Kitchen Sink? We Haven't Even Seen The Brillo Pad

The Politico tells us that, far from tossing everything and the kitchen sink at Barack, the Clintons are holding back.   Cool - this campaign could get even nastier better for McCain more informative?  Diamond Jim Vandehei also delivers an analysis of media behavior that might literally induce apoplexy or an aneurysm in Bob Somerby.  Stay with us:

Here is why [Hillary won't exit stage left, gracefully and soon]: She and Bill Clinton both devoutly believe that Obama’s likely victory is a disaster-in-waiting. Naïve Democrats just don’t see it. And a timid, pro-Obama press corps, in their view, won’t tell the story.

But Hillary Clinton won’t tell it, either.

A lot of coverage of the Clinton campaign supposes them to be in kitchen-sink mode—hurling every pot and pan, no matter the damage this might do to Obama as the likely Democratic nominee in the fall.

In fact, the Democratic race has not been especially rough by historical standards. What’s more, our conversations with Democrats who speak to the Clintons make plain that their public comments are only the palest version of what they really believe: That if Obama is the nominee a likely Democratic victory would turn to a near-certain defeat.

I want to toss in one other notion - Bill and Hilary are in a small group that deeply appreciates just how unprepared Bill Clinton was to assume the Presidency in January 1993.  And that was after ten years as Governor, a brilliantly run campaign (like Barack's, until the recent wheel off-falling), and the assistance of a First Lady who is a "world-class genius".  Back to Politico:

Far from a no-holds-barred affair, the Democratic contest has been an exercise in self-censorship.

Rip off the duct tape and here is what they would say: Obama has serious problems with Jewish voters (goodbye Florida), working-class whites (goodbye Ohio) and Hispanics (goodbye, New Mexico.)

Republicans will also ruthlessly exploit openings that Clinton—in the genteel confines of an intra-party contest—never could. Top targets: Obama’s radioactive personal associations, his liberal ideology, his exotic life story, his coolly academic and elitist style.

This view has been an article of faith among Clinton advisers for months, but it got powerful new affirmation last week with Obama’s clumsy ruminations about why “bitter” small-town voters turn to guns and God.

The Politico goes on to explain that McCain, as a Republican, can attack Obama in ways that Hillary cannot.  Mark Halperin made similar points a while back (my thoughts).  And interestingly, the Politico overlooks the same line of attack ignored by Halperin but promoted by Brooks, Krauthammer, and Rove - McCain has a bipartisan track record and Obama does not.

This next passage from the Politico will prompt an aneurysm if Bob Somerby reads it; I fear for his health:

The last two Democratic nominees, Al Gore and John F. Kerry, were both military veterans, and both had been familiar, highly successful figures in national politics for more than two decades by the time they ran.

Both men lost control of their public images to the right-wing freak show — that network of operatives and commentators working mostly outside of the mainstream media — and ultimately lost their elections as many voters came to see them as elitist, out-of-touch, phony, and even unpatriotic.

I could rustle up a link or two [Al Gore invented the internet, was raised in a fancy hotel] where Mr. Somerby documents a great deal of Big Media complicity in that "freak show", particularly as it relates to Al Gore.  Maureen Dowd would be a star, but the names are legion.  Now the Politico's Diamond Jim Vandehei, formerly of the WaPo, wants to push it all off on the crazy right.  Wrong.  C'mon, we're good, but we could never do it without you, Jim. 

That said, their point - that if the Evil Republicans could turn Al Gore and John Kerry into effete strangers, Barack will become a space alien - is indisputable.  Of course, as with Kerry, the effort to depict Obama as an out-of-touch urban lib will be like pushing water downhill; it is so much easier when reality is on your side.  In a nut shell, the Dems have six more months of trying to stay in costume at the masquerade ball; Republicans have six more months to strip away Obama's mask.  Who ya gonna bet on?

