Friedman is a jagoff, but the first half of this is spot on.

Get up, Neo Barack, get up!

Rev. Skarekroe: That's a bunch of bull.
Everyone knows Obama prefers orange juice.

You mean grape drink?

Diogenes: After the sexing up kids ad and this lipstick flap, I really want Obama to bring the pain.

And he'll do it with the intelligence and class McCain and Palin could never muster.

I doubt it. He's not that kind of guy. He's never good as an attacker, no matter how 'classy'. He didn't do well attacking Hillary, and he won't do well attacking McCain and Palin. He has said over and over again that he wants to change politics, and that he has decried Karl Rove style gimmicks.

As a result, he's boxed himself into a corner. If he takes the bait and goes after them hardcore, he's going to be charged with flip-flopping on his not wanting to attack Rove-style and end the 'silly season' in politics. If he doesn't go after them at all, or only goes after them in an way marked with "intelligence and class", he's going to deflate his base, cede the argument to them, and you'll see more Friedman articles out there saying he's too cold.

His answer at the press conference this morning is telling - he recognizes that if he came out and apologized, he'd piss off a lot of people and demoralize the base yet again. But by not apologizing, he's going to fire up Republicans and spin this story out during this news cycle for another 24 hours - hell, it could last until the end of the week.

He's between a rock and a hard place and there's really no easy way out.

sigdiamond2000: Meanwhile, for months, the polls have show McCain and Obama to be at a virtual statistical dead heat.

And besides unless you live in Florida or Ohio, your vote doesn't really count. Those 2 states are the only non Live Boy/Dead Girl states left.

Diogenes
And he'll do it with the intelligence and class McCain and Palin could never muster.

Fail. Much of the US electorate has shown quite convincingly that they don't respond to intelligence and class. They like pandering. They like to elect people they want to have a beer with. Forget silly things like knowledge and intellect. Break out the pander bear!

Or as TFA says and Colbert would agree, people think with their gut.

Excuse me while I try to flee the farking planet.

CHANGE!!!


A half black man in the White House?

Oh.. well not THAT much change.


/between 8-12% of Americans will not vote for half-black Harvard educated constitutional lawyer.

/Obama-Biden have TWICE as much education than GWBUSH or McCain/Palin.

DeltaXi65: As a result, he's boxed himself into a corner. If he takes the bait and goes after them hardcore, he's going to be charged with flip-flopping on his not wanting to attack Rove-style and end the 'silly season' in politics. If he doesn't go after them at all, or only goes after them in an way marked with "intelligence and class", he's going to deflate his base, cede the argument to them, and you'll see more Friedman articles out there saying he's too cold.

That is a false dichotomy. He can definitely respond without deflating his base. All he has to do is call the McCain campaign out forcefully.


DeltaXi65: His answer at the press conference this morning is telling - he recognizes that if he came out and apologized, he'd piss off a lot of people and demoralize the base yet again. But by not apologizing, he's going to fire up Republicans and spin this story out during this news cycle for another 24 hours - hell, it could last until the end of the week.

There's no way he'll apologize, and nor should he. He has nothing to apologize for.

Tom_Slick: And besides unless you live in Florida or Ohio, your vote doesn't really count. Those 2 states are the only non Live Boy/Dead Girl states left.

That's not quite accurate. There are a lot of states in play. Have a look at the electoral map.

I think THIS(p) is what he should do.

Go after McCain DIRECTLY and PERSONALLY who is accusing him of being a sexist, and say "John McCain, you're calling me a sexist? Why don't you said it to my face, and not hide these accusations behind your gutter political campaign? As a loving Father and Husband why don't you tell me directly?"

See, Still ignore Palin but go after McCain swinging.

Jaboobinator: Tom_Slick: And besides unless you live in Florida or Ohio, your vote doesn't really count. Those 2 states are the only non Live Boy/Dead Girl states left.

That's not quite accurate. There are a lot of states in play. Have a look at the electoral map.

Yeah, I would say FL and OH are McCain's, most likely. PA and CO will be the players this year, with ND and NH possibly trying to spice things up.

Jaboobinator: That's not quite accurate. There are a lot of states in play. Have a look at the electoral map.

According to that map there are 10 states in play, 68 Electoral votes are in 3 of those states, So I amend my comment Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania are the only states where your vote matters.

