FireDogLake: “OBAMA ROCKED BY SCANDAL: Is Presidential Bid Over?”
By SusanUnPC on July 12, 2008 at 11:35 PM in Barack Obama, Bernie Mac Scandal, Misogyny, Sexism
FireDogLake, one of the most influential liberal blogs that is a trailblazer for its on-site coverage of the trial of Scooter Libby, as well as its steadfast support of former ambassador Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame Wilson, writes tonight:
OBAMA ROCKED BY SCANDAL: Is Presidential Bid Over?
I know we’re not supposed to directly quote AP stories without paying them serious cash, but this story is so important and has such major ramifications for this election — which will of course decide the leader of the free world — that I feel it vital to get this information out there immediately. The AP is to be praised for their tough-minded professional journalism.
The author quotes the sexist, crude joke told by Mac, which we reported at No Quarter this morning. The author continues:
This is potentially game changing. Who would ever have expected such stuff from Bernie Mac? At any rate I don’t see how Obama can possibly win in November in the aftermath of this catastrophe.
However, this story does go some distance towards silencing another controversy that the Obama campaign has been desperate to quiet:
FireDogLake quotes the Associated Press story again:
Mac’s appearance was Obama’s first celebrity event of the evening. Later at a Lincoln Park nightclub, Obama spoke to a raucous crowd of music fans, who paid up to $500 per person to see a performance by Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy, and two other band members."Before these guys go, I want them to know that I had heard a rumor
that they had suggested that I had nothing by them on my iPod," Obama
said. "That is not true. I love Wilco."Nevertheless, political observers are certain that the Obama camp is having a great deal of trouble staying on-message, and the candidate himself is prone to terrible gaffes just like "BernieGate." Mac is just the latest in the long line of embarrassing associates Obama has had to throw under the bus, giving rise to speculation that he is a flip-flopper who cannot produce a Sister Souljah moment. Without a doubt, John McCain has once again won the week.
(Emphasis mine.)
Here are NoQuarter’s two stories to date:
The CRITICAL FACTOR HERE is Obama’s brushing off of Bernie Mac’s overtly sexist jokes, one after another. This is what Obama told the crowd gathered at the fundraiser:
“… Bernie you got to clean up your act. This is a family affair… I’m just messing with you,” he said.
“I’m just messing with you”?
Obama is excusing Mac’s degradation of women?
Obama is excusing Mac’s degradation of Mac’s OWN WIFE?
Obama is excusing Mac’s crude jokes that have NO place in presidential politics?
Obama is excusing Mac’s remarks about “ho’s” and “menopause” — as a husband and father of two daughters — as well as a nation that is over half female?
Shakesville‘s Melissa McEwan hits the nail on the head:
The headline of this AP article is “Bernie Mac makes off-color joke at Obama event,” though it should be “Bernie Mac makes misogynistic joke at Obama event.” And, for my money, it’s far less newsworthy that Bernie Mac made the joke in the first place, than the fact that presumed Democratic nominee Barack Obama chided him for it, only to immediately assure Mac he was just kidding.
… Read all.
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Memeorandum.com is tracking other blog responses to the A.P. and FireDogLake stories.






















