Obama, Clinton, McCain and the ‘Wright Stuff’
It's all about Obama in presidential politics this week, as McCain, the Republican Party and the Clintons all try to take him down. So far, though, he's still standing.
We expect a quieter week in presidential politics following the excitement of the previous week, highlighted by Hillary Clinton’s expected 9-point win in Pennsylvania.
Well, except for Rev. Jeremiah Wright addressing the National Press Club this morning in Washington, that is. We’ll return to that later. And we’ll discuss some major dynamics outside the campaign echo chamber, such as record oil prices, crumbling consumer confidence, and yesterday’s near assassination of our man in Kabul.
John McCain had some success last week with his tour of “Forgotten Places” in America. But the novelty of the Republican candidate touring iconic places in the civil rights movement wore off after awhile, and by week’s end he was getting attention by attacking Barack Obama for his association with long-ago Weather Underground wacko Bill Ayers.
This week he goes on a health care tour, hitting Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, and Colorado. Those happen, by an odd coincidence, to be key battleground states for the general election.
Look for more McCain attacks on Obama this week. For now, he and the rest of the Republicans are laying off of Hillary Clinton. Even her preposterous lie about coming under fire when she landed in Bosnia didn’t prompt attacks, though it would surely be devastating to her in the unlikely event she became the Democratic nominee.
At the moment, it’s mostly about Obama, as McCain, the Republican Party and the Clintons all try to take him down.
Obama, however, appears to be getting back on track following the long-expected Clinton win in Pennsylvania, the second-oldest state in the country, in a primary closed to the independent voters who favor Obama over Clinton. Coming up are the Guam caucuses are on Saturday and North Carolina and Indiana primaries next week.
The Rasmussen tracking polls, run by Republican Scott Rasmussen, have emerged as valuable campaign tools. The Rasmussen national tracking poll shows Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton in the same range as before. According to Rasmussen:
There is absolutely no indication that Clinton’s victory in Pennsylvania has changed the overall dynamic of the race. This cycle, Hillary Clinton began the campaign as one of the best known people in the world. Democrats uneasy with her quickly settled on Obama as the chief challenger who has now become the frontrunner. As the candidates have become known, each has developed a solid core of supportive constituencies. For Obama, these included African-Americans, younger voters, more liberal Democrats, and upper-income voters. For Clinton, strength comes from White Women, older voters, more moderate Democrats, and lower-to-middle income workers.
Rasmussen, incidentally, notes that Obama is now running even with or slightly ahead of McCain, with Clinton doing a little less well. Considering that it’s Obama who is the flak catcher, that may be a bit of a problem for the maverick Western senator.
Obama appears headed for a big win in North Carolina, which may wipe out Clinton’s Pennsylvania gains in the popular vote. Indiana is more of a jump ball. A new poll for the Indianapolis Star finds a close race in the Hoosier State. It’s Barack Obama 41%, Hillary Clinton 38%. However, Obama leads John McCain by nine points, while Clinton is tied with the Republican. And by a 49% to 35% margin, Obama is seen as the best general election canddiate. Another Indiana poll, for the South Bend Tribune (home of Notre Dame University), also shows a dead heat with Obama 48%, Clinton 47%.
Here’s an interesting bit of Democratic delegate math. Before Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton needed to win 63% in the remaining contests in order to overtake Barack Obama for the lead in earned delegates. Now she needs to win 68% the rest of the way.
Hillary’s 9-point victory in Pennsylvania yields her about a dozen more delegates there than Obama won. That will probably be more than wiped out in little more than a week.
Longtime top Clinton advisor Paul Begala, speaking at a luncheon held in New York by my old pal Patricia Duff’s group, The Common Good, said that he is “all but certain” that Barack Obama will win the Democratic presidential nomination. Begala, a longtime fixture as a CNN analyst, is also the longtime compadre of James Carville. Who, with tensions running high, so vociferously attacked New Mexico Governor (and former Clinton Cabinet member) Bill Richardson as “Judas” for his endorsement of the freshman Illinois senator.
But Obama can’t simply coast to the Democratic presidential nomination. By far the least wealthy of the candidates — John McCain is the richest, followed by the Clintons — he’s nonetheless in danger of typecasting himself as an elitist. If the key test for the presidency is who is best at working a diner, then McCain, the son and grandson of four-star admirals, is your next president.
Obama has a problem with white working class voters. It’s overstated to an extent because the fact he is generally losing these voters to Hillary Clinton has a lot to do with the Clintons’ appeal. After all, she was the “inevitable” nominee for most of this campaign, as you heard virtually everywhere but here, with supposedly the most awesome political machine in Democratic history, and so forth.
But between the Wright Stuff and Bittergate, Obama has some long-term problems that go beyond Clinton winning one of her strongest states last week and his taste for arugula. (I had to look it up, it’s a kind of lettuce.)
