Keith Olbermann's Special Comments on Hillary Clinton and race.

[AtomicKitten]

Last edited Thu May 28, 2015, 09:04 PM - Edit history (2)

I am consolidating posts and including a partial transcript.

"WE HAVE FORGIVEN YOU ...." Keith Olbermann on Hillary's "assassination" remarks.
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO POSTED BELOW

God knows, Senator, in this campaign, this nation has had to forgive you, early and often...

And despite your now traditional position of the offended victim, the nation has forgiven you.

We have forgiven you your insistence that there have been widespread calls for you to end your campaign, when such calls had been few.

We have forgiven you your misspeaking about Martin Luther King's relative importance to the Civil Rights movement.

We have forgiven you your misspeaking about your under-fire landing in Bosnia.

We have forgiven you insisting Michigan's vote wouldn't count and then claiming those who would not count it were Un-Democratic.

We have forgiven you pledging to not campaign in Florida and thus disenfranchise voters there, and then claim those who stuck to those rules were as wrong as those who defended slavery or denied women the vote.

We have forgiven you the photos of Osama Bin Laden in an anti-Obama ad...

We have forgiven you fawning over the fairness of Fox News while they were still calling you a murderer.

We have forgiven you accepting Richard Mellon Scaife's endorsement and then laughing as you described his "deathbed conversion."

We have forgiven you quoting the electoral predictions of Boss Karl Rove.

We have forgiven you the 3 A-M Phone Call commercial.

We have forgiven you President Clinton's disparaging comparison of the Obama candidacy to Jesse Jackson's.

We have forgiven you Geraldine Ferraro's national radio interview suggesting Obama would not still be in the race had he been a white man.

We have forgiven you the dozen changing metrics and the endless self-contradictions of your insistence that your nomination is mathematically probable rather than a statistical impossibility.

We have forgiven you your declaration of some primary states as counting and some as not.

We have forgiven you exploiting Jeremiah Wright in front of the editorial board of the lunatic-fringe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

We have forgiven you exploiting William Ayers in front of the debate on ABC.

We have forgiven you for boasting of your "support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans"...

We have even forgiven you repeatedly praising Senator McCain at Senator Obama's expense, and your own expense, and the Democratic ticket's expense.

But Senator, we cannot forgive you this: "You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

the above transcript starts @ 7:14

[bravenak]

1. Well, there it is.

I started thinking I was imagining things.

[cali]

27. ugh. it's actually worse than I remembered and looks

to be a conscious choice to pull out the dog whistles.

[bravenak]

33. Yeah, it does sound worse now.

Sad that her campaign even went there.

[Scootaloo]

80. Yeah, no kidding

It had scabbed over, but damn, it's all coming back to me now.

[Skidmore]

48. You weren't.

I remember vividly how appallingly loud the dogwhistling was and how silent Hillary was. It stunk. And she has never apologized nor did she condemn her supporters who were doing this. Keith was right. Good Dems were retching.

[bravenak]

55. I waited fer her to apologized and I guess I gave up on it.

Somebody told me that that's just politics and to get over it. I said No. I think I'll always see her through that lens.

[BrotherIvan]

2. Hey Pandora!

Did you take that lid off the box???? Go to your room!

[TDale313]

4. Yeah, Clinton supporters really don't want to go there.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

7. Open Pandora's Box and reap the whirlwind.

Yeah, I'm mixing metaphors poorly, but you get the idea.

[BrotherIvan]

8. Apparently there's a lot of shit in there

I didn't even catch it all.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. ...

[m-lekktor]

3. damn. I missed both of these comments at the time.

wow.

[hedda_foil]

5. OMG.. When this took place, many of us were upset about the tang of racism around her campaign

But it never seemed to make sense for a Democratic candidate to play that card (as she, Bill and her tone deaf team repeatedly did). Seven years later, with all that we have witnessed, it suddenly makes all too much sense. Hillary was going after working class whites. She had been making gains with that group, and her polls no doubt showed the deep wells of racism that still dwells within much of that group. To have a shot at the nomination, the "pragmatic" political move would naturally be to tweak the fear and loathing of those WCW Democratic primary voters at the likelihood of an African-American president. And that's exactly what team Hillary did.

[LiberalElite]

22. Wasn't it Hillary's camp where the racist

suspicion about Obama's middle name ("Hussein&quot originated and has yet to abate among the RW?

