How loooooooooooow can you goooooooooooooooo?

There are some things so horrible that they must simply remain unsaid, must be refuted when uttered:

“If you want to talk about tactical political maneuvering, it’s about one Democrat comparing another Democrat to George Bush. That’s the worst kind of tactical political maneuvering.” Clinton Spokesman Howard Wolfson

So what’s all this then?

“It is tempting any time things seem quieter for a minute on the international front to think that we don’t need a president who is up to speed on foreign affairs and military matters…Well, that’s the kind of logic that got us George Bush in the first place.” –Senator Clinton

It’s not enough to say he’s a sleeper-terrorist-Muslim-crack-dealer, but now she’s calling him George Bush? As Goon Jackfruit said:

The next step is a Godwin and I’m not surprised if they actually go that far.

To be fair, The original Wolfson quote appeared on CNN in July after Obama called Hillary “Bush-Cheney Lite.” He shouldn’t have said it, and he didn’t repeat it. Hillary had every right to be offended when he said it back in July. It’s been five months since July but now she thinks, two weeks from the first votes, that it’s totally OK?

Is it only not OK when she’s ahead in the polls?

A few weeks ago, the Clinton campaign started going after Barack Obama on a series of “present” votes he cast while serving the state Senate. Clinton herself even emphasized the issue in speech in Iowa:

“Now, there’s been a lot of talk about yes or no answers to complex questions. But most people don’t know that for legislators who don’t want to take a stand, there’s a third way to vote. Not yes, not no, but ‘present’ – which is kind of like voting ‘maybe.’ Well, in the Illinois State Senate, on issue after issue, my opponent voted ‘present,’ instead of yes or no. […] A president can’t vote ‘present.’ A president can’t pick and choose which challenges he or she will face.”

She’s right, or course: A president can’t vote. The President has the choice of signing or rejecting a bill others have voted on, but he can not vote on it himself. Sometimes The President may not like a part of a bill, but think the majority of the bill is good, and sign it. Other times, The President may like part of a bill hidden inside a much worse bill, and veto it. The President can also choose to do nothing, and the bill becomes a law by default.

The President can not, however, write, craft, or vote upon a bill.

Now, Clinton did say this weeks ago, and then drop it, but it’s become a media meme. Why? Because Jon Stewart is on strike and so the media have no one to point out to them how silly the statement was in the first place. Also, because news is slow around the Holidays. The New York Times has a piece up about it. It comes down to this — voting ‘present’ is not uncommon in the Illinois legislature; it’s used to in Illinois to express disapproval of a measure, to give cover to other seats in weaker positions, or because the measure is downright stupid.  He voted “present” 3% of the time during his time as a state Senator, and he’s followed this use of it in the US Senate as well.  For instance, Obama voted present on a Senate measure to condemn an ad Moveon.org ran in the New York Times against Gen. David Petraeus. It was a stupid Gotcha! measure and he refused to play:

“This amendment was a stunt designed only to score cheap political points while what we should be doing is focusing on the deadly serious challenge we face in Iraq…. By not casting a vote, I registered my protest against this empty politics. I registered my views on the ad itself the day it appeared.”

Two other members of the Senate abstained from voting: Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Bob Kerrey, in his endorsement of Clinton, said this:

“The fact that he’s African American is a big deal. I do expect and hope that Hillary is the nominee of the party. But I hope he’s used in some way. If he happens to be the nominee of the party and ends up being president, I think his capacity to influence in a positive way without spending a penny the behavior of a lot of under performing black youth today is very important, and he’s the only one who can reach them.”

Kerrey continued, “It’s probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There’s a billion people on the planet that are Muslims and I think that experience is a big deal.” He added, “He’s got a whale of a lot more intellectual talent than I’ve got as well.”

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh. OK, it may sound like a genuine compliment, and he may have meant it that way, but the timing was horrible, coming as it did on a day that Obama had press attending church with him in an attempt to finally put this stupid “secret muslim” meme to rest. And Dear Lord how I wish “Muslim” wasn’t a dirty word in America, but it is and I can’t change that.

