News Flash
Mar 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am by Susie
Politicians lie. They can no more help themselves than the sun can keep itself from coming up every day. You can say that reflects something about their character, and you’d be right: It reflects that they have insanely large egos. People who run for president generally do.
They cheat and take money from lowlifes, too.
Since this is a given to anyone who’s ever paid attention to politics oh, in the last 100 years or so, can we cut the tit for tat crap and get onto real issues? Can we stop kneecapping ourselves by confusing politics with a search for transcendence?
I no more care about their campaign tactics than I do about the on-the-field behavior of the Dallas Cowboys. IT’S A GAME. They’re in it to win.
I’ve been watching this game a lot longer than most of you, and I don’t care that Clinton exaggerated about her Bosnia landing. I don’t care that Obama lies about his legislative record. (Although I do most emphatically care about the double standard that allows him off the hook and eviscerates her for the same behavior - which is why I keep bringing up instances of him contradicting himself.) They both lie - a lot. And I don’t care who anyone prays with - unless it also makes them vulnerable in the general election.
I suggest you look for your transcendence some place other than politics. You might find moments, certainly - but you’ll be equally as disgusted later.
I just want to win in November and at this point, I don’t especially care who the candidate is. I only want to win back the White House. The country is teetering at the edge of a giant sinkhole, and if we put another Republican in charge, it will get much worse.
Let the flames begin.
You are quite correct. Politicians will always be out to win. Very little personal or professional integrity associated with them.
You are also correct that we do have to win in November. Thanks for the reminder.
Until we take money out of politics, all the money, we will have to deal with low life politicians. Even with the money gone politics will have to be monitored by citizens very closely
There is much too much time before the November election - It would be easier on all of us - including the candidates if there were a country wide primary in June and the general election in November. All this daily angst is driving us all crazy.
Then we hear from the media that it’s starting to seem like we’re more interested in the lives of the candidates than the issues while at the same time we’re seeing on MSN “What the candidates houses tell us about them.” I don’t care about all this trivial nonsense!!!!
All this gives the media time to switch the focus as well a crucify candidates THEY don’t like. Fair and balanced my ass! We really need to push for a change in all this.
then why have you posted about obama’s legislative record (and relied only on articles that say he exaggerated and ignored articles saying he didn’t) here? it seems to me that you can’t say “we should be talking about the issues” when your posts about obama are so rarely about the issues.
i mean, i welcome the point of this post. i just wonder why you didn’t have that revelation until clinton was the one caught in the lie.
but hey, let’s turn over a new leaf. i am really really tired of all the ridiculous charges and counter-charges in this campaign. i’m afraid that when you have 2 candidates whose policies are this similar, and what few differences they do have have been explored ad infinitum already, and another 4 months of non-stop campaigning ahead of us, this will only get worse not better. the substantive issues have already been talked out so much there’s nothing new to say. so the press (and bloggers in tow) resort to obsessing about the ridiculous gaffe of the day.
I totally and completely agree.
i just wonder why you didn’t have that revelation until clinton was the one caught in the lie.
See? You’re doing it.
As I just said, it’s the double standard that drives me nuts. It drives me fucking crazy when people attack Clinton’s character for the same things Obama does.
Wow, the morals of the Clinton blogosphere go swirling ever more rapidly down the drain…
At least we now know not to take anything this site says seriously. After all, if she thinks it’s fine for campaigns to make bullshit up, then there’s no reason to believe she won’t do the same thing herself. Why should anyone believe anything here is said honestly, as opposed to give her candidate the advantage?
At least now we know how someone can pretend that the candidate who belongs to an organization(Fellowship) which believes that the wealthy elite are chosen by god to rule over the world is also the candidate of the downtrodden in our society. You simply lie.
Wow. For weeks I’ve watched you be condescending and sometimes downright insulting to your friends in your posts, and just let it go as being a vigorous defense of your preferred candidate.
This week, you sunk to a new low when you linked to a post at Corrente calling someone who considered you a friend a “skintern” who was “teabagging” the guys at Politico. I can only assume that you linked to it in approval, despite your attempt at pretending not to understand why it was offensive to him.
And now you defend this behavior as lies that every politician tells.
For years, we’ve all been railing against the likes of Scaife and his smear machine, and when the former target of his ire (Hillary Clinton) gets into bed with him, you look the other way and whistle a vindictive tune.
I hope that in the end all of this is worth it to you. I think Hillary’s presidential chance aren’t the only loss here.
As I just said, it’s the double standard that drives me nuts. It drives me fucking crazy when people attack Clinton’s character for the same things Obama does
how is it a double standard? clinton was caught in a lie. you acknowledge it yourself in the post!
my point in comment #4 is not that clinton was lying, it was that you didn’t seem to have a problem floating every single obama was lying story up until the moment that clinton was the one accused of lying. then, all of a sudden, the song changes to “every politician lies.” i agree with the new song, i just question why that didn’t excuse all the stuff you have been writing about obama in the past few weeks. that’s the double standard.
once again: i welcome the message of the post. let’s focus on substantive stuff rather than this ridiculous tit-for-tat, mistatement of the day. it’s hard, because there really isn’t much going on these days with the campaigns other than this shit. which is why the primaries are all but absent from my blog.
