Oh Barack, you wild and fuzzy guy
By SusanUnPC on March 29, 2008 at 5:20 PM in Barack Obama, Race, Race Card, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.
| Below the fold, there’s wild and crazy Barack-on-Babwa / Babwa-on-Barack / Elizabeth-on-Barack / Whoopie-on-Babwa stuff.
But first, let’s hear some serious analysis of the guileful statements by Barack Obama on ABC’s The View yesterday, and Obama’s nagging Rev. Wright problem aggravated by his inability to “tell it like it is.” |
Jake Tapper calls out Obama for his campaign’s evasive response to what Obama supposedly meant when he gave this response to Barbara Walters’ question:
"Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I think is the great character of this country – for all its flaws – then I wouldn’t have felt comfortable staying there at the church,"
Here’s more from Tapper’s story, “Did Obama Say Rev. Wright Acknowledged Offending People?“:
This seemed to imply that Wright had acknowledged that he’d deeply offended people … Right?
Wrong, says the Obama campaign.
"Sen. Obama was clearly saying that were Rev. Wright not retiring, he would need to be assured that the reverend understood why what he had said had deeply offended people and mischaracterized the greatness of this country," says spox Bill Burton.
Okay, except Obama wasn’t "clearly" saying that at all.
Here’s a clear way to say that: ‘Had the reverend not retired I would have confronted him about his remarks. If after that Wright still refused to acknowledge that what he had said [were offensive], inappropriate and mischaracterized what I think is the great character of this country — for all its flaws — then I wouldn’t have felt comfortable staying there at the church.’
For an eloquent man, not his most eloquent moment.
You tell ‘em, Jake.
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Don’t the hosts of The View sometimes sound just like those temptresses on “hot” line phone call ads that are aired late at night on cable television?
Check out New York magazine’s “Live-Blogging Barack Obama on ‘The View’“:
[...]
Barbara: “I shouldn’t say this, but we think you are very sexy-looking.” Ew. No, Barbara, no, you shouldn’t have said that. Whoopi is mortified.
[...]
11:26: Obama starts out by saying the reverend is retired, then goes on about his church and how he’s been going for twenty years and didn’t have a research team on Reverend Wright and says that basically the reverend was a victim of his own ignorance and that the church is “a wonderful, welcoming place.… If you went, you would feel right at home.” Whoopi looks skeptical. “You would see people talking about Jesus and mercy and sin and—”
Elizabeth: “And forgiveness!” She is such a teacher’s pet. Whoopi rolls her eyes practically.11:28: Barbara realizes he hasn’t actually answered her question and tries to pull an answer out of him, but Elizabeth interrupts to gush about how awesome his speech at the Democratic National Convention was and how This Republican was ready to vote for him. “When you talked about One America, it captivated so many, and you transcended party lines,” she says. Blah blah blah blah. Ew, this is embarrassing.
Obama: “It was a pretty good speech.” Laughter! Ha-ha; he’s so charming. Elizabeth finally gets to some point about Reverend Wright and Obama goes into his speech again, which is, by the way, the same speech as he gave in Philadelphia, and the camera pans out, and it’s clear no one cares what he is saying because everyone is staring at his big brown eyes. …[...]
11:40: Okay, she probably doesn’t know she is doing it, but Barbara is looking straight at his crotch.
[...]
11:46: So then Barbara asks if Michelle will sit in on cabinet meetings. Obama says no. “She doesn’t have a burning desire to do that,” he explains.
Whoopi: “You know what I have a burning desire to do right now?”
WHAT. OH, NO.
Thankfully, it’s just a commercial break. Swiffers, Kotex, Band-Aids, Ferro Rochers, Clearblue Easy, Caduet for high cholesterol.[...]
Elizabeth has a question she is dying to ask about the economy and, more importantly, her taxes, because apparently she is going broke supporting the other classes. He indicates that his plan on that front will be to make everyone happy. Yay! Applause.
Then it’s time for another set of commercials (the Olive Garden, deli meats). And sad: Obama must go. Wild applause!
FinTotals :
Swoons: 6 at the home of Daily Intel, 478 in the studio audience
Funny jokes made by Obama: 3
Questions asked: 5
Questions answered: approximately 2 1/2
Wild applause at the littlest thing: 5
SPECIAL THANKS to Patrick Henry for sending me this amusing article. Read it all: “Live-Blogging Barack Obama on ‘The View’.”
Back to the serious question: Does Barack Obama really think he can get away with telling wildly different versions of his relationship with Rev. Wright? The Fox News clips at the top of this story — showing his differing explanations throughout the month of March — illustrate his dissembling perfectly.
And, why — as the pundits often ask — doesn’t Obama simply denounce Rev. Wright’s inflammatory, racist, and hate-filled messages?
Why do you think he doesn’t? (I have my own notions about that, but am curious about yours.)
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