So: New Rule. No one is allowed to say “Barack Obama” and “Muslim” in the same paragraph until 2009.

When I first saw this, I just laughed. It was a reflex action, because, come on.

Shaheen said Obama’s candor on the subject would “open the door” to further questions. “It’ll be, ‘When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?’” Shaheen said.

Yes, Mr. Black Senator, when was the last time you sold the crack cocaine? Are you now denying that the shorties on the street financed your Senatorial bid? Why can’t you just obfuscate on this issue like every other politician!?!?

Three problems. Let’s take them in turn:

1) I don’t recall anyone digging deep in to Clinton and Bush’s past drug uses with “Did you sell drugs? Did you share them with friends or give them away? Are you still a big ol stoner?” It ended with the pat answers of “I didn’t inhale” and “I quit all that stuff and found GOD.” There is an air of racism here that was not present with the two former drug using presidents.

2) He first publicly admitted his teenage drug use in a book published 12 freakin’ years ago! So how do you go about targeting this drug use he’s been so open about? By claiming that while you would never dare suggest such a thing, we have to be prepared for those dirty Republican tricks.

3) The actual argument in the article and the quote is telling the truth to the American people is bad bad bad. Which is completely anathema to what most Obama supporters are looking for!

The Clinton campaign distanced themselves from the quotes with this milquetoast release:

Senator Clinton is out every day talking about the issues that matter to the American people. These comments were not authorized or condoned by the campaign in any way.

And they made Bill Shaheen say he was sorry. And if you buy that, I have some beautiful beach front property to sell you in Montana.

Oh, Hillary. This weekend marked the first time Obama pulled ahead outside the margin of error in Iowa. It also marks the first time Hillary Clinton has gone on the offensive:

When a reporter asked whether she is suggesting Obama has “issues of character,” the New York senator said, “I’m going to let voters make that decision but it’s beginning to look a lot like that. It really is.”

Which issues, one might ask? Has to do with his Senate PAC (oh, and here’s a hint: most every senator has one).

On Sunday, the campaign ratcheted up the pressure by pointing to news reports that a political action committee run by Obama has contributed tens of thousands of dollars this year to local and congressional campaigns in early nominating states.
…

Obama’s campaign said that 57 percent of his PAC’s money this year went to candidates in non-early states, and it cited a news report saying a Clinton family foundation donated $100,000 this year to a South Carolina library. South Carolina has an early primary.

She really needs to stop with the You Too fallacy. It just bites her in the ass. As it did later that same day, with this truly awesome press release from her campaign:

In Boston this evening, Senator Obama said: “I’m not running to fulfill some long held plans or because I think it’s open to me.” In Iowa earlier today, he said: Senator Obama said: “I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for.”

How do they know this isn’t true? What could be in their awesome oppo-research file? There are five items: One un-cited quote from U.S. News and World Report; one quote from a former classmate who says Obama was bound for “politics” (without stating a specific seat); one quote from Obama’s now-brother-in-law, asking what Obama’s intentions were to Michelle; and one third grade and one kindergarten essay entitled “When I Grow Up, I Wanna Be President.”

Now, if you’d taken the first three, you could be left with an impression that he may be hoodwinking us, that he really is ambitious for the presidency and has been for at least as long as Hillary Clinton. But including his grade school homework? That nullifies everything that came before it, makes you look desperate, and, frankly, is retarded.

While Obama graciously rolled his eyes (seriously), John Edwards had the superslam:

I want to confess to all of you right now in third grade I wanted to be two things: I wanted to be a cowboy and I wanted to be Superman.

OMG HE DIDN’T SAY HE WANTED TO WORK IN A COAL MINE FLIPFLOPFLIPFLOP.

In fact, this new attack has caused so much hurt — in the way of stomaches aching from the laughter and people passing out gasping for breath from the hilarity — that the Clinton campaign came out and said they were “just kidding” and totally didn’t mean it. Which, by the way, the media was not buying, if you follow that link.

I wish I had said this, because it’s so damn spot on but it was actually Goon farraday:

Personally I think it’s great that we can get Senator Obama’s papers from first
grade and we can’t get Senator Clinton’s from being First Lady.

Owned.