Obama needs to apologize for the descriptive words he used

[cornermouse]

not clarify or adjust them. What he did was stereotyping; a caricaturization of those he needs as voters. It was foolish and if he's smart he'll forget the word bitter exists after he apologizes.

[BL611]

1. Explain

How was hye sterotyping?

[iconocrastic]

33. He doesn't need to apologize. He should let the chips fall where they may

and stick with his characterization.

I'm sick of this politically correct stuff.

He should express how he really feels.

If he doesn't like rednecks he should say so.

Enough of this BS.

[cornermouse]

46. Stereotyping.

Stereotyping is people in large cities calling people in rural areas people with no future who turn to guns, religion, and blaming illegal immigrants because they're bitter. It is also people in rural areas referring to people in large cities as gang infested concrete slums where daily shooting deaths and criminal activities are nothing more than business as usual, latch key kids who have little contact with their parents and who don't graduate from high school and therefore have no future.

Stereotyping is people on the east coast mistaking a more laid back, casual attitude by midwesterners as not being up to speed and people in the midwest seeing people in the east as extremely aggressive, rude, and overly ambitious to the point that it becomes a fault.

Veering slightly but not entirely off track. Stereotyping, sometimes know as prejudice, is partly why the networks were predicting a win for North Carolina over KU in the national championship. This, by the way as any midwesterner could tell you, is routine and therefore expected behavior by the sports pundits and networks when faced with the possibility of a team from the midwest winning anything important.

Stereotyping, as you well know, is when you try to turn the other person more or less into a cartoon character that fits your preconceptions and misconceptions so that they are more easily belittled, sidelined and dismissed. Obama should have known better.

I don't want McCain to be president. I don't know if Obama will be the candidate, but he better mend some fences real fast because if he is the candidate this will come back to haunt him unless he thoroughly and sincerely apologizes and explains now.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

2. Or he could awkwardly laugh it off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGeQ6dxGMFA

[Yael]

19. Yikes!

I missed that one.

:rofl:

[VolcanoJen]

25. Gack!!!!!!!!

Good Gawd, was that Hillary, or Amy Poehler from SNL?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

30. It's so hard to tell nowadays.

[bigdarryl]

3. He already said he didn't mean to offend anyone and the press is still going after him with guns....

blazing. So apologizing isn't going to put this to rest because the real agenda is to SINK HIS CAMPAIGN!!!!

[MercutioATC]

4. I disagree.

Obama said himself that he could have worded it differently, but what he said is the truth. The language probably did a better job of catching people's attention than a a more softly-worded statement would have...and that's a good thing.

Obama might have chosen to word things differently, but I wouldn't. I think he said exactly what needed to be said in the perfect way.

[Cha]

42. And where's the calls for hilary to apologize for LYING

about her DUCKING Bosnian Sniper Fire when she landed in Bosnia?

"Handy Guide to Hillary Clinton's Bosnian Lie: The Faux Heroine of Tuzla
Hillary, The Faux Heroine of Tuzla"



<lots more>
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5348113

"Female] Bosnian Vet Accuses Hillary of Valor Theft
http://pennsylvaniaprogressive.typepad.com/my_weblog/20...

A veteran of Bosnia who was at the event in Tuzla where Hillary Clinton falsely claimed to have landed under sniper fire is accusing the Senator of theft of valor. As General Walter L. Stewart Jr. of the Pennsylvania National Guard said earlier today on a conference call, soldiers who actually have been in war zones and performed under fire deeply despise those who falsely claim such valor. They feel this way because it attempts to cheapen or make less, their real and actual valor.

The General pointed out "this wasn't an emergency resupply mission to the Alamo. If there had been any danger that mission wouldn't have landed."

Common sense tells us the First Lady and Chelsea would never have been put in harms way by our military. Hillary's tale of bravery and valor, because it was false, is finding resentment among those who actually did serve and Tammi K. (nee Jann) Hertherington who was at Tuzla when Senator Clinton landed is one. Here is her story.

Dear Sir,

I feel compelled to write to you in regards to Senator Clinton’s remarks regarding her visit to Bosnia."