If you live in NY state or California your vote for McCain is worthless, Just like a Vote for Obama in Texas or Georgia is worthless.

Diogenes: Your tone is distinctly concern trollish.

You know I'm not a concern troll. I was providing analysis of the situation. I think this is a shiat sandwich, and Obama is going to have to take a bite. Nothing he does will effectively quiet this gaffe.

DeltaXi65: I think this is a shiat sandwich, and Obama is going to have to take a bite. Nothing he does will effectively quiet this gaffe.

Come on, it's not even a gaffe. McCain has said the exact same thing about Hillary, and it's clear that Obama wasn't talking about Palin. The whole thing is just BS.

Jaboobinator: That is a false dichotomy. He can definitely respond without deflating his base. All he has to do is call the McCain campaign out forcefully.

He has to recognize that a lot of people, in both parties, took the comment as a direct hit at Palin, intentional or not. If he recognizes that and ignores it and calls out the McCain people, the media will keep the story going and the McCain people will hit him just as hard back, and he will look bad. And not just bad for a day, but for as long as the media can gin up conflict to keep viewers.

If he apologizes to those who were offended, he may quell the ire of the media and calm down the McCain people, but his base will go nuts, and you'll see even more stories like Friedman's out there.

Either way, he takes a hit. This kind of stuff is what makes campaign season fun.

Jaboobinator: Come on, it's not even a gaffe. McCain has said the exact same thing about Hillary, and it's clear that Obama wasn't talking about Palin. The whole thing is just BS.

Personally, I agree with you. This is a dumb story.

That being said, what McCain said was different because of the timing. Hillary hadn't made a joke about wearing lipstick that 37 million viewers saw a week before McCain's comment.

Obama's crowd thought he was talking about Palin. The Politico thought he was talking about Palin. Drudge thought he was talking about Palin. Even if he wasn't talking about Palin, people thought he was. And by not apologizing, he reinforces the perception that he was talking about Palin. If it was just an innocent mistake, why not apologize? Why get all defensive? That's the next question the press will be asking.

DamnYankees: And a lot of folks in Salem think if you managed to avoid catching a cold you were in league with the devil.

We're in the crucible, folks.

So we're judging modern sensibilities based on 400 year old historical anecdotes? Just because John McCain was around for the Salem witch trials doesn't mean most Americans were.

DeltaXi65: He has to recognize that a lot of people, in both parties, took the comment as a direct hit at Palin, intentional or not.

I very much disagree. The whole thing started when McCain's campaign made an issue of it. No one thought it was a hit on Palin until McCain's people decided it was their BS issue of the day.


DeltaXi65: If he apologizes to those who were offended, he may quell the ire of the media and calm down the McCain people, but his base will go nuts, and you'll see even more stories like Friedman's out there.

Again, he has nothing to apologize for, and I fail to see why he would be interested in calming down the McCain people.

Jaboobinator: Come on, it's not even a gaffe. McCain has said the exact same thing about Hillary, and it's clear that Obama wasn't talking about Palin. The whole thing is just BS.

The gaffe is daring to speak when running against the party that owns the media.

And there will be no recovery.

DeltaXi65: Obama's crowd thought he was talking about Palin. The Politico thought he was talking about Palin. Drudge thought he was talking about Palin. Even if he wasn't talking about Palin, people thought he was.

Again, I have to disagree. Having read first hand accounts of people in attendance, it was clear that the comment wasn't directed at Palin. As this Washington Post article makes clear, reporters were taken aback by the suggestion as well:

Four reporters were allowed to pose questions during the conference call, and three of them were from women who asked, with obvious incredulity, whether Swift believed that Obama was referring to Palin.

When one reporter asked Swift why she assumed the remarks were directed at Palin, Swift replied: "It seemed to me a gendered comment. There's only one woman in the race."

"As far as I know, she's the only one of the four -- the presidential and vice presidential candidates -- who wears lipstick," Swift said.

Jaboobinator: I very much disagree. The whole thing started when McCain's campaign made an issue of it. No one thought it was a hit on Palin until McCain's people decided it was their BS issue of the day.

I saw this on Drudge last night at around 7:15 or so as a link to a Politico article. I don't think the campaign had a response to this out yet. It was also up on CBS' blog at like 6:00. This thing wasn't driven by the campaign, as far as I can tell. It was driven by the media, who obviously felt it was newsworthy.