So he played basketball over the weekend, showing some good moves for an old guy (46). In Indiana, he’s no longer pacing the stage like a law professor while delivering high-flown speeches, he’s taking questions and talking specifics in town hall meetings, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened. He even went on Fox News Sunday yesterday, impressing the host and most on the panel that appeared after his 40-minute interview. Obama had pretty much stayed off of Fox since the channel popularized a completely erroneous report from a right-wing website run by a religious cult that he was educated in a hardcore Islamic school in Indonesia.
And he’s making longer-term moves, geared to the general election. There is an agreement between the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee to form a joint fundraising project, in which contributors to Obama’s record-shattering fundraising machine also give to the DNC. And there is the launch of a 50-state voter registration drive by the Obama campaign.
But there is also the risky re-emergence of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who speaks to the National Press Club next today.
The Wright Stuff is very risky indeed. The man whose outrageous comments seriously upset the Democratic frontrunner’s momentum and raised major questions about his fortunes in the general election is more than a little radioactive.
So Bill and Hillary Clinton might be pleased. Until they consider this. House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, an uncommitted superdelegate, charges them with playing the race card heavily and predicts that black voters who once revered the former president will never trust him again. And he goes further, to say what an increasing number of observers have been saying privately. Or not so privately. “The Clintons know she can’t win this,” says Clyburn. “But they’re hell-bound to make it impossible for Obama to win.”
Once the Democratic nomination is settled, some big things happening outside the campaign echo chamber will have increasing bearing.
Crashing property values. A worldwide credit crunch. Wall Street bailouts. Record oil prices. Record gasoline prices. Rising unemployment. The dollar at a record low against the euro. And so we have the lowest level of consumer confidence in the US since 1982.
And yesterday Afghan President Hamid Karzai, on the 16th anniversary of his nation’s independence from the Soviet-backed regime, narrowly escaped being assassinated by a Taliban hit squad in the center of Kabul. Three people, including one member of the national parliament, were killed in the attack, which sent the assorted dignitaries in the grandstand, including the American, British, and Canadian ambassadors, scrambling for their lives. The Afghan fight has been going increasingly poorly over the past two years.
 |
 |
 |
Podcasts |  PJM Home |
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
65 Comments
1. OLDPUPPYMAX:Do not underestimate the 24/7 shill work of the MSM, or the rank stupidity and arrogance of the upcoming McCain campaign. This is a year in which a strong republican would have won in a walk. McCain may limp into the White House, but it will be more by accident than design if he continues to support the left and attack his own party. And this has been a pretty dependable practice.
Apr 28, 2008 - 6:06 am 2. Nicolo M.:“This is a year in which a strong republican would have won in a walk.”
What planet are you living on, oldpuppy? Not Earth. McCain is the only Republican who would have had a chance. You are about as honest as the author of this article who wrote, regarding arugula: “I had to look it up, it’s a kind of lettuce.” What drivel on both parts.
Apr 28, 2008 - 6:18 am 3. Bill Bradley:Actually, John McCain is the only Republican who could beat a Democrat this year.
He runs far better than the Republican brand on all the major issues.
Apr 28, 2008 - 6:31 am 4. Bill Bradley:Let’s see. Am I lying about having to look up arugula? Or am I lying about what arugula is?
You got one thing right.
John McCain is the only Republican who could win in what should be a good Democratic year. As I’ve pointed out many times.
>You are about as honest as the author of this article who wrote, regarding arugula: “I had to look it up, it’s a kind of lettuce.” What drivel on both parts.
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:09 am 5. Jack:Clinton will do whatever it takes to bring down Obama this year because she cannot beat him if she runs an above board campaign. Therefore, it is obvious that her goal is nnow to take on McCain if he runs for reelection in 2012. The country be damned. Winning is the Clinton goal, nothing else. She is the woman who said she would have to be taken out of the race in a “body bag.” If you think she cares about you working people you are crazy–she would run over you with a truck and never look back.
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:11 am 6. frieda:to my shocking suprise, J. Wright thanked Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi yesterday. to many Imam Elahi is an agent of Iranian government. Imam Elahi was a close confidant of Khoemini when Khomeini was alive. I did not even know he was in America with American citizenship.
CBN.com – DEARBORN, Michigan – For many in Dearborn, Michigan, a heavily Arab and Muslim suburb of Detroit, Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi is a true American-Muslim success story.
A native of Iran, Elahi worked for the Iranian Navy, and was wounded by Saddam Hussein’s forces during the Iran/Iraq War in the 1980s. He arrived in the U.S. in 1991, and he is now an American citizen.
“When I took the American citizenship and took the vows associated with loyalty to this country, I meant it. So I’m not [an] ambassador of Iran or any other country,” Elahi said.
More here: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/07/hezbollah_usa.html
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:17 am 7. Ed Wallis:Mr. Bradley’s article rambles and makes hardly a point while meandering over many interesting ideas.
Yet, when I read, “Obama (is)by far the least wealthy of the candidates….” I have to laugh. As if what’s in his private piggy bank should matter…as much as the following…?!