<more>
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5265534


Did the OP call for hilary to "apologize" for these Lies? Or is this just a disingenous FAUX OUTRAGE from a hilary supporter?

[anonymous171]

5. He needs to reflect it back onto Hillary/McCain

And that's what he will do.

[cali]

6. thankfully, you're not an Obama advisor

Of course, I'm not either, but I'd advise him to slam Hillary with some ads in PA about what an elitest and free trader she is. Say, focus on how can she oppose the Columbia deal when she and Bill benefitted by some $800,000 grand for Bill pushing it.

[Botany]

7. Apologize for what? Speaking the truth? Please

BTW Obama is running a great campaign.

[ClassWarrior]

8. Which words? Specifically?

NGU.

[2rth2pwr]

11. Here's one- Cling

[MercutioATC]

26. Cling - " To remain emotionally attached; hold on"

That's the exact point he was trying to make. When people feel despair (in this case because their government has abandoned them) they emotionally attach themselves to collateral issues.

Your problem with "cling"?

[2rth2pwr]

35. You asked which words he should apologize for. I gave you one.

You wouldn't understand how that is demeaning.

[ClassWarrior]

36. His grandmother ought to wash out his mouth with soap.

NGU.

[MercutioATC]

37. I asked why you thought "cling" was a word he should apologize for...

...and your answer is that I "wouldn't understand"?

How is the word cling "demeaning"?

[2rth2pwr]

38. Look, if you don't understand why people are insulted by what

Obama said, I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you.

[MercutioATC]

41. O.K....so you find the word "cling" offensive, but you won't discuss it.

gotcha.

:eyes:

[2rth2pwr]

43. He will apologize this weekend. Count on it.

[MercutioATC]

45. Is there a special reason for your inability to follow a logical discussion sequence?

1) You state that Obama should apologize for saying "cling"

2) I post the dictionary definition of "cling" and ask why you find it offensive

3) You state that I wouldn't understand

4) I opine that I think it's odd to post an opinion and then refuse to discuss it

5) You change the subject


On second thought, forget I asked. This is becoming way too time consuming with, apparently, about zero chance of a discussion happening.

[2rth2pwr]

47. Obama said: "Well look, if there - obviously, if I worded things in a way that made people offended,

Obama said: "Well look, if there - obviously, if I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that.

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173355267416

[ClassWarrior]

32. Uh-oh. When's the boycott of fabric softeners and canned peaches planned?

:eyes:

NGU.

[anigbrowl]

44. You sad, sad person

I see you got that 'snob' graphic from michellemalkin.com. Says it all.

[nebenaube]

9. sorry but I am bitter... n/t

[Bensthename]

10. Agreed.. "bitter" is the most offensive word I have ever heard. How dare he?

He should have said anger or pissed off or extremely mad, etc. Anything but "bitter". That word is just horrible.

[Saturday]

12. Saints don't need to apologize. nt.

[azmouse]

13. Hillary should apologize for all her lies.

But I won't hold my breath waiting.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. Yes, Democrats apologizing for themselves has done so much to advance our party.

:eyes:

[AtomicKitten]

15. I assure you Obama isn't going to submit to the tired status quo.

[Faygo Kid]

16. Bull. He spoke the truth.

He's already said he could have expressed it better, but he spoke the truth, no matter how Hillary lies about what he said.

[Bensthename]

17. Obama should repeat it again and YELL IT from the top of his lungs..

Because he was right and the media is turning on Hillary for taking this out of context. Even Fox and CNN (the Hillary channels) were debating why Hillary would take Obama's words so far out of context.

[RazBerryBeret]

18. I'm proud to admit it...

I AM BITTER!
I WANT CHANGE!

[TexanDem]

20. he did apologize. Been talking abt it on CNN

Said he's deeply sorry if he offended anyone (paraphrase)
Clinton fixing to make a speech - will see if apology enough for her, but bet she will want blood too. lol

[DemGa]

21. I think he should continue to dance and spin around it

Shift the context -- color it with vaguely related analogies -- Surround it with flowery oration. This is his only hope.

