Words Have Consequences

Yes they Do..

“HE HAS WMDS”" MUSHROOM CLOUDS”.. Mission Accomplished….”Who Could have anticipated..??”

“God DAMN the USKKK of A”…

Sick threats like those posted on Obama’s official site should never have been allowed. If his moderators choose to let sickos post threats, then maybe someone in a position of higher power should be monitoring his site. Someone, in an official capacity, should be investigating.

You are so right, alegre. In fact, who knows if KO subliminally had anything to do with the barely-discussed driveby shot(s?) at an HRC campaign office last night in Durham, NC.

But I submit your argument applies, not only to violence towards women, but also to what I’ve seen so often spewing from some of the Obama blogger army: ugly threats against anyone at all whose opinion differs from theirs.

Trying to stop discourse, whether it be by shouting, by ugly threats, or by physical action is the very opposite of what America is supposed to be about.
Embracing our differences and discussing them is one of the finest duties of democracy. Hating them is one of the worst deviations from it.

Agree with every word of this and thanks to Alegre.

Every time I read obama’s followers write how worried they are for his safety I understand because I worry about HER safety.

We were all outraged by “nappy headed ho’s” how come only some of us are outraged by a suggestion that this woman who has served us all honorably is murdered?

It is only the Obamabrainwashed fanatics who are so filled with hate that cannot even see their own lack of morality on this issue.

Yes, he should be suspended or fired.

And yes it was entirely vile and dangerous.

Violence isn’t a joke. Women VOTE and we are pissed.

There will be no unity, they have made sure of that.

If I can reach Mr. Olbermann across the table, I will show him how outrage I am. And this is not a metaphor.

Thanks Alegre. Good rant.
I’ve written to MSNBC to complain.

People can be so frustratingly stupid. This is about all women, it’s about common decency. It’s about speaking out against violence.

There is a violent underpinning theme of his campaign and it is sickening.

Ive pretty much lost hope for Hillary, the most qualified person to be president, to actually win. The media along with many Democrats already have their mind set on Obama - the savior of the Democratic party.

This is the problem - the Republican machine will destroy Obama just as they did with Gore and Kerry. By the time they are finished Obama will be a flip flopping drug abuser from France. Hillary, on the other hand, would be better prepared to weather the Republican storm. It’s going to be a very close race in November for whoever gets the nomination. If the Democrats continue to be devided they will lose another election. The only chance I see is a Clinton/ Obama ticket. Are the Democrats smart enough to see this? I dont think so.

The thought of a McCain presidency makes me sick to my stomach but I guess I’d better get used to it.

Thanks all of you Democrats who continue to trash Hillary.

That’s right Alegre; I am with you.

And regarding KO: he should be fired or at the very least suspended indefinitely. It was outrageous.

So much for all the political correctness at the workplace. I guess that only applies to race…
Absolutely disgusting; and an awfully backwards and scary precendent for women in the workplace. I guess all bets are off in what is now tolerated again…

MSNBC: FIRE OLBERMANN

Don’t forget, karen, Imus was fired for the racist “nappy-headed” part. Not for the misogynistic “ho’s” part.

I’m not surprised we aren’t seeing the same outcry. It’s been this way for a long time, now. One can malign a woman’s virtue day in and day out and no one bats an eye. People wear t-shirts calling Hillary a bitch and/or a cunt. The “bro’s before ho’s” garbage.

Acceptance of this hate is so ingrained in our society we don’t even recognize it. It’s broadcast on national television and the women that speak out about it are dismissed as “typical” females; over-emotional, hysterical, oversensitive, and irrational. We’re taught it isn’t acceptable for a woman to stand up for herself or her gender.

That’s why so many dislike and even hate Hillary and other strong women. That’s why they are called bitches, because they reject and defy those stereotypes and that scares people who are afraid of losing their dominance.

Obama is cast as a unifying hero pushing for racial equality.

Hillary, though, is a castrating bitch.

So tired of this narrative. Even more sick of the country blindly (and even willingly?) swallowing it.

Words do matter.