THE FREAKS DON'T LIKE THOSE GEEKS:  Powerline takes umbrage at Politico's use of "right-wing freak show".  Well, OK, normally it ought to be capitalized, as here, but otherwise, I give this a mighty "So what?".  Vandehei is just tossing that in there to remind his lefty audience that not only is he on their side, he is way hip.

Over on the right we've been, if memory serves, the Mighty Wurlitzer, the Right Wing Noise Machine, and now we are the Freak Show.  In Caps.  And come 2012 we will be something else... hmm, maybe the Flushing Toilet?  Could work, a toilet is noisy and lefties like potty talk (and we do flush their candidates.  Out of hiding).  Should I see a copyright lawyer?

Well, a serious outlet shouldn't be using that phrase, but we are talking about the Politico.  Meanwhile, I am unruffled by the current division of labor - they think up derogatory names, we select Presidents.  Both sides play to their strengths.

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

Up to this point, those of us in the Right-Wing Hate Group have been content to observe, applaud, and laugh raucously.

[DubiousD]

OT... sorta...

In a recent interview, director Spike Lee boasted that Barack and Michelle saw Lee's movie, "Do The Right Thing" on their first date. This is what he claims Barack told him anyway.

Problem is, according to Wikipedia (yes, I know, I know, I know) Barack and Michelle first started dating in the summer of 1988. "Do The Right Thing" didn't open until June of 1989. I assume Wikipedia got it wrong, right?

Just a lazy question for a lazy Sunday afternoon...

[DebinNC]

From the Politico link:

"Naïve Democrats just don’t see it [Clintons' prediction of electoral disaster via candidate Obama]. ...

"That is why some friends describe Clinton as seeing herself on a mission to save Democrats from themselves."

I hope Obama's black base understands what Hillary is implying about them.

[vinman]

Lest any smartypant liberals get comfortable with the idea of a reticent Hillary simply waiting for her opponent's missteps, it bears some comment that Obama's most recent mini-scandals (Rev Wright, belief in 'bitter' rural voters, etc) have all been outed before, with little or no MSM diligence. Why now? (Ask Don Imus)

Obama may riding some weird kind of zeitgeist express but Clinton most certainly controls the switches.

[Danube of Thought]

This is what the soccer folks call an "own goal." The term has also been applied to those instances where a terrorist's bomb blows up in his face while he is on his way to plant it.

[Vata]

I don't think Hillary is saying that Bill was a lawyer and only the oppressed African American can sue, although he did say this. What is found is the suers are what they hate.

Al invented the weather, so there would be global warming and he can make some cash.

Obama can't be a space alien because we all know lucifer invented those and sent them here to damn, I mean be our friends. Yes, Satan, I mean Jesus, controls them by recording what they see and hear, the chip. Of course there really isn't a chip, but a machine Satan, I mean God, invented and then there are those metal men he sent......

Yes, I do acid.

[boris]

It shows.

[Jane]

Given the liberal dominance of the press, just imagine what kind of result a fair fight might produce.

[M. Simon]

Tom,

As I said to Kim a few weeks ago. We are just getting warmed up. Market testing our points of attack. Storing up ammunition for the general when every minute is a day.

I'm keeping files. Lists of links. I'm blogging. etc. The few D comments I get at my various blogs are so totally out of touch that we will be greasing the treads of our tanks with them.

It is obvious many others here are similarly preparing. Kitchen sink? Think 155s. Think the Falaise gap.

The inet is bigger. The MSM smaller. And we whipped Kerry in '04.

[Danube of Thought]

Think Thermopylae. Think Carthage. Think Agincourt. Think deguello. Think Branch Davidians.

[Drama Queen]

M. Simon, Kudos! Keep up the good work. You're right about the shrinking MSM; true and fair coverage on the internet has amplified MSM's bias and accelerated its demise. Hope you have time to enjoy some popcorn! I'm not hatin'!!!

[Drama Queen]

M. Simon, Kudos! Keep up the good work. You're right about the shrinking MSM; true and fair coverage on the internet has amplified MSM's bias and accelerated its demise. Hope you have time to enjoy some popcorn! I'm not hatin'!!!

