90 Comments

1. wasa1:

I guess old man McCain forgot that he used the same line on Clinton on 2007.

“While he said he had not studied Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s health-care plan, he said it was “eerily reminiscent” of the failed plan she offered as first lady in the early 1990s.

I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” he said of her proposal.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:14 pm 2. Jim in Virginia:

The cardinal rule of politics: Forgive and remember.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:24 pm 3. Joe:

Obama’s comments were not intentional but a gaffe (if it was intentional and some staffer wrote that he or she should be immediately fired). But it is an incredibly stupid gaffe, and suggests that Governor Palin is really getting to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I think the guy could use a day at the beach like Andrew Sullivan just took.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:38 pm 4. MJN1957:

wasa1…had Hillary comically referenced herself with a similar comment just a few short days before McCain’s remark? (that would be ‘No…’)

…and what was the audience response to McCain’s remark? (That would be ‘Virtually none…’ because everyone understood the obvious cliche and that it was nowhere near a personal insult. This time however…Riiiiiggggghhht1)

The leaps of illogic that some go through to allow themselves to believe what they do is astounding at times…it’s like a willful suspension of disbelief or something.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:41 pm 5. toby928:

Obama without a teleprompter is a gaffe waiting to happen.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:44 pm 6. Joe:

Funny. My biggest problem with Obama’s comment is that it’s a rather macho, guy’s guy kind of expression and coming from such a fey girly man it takes on the quality of Dukakis in a tank. It amplifies the air of desperation which is beginning to envelop hi.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:54 pm 7. Robert:

Give it a rest? The video and the crowd reaction speak for themselves. This will devastate Obama like nothing has to this point. Watch the video. Carefully. Watch Obama. There is no doubt about his intention. If CNN and Fox start looping this, Obama is history.

Sep 9, 2008 - 7:55 pm 8. Chris:

I agree that the McCain camp should cool it and let Obama and Biden implode as it appears they’re doing. I’m not convinced that Obama intended to offend Palin but I think the crowd definitely took it that way. I also agree with what Karl Rove said on FOX which was that the last time anyone heard the word “lipstick” in this campaign was when Sarah Palin made her “Hockey Mom” quip. That was a good line and people remembered it. Now Obama makes a lipstick reference and people are going to make the obvious comparison.

Sep 9, 2008 - 8:01 pm 9. Deaderjack:

MJN1957 said:
“The leaps of illogic that some go through to allow themselves to believe what they do is astounding at times…it’s like a willful suspension of disbelief or something.”

This phenomenon is particularly true of “progressives.” They can’t smell their own farts.

Sep 9, 2008 - 8:07 pm 10. yarrrr:

“You can put lipstick on a pig,” he said as the crowd cheered. “It’s still a pig.”

“You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It’s still gonna stink.”

Does anyone actually believe this wasn’t planned in advanced? It’s offensive and the point is to generate deniable outrage to hijack the narrative and put his own spin on the last news cycle. The media are carrying his water big time.

Sep 9, 2008 - 8:11 pm 11. rrr:

But Joe, a staffer couldn’t have written it! After all, Messiah lamented that Palin was good at reading a teleprompter. Messiah wouldn’t say such a thing unless he didn’t employ speech writers, would he?

Sep 9, 2008 - 8:37 pm 12. Tom Spaulding:

So…McCain said it about Clinton, eh? I wonder if Hillary has perhaps offered her “help” to the Obama/Biden campaign in the guise of giving their tired stump speeches the “woman’s perspective”. I also wonder if she said: “We gotta difuse that ‘pitbull’ line. Let’s play it against her by repeating the old bromide about ‘lipstick and pigs’…like McCain did with me”.

I further wonder if she actually knew it would backfire and end up helping McCain, thereby getting her closer to a 2012 showdown between two women for the Presidency.

I’m mean, she IS a Clinton.

Sep 9, 2008 - 8:39 pm 13. JJHLH1:

This is either an extremely sexist comment by Obama, or a major gaffe. Either way it doesn’t look good.

Sep 9, 2008 - 8:58 pm 14. kat-missouri:

Frankly, I don’t think Palin should respond. I think the female constituents might do something subtly funny like t-shirts that say “lipstick republicans” or “read my lipstick” and just kind of own it.

Sep 9, 2008 - 9:13 pm 15. jaed:

McCain referred to Hillary’s healthcare plan as a pig. He wasn’t referencing Hillary herself.

Obama, on the other hand, was not referring to any specific plan or policy or statement of Palin’s. He called Palin herself a pig.

There’s a difference there and it’s not subtle.

Sep 9, 2008 - 9:28 pm 16. Ernst Blofeld:

It probably was intentional, but it’s so self-destructive a remark that the fun thing to do would be to let it slide and in fact encourage the nutroots to whoop it up. Maybe the Swift remarks are intended to provoke exactly this reaction.

Obama has plausible deniability for the remark. But the nutroots are so ham-fisted they don’t realize that the deniability is a key element. They’ll make explicit what has to be implicit, and cause the very alienation that Obama was seeking to avoid by being “clever.”