[tblue37]

43. Like Nixon's Southern strategy, which became a permanent part of Republican DNA. nt

Last edited Fri May 29, 2015, 06:37 AM - Edit history (1)

[arcane1]

78. Yep, hedda_foil is describing it precisely.

I had forgotten about this KO rant over the years. I'm going to watch it now and miss him

[hedda_foil]

81. Exactly. Her advisors would have analyzed their numbers and decided

Her advisors would have analyzed their numbers and decided that they couldn't get past Obama without more of the white folks and they realized that Barack had a lock on the minority voters and team Clinton weren't going to get them back. So they would have to pander to the less educated, more bigoted, white Dems (who, they could have figured, would never vote for Obama in the general). I'm just postulating as.ther"s no way we're going to know for sure unless someone decided to spill the beans, but it fits with what her campaign was doing at the time, after Obama had actually gotten the votes for the nomination.

[olddots]

6. very disturbing

I remember these comments well and especially the Jesse Jackson comments .

[rpannier]

17. For me the Jesse Jackson comments were the worst

Mostly because one of the first people who jumped to Bill's defense after he admitted the affair was Jesse Jackson.
He went to DC to support then Pres. Clinton
And that's how he was repaid
I just found it disgusting, not just because of what he said, but because how easily he defamed someone who had supported him

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I remember and I remember people throwing Keith under the bus

for those two commentaries.

[McCamy Taylor]

16. Remember the "Race Memo"?

[cali]

28. there would have been no memo had the Clinton campaign not been blowing dog whistles

so assiduously. And yeah, he was right to respond to their Nixonian crap.

[hifiguy]

44. "Nixonian" is EXACTLY the right word

to describe those disgraceful episodes.

[geek tragedy]

36. I'm certain all of us 'hardworking white people' who voted for Obama

remember it quite well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/08/clinton-obama-not-winning_n_100763.html

[donf]

10. God, I miss Keith Olbermann

It's also useful to get a concrete reminder as to why I lost my taste for Hillary Clinton eight years ago, and why I still feel a bit queasy whenever I see or hear her today.

[LovingA2andMI]

11. Pretty Please.....

Can we have K.O. back this Election Cycle as that channel he used to OWN THE NIGHT has NOT been the same since he left. ESPN can do without him. America needs him back as a Progressive Firebrand News Anchor!!!

[AtomicKitten]

100. I'm going to miss Jon Stewart too.

His and Keith's political commentaries albeit different styles were outstanding during that election cycle.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. Why does AtomicKitten hate all women?

[AtomicKitten]

14. well, I am kinda pissed off

.... at Elizabeth Warren for not running.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. I'd rather see her as Attorney General with job #1 being to go after Wall Street.

[AtomicKitten]

20. omg yes

truly an inspired idea

[hifiguy]

50. Now THAT I like.

I REALLY like that idea. The bank$ter$ would be loading their pants on a daily basis,

[arcane1]

86. I hadn't thought of that, and I think I love it!

She's been amazing in the Senate, but WOW!

[Enthusiast]

24. Just her nature, I guess.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[AtomicKitten]

34. why I oughta

[McCamy Taylor]

15. Two words "Race Memo."

Now excuse me while I go prepare the thread I was hoping that I would not have to post.

[AtomicKitten]

18. Here, allow me.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/81205

[Divernan]

95. Powerful: "Obama Camp's Memo on Clintons' Politicizing Race"

The above link is to a HuffPo column by Sam Stein, published 03/28/2008, titled: "Obama Camp's Memo on Clintons' Politicizing Race".

The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post and has been made public elsewhere, is believed to have been given to an activist and contains mostly excerpts from different media reports. It lists the contact info and name of Obama's South Carolina press secretary, Amaya Smith, and is broken down into five incidents in which either Clinton, her husband Bill, or campaign surrogates made comments that could be interpreted as racially insensitive.

The document provides an indication that, in private, the Obama campaign is seeking to capitalize on the view - and push the narrative - that the Clintons are using race-related issues for political leverage. In public, the Obama campaign has denied that they are trying to propagate such a perception, noting that the document never was sent to the press.

But irrespective of the memo, the image of the Clinton campaign sowing racial discord did bubble to the surface following a series of comments made this past week. On Friday, Bill Clinton called into multiple African American radio shows, including one hosted by Al Sharpton, to tamp down backlash against him for calling Obama's candidacy a "fairy tale."

In the memo, the Obama campaign highlights these "fairy tale" remarks and notes that Donna Brazile, Al Gore's 2000 campaign manager, "lashed into Bill Clinton" for them.

