8:06 pm #
FOX called Ohio for Obama.
They retracted it.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 8:22 pm #
Coleman 71 Franken 27
Well, that’s something.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 8:27 pm #
sashal:
Government by 50%+1 only works as long as 50%-1 are willing to submit.
So keep that in mind, my friend.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 8:29 pm #
If both Ohio and Pennsylvania are gone, McCain will almost certainly lose.
I’m not going to call it over until I see more totals, though.
And even then I’m not going to call it over until all the subpoenas issue.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 8:37 pm #
thor: if worst comes to worst, you’re first on the list.
Just letting you know ahead of time, to be sporting.
• Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/4 @ 9:53 pm #
Practical tips:
Learn how to make your own beer (legal for now).
If you smoke, buy an injector machine and a year or two worth of tobacco and tubes.
Those will be the first items to get hit with taxes. They always are.
Get a good set of tools and learn how to use them. Learn to do your own home repairs.
I’m sure you have a point there somewhere, thor.
Let me know when you get to it, m’kay?
By the way, how did that euro currency thing work out for you?
As I pointed out waaay above, it doesn’t look like (right now, anyway) that Obama is directly involved in any of this. Furthermore, his aides seem genuinely disturbed that this is playing out the way that it is.
But even so, they could have avoided the media feeding frenzy by simply being straightforward with the press instead of shuffling their feet and talking about “misspeaking”. Even if the scandal doesn’t directly implicate Obama, this is an honest-to-goodness scandal that the media can sink their teeth into. Journalists, being the bitchy little drama queens that they are, will start to question people’s motives if you even give off a whiff that you are hiding something. There’s nothing the press loves more than exposing secrets (depending on who it is, of course). It’s also different in that Blago was universally loathed before this broke and the media doesn’t really risk Obama’s rep by trashing him further.
And don’t be so sure that if any of Obama’s aides are implicated in this that it will fall on him as well. The Wizard of Uhh’s is rapidly becoming a political Typhoid Mary, where anyone closely associated with him tends to have their reputations ruined yet none of the scandal ever affects him, because he simply shrugs and says, “I’m disappointed, but that’s not how I roll”. No one ever thinks to seriously question his judgement in his choice of associations, which is disturbing because a person does not tend to surround himself with people who he finds repugnant morally or ethically.
By the way, thor, are you ever going to explain why Blago thought at first that Obama would pay him off, then suddenly was complaining that Obama wouldn’t pay him off, without ever talking to anyone on Obama’s team?
Or are you simply going to wander further down the road to psychosis?
I think we all know the answer, don’t we?
You remind me of the chorus to Larry Craig and the Trouser Droppers’ hit song Stairway to Dysphemia.
You remind me of a guy who used to stand on the corner downtown, yelling about aliens and picking lice out of his hair.
So, how’s tonight’s vintage of meth? Have the bugs started crawling under your skin yet?
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant.
We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check.
We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
The hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA;
we will remember that there is something happening in America;
that we are not as divided as our politics suggests;
that we are one people;
we are one nation;
and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast;
from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.
Poor thor — has Obama’s cock wedged up his ass like a cocker spaniel being fucked by a Great Dane.
It’s going to require a long and painful extraction, I’m afraid.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
Always the homoerotic comments from the brave, “butch” men of the right.
I think Mark Foley, Ted Haggrad, Larry Craig, etc. are just the “tip” of this trend.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
No, we can’t explain we didn’t turn Blago in when he tried to sell us the Senate seat.
“Homophobic”, snippy?
I’m disappointed. I was hoping for at least a “racist”.
Good night, boys.
Have pleasant dreams of subpoenas and grand jury indictments.
thor,
Those passages sound very familiar. Are they from Obama’s nominting speech, election night victory speech, or his speech from the Democratic convention?
I believe it’s from his speech in New Hampshire during the primaries.
Haha
I write homoerotic and SBP reads it as homophobic.
What a telling Freudian slip from SBP, our poor, confused little man child.
The doctor said it’s important for you to get some rest.
I write homoerotic
I’ll just bet you do, snippy.
Maybe thor and snippy can get together and set up an Obama/Ted Kennedy slashfic community.
I’d recommend Ning if you’re looking for full-featured, but you could probably get by with just a Facebook fan group at first.
I guess I am too cynical or jaded, being a longtime IL guy. I didn’t expect any of this re: Rahm E. and Co. What is it with this inability to simply say – “a couple of aides got a call, and nothing came of it.” It wouldn’t even stay in the 30 minute Headline News, News Radio cycle for more than two repetitions.
Oh, and:
“Comment by Log Cabin on 12/12 @ 3:56 pm #
You have to love the way Rahm is hiding behind his kids. I was waiting for him to bust out crying. Way to man up, Rahm!
Scratch a lefty, find an impotent, feminized, whiney little wuss; full of sound and fury (and estrogen)!”
Jessie Jackson Jr. already teared up at his statement to the press, where he told of how hard a sacrifice, what the highest calling – public service – was. That is the first time I have gotten angry at him ever. I spend all April 2008 trying not to get blowed up by the JAM, and this guy gets all choked up about how hard it is to be a Congressional Rep?
Bah.