DamnYankees: What I'm saying is 400 years from now people will look back and laugh at us for the utterly pathetic animals we are. The behavior of the American political machinery will be mocked the way we mock the Roman Senate for allowing Caligula to make his horse a consul. And you, dear TFer, are on the side of the jesters.

Well, considering that the types of crap that happen now are little changed for the mudslinging we saw in the founding days of the Republic, I doubt it. The only difference is we archive everything nowadays.

Sounds like Obama is getting "uppity".

DeltaXi65: Jaboobinator: Come on, it's not even a gaffe. McCain has said the exact same thing about Hillary, and it's clear that Obama wasn't talking about Palin. The whole thing is just BS.

Personally, I agree with you. This is a dumb story.

That being said, what McCain said was different because of the timing. Hillary hadn't made a joke about wearing lipstick that 37 million viewers saw a week before McCain's comment.

Obama's crowd thought he was talking about Palin. The Politico thought he was talking about Palin. Drudge thought he was talking about Palin. Even if he wasn't talking about Palin, people thought he was. And by not apologizing, he reinforces the perception that he was talking about Palin. If it was just an innocent mistake, why not apologize? Why get all defensive? That's the next question the press will be asking.

Politico and Drudge need stories, even paper-thin ones, to write about. And sorry, but most of "Obama's crowd" knows what a metaphor is.

Let the idiots and opportunists flail in their collective faux outrage. This is just a way for the McCain camp to avoid addressing questions about their numerous lies.

PacManDreaming: That's what gets me. Bush's coke use was a pretty big issue, but Obama's doesn't even register on anyone's radar. How do we know Obama doing the "Uh...um...uh..." routine isn't because his cocaine-addled brain is in some kind of downward spiral? And people have been slamming Palin for having a child so late in life and putting him at greater risks for birth defects, yet no one says anything about an admitted cocaine and alcohol abuser having two children even though we have plenty of evidence that drugs use and birth defects go hand in hand.

C'mon. Bush's cocaine use was never a big issue because there was never enough independent corroboration for it to become a big issue. He answered one question about his past life and said he did some things he wasn't proud of. If the story had legs, it would have gone somewhere.

I may not approve of Obama's past drug use, but as long as he's not using now, it's not really relevant to the campaign.

DamnYankees: DeltaXi65: DamnYankees: And a lot of folks in Salem think if you managed to avoid catching a cold you were in league with the devil.

We're in the crucible, folks.

So we're judging modern sensibilities based on 400 year old historical anecdotes? Just because John McCain was around for the Salem witch trials doesn't mean most Americans were.

What I'm saying is 400 years from now people will look back and laugh at us for the utterly pathetic animals we are. The behavior of the American political machinery will be mocked the way we mock the Roman Senate for allowing Caligula to make his horse a consul. And you, dear TFer, are on the side of the jesters.

If Mike Judge is any guide, 400 years from now they'll say we talked like fags and our shiat was all retarded.

DamnYankees: The media refuses to report lies. There's not much Obama can do.

Hahahahahahahaha

thatvoiceguy: Politico and Drudge need stories, even paper-thin ones, to write about. And sorry, but most of "Obama's crowd" knows what a metaphor is.

Sure they do. But I've heard that part of Obama's stump speech a number of times in the last few days, and this is the first time he's thrown that metaphor in. And it got a huge crowd pop when he did - bigger than what he usually gets at the end of the 'other than whatever policy X 10' line he'd been using.

PacManDreaming: You've been on Fark longer than me and you didn't see all the Libs here with their panties in a twist over Bush's coke use? There were plenty of comments and threads about it four years ago.

I was too busy working to notice. Law school has given me quite a bit more time to argue on the internet.

PacManDreaming: DeltaXi65: C'mon. Bush's cocaine use was never a big issue because there was never enough independent corroboration for it to become a big issue. He answered one question about his past life and said he did some things he wasn't proud of. If the story had legs, it would have gone somewhere.

You've been on Fark longer than me and you didn't see all the Libs here with their panties in a twist over Bush's coke use? There were plenty of comments and threads about it four years ago.

I know it's pretty much a non-issue, I was just hoping to get a response from all the Farkers who just knew Bush has brain damage from using drugs and alcohol, but don't seem to notice that Obama partook of the same things.

That's because Obama (and the other candidates) can speak English. Bush obviously had something holding him back.