[dembotoz]

21. sucks being old cause you remember this stuff

Not all the details. But the bad after taste why I was not thrilled with hrc before.

[Scuba]

23. I'd forgotten the list of all the things for which we've forgiven Hillary. It's a long, long list.

No more.

Man, I miss KO. We need more like him.

[Enthusiast]

25. I watched all this stuff in real time back in the day. But I had forgotten much of it too.

I can remember being very angry at Hillary for what I interpreted as her racism toward Obama.

Hillary supporters are going to be really pissed off about this being posted.

[LWolf]

26. K & R

[Segami]

29. "..If I'm NOT READY,....

...how is it you think I should be such a great Vice President?.."

Hillary Trying To Bamboozle You With VP Talk...............candidate Barack Obama referring to Hillary Clinton.

[Capt. Obvious]

30. I remember these

The second one still gives me chills.

I remember how angry I was at the time over it.

[cali]

31. I was in a state of disbelief. I was just blown away that they'd go there.

[Mojorabbit]

56. So was I. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

32. Thank you for that reminder.

It is disheartening to hear the way that high profile Democrats view race issues. It's because of their limited views that real solutions never make it down to the base.

[geek tragedy]

35. anything Clinton can do to avoid reminding folks of 2008, she should do

and that goes for her advocates here.

the "hardworking white people" comment was probably her lowest moment in public life

[Divernan]

97. She's STILL managing southern twang while putting foot in mouth.

Check out this brand new piece from the International New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/05/27/hillary-clinton-calls-for-civil-campaign-south-carolina/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

It covers and comments on HRC's speech at a Dem. women's gathering this week in South Carolina, touching upon her 2008 campaign in South Carolina, when her battle with Barack Obama "grew intense and ugly." Specifically, that was when Bill, seeing HRC's shot at the Democratic nomination slip away, spoke dismissively of Mr. Obama in ways that enraged some African-Americans.

“I do know how hard this job I’m seeking is,” Mrs. Clinton said, her voice picking up a slight Southern twang. “I have seen it up close and personal. You’re not going to catch me wondering what it’s like.

Smiling, Mrs. Clinton observed that the men who have occupied the White House all come in “looking so vigorous, and then we watch them. They go grayer and grayer, and by the time they leave, they’re as white as the building they live in.”

Mrs. Clinton joked that she wouldn’t have that problem: “I may not be the youngest candidate in this race, but I have one big advantage — I’ve been coloring my hair for years.”

But then she added a line that was surprising, given the subtext of racial politics: “You are not going to see me turn white in the White House.”

What the HELL does that mean . . ."not going to see me turn white in the White House"? Really it sounds like some over the top line from a VEEP script. You know - where the latest wunderkind hired to resurrect Selina's campaign throws out a line which no one understands at the time, but ends up causing a stink and getting said newbie thrown under the campaign bus.

[Fumesucker]

37. Now I remember why she gives me the heebie jeebies

So much crap has flowed under the bridge that I had completely forgotten that in all the excitement.

What a disappointment Ferraro turned out to be.

[me b zola]

38. When Hillary said that her campaign was turning to "the kitchen sink" stategy

...the southern strategy jumped up out of the sink and left quite a rancid smell that still lingers seven or so years later.

[Autumn]

39. If we are taking trips down memory lane here's an old post from 2008

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=5153391#5153429

Only now it's 'Look at the Bernie supporters' LOL

[marym625]

40. Oh how times have changed

And yet remain the same

Wish I could rec this to kingdom Kom

You are awesome

[Skidmore]

51. No, it's not look at the Bernie supporters.

Bernie does need to be specific about what he would do to address the giant glob of racist poison that the Rs have been injecting into the system for a couple of decades now.

[hifiguy]

67. What would you have him do?

Promise to shut down Faux and jail the crazy preachers? Knock all the paranoid reichwing racist websites off the 'tubes? Not possible r legal.

Even a president or presidential candidate can only lead by example when it comes to stupid shit that people want to believe. LBJ probably did more than any other president in that regard but it didn't stick.

[Autumn]

73. I think he will get specific. Has Hillary been specific?

I confess I haven't looked at her speeches so I may have missed her addressing it.

[marym625]

89. nope

[Autumn]

99. So I guess only Bernie needs to get specific.

Funny how that works.

[marym625]

107. ain't it though?

You know us haters. Smdh.

[hifiguy]

41. I miss Keith

and I remember this well. Very well.

