Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
#1Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 8:30am
"I regret some of the words I chose, partly because the way that these remarks have been interpreted have offended some people and partly because they've served as one more distraction from the critical debate that we must have in this election."
Why can't celebrities and politicians just say: "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to say that"?
Obama Delivers Remarks at the Associated Press Annual Meeting
#2re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 8:41am
"Why can't celebrities and politicians just say: "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to say that"?
I know. Good question.
I loved how Hillary's explanation of the Bosnia lie evolved from, "I was tired," through several stages until it became, "Allright! I misspoke! I'm human, though some people may find that to be a revelation." I'm still waiting for it to be, "I'm sorry. I lied."
(we won't even bring Bill's versions into it)
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
Updated On: 4/15/08 at 08:41 AM
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#2re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 9:28am
"Why can't celebrities and politicians just say: "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to say that"?
Because most of the time they aren't sorry that they said it.
Obama is getting mad because the mask slipped and people began to see him for what he is: an elitist that wants to do away with religion and only the rich to own guns.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#3re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 9:30amThis whole "bitter" thing is sooooooooo 2004.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#4re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 9:39amWithout having to read the whole article, can someone give me the Cliffs Notes version of what he said and why he's sorry?
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#5re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:04am
Amazing how Obama supporters co-opted their entire anti-Hillary playbook from the Republicans, down to the BUT-BUT-BUT-CLINTON! deflecting defense.
Talking to an Obama supporter about Obama's failings is like talking to GothamPC about Bush's: "But-but-but-CLINTON DID IT TOO/FIRST/MORE/WORSE!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#6re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:07am"Cliff Notes" version: Obama said that people in Pennsylvania are bitter because they don't live in New York. Pretty much makes him look like a douche bag to say something so stupid, so he's apologizing.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#7re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:10amThat isn't what he said, Joe.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#8re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:16am
Here is what he said:
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them.And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not."
"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Since then, he's been trying to backtrack from the wording that some people found offensive, while justifying that the statement is based on truth.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#9re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:17am
WBAF, You probably won't get an objective answer to that quest here, even from me. So, I'd recommend that you read the transcript of the "controversial" statements and judge for yourself. He made this statement at a fund raiser in response to a question as to why small town blue collar workers were not supporting him. The fourth paragraph is the one that was posted and is the cause of the uproar.
His opponents say this shows that he is elitist and condescending for analyzing these people and claiming that the only reason they have faith or guns is because of economic problems.
He says that he spoke the truth but worded it badly. He says that what he meant is that the reason poor people vote against their own economic interests (the reason they vote republican even though republicans screw them) is because they feel abandoned economically, by the government. And since they don't feel it matters who promises to help them economically, they end up voting for the party that will make a difference in the other issues that matter to them, gun laws, immigration, etc. And that they look to religion for comfort in hard times, but not only in hard times or because of hard times as his opponents are claiming.
TRANSCRIPT
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
Updated On: 4/15/08 at 10:17 AM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#10re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:22amOh Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. I must have gotten it confused with something else. Thanks for clearing it up.
#11re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:24am
"BUT-BUT-BUT-CLINTON! deflecting defense."
Oh please, every thread on either side is filled with that.
Here's where I learned how to do it...
Just to even the news a little
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
Updated On: 4/15/08 at 10:24 AM
#12bammy cries biter tears under the boardwalk
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:27am
wbaf:
bammy went to sf and on the arguably richest block in the world chose to make a poorly phrased comment about rural voters. many people here and elsewhere agree with the sentiment behind it, seeing rural voters as something just above cave men but below taxi drivers. however, for a guy who's already losing the white vote and the poor vote it was a particularly stupid thing to say.
r.i.p. marco, my guardian angel.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#13re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 10:35am
WBAF--the key word was "cling"--when he said that working-class voters "cling" to religion and guns and xenophobia, he was demeaning their spirituality as something less than his, demeaning their strong feelings about the 2nd Amendment (which, personally, I'm completely and elitely demeaning of--but I'm not running for president) and he was demeaning their intense feelings about immigration.
It threatens him in the upcoming Pennsylvania and Indiana primaries and pretty much dooms him in the General Election.
Here's an article I posted before from politico.com that explains the fallout:
12 reasons 'bitter' is bad for Obama
#14re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 11:08am
If it's McCain vs Hillary, the debate is about experience, which Hillary can't win.
If it's McCain vs Obama, the debate is about change, which McCain can't win.
Clinton's current Republican-like effort to kick Obama until he's out of her way only serves to push McCain into office, since she probably can't win the nomination. And even if she does, she can't beat McCain. She knows this, but wants McCain to win so she can try again in four years. She knows that if Obama wins, she'll never be POTUS.
DAY 4
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
#15re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 11:10amIf it's Mccain vs. Obama you better believe that Mccain will make it about experience.
....but the world goes 'round
#16re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 11:22amHillary can beat McCain; Obama cannot.
#17re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 11:28amI disagree. I think it's a tough battle for either of them based on the current climate. Much will depend on the VP choices and who can dictate the focus of the debate. If the Dems can truly heal their wounds and unite, they can still win this. If they continue down their current path, it may be difficult to unite.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#18re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 11:37am
Clinton/Obama '08
Clinton/Obama '12
Obama/Feingold '16
Obama/Feingold '20
Feingold/? '24...
#19re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 11:44am
"If it's Mccain vs. Obama you better believe that Mccain will make it about experience."
You're right, Taz. But in this election, 'change', as an issue, trumps 'experience', as an issue, particularly when McCain falls out of synch with the majority of people on both war and economy.
I think madbrian is correct. A lot will depend on VP choices, which at this point, are an unknown.
I'd actually like to take back my statement that anyone "can't" win. I'd like to change that to "won't" win, which is different than "can't" win. Can't win implies there is something intrinsic about the candidate, regardless of events, that prohibits their winning, like race or sex. I don't want to imply that I don't think Hillary can win because she is a woman.
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#20re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 2:47pm
"Why can't celebrities and politicians just say: "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to say that"?"
I don't know but I've always wished Hillary would apologize for the war vote.
#21re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 3:24pm
"[she]wants McCain to win so she can try again in four years. She knows that if Obama wins, she'll never be POTUS"
Daily Double!
Her motives are painfully transparent but there's little Obama can do to stop her at this point imo. While I don't think she'd be an effective POTUS, I do believe that the woman was born to head the DNC.
#FactsMatter...your feelings not so much.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#22re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 3:37pm
Clinton/Obama '08 The Socialist States of America
Clinton/Obama '12 The Socialist States of America
Obama/Feingold '16 The Islamic Republic of America
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#23re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 3:38pm
Her "motives"? Her MOTIVES? Now you people think you know her MOTIVES?!?
What are you--mind-readers?
You're just indulging in more creepy Hillary Hatred.
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#24re: Obama Bitter Apology, Take 3
Posted: 4/15/08 at 3:47pm
"Obama/Feingold '16 The Islamic Republic of America"
Obama is not a Muslim and is fully supported by AIPAC.
Russ Feingold (the very handsome) is not Muslim, is Jewish and fully supported by AIPAC.
How would they make an Islamic Republic?
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