Maureen Dowd calls President Elect Obama "Barry?" What a bloviator!

[LittleApple81]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/opinion/16dowd.html

Team of Frenemies
.....

On the up side, she would never have to exaggerate her foreign policy résumé again; this time, she really would be brokering peace and flying into places where they’d try to fire at her.

And if she worked hard enough — and she would — she could restore clarity to Foggy Bottom, the striped-pants center of diplomacy so maligned and misused by W. and Dick Cheney on their Sherman’s march to war in Iraq and in their overwrought bid to become the only hyperpower.

If Barry chooses Hillary as secretary of state, a woman who clearly intimidated him and taught him to be a better pol in the primaries, it doesn’t signal the return of the Clinton era. It says the opposite: If you have a president who’s willing to open up his universe to other smart, strong people, if you have a big dog who shares his food dish, the Bill Clinton era is truly over.

Appointing a Clinton in the cabinet would be so un-Clintonian.

[marylanddem]

1. I know some Clinton administration people

who hated his guts. During the primaries, they took to referring to Obama as "Barry" - it's an insult.

[CoffeeCat]

9. I think it's clear that the Clintons hate Obama...

...and that's just one more reason that they need to be not in the inner circle
of an Obama administration.

They'll never get over the primary. Never.

All of these Clinton/SOS leaks are coming from the Clinton camp. This is an effort
to back Obama into a corner, forcing him to select Hillary.

These people never stop.

I'm just so ready for Hillary to take her place in the Senate and quit the powermongering,
bullying games. She could be a force for change in the Senate and do great things for
New York. She just needs to stop with the crazymaking.

All of this SOS started within 48 hours of a reporter asking Hillary if she thinks she
would have access to Rahm Emanuel. She practically flew into a rage, snapping back at
the reporter, "Rahm Emanuel! Well! He's going to be accessible TO ME!"

It suddenly hit her that she may be on the outside, looking in. She freaked and the result
is all of this Clinton-driven SOS nonsense.

[Jennicut]

11. I don't think the Clintons hate Obama. They may be jealous

but hate is a strong word. I think Hillary would be fine as SoS. There is such a thing as getting along with your rivals and putting aside politics for the good of your country. I was for Obama in the primary, I voted for him over Hillary. But I would have voted for her over McLame any day. Stop trying to drive a wedge where there is none. We are all Dems.

[EstimatedProphet]

17. What's clear is that you hate Clinton.

[CoffeeCat]

25. You're completely ridiculous.

I don't know Hillary Clinton personally.

I only know her policies, her votes and her behavior. That's what I comment on.

And you know what? I won't apologize for detesting pro-war behavior coming from a Democrat.
I won't cheerlead Hillary Clinton--a person who has voted along with the neocons and stood
on the Senate floor--propagating their talking points.

It's clear that you are supporting a Democrat who has the same world view as Bill Kristol and
Donald Rumsfeld, and your only defense is to accuse people who see through her bullshit--as
being big meanies who "hate Clinton."

:eyes:

[EstimatedProphet]

28. No, you're being ridiculous

I am not "supporting" Clinton. I supported Edwards in the primaries, personally. I'm just fed up with the fact that on DU the name Clinton brings out the exact same reaction that it does on Free Republic. I come her specifically to avoid being there.

[CoffeeCat]

29. The Freepers don't like Clinton...

...because they think that Clinton is "too liberal." They're delusional.

I can only speak for myself. I base my opinion of her politics on her votes
and on her behavior. I do not like her politics and I think she's a crooked
politician.

Much of my opinion about her politics is also based on the campaign she
ran in Iowa, during the primaries. She engaged in the very dirty tricks
that Sarah Palin did. When Hillary started losing ground in Iowa, an
email campaign asserted that Obama was schooled in a Madrassa and that
he wasn't a Christian. At the same time, Senator Bob Kerrey kicked off
Hillary's five-day tour of Iowa by saying, "I can't wait for Hillary to
run against Barack Hussein Obama!" He later apologized for his remarks.

At an event in Davenport, Iowa--a citizen tried to ask Hillary about her
Kyl/Lieberman vote. She refused to discuss it and then accused the questioner
of being a plant. When Bush and the rest of the criminals engage in these
behavior...we're all up in arms. But when Hillay does it--it's ignored.

Hillary also planted questions here, at two events and she was caught.
The questioners came forward. She denied it, and was then caught again!

I don't like her politics. I don't like her behavior. Or her pro-war votes.

My opinion is based on what I've seen in my own state--and also by reading extensively
about her votes.

I find it difficult to believe that ANY progressive would condone her behavior.

[PeaceNikki]

31. yawn

You know that she was not the only Democrat to vote for the war, right? What other votes of hers bother you so much?