Sep 9, 2008 - 9:34 pm 17. Anna Keppa:

Wasa1: are you a sentient being?

When McCain used the phrase he was referring, very clearly, to Hillary’s health care proposal, not to Hillary. YOU SAY SO YOURSELF.

When McCain used that expression the American public had not just heard the first female GOP VP candidate make a joke with the punchline “lipstick”.

They had not endured a week in which the B. Hussein Obama campaign and its surrogates had tried to “Eagleton” Palin out of the race with vicious lies and innuendo.

They had not seen and read numerous “femininist” columnists and spokesmen jeer and sneer at Palin for being white trash and a red neck.

Whaddaya think that crude sexist remark cost your candidate today, wasa1? FIVE million votes? TEN million?

It’s gotta SUCK being an Obama water carrier tonight!

Sep 9, 2008 - 9:45 pm 18. JMHawkins:

And people continue to insist that Obama is really, really smart. Amazing.

Here’s a guy with limited experience, connections to Chicago Machine Politics, and twenty years attending a lunatic church. He skates by on all of that for a year and a half, managing to cover up, ignore, or get a pass on a paper thin resume, Bill Ayers, and Jermiah Wright.

Then McCain picks Palin and the first thing Obama does is say she’s inexperienced. Do you really want to make experience a topic, Senator Noob? Then his campaign starts talking about her church. Do you really want to bring up Jeremiah Wright, Senator? And their complaining about her per diem as Governor. Shall we discuss Tony Rezko and that house you bought some more, Governor?

And yet they still insist he’s smart. Amazing.

Sep 9, 2008 - 10:20 pm 19. Grace:

Did he mean it? Didn’t he mean it? Who cares — he blew it and blew it badly.

Because EITHER:
* Obama meant to talk a little smack about an opponent who landed quite a few solid hits on him in her convention speech. If he meant to do that … he failed. Her digs came off smart, funny and brash; his just seem classless, childish and mean.

OR:
* Obama was just reaching for a folksy expression and didn’t think of how it would be understood. That’s probably worse, because it makes him clueless, boorish and inconsiderate.

I actually think it was a trial balloon. I think he was testing the waters to see if his fans would demonstrate the kind of explosive approval that Sarah enjoyed. But I think it was poorly conceived and badly executed. And yes, I think it’s probably good for another 2 points in the polls if only — as Roger says — the McCain camp doesn’t act huffy and oversensitive.

(What I’d really love for them to do is just turn Sarah loose on it. I’m kinda betting she knows how to handle a beginner like Obama.)

Sep 9, 2008 - 10:23 pm 20. Tom Adams:

If you saw the video, it is OBVIOUS that the audience took it to be a slam on Sarah Palin. Obvious, even to a partisan hack.

He was trying to be too clever by half, and typical of those who think they are smarter than anyone else in the room (or nation).

Keep it up. See what happens. You are throwing the election because of your hate.

Sep 9, 2008 - 10:27 pm 21. Brian:

Come on, Roger. You cannot reasonably ask people on the right to fold this Full House in the Texas Hold ‘Em of Identity Politics. The favor with most assuredly not be returned if McCain or Palin flubs up along the way.

Lawyers, like Obama, always want to give themselves some measure of plausible deniability but what you cannot deny is the reaction of that crowd. They got exactly what he meant and what he was going for.

When have you ever seen a cheer like that to such a shopworn idiom? It was a planned callback to a memorable line from her speech and the “old fish” remark that followed it was as well.

This shouldn’t be beat into the ground but by the same token it shouldn’t get a pass either. For Christ’s sake you’re trying to bury it and it hasn’t even made into one network news cycle yet.

Sep 9, 2008 - 10:44 pm 22. What he said:

[...] Roger Kimball says the same thing, probably better. I think it is bad form for Republicans to play this silly game. I do not know Sarah Palin. But from what I know of her, I would guess that if she even noticed Obama’s desperate little performance her first, and probably her last, reaction was to laugh. Certainly (I feel sure) she would countenance no whining. Because some jerk as much as called you a pig? Get a life. Still, I would advise Obama not to reprise when she or her husband was actually in the room. Some loud mouth Harvard-educated twit bloviating to a bunch of losers on TV somewhere is one thing; actually insulting someone to her face is something else entirely. I’m not sure that’s the sort of thing Obama understands, but I bet he would be a quick learner. [...]

Sep 9, 2008 - 11:22 pm 23. Brad:

Whether or not Obama intended to call Palin a pig with lipstick and McCain a smelly old fish there are an array of proper responses that rise far above whining, responding in kind, or playing the sympathy card. Alluding to the comment while playing up one of Obama’s previous gaffes and/or noting that he’s just not ready and/or doesn’t have the judgment might be a powerful response. While they don’t need to I think Team McCain can take an elegant shot at Obama’s self-control here if they so desire.

And I concure wholeheartedly with Grace: just turn Sarah loose on Obama. She’ll gut him like a trout and never come close to having as tone-deaf a moment as Obama just had.