Actually, we should be reminding ourselves that there are two excellent, imperfect candidates running for president. Either of them would be SO MUCH better than McCain, that we should refrain from doing the Republicans’ work for them.
At this point since there is general agreement that there are two qualified candidates and that there is not likely to be a clear delagate winner through the primaries, I would like to suggest a solution - a coin toss.
For those of us who’s preferred candidate was silenced out of the campaign months ago (and to whom the differences between the remaining candidates matter about as much as a standard coin weighs) this should be about as good of a way to solve the problem as any and will lessen the amount of ammunition that McCain and the Republican party can get from a protracted race.
Susie, that’s an important point isn’t it? Doesn’t Clinton’s foolish embellishment undermine claims that she’s a politician who won’t make foolish gaffes and cost us the election with a silly lie discovered in October?
Don’t get me wrong, most media flaps are manufactured by the media, and not really the “fault” of either candidate. But for what it’s worth, this was an entirely self-inflicted wound.
And a minor point. It’s not a game, it’s an election. If Clinton wins the nomination by seriously alienating african americans and disaffecting young people, then there are consequences beyond 7 months of quarterback controversy.
It’s not a game, it’s an election
unfortunately it’s really both.
http://tinyurl.com/2uhxht
can’t we all just get along?
Stuart writes:
How about a contest to see who can throw the most muck at McCain? If Clinton can call in an air-strike, with 100 megatons of shit vectoring in on McCain from orbit, well hey, she’s the one.
Snarki,
Sounds good to me! I’m just tired of Team Clinton and Team Obama doing all of the Republican’s dirty work for them. And I am pretty sure I am not alone.
The only question I have is judging criteria. Are you looking at amount that sticks, distance thrown, or accuracy? And who wants to paint the rings on McCain?
I can’t help but think if it were OB that made the major fuck-up that hrc has made with the bosnia fairy tale, I think we would not be seeing such a tide of “well, they all lie, lets just concentrate on the democrats winning in Nov” mantra we are seeing here…
Me thinks it would be a constant chorus of “I told you so’s and the truly electable one has risen to the top, etc”. Anytime anyone gets caught in a blatant lie/exaggeration/misspeak is never a pretty sight and tends to have a lot of splatter effect… I can only say hrc brought this entirely on herself. She chose to tell a tall tale numerous times and use it as evidence of more for. experience, etc. Am I happy to see a public humiliation - no. But I have no sympathy for hrc and co. she has continued the kamikaze flights. Having her rich DLC superD’s send Pelosi a “threatening” letter warning of no mare money unless she backtracks on her statement of pledged delegates determining the nomination. Of course she wont - but the letter serves to give notice to the other dem delegates that the big donors may stop with the money stream. I half expect hrc to be sitting on the couch on Fox and Friends any morning now…
Tommorow whe will sip her sake, put on the headband, bow towards the emperor and climb back in her Zero and head out to dive the fleet in port. Sort of like the five o’clock bomber on the old MASH episode. She will never realize though we are paying attention for entertainment value only…
The country is teetering at the edge of a giant sinkhole, and if we put another Republican in charge, it will get much worse.
We’re not teetering at the edge, we’re in free fall.
We just haven’t splattered against the ground yet.
Anyone reading comments here knows I’m for Obama but will gladly vote for Clinton if she wins the nomination. That being said, I have to agree with John and Joe above; HRC made a huge mistake this time. In my life I’ve had guns pulled on me - not fired, just aimed at me - twice. Both times were over 30 years ago yet I remember them as clearly as I do what I did this morning. Hilary Clinton repeatedly told a story about her AND her daughter coming under fire and running for cover. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
There’s no way to mistake strolling across a tarmac and stopping to listen to an 8 year old girl read you a poem with you and your daughter running for your lives while bullets flew overhead. Remember – it was her and her daughter. As a father of 2 I can assure you the few times I had any fear about my kids’ health and wellbeing (I mean emergencies where they had to be rushed to the hospital) are memories that remain as vivid as the two times I looked into the barrel of a gun
As for Clinton’s other problems with accuracy, I don’t rate them as being any more significant than I do any of Obama’s, or McCain’s or any other politician’s exaggerations. The Bosnia story is different. Its part of her main narrative – she’s “tested”, Obama isn’t. That it proved to be so outrageous a lie doesn’t disqualify her – but I don’t know how you can casually brush it aside either.
Interesting Susie and to the commenters as well. But it is the “I no more care about their campaign tactics than I do about the on-the-field behavior of the Dallas Cowboys. IT’S A GAME. They’re in it to win.”, that grabbed my attention.
When you consider bush’s “compassionate conservative” slogan which resulted in THOUSANDS OF IRAQ CHILDREN DYING in a war that would have been started 9/11 or not, then saying it is a game, is for me, declaring you can not see the forest through the trees (LIES DO MATTER).
99% of the people out there will tell you that politicians lie. But I was under the impression that we were going to declare that lies would not be acceptable, and that by demanding some semblance of truth, were going to start to change politics for the better.
Not sure Susie what you reasons are for changing your tune, but the music you are now playing sounds pretty bad to me. And I believe in your heart, that you like nice music - I’ve heard it before. And I miss the music you used to make. Bb
I said the CAMPAIGN is a game. Please note, there’s a difference.