I grew up in Dallas, Texas. I in elementary school when Adlai was spat upon by the local Republican Ladies Club. The local “paper of record” said it was regrettable, but Stephenson brought it upon himself. And then Lyndon and Lady Bird were swatted with placards by Birchers while here on a visit as OUR senator. Again, the POR (local paper of record) lamented the event, but criticized LBJ for his pro-UN views.

And on that fateful day just a few years later, my mother took me out of school to go see President Kennedy. I brushed fingertips with him as he drove out of the airport. The crowds were large and enthusiastic, and very friendly. JFK commented to Gov. Connally, “You can’t say they don’t love me in Dallas.”

That morning, the local Birchers ran a full page ad in the Dallas Morning news suggesting Kennedy shouldn’t have come to Dallas, because “Dallas” might not react kindly. The POR extended a tepid welcome editorially, pointing out how “out of touch” he was.

That it was a left-wing nut from another town who murdered him isn’t the point. The point is that WORDS had created an atmosphere of hate that fed the unhinged communist sympathizer to take action that he may have thought he could get away with.

Feeding off the words they’d read and heard, the kids in my upper-middle class Jr/Sr High School cheered when the murder was announced over the PA.

Words matter. When you feed an atmosphere of hatred with hints of approval for violence, there are plenty of people who hear those words as encouragement.

I remember the consequences. Words matter.

Thank you, Allegre. I just wrote MSNBC, too. I am furious at the comments by Olbermann, the level of violence that is being accepted against Clinton (and all women), as well as sickened that so many young women are blithely following along (not unlike all of the progressives accepting this man touting Reagan and the First Bush - whaaaa?).

I am in COMPLETE agreement with Uppity, and have said this numerous times - I will NEVER vote for this misogynistic, homophobic, arrogant, superficial, copycat. No way. Never.

right on Alegre. Don’t you worry - we’ll show these punks. Hillary is gonna win this thing. She’s gonna win it despite Obama and despite the total lack of support from the Democratic party leaders. And you know the one good thing about all these? She won’t owe any of these bastards ANYTHING once she’s in office!

The online supporters of Obama are aholes.

i am a strong fan of no quarter, but i would like to mention the story on talk left right now about rev wright’s speech to the naacp. it goes with the words have consequences theme. take a look. i couldn’t watch the rev and won’t. but those that did are angry. it also won’t help obama.

Thanks for the post. I used to read the liberal blogs quite a bit and post once in awhile. The blatant hatred for women, sexism, and just feckless disregard for anything resembling reason made me flee.

The double standard is quite apparent and indefensible. But the male journalist is rewarded for his misogyny. Look at the difference in the treatment of Chris Matthews and Randi Rhodes. Perhaps she will see that the double standard that canned her and rewards the like of Matthews and Olberman is the same misogynistic standard that makes Senator Clinton the object of hatred by insecure males.

Anyone that advocates violence against women or men for that matter in that “take them to the back room” way is not a Democrat in my book. This is not only about advocating violence against a woman or a public figure (hell threats against bus drivers are prosecutable) its about advocating violence to solve an issue. Does anyone see the gargantuan irony in all this? Everyone has jumped on the Obama bandwagon because he was against enacting violence against Iraq. Yet these Obama supporters feel perfectly fine in advocating violence against Hillary Clinton and Clinton supporters. Hypocrites. They offer not a tenth of the outrage they direct at Hillary to the man that actually took us into Iraq (George Bush) because hey they think a woman is easier to threaten. Look at Olberman’s own rhetorical cowardice. He hid behind a big bad superdelegate to do the act of taking Hillary out. He didn’t have the cojones to even say he’d do it himself. Coward and hypocrite.

Olbermann is a puffed up rooster and a miserable excuse for a journalist, pundit or a man for that matter. He was respectful, and practically cowed when Senator Clinton took him on face to face the other night — she was brilliant, by the way — and en pointe as usual, but behind her back KO does this to her?

He is a true coward.

I have written to complain as well — to MSNBC and to all their public relations execs. I also sent my complaints to other newscasters who have actually been more fair — I have no faith that anyone will do anything about this. But I do think it is important that we express our outrage. Without it, the powers that be assume it is business as usual.