Sep 9, 2008 - 11:44 pm 24. rdohd:

Anna,
I think you are over reaching a bit, but I wouldn’t be suprised if five or ten thousand votes just changed hands. No real inside info, the Millions bit just feels off.

Sep 10, 2008 - 12:11 am 25. ic:

Sarah: My opponent has mistaken a pit-bull for a pig.

Sep 10, 2008 - 12:42 am 26. braininahat:

The problem with the ‘McCain used the same line on Hilary’ is that McCain was unquestionably characterizing Hilary’s health-care plan, not Hilary Clinton.

Obama, the sexist pig, is using a double entendre to characterize both the McCain-Palin ticket and Pelain personally, which explains the laughter from the peanut gallery he was speaking to.

This is not lost on anyone, even on those blinded by Obamania, but they’ll be the only ones trying to spin this as anything but the cheap shot that it is.

Sep 10, 2008 - 12:44 am 27. dragonfly:

Obam, like most self-adorers, is essentially humorless. Any attempts are scripted, as this one, and not spontaneous. Palin’s a natural. She isn’t going to get into any back-and-forth with the Great Leader.

But some place, down the road, she’ll drop the line:” This from a guy who can’t tell the difference between a pig and a pit bull”, just wen it hurts,

Sep 10, 2008 - 2:18 am 28. oy:

I agree that the McCain campaign should never have responded, and should add nothing else. But I do think that those of us in the non-Democratic “Underground” should make the most of it, particularly trying to influence those who may not have heard it/are not convinced it was a slur.

Sep 10, 2008 - 2:39 am 29. Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Lipstick On Pigs, Politicial Rhetoric, And Overreactions:

[...] example, Roger Kimball at Pajama’s Media says that the campaign is guilty of the same whining that Republicans often accuse Democrats of exhibiting: I think it is bad form for Republicans to play this silly game. I do not know Sarah Palin. But from [...]

Sep 10, 2008 - 4:48 am 30. FreedomLover:

Dragonfly - great comment! You’re right - Sarah will take care of him. We don’t need to do a thing.

Sep 10, 2008 - 5:05 am 31. FrancisT:

If you listen to the ‘gaffe’ the real problem is it is delivered so poorly. I listened carefully and I think the quote below accurately transcribes what Sen Obama says:

“That’s just, just calling some uh the same thing … something different. You know you can’t uh you, you can put lipstick on a pig, is still a pig”

If you’re going to try for zinging one liners you need to work on the delivery a bit more

Sep 10, 2008 - 5:25 am 32. sanssoucy:

I’m with Brian on this. If McCain frakks up and uses the word “boy” - even in the context of talking about a little-league baseball player - sometime in the next 60 days, the howls of “RACISM!!!” and “HE CALLED OBAMBI BOY!!!!” will be deafening.

I’d be tempted to let this one go, except that B. Hussein Obambi’s campaign and its allies in the lefty media will not let *anything* go.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:08 am 33. Mr. K:

i think is BS, but imagine if McCain said something like, “don’t send a boy to do a man’s job” or “look at the pot calling the kettle black”

what do you think would happen?

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:11 am 34. Emerson:

What matters most is that the crowd collectively thought they knew what he meant and they laughed themselves silly. If Obama had any sense of awareness he would have stopped there and corrected himself in some way. Instead, he made a fish reference, which can also be thought of as a bad female reference.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:15 am 35. Bill R:

Palin’s correct response is “Oh it’s nothing, just a little nip. You know, you can put lipstick on Barry Obama but he’s still no pit-bull.”

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:15 am 36. blo:

To Wasa1: So McCain used the idiom in the past. Tell me, had Clinton made a nationally televised joke referencing herself and lipstick? No? Well then, when Obama did it, he used an obviously old idiom to indirectly reference Palin. Big mistake.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:15 am 37. newsandverse:

PARTY ANIMALS

NEWSWIRE:
“…the difference between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull? Lipstick.”
– Sarah Palin
“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
– Barack Obama

If you can let the sleeping Pit Bull lie,
And avoid the donkey and its hooving,
Then here’s a rule for pigs you should apply:
They’re only lying when their lipstick’s moving.

http://www.newsandverse.com
Light verse, ripped from the headlines

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:16 am 38. joshlbetts:

“old fish” = McCain
“lipstick” = Palin

Don’t forget he gave Hillary the bird when she was winning.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:18 am 39. Joe:

The danger of lipstick, beyond it getting on your shirt collars and not coming off wine glasses in the dish washer:

Barack Obama’s pal Bill Ayers said this yesterday via a bizzare cartoon: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/in-a-not-remote.html

Now if you go back to Ayers September 11, 2001 New York Times interview about bombing Ayers actually said this:

”I don’t regret setting bombs,” Bill Ayers said. ”I feel we didn’t do enough.” Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970’s as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all (and Bill Ayers wonders how we could have made the connection between bombing and not doing enough)