Personally, I think he's done -- Obama has torpedoed himself. This is one for the record books.

[anonymous171]

22. Nope. He's going to kill Hillary with it. Just watch.

[MADem]

23. Maybe he said it deliberately, while characterizing it as a misstatement.

Maybe his internal polling is looking iffy?

It's something to hang a bad showing on....

Or maybe he just stumbled. It sure looks like a misstep, deliberate or otherwise.

Or maybe he was just pandering and didn't think (silly Billy) that it would be covered, because it was a "private" fundraising event. After all, he made the remarks in San Francisco--it's easy to make fun of Bubba in New York, and it's easy to make fun of small towners from cosmopolitan San Francisco.

Who knows?

The thing is, nothing's off the record anymore. About the only time a candidate is off the record is when they're taking a crap (LBJ excepted, of course).

The quote in context, just as a reference point: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obama13apr13,0,1382033.story

In those comments, Obama responded to a question about why his candidacy was struggling in Pennsylvania by saying that residents of some hard-pressed communities had grown bitter.

"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," Obama said. "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."

[Adelante]

24. Hillary needs to apologize

For partnering up with Republicans against a Democrat.

UPDATE: The Clinton campaign emailed around harsh comments from two Republican pundits:

Grover Norquist: 'That sentence will lose him the election... He just announced to rural America: I don't like you.' "Grover Norquist, the anti-tax activist who leads an influential weekly meeting of conservatives, went as far as to argue that Obama's line would cost Democrats the White House. 'That sentence will lose him the election,' Norquist told ABC News. 'He just announced to rural America: 'I don't like you.'"

Republican strategist Ed Rollins: Q: "On a scale of 1 to 10 how damaging is this?" Rollins: 'Ten.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/clinton-mccain-respond-to_n_96318.html#postComment

[Joe Chi Minh]

27. A better man than Obama, than any of us, for that matter, used the angriest and bitterest words

imaginable towards people of very much the same stamp as the Republicans and their Democratic myrmidons - the scribes and Pharisees in the Israel of his day. You need to wise up.

[Speck Tater]

28. My gosh! You sound BITTER! Do you live in PA? NT

[Joe Chi Minh]

31. Angry, too, I think.... do you think she might be a wild-eyed Republican or Hillaryite?

[Cha]

29. hilary needs to Apologize for telling Bosnian Sniper LIES..

and all the other LIES she tells on the campaign trail and if you had more brains than a cornermouse you would know that instead of your fauxoutrage at Obama telling the TRUTH.

"Why Hillary’s Lies are Important"

- March 24, 2008, 9:53PM
Hillary Clinton has been caught in a series of lies and misrepresentations during the primary campaign. To some of her supporters, these lies may seem trivial and insignificant and even politics-as-usual. However, please consider the serious impact of these lies by placing them in the context of the past seven years of the Bush Administration and the legacy of expanded executive power that he leaves behind. In particular, consider the dangerous message that the Clinton campaign sends by employing similar tactics to achieve her political goals.

1. The Florida and Michigan Primaries / The Delegate Count
Hillary agreed to honor the DNC’s decision to strip Florida and Michigan of its delegates after their primaries were moved up into January in express violation of the DNC rules. She did not change her position on the validity of these primaries until she found herself unexpectedly behind in the delegate count and desperately needed to claim the delegates that she had won in these unsanctioned contests. As her chances of winning the nomination became increasingly slim in recent weeks, we have been presented with threatening and desperate lines of reasoning for why these primary results should count as is. At the same time, Clinton and her surrogates continue to propose different metrics for determining who should win the nomination even though there is and has been a clearly defined process in place for several decades.

Please think about the implications of changing election rules after the fact. We have suffered through at least one stolen presidential election and the manipulation of untold numbers of Congressional and state elections through various vote tampering and voter intimidation schemes used by the Republicans and their allies. The American people (and especially Democratic voters) have lost faith in the integrity of the election process. The Clinton strategy to continually change the rules for determining the Democratic Party nominee sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to increasingly un-Democratic elections in the future if it is allowed to succeed. If anything, we need more transparency and methods of accountability in our elections in order to repair the damage done in recent years and to restore our confidence in the Government.