[marym625]

42. Me too!

I want him back so badly I can taste it

[enigmatic]

47. I think Keith really just got tired of the political stuff after awhile

His ESPN2 show seems more relaxed for him and though I wouldn't ever count him out on going back to political commentary I think he's happier just doing sports again.

[hifiguy]

49. I think you are probably right.

He got so emotionally invested in fighting the shitweasels it was probably taking years off his life.

[marym625]

52. like most of us that survived bush/Cheney

Unfortunately, over 10k Americans and millions of Iraqis, didn't

[hifiguy]

45. Some folks are conspicuous by their absence

in this brutally truthful thread. Things that make you say "hmmmm...."

[marym625]

53. They're playing elsewhere

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11077277

[Exilednight]

64. They'll avoid this thread like a neo-con avoids voting for a Democratic sponsored bill.

[marym625]

68. LOL!

[hedda_foil]

82. I've been here since late 2001.

Skinner hasnever chosen a primary candidate before. Now he's leading the Hillary group. Makes me very uncomfortable.

[840high]

83. Me2 - wth?

[marym625]

90. You caused me to research

I went through a ton of post from the 2008 primary. The rules were very different, the admins actually took part in discussions, posts like some we have seen of late wouldn't have been allowed and the poster would have been canned instead of celebrated for such obvious baiting and disjointed, intentionally misleading, hyperbole and the people that are still here, were so very different

Actually, very disheartening. And when admins complain about the people here, while taking no part in it, it's more than disheartening. .

[enigmatic]

98. What went on here in 2008 was one of the ugliest things I've ever seen on a political website

And I've been posting on them since the mid 90's. I pretty much lost my appetite for posting here after the Primaries and the elections and have never looked at this site the same since then.

The threads from 2008 are still there for all to see; anyone can go there and see how truly ugly it was.

Alot of the same posters that contributed to the ugliness are still posting here; some under different names, but they are still here doing the same things they did back then. It's unbelievable, but it is what it is.

Keith spoke for alot of us w/ those commentaries and I'll never be able to thank him enough for them.

[marym625]

106. I guess I haven't looked deep enough

Frankly, when the admins only pay attention to the people who support the same people they do, and no longer are an active part of any other conversation, as well as a certain statement that was made recently, it's rather obvious what is going on.

Really very sad.

[Fumesucker]

60. There's a Hillary salon tonight

They will be along shortly to regale us with modest tales of six figure donations.

[hifiguy]

61. I wonder what the poor people are doing tonight?

Oh, that's right, hanging around on DU.

[Fumesucker]

77. The same thing we do every night Pinky

[Oilwellian]

46. I have not forgotten

Hillary's campaign was rife with racism and we're supposed to believe now that it's Bernie who's a racist? It's almost Karl Rovish. Blame the opposition of something your candidate is guilty of.

[AtomicKitten]

54. You are right and hooboy did it creep me out realizing it

... that IS Karl Rove 101 strategy. Ugh.

[marym625]

57. It was interesting looking at the 2008 post

I have to wonder what changed that Skinner went from being anti Hillary to supporting her. She is the same person, touting the same stuff

[AtomicKitten]

62. Could be a number of things.

Perhaps it's the 91% support for Bernie on this website. One would never know it with the actual split of posts here, but maybe he wants to keep a lively conversation going for business reasons.
The problem with that theory is that it's going to get ugly, it already has, and I can tell you nobody I know wants to deal with that crap again.

[marym625]

63. honestly, that stuff the last two days made me physically ill.

We won't allow it in the Bernie group and locked or asked that posts be self deleted today.

I have to admit, when it comes to certain satire posts, I am not being good. But for the greater majority of what I post, I keep it possible.

I don't know about the financial stuff. The new website can't make money yet. And it will cause DU to be quieter

[AtomicKitten]

76. the Bernie group will be a lovely respite

which I'm will sure we will all appreciate in the months to come

[marym625]

91. We're trying

[TM99]

71. I am disappointed

that Skinner has before the Primary finished offered full blown support for Clinton. Especially after reading his own posts about this topic 8 years ago, and now Clinton supporters have the gall to attack Sanders and his supporters for not doing enough on race.

Well, this is a business after all.

[marym625]

92. That is a really sad thought

Going from creating for principles to keeping up for money?

I looked at a ton of old posts from 08. They all used to post here. The rules were very different. I found this too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5930812

grasswire  (1000+ posts) | |14. yes, a memo from Skinner

It's pasted at the top of this forum. Includes this:

BEING A GOOD DU CITIZEN

Remember that simply because something is not forbidden by the DU rules does not mean it is constructive, civil, or appropriate. If you are serious about improving the tone in the GDP forum, you should start by becoming the type of DU citizen you expect others to be. Here are a few ideas: 

Read the DU rules and follow them.