GEORGE SOROS’ MANCHURIAN NEOPHYTE SOCK PUPPET FOR PRESIDENT!
This monster has limitless political funding. Care to write about that?!
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:26 am 8. Bill Bradley:Actually, the Monday morning columns go over the week ahead, which is never just one thing. As a result, they aren’t about any particular hobby horse.
Like, for example, the idea that George Soros is secretly behind the Obama Internet fundraising machine.
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:48 am 9. david p:What is wrong with this Country? Jeremiah Wright is a maniac, delusional and for the past 20 years a deeply influential, inspirational escort of democratic front runner Barrack Obama. Are voters in this country that mesmerized by the delivery of the same pack of lies & institutional empty promises. Subversive misdirection has paralyzed the minds of so many, eroding the cognitive dissonance that would normally arise when confronted with the content sermonized by Wright and those around him.
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:53 am 10. Roark:Keep talking Rev. Wright…keep talking.
Apr 28, 2008 - 10:07 am 11. Believer:Mr. Bradley didn’t lie about looking up argula, I’m sure, he just left out that it has a slightly…uuh…”bitter” taste. Perhaps he didn’t know.
I wonder how much of the violence in South Chicago right now is the result of young people not having their spiritual needs met. I’m sure they’d be quick to say it’s no jobs or bad education. This is the community, is it not, that’s been in the care of Obama and Wright for decades now?
I think they should prove they can lead their own little corner of the world out of its mess before they foist their “answers” on the rest of us. Doesn’t it say we are judged by our “fruit?”
Well, look out, Rev, yours might taste more like arugula.
Apr 28, 2008 - 10:24 am 12. Ciscokid:Referring to Obama as an “old guy” playing basketball at age of 46, wouldn’t be to make people think about age now would it? Naw, that would be to easy, even for a rube from small town America to figure out. Thanks Bill for pointing out everything negative. C’mon & give us some Zen or something original at least. Time to channel something new from the Liberal elites to convince us not so elegant and enlightened people to join the change to “whatever” cult.
Apr 28, 2008 - 10:28 am 13. Bill Bradley:Sometimes, my friend, a cigar is just a cigar. I’m smoking one now. As my old high school football coach used to say: “When you assume, you make an ass out of “u” and “me.”
Incidentally, 46 is old for a basketball player.
>Ciscokid:
Apr 28, 2008 - 10:37 am 14. Liz W:Referring to Obama as an “old guy” playing basketball at age of 46, wouldn’t be to make people think about age now would it? Naw, that would be to easy, even for a rube from small town America to figure out.
As long as Obama does not debate he will be just fine. The last debate was pretty bad on his part as he was unable to answer questions intelligently. He then thereafter said he was being attacked. It was okay when they did this to Hillary but not to him. Obama just wants to give speeches where they put people into the crowd to ask specific questions. He had a man ask a question about the Veterans Administration stating that Hillary had said something like they were doing a good job? I heard Hillary say in one of her speeches that something had to be done for the veterans, they had to be taken care of, so I know that was a plant. Rev. Wright is doing a great job at showing us what Obama is really about with his statement “he is a politician and says what he say.” Does that mean he will say whatever is necessary to get the nomination?
Apr 28, 2008 - 10:55 am 15. Frank:As a Canadian, I am astounded at the ignorance of the gullible Americans who think Hillary Clinton will work for the benefit of the “working people” of the US. Her nutty husband gave you NAFTA (of which she was so proud at the time) and she will teear it up, ruining the trading relationsgip with America’s largest trading partner (Canada). The consensus here is that she is willing to do anything rather than let someone (ANYONE) younger than her be President! We won’t need passports to go to the US because we just won’t go!
Apr 28, 2008 - 10:59 am 16. Tori C.:You all want to paint McCain as the family-values guy. John McCain follows the usual fake ass profile of most Republican social climbers. He divorced first wife Carol in April 1980 and married Cindy one month later. No, not one year later, ONE MONTH later. Infidelity you ask? Hell no!… they were just “friends.” Read it for yourself at:
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:05 am 17. QUESTION: When Did Racism Become Trendy? « The Reluctant Optimist:[...] of stuff in the blogosphere about Wright’s racist speech (in the video above). Most of it saying that it is killing [...]
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:23 am 18. Bob Miller:I’m primarily concerned about the candidates’ degree of fidelity to America and the Constitution.
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:31 am 19. Mrs. Davis:As an American I am astounded at the ignorance of the gullible Canadians who think Hillary Clinton has any intention of fulfilling any of her campaign promises.
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:33 am 20. David H Dennis:I’m sorry I missed being the first to point out that Arugula is bitter. I tried it on a pizza some years back, and I had to pry the Arugula off the pizza to be able to eat it.
If you consider that his income has increased something like fivefold in recent years, and most of his expenses are now being paid for by his campaign, it sure sounds phony for him and his wife to complain about the price of anything short of a new Mercedes S-Class.