Until they feel the loss of ratings, until they feel it in the pocketbook, this inexcusable filth will continue. Just ask the pro-Obama websites that have seen their traffic drop 40% in the last month or two. FOX news also gets much higher ratings that MSNBC.

When you insult and demean one woman like this, you demean us all.

I do have to wonder, if Olbermann had put Obama in his little fantasy and said someone should take him down a long, dark country road and only the SD should come back if he would still have his job. I very much doubt it.

Both women and blacks have a very different historical view of Keith’s fantasy than Olbermann could ever understand from his ‘rich, white mans’ perspective. I think the reaction to the words is visceral and completely outside of that blowhard’s world view.

I’m with you Alegre, I reached my limit on Friday and sent the letter below to the DNC.

I think they should be included in the list of who people should write and call. Not that it will do any good, I’ve been asking them when they are going to stand up for women and speak out against the sexism and misogyny in the campaign rhetoric and the press since it first started.

Everyone needs to add their voice, then add your dollars to Hillary’s campaign. As much as you can, as quick as you can.

BluestBlue

What I told the DNC:

What do I think? Howard Dean, Donna Brazile, and the DNC want to know what I think?

I’ve told you before, but you haven’t listened. I’m a woman, so evidently it is fair game to dismiss me and belittle my value and my opinions. You do the same thing to Hillary Clinton, so why should I expect anything different from you?

Shall I give you just one example of why I have donated nothing to the DNC and, at this point, will most likely change my long standing Democratic voter registration to Independent?

The DNC, who sanctimoniously intones that they do not take sides in primary races, is now making arrangements to do a joint fundraising program with Barack Obama.

Every time I ask that the DNC and Howard Dean show a tiny bit of backbone and stand up for women, not for Hillary, but to speak out for women against the unbelievable misogyny and sexism of the press in their coverage of Hillary Clinton, the DNC rep spouts the same swill:

“we’re neutral”, “we don’t get involved in primary campaigns” .

You lie again and again about what the rules require and what the remedies are. You ignore Barack Obama’s rule breaking in Florida (Press conference, TV ads) and make no comment when he lies and whines that since he didn’t campaign in Florida it isn’t fair to count their votes and since he wasn’t on the ballot in Michigan, it wasn’t fair to count their votes.

Obama campaigned in FL and dangled the seating of the delegates in a press conference in Florida. He took his own damn name off the ballot in Michigan. He thought he was being so clever at the time. His inexperience shows pretty clearly here, in this very simple action. He doesn’t appear to look out on the chessboard and see what moves are coming up. Do you think that might be important for a president?

If anyone had doubts that you had made up your minds who YOU wanted as president, there are no doubts now.

Your haranguing of superdelegates to choose sides on your timetable is unseemly and one sided. Your lies about the role of superdelegates in the election process show blatant bias. I wonder why you bother allowing us to go through the charade of finishing the scheduled primaries.

And don’t get me started on Obama’s patronizing and demeaning view of women. He can’t really wonder why women say they refuse to vote for him, can he?

In the beginning I just thought he lacked any accomplishments or experience, I hoped he would run after he gained them because he looked like a promising candidate. Seems like women (Remember us? We were formerly the backbone of the Democratic party) aren’t his only problem either. It looks like rank and file Democrats just don’t trust him.

But at this point he isn’t even “likeable enough” anymore. His petulance went on display long ago when he didn’t get his way, but flipping Hillary off and quoting a rapper that demeans women in his lyrics at a campaign event are juvenile frat-boy antics that don’t rise to the level of dignity required by the office of
the President of the United States.

We know where the last seven plus years of frat boy humor and lack of intelligence got us. Broke, with no jobs, ballooning deficit, hated by the world, tied down in a senseless war, and in fear of losing our democracy and basic freedoms.

He thinks because a Republican votes for him in the primary they’ll be there in the general? He thinks those caucus victories in Red states will make them change magically to blue? Yeah, right . I thought Democrats were in favor of living in the reality-based world.