[tonynoboloney]

Racist, elitist, anti-gun, pro-abortion, marxist tendencies, drug use, homsexual rumors, Muslim heritage, Chicago political machine connections, A. Tony Rezco, Rev. Wright., L. Farrakan, Meeks, "small towns" disinfranchising, Left wing wacko.

The guys toast I tell ya..........TOAST

[Typical Whitely]

"Do the right thing" Released 6/30/89

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/

[RichatUF]

Since this is the kitchen sink thread and Rick is hearing those creeky hinges, I thought I would drop in this link from the AT today. We might be able to breath some life into this old nag yet and toss some garlic and holy water onto the Red Witch.

graf-

It's interesting that Hillary Clinton not only was behind the formation of the oil-for-food program, but that it was a direct contact with an agent of Saddam that accomplished the task.

So, fast forward a few years. Baghdad has fallen, the doors have been kicked open, and the oil-for-food program has become the oil-for-food scandal. What seems amazing now is not only the extent of the corruption, but how little most Americans even know about it.

The author links it back to Marc Rich-just raising questions. The author missed another possible connection through Oscar Wyatt and his network of Russian shell companies and that Enron had a bit part in OFF, but overall it is a pretty good read.

[richard mcenroe]

"I hope Obama's black base understands what Hillary is implying about them."

Hillbillary IS The Little Colonel in "Rebirth of A Nation!"

[GMax]

Well I was agnostic about how Democrats were going to react to this latest gaffe as their brains are not wired right and therefore logic is usually not in the repertoire. But I see Katrina Vanden Heuvel has weighed in, defending Obama. She is so shrill and so far out on the left wing she has to hold on tight due to all the turbulence.

If she is defending Obama, it will not sell that well with Indys and conservative Dems. If she had felt no need to defend him, I might have remained agnostic and bitter or something...

[Lesley]

Off topic. Rev. Wright called Thomas Jefferson a pedophile. I'm certain he was referring to Sally Hemings. I thought JOM'ers might like some additional insight (ammunition) into this matter. Currently, I am reading Dumas Malone's six volume biography on Jefferson. In volume 4, "Jefferson the President, First Term 1801 - 1805", Malone includes Appendix II, 'The Miscegenation Legend':

Interesting points wrt to the Jefferson/Hemings matter.

Jefferson & his wife acquired Betty Hemings (mother of Sally) and her brood in 1774 on the settlement of the estate of his father-in-law, John Wayles. The oral tradition handed down by certain slaves themselves was that Betty Hemings was the concubine of John Wayles after the latter's third wife died, and that he was the father of the six youngest children she brought to Monticello. If this tradition is correct, Jefferson shouldered and bore quietly for half a century a grievous burden of responsibility for the illegitimate half brothers and sisters of his own beloved wife.

Thomas Jefferson Randolph made a statement to the effect that there had never been a shadow of suspicion that his grandfather had commerce with female slaves. "The connection of two of his very near relatives with two women of the Hemings family was notorious on the mountain and scarcely disguised by them. Specifically, he said that Sally was the mistress of Peter Carr, favorite nephew of Jefferson and treated by him as a son, while Betsey Hemings was the mistress of Samuel Carr, Peter's brother. One of Jefferson's granddaughters, Ellen Randolph Coolidge, shifting the relationships around, wrote to her husband a general impression that all four of Sally's children were the children of Sam Carr, whom she described as 'the most notorious good-natured Turk that ever was master of a black seraglio kept at other men's expense.' "

Some of the children of the two youngest Heming's women, especially Sally's, bore a striking resemblance to T. Jefferson. The one who was said to look most like him (Madison Hemings, born 1805) claimed, years later, to have been Jefferson's son.

There is clear evidence through DNA that the Hemings and Jefferson families are related. However, I think the case to be made is that the Jefferson DNA comes from Peter & Sam Carr, Jefferson's nephews, and not the President himself. Malone believes these to be the reasons (Wayles/Carr), through many years, for Jefferson's special concern for the members of the Hemings family among his slaves.

