TheAgitator.com
Gaffing
Saturday, May 24th, 2008A few months ago, a Democratic activist told me the scuttlebutt among the grass-roots crowd was that if Hillary Clinton got the nomination, she’d pick Barack Obama to be her VP. Not because she particularly likes him, but because she and Bill had calculated that no one would ever assassinate her if the next in line was a black guy.
It was an amusing little anecdote, in a “Wow, could she really be that evil?” kinda’ way. But I thought at the time that it seemed a little too cold and calculating, even for the Clintons.
But hey, maybe not.
I don’t think Hillary Clinton wants Barack Obama to be assassinated. Rather, I think her gaffe is a revealing glimpse into her head. She will find any excuse to cling to to those last threads—that last chance to be the most powerful person on the planet. Probably not the kind of person we want for the job.
My original thought was that she meant, “If RFK was assassinated in June, then the nomination fight was still going on in June” to make the point that this year’s fight isn’t unheard of. I still think that’s a reasonable explanation, but I’m becoming more and more convinced that, at least subconsciously, she wanted to make the “He might get killed, so I’m hanging in there” point as well.
She’s despicable (but so are Obama, McCain, and all other presidential candidates).
Oberman really ripped her a new one on his show over this.
I have a vague memory of Chris Rock making a joke (some years ago) that there would never be a black man elected president, but there would probably be lots of black VPs for precisely this reason.
(I’m sure it was funnier the way he told it.)
I once worked with an FBI agent who told a story about how when Hillary was the new First Lady and she and Bill were doing an appearance shortly after his election, she got irritated with her Secret Service escort who were opening a hole in the crowd for them (to get whereever Bill was going to speak) because she felt they weren’t moving fast enough…so she apparently started kicking them in the back of the legs so they’d move faster. Peggy Noonan also wrote a book about her awhile ago that had a lot of similar stuff in it about how she treated people around her (especially staff), and I knew a few people who worked with Secret Service agents (who invariably had nothing nice to say about her, and little nice to say about her husband)…so yeah, I’ve always gotten the impression that she was a rotten person, miserable to deal with and an incompetent manager to boot so her remarks didn’t surprise me. Basically she comes off one of the crappier people in politics.
I realize that some people out there hate her just because she’s a woman, which is certainly unfair and wrong because women are just as capable as men of being good leaders…but then her track record of leadership has shown her as somebody who can’t get along with people and who’s achieved almost nothing, so it kind of irritates me when she plays the gender card to try and deflect legitimate criticism of her work. As a politician she sucks on almost every level and I’m kind of enjoying watching her go down in flames as she undermines her own party.
That is a joke from Chris Rock’s “Never Scared,” which now appears to be turning into a Clinton-Obama urban legend.
I don’t hold anything against Hillary that I don’t hold against almost all politicians. While I have no doubt that there are exceptions, most are in it for their ego and not because of any public service motives. Most of them would probably sacrifice their first born child if they thought it would advance their ambitions. When the Antichrist watches our elections, he’s taking notes.
#3
Chris Rock’s joke was that there would never be a black VP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd5p3iD9WGs&feature=related
Go to 5:08.
The initial season of Prison Break had a white, blond female as the Vice President who poisons the President when she’s on the verge of losing her political backers when her poll numbers are dropping as she’s seeking her party nomination. Even though that administration was clearly depicted as Republican (ie, supporting tax cuts, etc), I find it hard to believe that whoever was writing that script had anyone but Hillary in mind.
Interesting comments UC. I always kind of assumed she was a miserable person. I think two consenting adults can have any kind of relationship they want, but Bill’s (public) infidelities must have taken a toll on her. I don’ think we would have seen this side of her if Obama wasn’t in the race.
On the assassination theory, I thought it would be a good idea for Obama to make Hillary his VP. I don’t doubt there are some uneducated rednecks out there who would love to get Obama in their sights, but I always thought their hate for her would keep him safe :). Sorta like the current Bush/Cheney situation.
Dave Chappele had a suggestion during one of his standups that the 1st black president should have a hispanic veep, intended as “insurance” to make the hillbillies think twice about trying it.
Obama-Richardson ‘08? That’d be interesting…
Heh…
I guess i can’t post pictures here.
http://a385.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/98/l_3889950dee335958a89aeb5e7889fae0.jpg
Can’t stand the woman, but she was pointing out a number of times there were at least two people still in the race as late as June. With all the legitimate things to dislike about her, I see no reason to distort things. As proof, olbermann was outraged by the comment and he is an idiot.
Isn’t this the basis of every Dick Cheney joke in existence these days?