Yet yesterday, Barack Obama was still claiming to Bill O’Reilly that Bill Ayers is just a guy from his neighborhood who is a teacher. Here’s News Hounds giving the spin from Team Obama’s perspective. http://www.newshounds.us/2008/09/09/barack_obama_can_now_add_bill_oreilly_to_his_dubious_associations_list.php

The fact is Obama had a lot more connection to Ayers that is being let on, Ayers helped him get jobs, they served on a board together for several years and Ayers helped promote Barack Obama in the Chicago Democratic Machine (early on when Obama was an outsider in Chicago). Why is this not getting more attention? http://hotair.com/archives/2008/04/21/why-the-obama-ayers-connection-matters/

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:20 am 40. Andrew Garland:

@FrancisT I agree

Obama has poor delivery when not reading from a speech. Beyond that, the whole form is wrong. He is explaining the joke, not making the joke.

Good: Calling this bill the Benefit America Act (made up) is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Obama: My opponents are bad. When you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig. (See, it doesn’t make my opponents any better.)

I think it was an intentional reference to the idea Palin used in her joke. The joke is so mangled by Obama that many think it must be a gaffe.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:24 am 41. Tom W.:

Of course this was deliberate. It started with Bob Beckel on Fox news a day or so ago. It’s a really dumb attempt to destroy Palin.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/08/video-hemmer-sandbags-beckel-over-saying-palin-will-self-destruct/

At :31, Beckel says, “I thought she said the difference in her speech, the difference between a socc- or a hockey mom and a Rottweiler was–or maybe it was a pig–was lipstick, right?”

So, according to Bob Beckel, the difference between a hockey mom and a pig is lipstick. Great election strategy there, Bob. And maybe you shouldn’t call people pigs if you yourself weigh 500 pounds.

And now, notice that it seems to be mostly men telling McCain and Palin to stop “harping” on this.

This was hugely demeaning thing for someone to say. It obviously struck a chord with women, so it would be pretty Obama-ish for men to say, “Stop whining!”

Sweeties.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:24 am 42. Larry J:

Methinks Obama just jumped the shark.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:30 am 43. Anon:

You can put monkey ears on a pig, and he’s still a pig.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:31 am 44. Sioux Lady:

I think Sarah should call Ms. Piggy for advice as to a response. I bet Ms. Piggy would say, “Kick butt, Cheri!”

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:37 am 45. MKS:

For decades now, the “left” or “liberals” or “progressives” have been training the American public to think of people as groups, instead of as individuals. Ethnic identity, gender identity, and economic class have been given more emphasis than the efforts and character of persons. Furthermore, PC language “hot buttons” have often superceded thoughtful dialog. One can not say “niggardly” to mean “stingy or frugal” without being unjustly accused of racism because of the ignorance of the hearers. Now they face a woman VP candidate - a big identity group. Now Sen. Obama says “pig” and hits a hot button. In 2008, the Democrats may be falling into a pit they have dug themselves over the last few decades.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:47 am 46. just an observer:

Hmm-
Maybe, just maybe, it has to do with the fact that the McCain campaign and proposed presidential advisiors are all the SAME OLD CROWD that ran the Bush presidency to where it is today….

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:55 am 47. wc:

just another off-message day for the dems.

since obama’s answer to the short resume was good judgment and being above politics… and since the crowd knew what he meant… well, this damages the narrative.

Lipstick is just another way to keep the focus on how choosing biden over hillary was bad judgment and petty.

a petty candidate with poor judgment and no resume is a whole new meme.

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:55 am 48. Webutante:

I have a little different take, Roger; think there’s some bacon to be cooked here…

I mean is there a law against having a little fun with this?

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:56 am 49. Tom von Gremp:

If Obama hadn’t of stuttered up to the insulting punch line like he was trying to get his footwork ready for a layup I’d go with you.

If Obama hadn’t followed up the “Pig line” with the “old fish and wrapper” line I’d go with you.

Instead, and with love, I wonder what the hell you are thinking by not thinking it was an obvious jab… stupid though it may be.

Frankly, Barack Obama has been doing very stupid things, politically, for 15 years not. Luckily, he began his trek in Chicago.

I hope this helps.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:01 am 50. Watcher:

This comment by Sen. Obama was more than a schoolyard taunt. It was one of the harshest insults that a Muslim-raised man could have made.

Yes, I get that he isn’t a Muslim any more, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with having been raised as a Muslim, but it is key to understanding the cultural context of his statement.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:02 am 51. Paul A'Barge:

Hi Roger,
Unlike making silly jokes about oversensitive minorities, we don’t call each other Pigs, even on the campaign trail.

I get that you’re trying to be anti-politically correct and everything and normally I would agree, but not here.

Inferring that Sarah Palin is a pig is over the line.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:03 am 52. smaack:

So… have the Democrats given the Jahn McCain “100 years in Iraq” distortion a rest?

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:04 am 53. wc:

Just to be clear:

The insult itself may or may not be big… but the poor judgment and pettiness is huge.