Doesn’t look like we’re running any genuinely poor Presidential candidates this year. Although it is ironic that McCain’s the richest, when it’s all his wife’s money.
D
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:38 am 21. AndyJ:Reverend Wright just gave all of white America the reason they need to NOT vote for Obama. Now they are free to vote for Clinton or McCain without being tarred as “racist”… Obama has been torpedoed by Wright’s overweening ego… Being flip and attacking when he had the stage and opportunity to educate he has cost Obama the Presidency.
Obama has had a problem of overlooking black racism. Now, that subject will not even come up. His well intentioned but ill considered leftist views won’t be seen. His clinging to Wright and the Black community that is so extreme from the rest of the country will doom him… Wright decided that -HE- was more important than Obama… Once again, a black man hs pulled down a black leader…
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:38 am 22. Bill Bradley:I can see this campaign is getting ever closer to grappling with the oil crisis, the Afghanistan crisis, etc.
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:44 am 23. Anthony:>Let’s see. Am I lying about having to look up arugula? Or am I lying about what arugula is?
As an Italian American, I will only ask WILL YOU DAMM YUPPIES STOP EATING OUR FOOD!
You yuppies are why it is so expensive now to eat the stuff I grew up with.
Apr 28, 2008 - 11:58 am 24. Paul From Hamburg:“Reverend” Wright either really, really hates America, or he is a complete charlatan. One of the fundamental cornerstones of Christianity is a belief in an omnipotent God. When he says “G-d D**m America”, he is asking that the full wrath of God be brought down on us. If he doesn’t actually want the United States destroyed, then he must not really believe that God could do it. If he doesn’t believe that God is omnipotent, then he has no business claiming to be a Christian minister.
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:00 pm 25. beb:Obama is going to have to clearly dismiss and denounce Wright. There comes a point at which white people, in spite of the centuries of guilt they gladly carry on their shoulders, will finally see through the bs and recognize a racist nut for what he is and question why somebody is associated with him.
The silliness of calling ads with Wright in them as racist, because he’s a black man, was very close the the final straw in all this drama. Wright is providing those last, needed few.
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:06 pm 26. Neocon Don:Tori C: Imagine you hadn’t seen your wife in over 6 years b/c you were serving your country and then tortured in a VC POW camp for 5.5 of those years. Not that Abutt Ghrab “torture” libs love to decry but then pay lots of money to have the same thing done to them at their local S&M B&D dongeons. Not that “torture” we inflict on illegal combatants at Gitmo by over feeding them, giving them a Koran but preventing them from killing jews. The real kind. Rat infested diseased holes where they break your arms and starve you. Imagine spending two of those years in solitary confinement when you could’ve gotten a release if you gave the VC a propaganda victory. Imagine getting back and having to do a year of intense physical therapy. Imagine if while you were being tortured and having the VC play John Kerry’s slander about “Chingiss Khan” your wife was horribly hurt in a car accident and never fully recovered. Imagine how all that plays out in a marriage. Have some compassion for the toll the McCains’ honor and duty took on their marriage to keep you from suffering in some commie gulag. Not that you are capable of really understanding this but the McCain and his first wife are still friendly, she supports him, their kids work at the 2nd Mrs McCains company.
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:22 pm 27. Steve NO:so, like, Obama went to a soft-core madrassa?
is that the company line now?
between Wright, Rizzo and his wife, the guy is doomed. and deserves to be.
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:26 pm 28. Ciscokid:Thank you Bill. Was that “a Cigar is just a Cigar”- Zen? If it was I think I feel better now. Your coach was way better than mine. Best I remember from coach was – “walk it off” I assumed he meant until the pain went away. I‘ve learned age is not as important as health & determination to anything you’re trying to accomplish. I understand all the dynamics of the game better as I’ve grown older. You know – work smarter not harder for the best results. Good ole’ wisdom – it comes with age. I also learned Cigars are bad for you.
Bill Braley>
Sometimes, my friend, a cigar is just a cigar. I’m smoking one now. As my old high school football coach used to say: “When you assume, you make an ass out of “u” and “me.”
Incidentally, 46 is old for a basketball player.
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:36 pm 29. M. Simon:Rezko.
Afghanistan going badly? Blame NATO.
I predict the US will edge NATO out of that game. They can’t cut it.
A taste of Corruption in Illinois.
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:46 pm 30. Moultrie:Rev. wright’s budiie Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi, head of the shi’ite Islamic House of Wisdom–one of the largest mosques in North America. He was the spiritual leader of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Navy in Iran….more on this friend of Obama’s Spiritual Leader
Apr 28, 2008 - 12:51 pm 31. M. Simon:@Debbie Schlussel.com.
Soros behind Obama?
No secret.
Apr 28, 2008 - 1:12 pm 32. M. Simon:Oil crisis? Are you kidding Bill?