[BlooInBloo]

23. Of course they do. You could, however, use that as an argument FOR Clinton as SoS....

Saying that as SoS, Obama would have a fair bit of control over Clinton's actions, which he would not have if Clinton remained in the Senate.

Rather Godfather-esque and all.

[Metric System]

14. Um, are you seriously suggesting that Dowd is in any way a Clinton supporter? Do you read her

articles?

[panader0]

2. It was his nickname in high school

but it seems a little too familiar for Dowd.

[marshall]

16. He isn't known by that name now

Perhaps his wife calls him Barry--certainly his grandmother and probably his sister call him Barry. Schoolmates from Hawaii probably continue to call him that. But he chose to be known as Barack when he started college.

Some politicians like Bill Clinton are known by a nickname rather than William Clinton. Others like Ronald Reagan, who was called Ronnie by his wife, are not known to the public by his nickname. It would have been considered improper for a journalist to refer to him as Ronnie.

But then O'Dowd trades on being improper, and I'm sure she's just getting warmed up.

On a related note--I think it's also improper to refer to officials by their first name only, unless that is how they themselves "market" themselves. Some people wondered why Senator Clinton was so often referred to by her first name, but that is how she marketed her campaign so I didn't have a problem with it. But Barack Obama has never marketed himself as either Barack or Barry, it's either Barack Obama or Obama or Senator Obama or President Elect Obama.

[LaurenG]

3. Wow your headline left out the meanest part...

the insult to the Clinton's. :eyes:

Do you want some popcorn because this has the capacity to flame... hard. :popcorn:

[LittleApple81]

7. I think she is an equal opportunity insulter. The paragraphs I included were to provide the

context, not to agree with any additional insults.

[LaurenG]

8. Oh I know this isn't your fault at all-

I should have phrased it differently.

[yodermon]

4. meh. Typical MoDo, i wouldn't sweat it n/t

[surrealAmerican]

15. Exactly. She treats everybody like this.

[ginnyinWI]

5. She seeks to diminish everyone. I stopped reading her a while back.

We love it when it's about Bushco, but she's also willing to diminish or insult those on the left. It's her stock in trade. I have lost patience with it. Don't think it's funny.

[sweetpotato]

6. Seems counter-productive to the right wing memes

Barry - sounds like *one of us.* If they want to keep reminding people that he isn't *one of us* they need to stop using an American sounding nick-name.

Keep up with the Barry - it makes him sound like next-door-neighbor rather than scary Marxist Muslim.

[CPschem]

10. she always calls him Barry

and "Obambi" and "The One." I usually enjoy her column but her name calling seems juvenile.

[4themind]

12. Just MoDo being MoDo

Scant original reporting, excessive meme pushing and name-calling. I'd swear it were ripped from a 13 yr. old's diary that happens to have access to powerful figures. Who can forget her attempts to "feminize" gore, & calling his objection to the war in 2003 "whackadoodle". Just treat her columns as the the literary equivalent of a political cartoon and have a good laugh at it, and her.

[kiranon]

13. Perhaps it's time to call her Dowdy. n/t

[political_Dem]

18. When people refer to him as "Barry", there's one of two things going on:

1)They think themselves to be more superior than Mr. Obama, let alone other people of color.

2)They do it to dismiss his talents, prowess and acumen as a Senator and now President-Elect.

The same goes for using the initials, "BHO" too. However, usually whenever I've heard it being said, it is from GOP-ers and other disaffected sorts who fear a person of color in power.

So, I'm not surprised by Dowd's behavior. Except, she has to realize her days on the Straight Talk Express are past.

High school nick-name or not, Dowd is at an age (and a public position) to know better. Instead, the use of "Barry" shows how truly crass and uncouth she is.

[WinkyDink]

19. Did she ever write "Dutch" for Reagan? Somehow I doubt it.

[BeyondGeography]

20. Took her over a week to start being an ass again

That's a personal record.

[RayOfHope]

21. The racist wingnuts around here refer to him as "Barry". Its an insult n/t

[political_Dem]

22. I agree. "Barry" is an insult.

It's an insult that especially hits below the belt because it is in the same realm as "boy".

[eleny]

24. That's like calling Geraldo "Jerry Rivers" - Nobody really gives a crap

But I'll give Dowd a break - she's getting old. :rofl:

[genna]

26. I'M GLAD SHE IS NOT CALLING HIM obami anymore.

You have to see the bright side in dim places sometimes.

[No Elephants]

27. Calling any man "Barry" when that is not the name he goes by is juvenile and disrespectful.

[PeaceNikki]

30. He was known as "Barry" until college.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/128633