O screwed up at 3 PM, so I think any 3 AM calls may be even worse.

This was a dumb, dumb tack for Obama to have taken, and it undercuts the entire reasoning behind the phenomenon.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:05 am 54. Dan H.:

McCain’s team shouldn’t say anything, because it’s good politics not to say anything.

Here’s how they should have played it - you stay silent, and you let your surrogates complain. You let the blogosphere go on about it for a day or so. Then everyone knows about it, and the damage is done.

Then, Palin comes out and says, “Hey, everyone cool it. I’ll take the good Senator at his word. Besides, this is nothing. Really. We have real business to discuss, real issues to tell the country, and this is just a silly distraction.”

What this does is make Palin look like a Statesman - it makes Obama look petty, and her magnanimous. And it elevates her above him - she’s now someone in a position to grant a favor to him.

But most of all, it would steal Obamas’s mojo - he’s supposed to be the one promising to end divisions and heal the country, and here’s Palin graciously doing the same thing against Obama’s own mean-spirited cheap shot.

That’s how you handle a ’scandal’ like this. The campaign should never have gotten involved. Now Obama can flip the tables and accuse McCain of playing the gender card, of engaging in the kind of hyper-sensitivity he claims to be against, and of being scared and a little weak.

Palin should still come out and tell everyone to drop it. It would make her look even better to the American people.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:07 am 55. Luis Scott:

Why should we give it a rest? This is very offensive and it goes to the man’s character. He panics under pressure. He insults when his words fail him. He cannot make two coherent sentences without a teleprompter. He is just not qualified to be president of the United States.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:07 am 56. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Roger Kimball, et al.
RE: Name Calling & History

First off, I’m reminded of my readings of how the Roman Republic went down the toilet. And, as I recall, blatant name-calling, as opposed to objective and civil debate was one of the key indicators that their form of government was getting flushed away.

I’m not surprised to see a similar pattern of behavior coming from the Democrats. First it was their poorly educated rank-and-file, e.g., nick and Javelin here. Now their demi-god himself.

I disagree that Obama would never stoop to such a thing. He obviously has. Or, perhaps, it was his speech-writer, as Obama can’t deliver a good speech without a telapromptor…..

RE: The Naming of Names

Obama would be wise to apologize and not do such a thing ever again.

Why? Because there are a number of appaullations [Note: That's not a misspelling, it's a pun.] that I’m certain people could come up with for him. And he’d probably rather NOT hear them as they’ll stick harder than alluding to Governor Palin as a ‘pig’ with lipstick.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Just say 'No' to BO -- Bumper Sticker]

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:13 am 57. Mark:

Stop making excuses for this man-child. He has never been in a real election before, and he’s showing why this is an accident of fate.

Watch the delivery and the pause for a response. Watch the response. The guy can’t deliver a complete sentence without a speech writer, but suddenly he managed to roll out this utterly stupid 4 sentence rhetorical quagmire exactly 1 week after Sarah handed him his butt for being stupid enough to compare his experience to hers.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:19 am 58. Gerry:

“The leaps of illogic that some go through to allow themselves to believe what they do is astounding at times…it’s like a willful suspension of disbelief or something.”

I was thinking the same thing reading your post. Oh, here’s a good one.

“With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he’s been a governor for three years, he’s been able but undistinguished,” Rove said. “I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that he’s done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America. And again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it’s smaller than Chula Vista, California; Aurora, Colorado; Mesa, or Gilbert, Arizona; North Las Vegas, or Henderson, Nevada. It’s not a big town.

So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I’m really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I’m concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?’”

Now replace Kaine with Palin and Richmond with Wasilla.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:22 am 59. Neo:

Obama is a cad

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:51 am 60. Rufus Vs. The Daily Headlines » No Truffle at All [Floyd]:

[...] Roger Kimball thinks e should all let this “pig” kerfuffle slide. I agree. There is plenty to hit Obama on. If we don’t like him or his folks hitting our side for every little gaffe, then we shouldn’t do the same — especially when there’s such a target rich environment of legitimate mockery. Intent does matter — and Barack Obama did not intend to call Sarah Palin a pig. In context — he’s talking about McCain-Palin policies — clearly. That is legitimate and time honored political rhetoric. Rhetoric which McCain used himself last year. No one accused him of referring to someone as a pig. [...]