Call the candidates by their appropriate names: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, or Senator Clinton and Senator Obama.

Do not refer to candidate supporters using derogatory names. Say "Clinton supporters" and "Obama supporters."

Do not make broad-brush statements about supporters of either candidate. 

Remember that supporters of both candidates are good people who want what's best for this country, and for the world.

Don't just stick up for your own candidate. Defend BOTH candidates against unfair, misleading, bigoted, or otherwise inappropriate attacks.

Don't believe something simply because it is favorable to your candidate, or because it is unfavorable to the other.

Be extra sensitive when discussing issues related to race and gender. 

Don't act like a jerk.

Don't be a hypocrite.

Use your brain.

[Exilednight]

72. He started out pro-Hillary in 2008, but there were other

forces at play. The rise of Olbermann as a voice for the left, which set the tone for MSNBC at the time, drowned out much of Clinton's support. Clinton/Bush fatigue of dueling families for the executive branch.

But most of all was the fact that Hillary just didn't seem genuine. It was a scripted campaign with an over abundance of walk backs.

[marym625]

94. so, that hasn't changed it seems

Interesting. Thanks

[orpupilofnature57]

58. I miss that guy .

[TheKentuckian]

59. The old memory hole isn't what it used to be is it, Clintonites?

Not all have forgotten.

Margaret Thatcher meets Richard Nixon meets John McCain in a hail of sniper fire.

We can do better because we have to.

[Vattel]

65. lol, dumbest smear of the campaign.

[ariesgem]

66. Thank you for posting this....

I've NEVER forgotten the racism that came out of her campaign. When I see her today, I think of 2008. Same goes for her husband... I don't care what 2015 campaign talking points comes out of her mouth. They never apologized, so why should anyone forgive.

Now folks gotta endure a campaign of watching her come to our neighborhood churches seeking votes and 'lecturing us' on why she's good for the black community...smh

[TM99]

74. The Clintons never apologize.

I saw it in Little Rock. I saw it in the 1990's. I saw it once she became a Senator and SoS.

Oh, sure, they 'evolved' on certain social issues, but did they apologize? Oh, wait, they did help raise money for a national LGBT organization. Money is all that you need apparently to show contrition.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

69. Welll.....she's still "evolving" on all the above and will get back to you.

[YOHABLO]

70. By and large, the American public's attention spand is, short unfortunately.

[Zorra]

75. OK, now I see what all these desperate "Bernie and his supporters are racist" insinuations

are all about.

I was in Mexico, and without internet, for almost the entire 2008 campaign.

I only heard about this stuff for the first time today, most of it in this thread.

This is definitely a perspective changer.

[morningfog]

79. God, I forgot how truly nasty her campaign got.

That brought it all back. Sucks that we'll be going through it again.

[840high]

84. Back then I loved her. Yes it was nasty stuff.

[MelungeonWoman]

85. K&R

This is so painful to watch her shoot herself in the foot again!

[Quayblue]

87. I remember all of this shit

and I am not pleased with her at all, to put it politely.

Thanks for this.

[beltanefauve]

88. Thanks for the memories

Keeping this thread kicked.

[Divernan]

93. K&R & bookmarked.

[Quackers]

96. I remember some of that

But there's a lot more there that I didn't know. Thanks!

[MissDeeds]

101. Wow

I don't know how anyone could ignore this. It's devastating.

K&R for exposure

[joeybee12]

102. Keith is being incredibly stupid...it was the Obama campaign that

went after Geraldine Ferraro...and for that I have never forgiven those twits. Most of what he has "forgiven" her for is sh*t Keith has just made up. Apparently he learned how to rewrite history by following DU.

[Vattel]

103. Thanks for having common sense. The idea that she was implying something about

the possibility of Obama being assassinated is wildly speculative. It just shows that when you are biased against someone, you can read into their remarks all sorts of evil intent that really isn't there.

[cali]

104. sorry, it was hardly just the ferraro crap.

[Vattel]

105. sorry, this smear by Olbermann was pure silliness.

[treestar]

108. I think she was only saying that the campaigns can still go on into June

the point was that RFK was still campaigning that late and the nominee wasn't decided.

[woo me with science]

109. K&R

[cprise]

110. K&R

[AtomicKitten]

111. Kick.