2. The Bosnia Fabrication / Exaggerated Experience Claims
Hillary fabricated a story about a dangerous, life-risking visit to Bosnia in order to gain stature as an experienced negotiator in international conflicts and war. While this type of embellishment can seem almost comical, it represents a willingness to distort reality in order to influence the public perception. This is the same type of distortion that the Bush administration used to justify the war in Iraq, although the magnitude of the lie is certainly on a different scale. The Bush administration falsified reports, cherry-picked intelligence, used unreliable sources, and employed fear-mongering tactics to convince the American public that our safety was at risk and as such, you were either with us or with the terrorists. The lies used by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are impeachable offenses and should be condemned by all Americans. Sadly, the Clinton campaign seems to have shown a shocking willingness to employ the same tactics to create a more favorable reality and to rely on divide-and-conquer rhetoric to weaken opposition. Her attempts to frighten the American people by conjuring up 3 AM phone calls are bad enough, but her vote of confidence in John McCain over Barack Obama should be seen as treason against the Democratic Party.

3. NAFTA
Hillary lied about her position on NAFTA and used her lies in a calculated way to influence the Ohio primary. Recently released White House documents confirm that Hillary had been an active proponent of NAFTA prior to its passage, and she has continued to support it publicly in her speeches and memoir. However, while campaigning in Ohio, she claimed to have been privately against NAFTA during the Clinton presidency and believes that it should be rewritten to protect American jobs and workers. This type of maneuvering is reminiscent of the behind-closed-doors policy-making that the Bush administration has used during the past seven years. Specifically, Bush and Cheney have made policy decisions without providing transparency to Congress or the public, and President Bush has repeatedly ignored the rule of law by issuing signing statements and disregarding the parts of the laws that he doesn’t agree with. If we cannot trust Hillary to be truthful about her positions on critical legislative issues now, how can we trust that she will be truthful as president?

These are just three examples that illustrate the concerns we should have with a candidate who demonstrates a sense of entitlement to the nomination and is willing to lie, misrepresent, threaten, and divide in order to obtain the nomination. President Bush and the neoconservative movement have greatly harmed this country by the creation of an imperial-like presidency. This election is not just about whether a Democrat or Republican wins but if the checks and balances are restored to the three branches of government. The framers of the Constitution were in such fear of an imperial president that mechanisms for impeachment are prominently and explicitly included in the Constitution. If Hillary Clinton is willing to use lies and deceit to win the Democratic nomination, what assurances do we have that she will not continue to use them once she is president?
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/03/why-h ...

<snip>

"Her response to being caught lying to a military audience, when she invented a story about being under sniper fire in Bosnia, was to say it wasn't surprising she got some things wrong, seeing how she spoke millions of words every day. What a magnificent idea, that if you say lots of words some of them are bound to be fantastic lies. So if you listen carefully to horse-racing commentators they say things like "And it's Teddy's Boy still leading three furlongs out as they come up to the fourth last fence with Nip and Tuck two lengths behind by the way I fought a tiger once, punched it clean out and they're all safely over."

<lots more>
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/article3 ...

"It's not that lying to pad the resume, avoid Indictment or to advance her political fortune is anything new for Hillary Clinton. She famously said she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary (debunked); she told New Yorkers she was a Yankee fan when she lived in Chicago (debunked); she told rural New Yorkers that she was a "duck hunter" (debunked); she claimed that her daughter Chelsea was jogging around the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 attack (debunked by Chelsea herself.) And, those subpoenaed Rose Law billing records just happened to show up one day on a hallway table in the most monitored home in America!"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Garbo 2004]

34. Full text of what he said, in context:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-surprise-that-ha_b_96188.html

[EFerrari]

39. What he did was in no way steriotyping.

Do you have a reading disability?

Good grief. He was trying to describe what those towns are going through.

[TheCowsCameHome]

40. He need not apologize to me.

He was right.