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:54 am 61. Ohio Granny:

Dear Mr. Kimble,
After the Dem convention, McCain ran an ad saying “Congratulations”. The very next day, after he announced his VP choice, the Obama camps’ first comment was not “Congratulations”, it was a nasty remark about her qualifications. Is is the place of the Dems’ to vet and qualify the GOP choice? And for 3 days, the moonbats were saying disgusting things about Mrs. Palin and Bristol. Sen. Obama could have squelched that. Don’t think for one minute his robots didn’t fan the flames and let it go unchecked. Only after Mrs. Palin was forced to admit to Bristols pregnancy, and the subsequent additional 3 day media feeding frenzie, did Sen. Obama say “Families are off limits”. That was equivolent to saying “use a fire extinguisher” on the ashes of Joan of Arc.
They are still looking for dirt and discredit, stalking Mrs. Palins 11 year old nephew for family filth. Obama is the one who set himself up as a new and different kind of politican. He was the one who said he was better and above the mud and dirt and fray.
So don’t be saying the McCain shouldn’t use every dart or dagger gifted to him by Mr. Obama now.
Sorry but he didn’t earn a pass. He could have acted like a gentleman at any time and didn’t. He could have shown some class but didn’t.
Frankly, Americans aren’t stupid. They saw what went on last week and they are gleeful that he is getting knocked off his pedestle this week.
Next week, we’ll see what ugliness happens but for now, don’t apolgize on my behalf. As a woman, the statement needed the correct response and McCain camp is exposing the hypocrisy of Mr. Obama.

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:15 am 62. ya'll are pussies:

Just about everyone on this board displays the thinnest skin in the world. And the thickest hypocrisy. I get that this site is slanted and the article is too, but you all need to get a life. I hope this isn’t a demonstration of how Palin and McCain will respond in the world theater.

And by the way, it’s a f*cking expression, but hate for hating’s sake if nothing else. Obviously ya’ll got nothing else to talk about, certainly not policy. Not 8 years of abject failure. Nothing but hurt feelings and 40 year old war stories.

Republican pussies. (oooo, sexist, oooooo. go cry to mommy)

The Democrats have to get on with the business of running a country, cause the Republicans ain’t got it in em it seems.

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:15 am 63. tanstaafl:

Sheesh, I wish people would get the line right

“You can put lipstick on a hog and call it Monique, but it’s still a pig.”

Poor pigs, Jews, Muslims…and now Barry.

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:17 am 64. Art:

You can make a pig proud of her country, but you can’t make her proud of it all the time.

Heh, don’t get upset, we’re just talkin’ about a pig here.

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:20 am 65. Mikee:

I gained respect for Dukakis when he had such obvious fun riding around in that tank. Despite looking like a special needs child in that tanker helmet, he enjoyed the ride. Was it worth losing the election over? I think by then he knew the score, and was feeling free to have fun. A more telling point for Dukakis was his answer about how to treat a rapist who assaulted his wife.

Similarly, Kerry in a cleansuit looked inappropriate to most people. To me it looked like the stuff I wear at work every day, and I appreciated that Kerry could suit up to kep the workplace clean during his photo op visit. Kerry with the Philly cheese steak revealed his true nature, however.

Bush 41 parachuting every year on his birthday was similarly ludicrous fun - what the heck is that guy thinking? He could kill himself, and then he wouldn’t be an over-80 ex-pres. But at least he is having fun. That tells me something useful about the man.

Obama? I look forward to him debating old McCain without a script in front of him.

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:29 am 66. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Mikee
RE: Dukakis Meets Abrams [as in M1A1 Main Battle Tank]

I gained respect for Dukakis when he had such obvious fun riding around in that tank. Despite looking like a special needs child… — Mikee

Yeah.

He looked like he needed his diapers changed.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[My other car is a Bradley IFV2. OUT OF MY WAY! Or I'll put an incendiary round up your tail pipe and into your gas tank.]

Sep 10, 2008 - 9:03 am 67. Self-hating boomer:

Roger, you have a point.

- However -

This is a game of Calvinball that’s been turned into a game of dodgeball. The turnabout of forcing the Democrat candidate to dodge accusations of sexism and general poor form is forcing them to do something that they’ve never had to do before. This is all part of a bigger picture strategy of keeping The One off-balance, and it’s working magnificently. So while your point is valid, in the big picture, this is worth it.

OODA loop. McCain gots it.

Sep 10, 2008 - 9:09 am 68. matt:

So this should be ok then. Palin says she is a pit bull in lipstick. I happen do strongly disagree with her narrow minded scare tactics and vitriol - so I am justified in calling her a b-i-t-c-h. Right?

The problem I have with Mcain is mainly that he is too old. we have a law that stops people under a particular age from running for pres we should also have a law at the other end. He can’t even use email which means he could not even get an entry level job these days. The problem I have with palin is that she is all about pointing out what she thinks is wrong with the democrats yet offers nothing, nada to persuade me that her experience and values will be good for our country.

Disclaimer: i was raised republican, roman catholic in rural small town Ohio. I became an independent voter during college because I had lost faith in either political party and if I was going to repeatedly be asked to vote for the lessor of two evils then I decided that I should at least start with an unbiased opinion of both evils. I voted for bush boi the first time, saw through his retoric and the second time (but still could not vote for kerry or bush) and have watched our country decay into its current state. I will not let the republicans take us down this dark road any longer, they controlled congress and the white house for 6 years and did nothing with it, nothing. If you truly believe the McCain/Palin will be good for our country you have not looked at the issues and the candidates positions on the issues very close. Or, you are ideologically motivated and are unwilling to concede that there is always a counter argument and sometimes, sometimes the other side can be right and you can be wrong and that doesn’t make you or your ideas worth any less. That its ok to disagree with your fellow americans but if you can’t do it with a little bit of genuine respect and grace you should be taken as serious as your childish behavior.