Supply exceeds demand. OPEC is lowering output to maintain prices. US refineries are operating at 85% capacity because high prices are reducing demand.
PHEVs are starting to come on the market which means we can substitute coal for oil (at least for short trips). The only crisis we have in the energy markets is Government subsidy induced. i.e. fill up with ethanol, starve a child.
Apr 28, 2008 - 1:26 pm 33. Fergus:RE: “….John McCain is the richest….”
Apr 28, 2008 - 1:29 pm 34. gcblues:Correction: John’s wife is the richest. Thie finances & taxes are kept separately and always have been. She is heiress to a Distributorship.
Now if you talked about wealthiest couples…. .
yo, bradly.
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:01 pm 35. Believer:it is not how much a person earns that makes the man effete snob. Obama is not SNOBama because he is a typical democrat, or a typical half black half white guy, he is SNOBama because he us a typical American professor, like George Lakoff. a person that will lie to frame ideas so that they appeal to the people he calls stupid. that would be us, typical American voters.
analysis from this man is devoid of reason.
Paul from Hamburg: “When he says ‘G-d D**m America’, he’s asking that the full wrath of God be brought down on us.” Yes, but somehow I don’t think God is listening to the good reverend.
beb: “Obama is going to have to clearly dismiss and denounce Wright.” For me, it’s too late. He’s had too many chances. And if he did it at this point, he’d only be lying. He’s certainly not above that. Finally agreeing to the Chris Wallace interview showed how much trouble he knows he’s in. But once again, he did the two-step.
Wright and Obama are going to have to face the messes they’ve made of their own lives by their own lack of character and judgment. We have to make sure they don’t impose any more insanity on us.
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:04 pm 36. Bill Bradley:Well, there are totally discredited stories, like those peddled by the religious cult web site picked up by Fox News, and then acknowledged as false.
>Steve NO:
so, like, Obama went to a soft-core madrassa?
is that the company line now?
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:04 pm 37. Bill Bradley:Does Soros back Obama? Sure. Is he the cause of Obama’s record-breaking fundraising? Absolutely not.
You probably don’t like doppelganger reports about Halliburton running the Bush Administration.
Also foolish.
Oil crisis?
Absolutely. Record oil prices. Record gas prices.
The rest of your stuff is more fact-free rhetoric.
>M. Simon:
Soros behind Obama?
No secret.
Apr 28, 2008 – 1:12 pm
M. Simon:
Oil crisis? Are you kidding Bill?
Supply exceeds demand. OPEC is lowering output to maintain prices. US refineries are operating at 85% capacity because high prices are reducing demand.
PHEVs are starting to come on the market which means we can substitute coal for oil (at least for short trips). The only crisis we have in the energy markets is Government subsidy induced. i.e. fill up with ethanol, starve a child.
Apr 28, 2008 – 1:26 pm
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:08 pm 38. Bill Bradley:Your understanding of cigars appears to be as profound as your understanding of Zen.
Actually, it’s a famous line from Freud. Which means, in this application, don’t over-think in search of a conspiracy.
>Ciscokid:
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:10 pm 39. Bill Bradley:Thank you Bill. Was that “a Cigar is just a Cigar”- Zen? If it was I think I feel better now. Your coach was way better than mine. Best I remember from coach was – “walk it off” I assumed he meant until the pain went away. I‘ve learned age is not as important as health & determination to anything you’re trying to accomplish. I understand all the dynamics of the game better as I’ve grown older. You know – work smarter not harder for the best results. Good ole’ wisdom – it comes with age. I also learned Cigars are bad for you.
You should become acquainted with some people in the US Armed Forces. You’d then understand why we don’t have more American troops in Afghanistan.
Incidentally, there is no one named Rezko involved in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan, as I’ve been reporting since 2006, is a very serious problem.
Which requires serious discussion …
>M. Simon:
Rezko.
Afghanistan going badly? Blame NATO.
I predict the US will edge NATO out of that game. They can’t cut it.
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:13 pm 40. Justin:Paul From Hamburg:
And yet he is saying what his flock apparently wants to hear. How sad.
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:37 pm 41. Bill Bradley:Aside from your misspelling Bradley, a very difficult name, I find your reasoning very compelling. Clearly, you are an independent or Democrat voter who was considering a vote for Obama, but just can’t stomach it now …
Gang, as fascinating as it is to read angry attacks on the Democratic candidate from people who would never have voted for him in a million years, it’s not really commenting on what I’ve presented to you.
>gcblues:
yo, bradly.
it is not how much a person earns that makes the man effete snob. Obama is not SNOBama because he is a typical democrat, or a typical half black half white guy, he is SNOBama because he us a typical American professor, like George Lakoff. a person that will lie to frame ideas so that they appeal to the people he calls stupid. that would be us, typical American voters.
analysis from this man is devoid of reason.