[SW]

I said I do acid so I don't have to mention being just and claims. Cardiac surgery? I donated to the heart and stroke foundation, really!!!

Leslie has to mention ped shit. Well, that's how they hide. Yes, the company bought my fetus!!!

[sw]

Oh ya, enjoy the weather!!! See you in prison.

[centralcal]

Lesley, I read somewhere today that Jefferson's brother may have also fathered Sally's children. But, who knows, twas a long, long time ago.

[Rick Ballard]

Lesley,

Thanks for the info. My bet is that Wright has read every word of many similiar presentations and knows very well that he's lying through his teeth.

Memetic warfare is such fun.

[DebinNC]

Jeremiah Wright: America’s founding fathers “planted slavery and white supremacy in the DNA of this republic”

Did clinging to BLT make Wright and his congregants bitter?

[Danube of Thought]

It's worth remembering that Obama is not descended from slaves. The brother ain't down with the struggle.

[GMax]

Bitter first then cling Deb, please get the construct right. Its a good question though, so got any bets on the MSM first teamers asking Barry if he could expound on the issue?

[Lesley]

Rick, I am 2000+ pages into the Jefferson biography (Dumas Malone is the "god" of Jefferson biographers). This Sally Hemings biz is utterly inconsistent with the man's character. Given this day and age, what does surprise me is that claims haven't been made that Jefferson was a homosexual given the young men he hired as secretaries and who lived with him. Oh wait, that will be the next slur on the man. Feh.

[SAM]

Danube of Thought:

Thank you for your two pithy, but hilarious, thoughts at 1:40 and 6:30.

[AST]

the right-wing freak show — that network of operatives and commentators working mostly outside of the mainstream media

Yeah, we're not the unserved, dissatisfied market for unbiased reporting; we're the right-wing freak show. No freaks on the left, no sir.

And Danube, that's one of my main problems with trusting Obama. He's not a real "brother." He has more in common with those who've been patronizing and taking blacks for granted since the 40s. He's not half-African, he's more than half White liberal.

[Rick Ballard]

Lesley,

If you read Ambrose's Undaunted Courage (an account of Meriwether Lewis' life) you get a tinge of that homosexual bit. If you consider the likelihood that translations of Young Werther (prefiguring the idiotic romantic period) were available and undoubtedly influencing style of expression from at least 1790 forward, some of the overwrought language found in various personal journals of the period is comprehensible on a basis other than that of repressed homosexuality.

Seeing 20th century mores and concepts imposed upon 18th century figures is very tiresome. Especially when the foundation is laid in sand at low tide.

[Lesley]

Rick - indeed. During my undergraduate days as a French major, I came to loathe J.J. Rousseau. Some people mention Marx and/or Engels as the great societal destroyers. Bah, its that damn Rousseau and his carpy cult of "sensibility." It lives and breathes in the comments section of every lefty blog.

Centralcal, at this late hour, I checked wiki. They do mention Jefferson's brother. You have an excellent memory. I chose the primary source of Malone because I have confidence in his (admittedly sympathetic) portrayal of Jefferson.

[Lesley]

Jefferson/Hemings

Here's an article which seems to refute the Carr paternity angle.

[davod]

Any attacks on Obama by McCain wil be met with the racist bigot claim.

[M. Simon]

DoT,

Funniest election. Evah!

Debate they can handle. Ridicule?

Fork 'em. They are done.

We do have serious problems in this country. Like how to stop laughing long enough to get some work done.

[pagar]

Want a sad laugh (sad in that anyone believes Obama has the experience and knowledge to lead this country) try this Article

"Obamas as Civil Rights Attorney? Complete Zero, Utter Joke."

"Obama has made a career of defrauding the American public about his legal ‘career.

Obama, a Harvard Law School graduate, never filed a single appearance in a single case all of the years he was ‘practicing- law. [Martin]"

Almost every article on the site would be a riot, if we weren't talking about a person who could be elected to run this great country.

[sophy]

Please do not hesitate to have knight gold . It is funny.