I am an educated woman. I graduated from a top university and I’ve worked in positions of responsibility my entire career. I’m intelligent and I work hard.

When I hire an employee, I look at what they have actually accomplished. I look at their demonstrated skills and abilities. This is the best predictor of future success. Anyone working in the real world knows this. If you have hired staff you would know this too.

I would only consider “giving pretty speeches” a
factor in hiring if the person’s main job was to give pretty speeches. We all know that the president’s responsibilities involve a little more than that.
Charm alone doesn’t cut it when you need to get a job done .

If Obama had actually accomplished any of the things he speaks about we’d be having a very different discussion. That just isn’t the case.

I personally do find Hillary both personable and charming. But that isn’t why I’m voting her and donating to her campaign. She knows what she is talking about. She is a policy wonk and can speak intelligently on the ills of the country and how we can solve them. She isn’t afraid of doing the hard work required, she has demonstrated that she works hard. She knows how government works, that government exists to serve the people, and that competence in government is a good thing. She gets things done, working bipartisanly, but not giving away the
important Democratic victories of the past.

Hillary supports the issues I care about and that the American people need her to implement NOW.

She will work tirelessly for universal healthcare, she will start the long overdue investment in our energy future and needed scientific research. She will protect social security and veterans benefits. She will restore our standing in the world. She won’t allow another Katrina debacle to happen.

And you know what, I bet women won’t be making just 77 cents on the dollar that men make by the end of her 8 years and I bet we have a cure for breast cancer then too. What a difference a (capable) woman makes!

She is a wonk and I like that. I like working with smart people who know their job and get the work done. I can respect that. I hire those people. I am one of those people.

Pretty boys who talk a nice line with empty promises and never quite get around to accomplishing what they talk about don’t strike me as presidential material. They lead to what we have seen over the last seven years with the current juvenile frat boy sitting in the oval office playing at being president while the country is reduced to a shambles.

Howard Dean and the DNC seem determined to impose THEIR WILL on the Democratic base.

You’ll be losing a lot of voters come the fall if you don’t get off that river in Egypt. You are living in denial.

Can’t quite figure out why you don’t have enough donations to pay for that little party in Denver? Let me give you a little hint, listen to the voters. They’ll be leaving you in DROVES because of your behavior and your bias.

They may not vote for McCain, although some will, but a lot will be sitting on their hands come November. It probably won’t change the outcome, but it is incredibly sad that, in a year where the election of a Democrat should be a cake walk, you want to put forward a candidate who cannot win.

And the way you pissed away FL and MI, even Hillary may have trouble with lingering resentment from these disenfranchised voters. They remember the last time their votes weren’t counted, and what that outcome was, even if you don’t.

Do you really think we don’t read the DNC rules? Do you think we can’t see where you let some states off the hook for moving their contests up? Do you think we don’t understand the options and remedies available in “the rules” for FL & MI? Do you really think the voters are that stupid?

If you don’t remember that Florida has been critical in past elections, many of
us “stupid” voters do. Perhaps that is just an inconvenient truth for you?

Do you remember how important Ohio has been in recent elections? Who do you think won those states? Look at the Electoral College map and do the math. Who do you think can get the job done? Please remember that we live in a reality based world, get used to it and apply it to your electoral math. That is the only standard that counts in choosing a nominee

My party has left me. It doesn’t stand for the things I thought it did. I was proud of Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Californian, breaking the glass ceiling and becoming Speaker, but now I just shake my head when I hear her comments and bias.

You stand by while people try to label Bill Clinton a racist. The most successful Democratic politician in a generation and you allow Obama to try and brand Bill Clinton a racist (remember Obama admitted the memo came from his campaign at the debate, so quit your whining) and you have the unmitigated gall to label Hillary as going negative in this campaign?

You people don’t act like party leaders. Not of any party I want to be part of. You don’t care about me, my concerns, or my opinions. You insult me each time you diss my candidate. You insult women everywhere each time you refuse to speak out against the unbelievably blatant misogyny in the press, not to mention what comes from Obama and his campaign, which he says he sets the tone for.

Good Lord, have you heard the things coming from MSNBC? Even just looking at this week, not even counting the insulting bloviating of Russert, Tucker, and Matthews, past and present.