Apr 28, 2008 – 2:01 pm
Apr 28, 2008 - 2:44 pm 42. Catalonia:“Afghanistan, as I’ve been reporting since 2006, is a very serious problem … Which requires serious discussion …”
Only since 2006? Serious discussion? You mean something like this:
Bradley 2002: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Bradley 2003: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Bradley 2004: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Bradley 2005: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Bradley 2006: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Bradley 2007: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Bradley 2008: Afghanistan is getting worse. (voting for a Democrat will fix the problem)
Is that the kind of ’serious’ discussion you mean?
What was that fable about the little boy who cried Obama …?
Apr 28, 2008 - 3:05 pm 43. Bill Bradley:Thanks for your non-serious comment. I never wrote anything like that. You shouldn’t assume anything about who I’m voting for. I’ve already voted for McCain once.
Apr 28, 2008 - 3:25 pm 44. gcblues:Yo Braidly
Apr 28, 2008 - 4:35 pm 45. Catalonia:when my kids are as defensive as you i know there is something to defend that is defenseless. you glossed the SNOBama typical American professor assessment because it is dead on and includes the entire dem party. read Lakoff, except i know you already have. it is typical, similar in fact to the way you speak to people here.
“I never wrote anything like that.”
You stated the following: ‘Afghanistan, as I’ve been reporting since 2006, is a very serious problem.’
So, yeah, great point. All I did was have some fun by extrapolating your statement out to 2002, which is round about the time we all started to hear that Afghanistan is ‘getting worse’. I’ve this tale for six years. Why should I believe the cries of wolf now?
“You shouldn’t assume anything about who I’m voting for. I’ve already voted for McCain once.”
Oh please. I voted for Bill Clinton twice and in 2000 I voted for Nader. Doesn’t mean it’s hard to tell who I’ll supporting in 2008, or that you’ll be voting for a Democrat come November.
Bill, it speaks poorly of you that you seem completely unaware of how you telegraph your intentions. It’s why you are in a perpetually defensive mode. Have you never had another professional writer critique your work, or is this just amateur hour?
Apr 28, 2008 - 4:39 pm 46. gcblues:and p.s. i have voted for a few libertarians, but never have i ever voted for a dem in my adult life. wrong again.
Apr 28, 2008 - 4:43 pm 47. Bill Bradley:You’re obviously not a regular reader of mine, or you would recall that I broke the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s endorsement of John McCain, the key to McCain knocking Mitt Romney out of the race in the California primary.
Critique, incidentally, is not a verb, and I supported the invasion of Iraq.
What I would like to see here is an actual discussion. Which is why I bothered to corrrect your statement.
Apr 28, 2008 - 5:41 pm 48. Bill Bradley:Because of what happened yesterday in Kabul.
>So, yeah, great point. All I did was have some fun by extrapolating your statement out to 2002, which is round about the time we all started to hear that Afghanistan is ‘getting worse’. I’ve this tale for six years. Why should I believe the cries of wolf now?
Apr 28, 2008 - 6:12 pm 49. Believer:Actually, Mr. Bradley, “critique” is both a noun and a verb.
Apr 28, 2008 - 7:19 pm 50. Bill Bradley:No, that’s a bastardization of the language. As a conservative, you should be for higher standards, and not slag off with the relativism of these kids today.
>Believer:
Apr 28, 2008 - 7:26 pm 51. Justin:Actually, Mr. Bradley, “critique” is both a noun and a verb.
Bill Bradley:
I WAS going to vote for Obama, and was excited to do so when he first came out. I was enthusiastic that we would soon have our first black President and talked about him at work, trying to get others excited. That is done now. I can’t vote for this man, though I am not enthusiastic about McCain. I wish there was a none of the above option for voting, but I guess that is life.
Apr 28, 2008 - 8:08 pm 52. Believer:Well, Mr.Bradley, you know more than my dictionary.
However egregious the mistake, can we not agree that its (mis)use by Catalonia was in its least offensive form?
You have me rightly pegged as a conservative. But I am not so rigid as you might assume. With young people, especially, I think there are far more important issues to challenge them on than their bastardization of the language.
I am thrilled when they engage at all.
Apr 28, 2008 - 9:56 pm 53. New West Notes » Blog Archive » Monday Morning Quarterback And More, With Updates And Forum:[...] has been going increasingly poorly over the past two years, as frequently discussed on NWN. …You can always see the entire MMQB on PJ Media.** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great [...]
Apr 29, 2008 - 1:06 am 54. Bill Bradley:I think we can agree that “Catalonia” etc. — who claims to be a Bill Clinton/Ralph Nader supporter who nonetheless says everything is going great in Afghanistan — had bigger problems in his/her posts than sloppy use of the language.
Apr 29, 2008 - 5:07 am 55. Antenna Wilde:This article could have been reduced to the 5 relevant, non-redundant paragraphs… or was it 4 ?