Sep 10, 2008 - 9:11 am 69. tanstaafl:

I agree that McPalin need to stay on top of all the crapola.

I don’t think they’ll devolve into whining, because I think they understand the nature of the source.

Barry’s recent verbal gambits reflect a somewhat bumbling weakness. Biden’s “sexist” comments, the same.

Sep 10, 2008 - 9:22 am 70. Harold:

Was there a ’sensitive’ way for European civilization to colonize America? No. European civilization is therefore arrogant and racist. Such is the logic Chomskyite third worlders.

“Some loud mouth Harvard-educated twit bloviating to a bunch of losers on TV somewhere.”

This is an even better analysis of liberal elites than Roger’s explication as to why John Kerry chose Stalinist apparatchik Pablo Neruda as his favorite writer. Being one of Stephen Potter’s ‘okay authors.’ Who would appeal to -

“Birkenstock wearing, Kumbaya singing, anti-capitalist beneficiaries of capitalism.”

Sep 10, 2008 - 11:09 am 71. BMoon:

It is a tough call.

On one hand you do not want to play the Dimmies game of emo narcisstic-driven grievance politics.

On the other hand, the statement displays several vital, depep character flaws of the Man Who Would Be King, that need to be pointed out- his poorly hidden loathing of women, his lack of civility and wisdom, his deep anger and superiority complex.

One thing about it though - this can and will be something used for humor for months to come. That, for me, places to balance on the “let’s-milk-this-for-all-it’s-worth” side.

If you put lipstick on a mysogenist politician, he is still an emotionally-insecure woman-despising political hack…

…or maybe a sexually confused, bi-curious imitation of Keth Ledger’s role?

Sep 10, 2008 - 11:15 am 72. Jamie:

matt - I’m not getting you. Are you defending Obama’s bad joke, or saying you think the joke gave you the sense that it’d be fine civil discourse to remove the “joke” part and go straight for the underlying sense of the statement? Or are you using irony to skewer Obama’s ill-advised joke, implying (again, through irony) that though you disagree with Palin, it’s inappropriate to resort to name-calling over that disagreement? I’m puzzled.

I’d add that the question most voters face, most of the time, is not which ticket will be “good” for the country but which will be “less bad.” You perform that calculus differently from me; I’d rather hew to the side that at least attempts to control the size and spread of government, however imperfectly, than the side that celebrates unfettered growth in government’s growth and sphere. Palin’s done some good things, by my lights, in Alaska; I hope that she’ll be not only a good influence on McCain’s presidency but also a force for beneficial change in her own right. I see an Obama administration as not only uninterested in restricting government but actively interested in promoting its use as a blunt instrument against his ideological opponents.

As for you, “y’all are [rude epithets],” project much?

Sep 10, 2008 - 11:20 am 73. michael freeman:

He called her a pig.

He called a reporter “sweetie”.

He does not often credit his grandmother.

His associates are dubious.

Sep 10, 2008 - 11:54 am 74. CJ:

McCain and Palin and their supporters shouldn’t overdo reacting to this one. Obama is making a steady stream of unforced errors. Let him sink himself.

Sep 10, 2008 - 2:03 pm 75. Cleanthes:

The Stoics believed taking insult a more grievous deviation from right reason than giving insult. If Palin & Co. are actually insulted, then they are more in the wrong than Obama.

Tactically, though, there would be much merit in playing this to the hilt. With luck it will KILL the grievance card. Obama plangently played the racist cry many times in his race against Hillary. Even today, NY governor Patterson tried to claim that criticizing community organizing is coded racism.

At a later date when Obama trots out something as racist, this stupid controversy can be thrown back in his face.

Sep 10, 2008 - 2:59 pm 76. dragonfly:

OMG. All these folks who have such clever ideas for snappy comebacks three days late and are eager to perpetuate a pretty puny effort to be funny on the Great Leader’s part.

The very WORST thing Pain could do is what is being overwhelming suggested . DROP IT - use it later to underline his stupidity.

Sep 10, 2008 - 3:05 pm 77. SteveC:

BHO with out a script is dumb. Apparently the product of Ivy League affirmative action.

Sep 10, 2008 - 3:23 pm 78. sam68:

Palin is no pig, but she is lipstick. 12 days, still hasn’t had to field a single question. She is on the ticket to make the policies of John McCain more attractive. The failed policies are the pig.

I wish the Republican’s would at least take the time to think before they speak. It is embarrassing to see a faked emotional response to the wrong part of the alleged insult.

She might be a pig too though. Nobody squeaky clean needs a 50 person “truth squad”.

Sep 10, 2008 - 3:40 pm 79. tanstaafl:

He does not often credit his grandmother

Barack Obama used the only woman willing to raise him and love him in his teenage years as an example of a typical white person in relating her encounter with a panhandler on the streets of Honolulu.