Did you see Shuster and his pen? Unfortunately that was the least of it this week, although it was extremely offensive and dismissive of women.

Olbermann wins the “worst person in the world” prize with his suggestion that someone BEAT Hillary into submission . That was way beyond the pale.

It is inexcusable and you should be leading the outcry against that type of comment. Instead you snicker in the back room and think we don’t hear. Your actions speak louder than any words or snickers could ever sound.

I see from your inaction that this is all acceptable conduct in your world view.

In what sense can you claim to support traditional DEMOCRATIC VALUES? How are you demonstrating your
support of women and your support equal rights for
all? Don’t Women count anymore? What about Women’s Rights are Human Rights? Or can you just ignore that ideal because Hillary said it?

Hillary had the guts to stand up to the Chinese. I don’t think Obama has
demonstrated any intestinal fortitude. He voted “present” on issues critical to women from a SAFE Democratic district. He also lied about it being during his US Senate campaign, but that seems par for the course for him, adjusting reality to suit his needs… who else does that? GWB perhaps?

Hillary continues to inspire me because she gets up every day and keeps going, working towards what she knows is the best outcome for the country, what she knows is right. It doesn’t matter what filth gets thrown at her by the press or even her fellow “Democrats”.

She picks herself up and keeps going. AND SHE STILL CONTINUES TO SAY SHE WILL SUPPORT, AND WHOLEHEARTEDLY CAMPAIGN FOR, THE EVENTUAL DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE. UNLIKE BARACK OBAMA. UNLIKE MICHELLE OBAMA.

I’m going to donate more money to Hillary right now. I trust her. Hillary is working for me. She is qualified and I’m hiring her to do the job your candidate isn’t capable of doing.

You don’t want my view; you haven’t listened to my opinions in the past. I don’t know why I’m bothering to give my feedback one last time.

You think you have the right to impose your view on the outcome. This is bad enough when it comes from the press, but shouldn’t I expect better from my political party?

BluestBlue, you have pretty much said it all. How many of us typical white middle-aged women will leave the Democratic party if Obama is the candidate? This life-long Dem will do exactly that.

Did anyone notice how Obama reprimanded his surrogate Big Eddie Schultz for calling male Republican McCain a war monger? But Obama never said one word about his surrogate Randi Rhodes calling Democratic women HRC and Geraldine Ferraro “f*cking whores”.

By the way, Randi Rhodes was not fired; she quit. Apparently she is spewing her hatred somewhere else. It is not important to me where she is working now since I will never listen to her again.

Honestly, I think it’s a waste of time contacting MSNBC because whoever is running the show over there doesn’t care. It might be better to find out some emails of the parent company, which would be GE. Start using them instead of just MSNBC. If you could come up with some email addresses for them it would be even better.

I suggest everyone also contact their local NBC stations. Nothing will be done until the locals are inundated as well.

I wrote both of my local stations, also questioning why no reporter has investigated the comments on the Obama site. It is time to make a stand. I refuse to live in a world where violence against women is just a normal part of the conversation. My son and I also had a long talk about it. He says that men just don’t notice; I told him it was his responsibility as a man of integrity to stand for what’s right for ALL people.

Write everyone!!!!

all hillary supporters should boycott his show. i’m not watching him anymore. he should be taken out.

Last time I emailed MSNBC about their sexist coverage, I was notified that my email had been deleted without even having been read.

Better to contact them by snailmail.

RR bashed the blue collars who voted for HRC as well I believe. SHE IS a wacko. Keitho doesn’t think before opening his mouth. I saw his show when he apologized using “She” or whatever.

Wait, Keith Olbermann’s fans are accusing other people of “faux outrage??” Wow. Keith’s one of the more obvious phonies on TV today–displaying the most rehearsed, insincere “faux outrage” I’ve ever seen.

Two important things everyone must learn: (1) just because they play a “progressive” on TV–or in a blog–doesn’t mean they’re genuinely progressive, and (2) the enemy of my enemy is NOT my friend. He’s just an enemy who can use me right now.