Apr 29, 2008 - 8:39 am 56. NWN Fan:Hey Bill, I always enjoy your columns and the “behind the scenes” insight that you provide. With the new interface for pajamas media, I can’t find the address for the new incarnation of New West Notes… I found this article by searching for your name. Can you direct me to the new general address so I can update my RSS feed etc. Thanks!
Apr 29, 2008 - 9:52 am 57. Catalonia:“You’re obviously not a regular reader of mine, or you would recall that I broke the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s endorsement of John McCain, the key to McCain knocking Mitt Romney out of the race in the California primary.”
Wow. I guess it was actually you who propelled McCain to the nomination, eh? Suffer from delusions of grandeur, much? Of course, maybe you think writing a story about McCain means that you’re incapable of telegraphing your support for Obama when writing other stories. Do you really think you have such tight control of your craft, and that you’re an intellectual juggernaut to boot? (I think you do.)
“Critique, incidentally, is not a verb, and I supported the invasion of Iraq.” “… had bigger problems in his/her posts than sloppy use of the language.”
Setting aside the ridiculousness of a sentence construction whereby you admonish verb usage (wrongly) while noting your support for Iraq (?), this is what’s known as ‘downstream’ thinking. Amateurs think language is static and usage set in stone. Linguists know otherwise, to wit:
Usage Note: Critique has been used as a verb meaning ‘to review or discuss critically’ since the 18th century, but lately this usage has gained much wider currency, in part because the verb criticize, once neutral between praise and censure, is now mainly used in a negative sense. But this use of critique is still regarded by many as pretentious jargon, although resistance appears to be weakening. In our 1997 ballot, 41 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence “As mock inquisitors grill him, top aides take notes and critique the answers with the President afterward.” Ten years earlier, 69 percent disapproved of this same sentence. “Resistance is still high when a person is critiqued”: 60 percent of the Usage Panel rejects its use in the sentence “Students are taught how to do a business plan and then are critiqued on it.” Thus, it may be preferable to avoid this word. There is no exact synonym, but in most contexts one can usually substitute go over, review, or analyze. Note, however, that critique is widely accepted as a noun in a neutral context; 86 percent of the Panel approved of its use in the sentence “The committee gave the report a thorough critique and found it both informed and intelligent.”
So congratulation, Bill: You just embarrassed yourself. But I thank you, though: I haven’t really worried much about grammar for decades — not since I was in middle school, in fact. Let us all know when you’ve gotten to the point that you worry less about grammar and usage and more about the soundness of your ideas, and by extension your ability to defend them when critiqued.
“What I would like to see here is an actual discussion. Which is why I bothered to corrrect your statement.”
Not true. Like most amateurs you take things far too personally. It’s fairly obvious that you fancy yourself, or aspire to be, someone like Michael Barone, but something tells me you don’t have a library stacked with 3000 books, most of which have been read (with comprehension), as does Michael and numerous others in the professional commentariat who are worth reading. You’ve got a long way to go, baby.
Apr 29, 2008 - 10:49 am 58. Catalonia:“I think we can agree that “Catalonia” etc. — who claims to be a Bill Clinton/Ralph Nader supporter who …”
Just to clarify: I’m a former Democrat, but I’m not a Republican. I’ve always been a bit of a libertarian (small ‘l’), but I never realized it until I got serious about politics (post-9/11). The Nader vote was a protest vote. I’m no longer a Democrat for fairly obvious reasons. So, Bill, I think you were preparing to lecture us all about your own steely neutrality in regards to politics and your undeniable, demonstrated ability for flawless insight about the voting public ….
“… nonetheless says everything is going great in Afghanistan …”
Is that what I said? Is this what you, the human fulcrum who changed the course of an election (and therefore the course of human history), gleaned from what I wrote? Interesting. Here’s what I actually said:
“All I did was have some fun by extrapolating your statement out to 2002, which is round about the time we all started to hear that Afghanistan is ‘getting worse’. I’ve [heard] this tale for six years. Why should I believe the cries of wolf now?”
I noted that the Sky if Falling stories about Afghanistan have been around since 2002. I asked why Bill Bradley’s little iteration of this meme should be heeded. You extrapolate from this that I believe ‘everything is going great in Afghanistan’.
Geez, Bill, I thought you were a bit hackish, but now I just think you’re not too bright, which gives me yet another reason to doubt your Chicken Little judgments on Afghanistan. Although there is some hope: A stopped clock is right twice a day, and don’t worry, Afghanistan is guaranteed to have some really nasty patches in the road ahead.
So to summarize, aside from being wrong, you’re right, except in regards to usage of the word ‘critique’, where you’re neither right nor wrong, just foolish to bring it up and consider it intelligent commentary while simultaneously complaining about lack of intelligent commentary, good examples of which apparently include snarky meaningless comments on zen, cigars, relativistic children, and pseudo-literate references to Freud and conspiracy-mongering. Meanwhile, your support for removing Saddam in 2003 means your critique of Afghanistan in 2008 is immune to criticism, your strategic vote for McCain means you’re not in the tank for Obama, and your publishing a few articles means your audience is incapable of parsing out your true political inclinations because your mastery of language and craft leaves Shakespeare and Twain in the dust.