Last month, the Barry Obama family went on a vacation in Hawaii, presumably they visited his grandmother, who lives alone and is in poor health.

Sep 10, 2008 - 4:30 pm 80. tanstaafl:

BHO with out a script is dumb. Apparently the product of Ivy League affirmative action.

There is something about his (Obama’s) personality that says: “People of Earth, stop your bickering, I’m from Harvard and I’m here to help”

~Jonah Goldberg, 10 minutes ago

Sep 10, 2008 - 4:45 pm 81. GOP view of Palin: pit bull or pretty little lady? « James McPherson’s Media & Politics Blog:

[...] Same day update #2: Some conservative writers agree that the GOP “lipstick” attacks are stupid. See pieces by Kathryn Lynn Lopez and Roger Kimball. [...]

Sep 10, 2008 - 5:36 pm 82. ahem:

Face it: if this were a game of chess, it would be checkmate. Obama is a Trivial Pursuit question.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:17 pm 83. Tcobb:

When anyone says anything that can even be remotely thought of as an indication of racism the Obama people are all over them. But when the tables are turned, the same people just cannot understand why anybody could make such a big deal out of what was OBVIOUSLY just a gaffe. It reminds me of parents of spoiled brats. When their child hits another kid its just an indication that their child is independent and strong-willed. When the other kid hits them back and the brat starts crying its evidence that the child who defended himself has deep sociopathic tendencies. Double standards are always ugly.

Sep 10, 2008 - 7:21 pm 84. ipw533:

Back off and wait–the first HEAT round (Palin’s nomination) penetrated; spalling took place. We’re now seeing secondaries. Wait, and cut down the survivors as they jump. This is not what Team Nobama signed up for, but it’s what they got….

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:07 pm 85. Nine-of-Diamonds:

“When anyone says anything that can even be remotely thought of as an indication of racism the Obama people are all over them.”

That’s because white guilt is much of what Obama has going for him, and he knows it. What do you expect him to do - point to his “resume?”

All this hopeychangey Obamessiah worship boils down to a single basic premise: that a little melanin is an adequate substitute for experience, broad-mindedness, and plain old-fashioned competence. of course this reality is unspoken for the most part. Leftists are too dishonest Republicans too afraid to admit it.

Sep 10, 2008 - 8:52 pm 86. Postliberal:

Purely as a reaction to what Obama said, the McCain campaign’s response the “lipstick” remark is excessive. And I’m sure they know it, because Palin has been subjected to incredible smears and has brushed them off like flies. I think the real issue McCain is addressing in this response to “lipstick” is the aura of exceptionalism that has surrounded Obama since his campaign started. One of the fundamental pretenses of the Obama campaign is that *we* (ObamaNation) are inclusive and sensitive, but *they* aren’t. McCain’s cheap shot–although I stress that it’s nowhere near as cheap as many taken by Obama–annnounces that McCain and his supporters are not in on the fix. In other words, precisely because the sexism charge is a cheap shot, it reveals that Obama’s whole campaign is built around exactly that cheap shot, and how cheap it is. This will smoke out Obama’s self-righteousness, to his detriment: he won’t sound so sensitive when he has to insist explicitly that he’s the one who really understands and respects women. That sort of thing should go without saying if it’s to go at all.

That said, I think a little bit of this strategy can go a long way, and McCain has gotten all there is to get from it for the time being. The harpoon is in: let the whale writhe around for a while. He’ll soon slow down.

Sep 10, 2008 - 10:55 pm 87. Pops in Vienna:

People have pretty good BS detectors, especially women. The public can view the video and make up their own minds.

Palin has been in politics a long time. I doubt if it made her cry. In fact, quite the contrary, the gaffe was an enormous gift to her campaign. The Republicans would be fools not to take advantage of it.

The entire incident points out that Obama isn’t infallible or perfect. In fact, lately, he’s proving to be quite a klutz. He’s speaking ability also seems to have vanished. While name calling is pretty harmless, the speech, in my opinion, made him look like a typical Chicago politician. He ain’t the Messiah anymore.

Sep 10, 2008 - 11:58 pm 88. Roger’s Rules » Who is the mole in the Obama campaign?:

[...] Moment, but it is hovering in the neighborhood. Evidence of Obama’s bare-knuckles: the lipstick-on-a-pig gambit: bad move, Mr. O! It doesn’t matter what you meant to say. Your acolytes took it as a [...]

Sep 13, 2008 - 6:52 am 89. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: So….

….we give the ‘pig’ comment a ‘rest’.

And what does Obama trot out next?

McCain can’t use a computer….as though he’s a latter day Luddite.

I tell ya, the beatings and propaganda are just going to get worse until this latter-day school yard bully is dealt a harsh lesson.

I’m open to suggestions on how to go about doing that.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Sep 13, 2008 - 8:51 am 90. The Anger Factor « “The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.” — James Madison:

[...] Pajamas Media, Roger Kimball dismisses the [...]

Sep 17, 2008 - 11:34 am

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