Is that a fairly accurate critique? Or am I being too critical?
Apr 29, 2008 - 10:51 am 59. Tom Kaptain:I have to say that the vehemence of the whole Reverend Wright thing caught me off guard (which shows my ignorance). As a white person who grew up with African American friends, I saw many bigoted and shortsighted statements by religious leaders on both sides of the divide growing up and always believed that in the Protestant faith, ministers are supposed to be helping an individual do his own search for god rather than being a role model like a Catholic Priest in some ways is supposed to be. When I saw the quotes from the Reverend Wright, I compared them to the Pat Robertson’s and Jerry Falwells that had blamed national disasters on America’s sinful acts and people like that. Obviously a lot of people see it differently. It will be interesting to see the effect on primary votes.
On a different topic, the comments by some about Afghanistan and Iraq, I hope they remember that one of the biggest reasons for the destruction of the Soviet Empire was that the Soviets overextended themselves when they went into Afghanistan. No matter how rich and powerful we are, we do have limits.
Apr 29, 2008 - 1:38 pm 60. Bill Bradley:I’m on the road today, folks, actually pulling together a new video show with key insiders in each of the presidential campaigns — McCain, Obama, and Clinton — which is to be webcast on PJMedia.
New West Notes is in the midst of a tech transition. And is having a number of glitches associated with tech transitions.
Apr 29, 2008 - 4:20 pm 61. Bill Bradley:Oh, and “Catalonia/ect.” with the non-credible background, you’ve had your 15 seconds.
Hyperpartisans from both sides are not very constructive. And for the record, the only people banned from my site have been nutrootsers, not wingnuts.
Apr 29, 2008 - 4:23 pm 62. Bilbo Baggins:To Bill Bradley from Bilbo Baggins:
As a typical news paper’s commentator you list “facts” that have as a goal to provoke suspense and a pleasant sensation of approaching catastrophe. I understand that you don’t have time to analyze the facts which should demonstrate the objectivity of your “opinion”. I don’t speak about uncertainty of the concept of “fact”: it is another topic. An example of your catastrophic fact’s catalogue: “Crashing property values. A worldwide credit crunch. Wall Street bailouts. Record oil prices. Record gasoline prices. Rising unemployment. The dollar at a record low against the euro. … The Afghan fight has been going increasingly poorly over the past two years.” As in a suspense novel (I confess I detest this popular genre) you create the sensation of the nearing collapse of the entire World.
Apr 30, 2008 - 8:27 am 63. Bill Bradley:I’ll take only two facts from your black list: euro and Afghanistan. “Low” dollar and “high” euro mean a negative situation for the European economics: inflations, unemployment and decreasing of exportations. You can see European panic in economic news papers. I’m European. I know it from my personal experience. For example: to buy the books of good editions in the US costs me much less than in any European country. So if I have choice I buy books in the US and not in Europe. I image that less rich countries than Europe, prefer to buy American goods and not European thanks to “low” dollar. So your statement about dollar and euro has a value of an abstract “fact” without the contents.
Afghanistan. In 7 lines you tell the story of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion up to present days with which you finish your “reportage” from “La planète des singes”. I should say that Pierre Boulle’s novel gives much more information even about Afghanistan than many American and European papers.
Polls. You use polls as objective facts. In our “scientific” times polls have replaced astrology. The kings and all ancient politicians, before begining any important busyness, asked their official astrologers which consulted the planets. So the astrology was a very serious and “objective” science, based on the observation of the movements of the celestial corps and not on capricious “opinions” of “average” individuals. So if I had to make a choice between polls and astrology I would choose astrology. Fortunately, I am not a news paper’s writer or politician. So I need not make this choice. It would be interesting to know what American astrologers say about… about the possibility of a gay becoming US President. Why not, if St. Obamus (who, as some say, makes miracles) has all probabilities to realize his father’s dream?
I’m sure all that makes sense in one or two of our parallel universes.
In this universe, it’s an elaborate rationalization.
Let’s take one example.
Afghanistan.
There is no serious person, in either party, in American politics, who is not deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Period. Full stop. Hasta la vista, baby.
Apr 30, 2008 - 5:08 pm 64. Believer:Bill, I want to take this opportunity to ask your forgiveness.
My comments and responses both here and on another thread were not as respectful or as kind as they should have been. I knew it at the time, but still I pressed “submit.”
Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer. I spent time with the Lord that I’d been neglecting ever since I began getting overly caught up in online reading and posting. And my behavior has reflected that.
Now, perhaps, you see why I shrink from calling myself a Christian. The calling is so high and I fall so short. But I do believe – in Him – who forgives me my failings. I hope you’ll find in your heart room to do the same.
May 2, 2008 - 4:43 pm 65. Bill Bradley:Thanks.
May 2, 2008 - 4:57 pm