TheAgitator.com
Stay Classy, Dan Riehl
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008The National Enquirer is pushing a story that Barack Obama was mentored in his youth by a man who may have turned out to be a pedophile. There are now suggestions that the man may have molested Obama. I don’t have much to say on the story itself. If true, it’s awful. But I’m not sure how it affects Obama as a candidate, except to say it shows that he’s overcome quite a lot to get where he is.
Here’s Jim Henley, getting the tone exactly right:
Obama met Frank Marshall Davis when Obama was ten years old. When people discuss (possible) sexual contact between ten-year-old boys who are not their political enemies and grown men, they usually refer to the “underage gay affairs” as sexual abuse. They also recognize that adults who have been abused may or may not wish to tell the whole world the details, and they respect it.
Here’s James Joyner, also with an appropriate take:
Obama didn’t have his father around growing up and was a biracial child who looked black being raised by his white grandparents among Asians and Pacific Islanders. The black role models he found were, in a few cases, spectacularly bad. Yet, he managed to grow up to be, as John McCain put it recently, “a decent family man, a citizen, who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”
To the extent there’s a “scandal” here, it’s Davis, not Obama, who is scandalized.
And then there’s right-wing hack Dan Riehl, who manages to find not just political opportunism, but humor in child rape:
Okay, to summarize – from the time he was a child until he was a young man, I guess, Barack Obama drank whiskey, wrote dirty limericks, read poetry and, um, was counseled by a sexual deviant, child molester, rapist of children? That about cover it? And in his book he said it had a lasting effect on him? Damn. That could actually be very sad.
That may be worse than his having been counseled by Jeremiah Wright.
No wonder he says “Pakit-stan” in that funny way of his! heh!
That’s such an utterly pathetic, classless response, I really don’t know what to say.
It’s ok, the neocons are just going through the 5 stages of grief. A couple months ago they proclaimed a victory for Maverick and Hockey Mom (denial), now they are just lashing out (anger). In two weeks they will focus on getting GOP legislators elected (bargaining), followed by lots of sobbing in the far-right blogosphere after the election (depression). By March ‘09 they will be talking about the bright prospects for a Jeb Bush ticket in ‘12 (acceptance and back again to denial).
I went through this myself when I realized everyone loves socialism, and always will. Now I’m at peace with watching it all burn.
It’s a good thing we’re talking about the issues and true leadership. Otherwise I might be worried about where this country is headed.
Oh, wait…
I don’t recognize either side of the political spectrum.
I haven’t since the 2002 elections.
I have no idea why 3rd parties aren’t taking off.
One can hope that this election cycle is the catalyst to make this happen.
I guess the beauty of American Democracy(TM) is that Riehl’s vote is just as “important” as mine.
Hmmm… The Enquirer exposes Edward’s Affair and Obama’s “gay affair” and the Repubs take it as Gospel and the Dems scream tabloid trash.
The Enquirer alleges Palin had an affair and her baby is really her daughter’s and the Dems take it as Gospel and the Repubs scream tabloid trash.
I suppose that makes the National Enquirer fair and balanced.
If only the Weekly World News was still in print because as the Bible says “…And a Bat Boy will lead them.”
I would vote for the bat boy.
Republicans have no problem distributing child porn if it involves a black kid getting a blowjob. They have no problem with child rape if the victim was a biracial Democrat Presidential candidate.
Truly, their hypocrisy knows no bounds.
I am not terribly surprised by the comments but I am disgusted. As anyone with any amount of compassion should be.
Shame on you, Mr. Riehl. I sincerely hope no one in your family ever has to go through that hell. No one ever should have to.
No one.
Why on Earth are critics of Riehl getting their posts dinged? That’s ridiculous. Riehl is amongst the worst of the anti-intellectual right. He stands against any libertarian goals that you all might share – that somebody here would appear to be protecting him while disagreeing with his critics is acting positively stupid.
“That’s such an utterly pathetic, classless response, I really don’t know what to say.”
Sometimes simply ignoring something is the best course of action. Shunning is very effective AND non-violent.
I will say this — until Radley’s post this morning, I had never heard of Dan Riehl. Now I have, which means he has gotten publicity from this site.
What is it they say about publicity — there’s no such thing as bad publicity?
Riehl = troll
Don’t feed the troll.
I heard Riehl busted a gut watching Prince of Tides.
This piece reminds me of the level of some “journalism” during the Clinton years. I expect that should Obama win the election we will see a whole lot more in this same vein.
[...] Ugh. [...]
Simon Lefaux said:
“The Enquirer exposes Edward’s Affair and Obama’s “gay affair” and the Repubs take it as Gospel and the Dems scream tabloid trash.
The Enquirer alleges Palin had an affair and her baby is really her daughter’s and the Dems take it as Gospel and the Repubs scream tabloid trash.”
Democrats DIDN’T push the Palin Enquirer story. The only mention it got was to point out how ironic it was that Republicans considered it a legitimate news source when the story was about Edwards, but decried it as sexist liberal propaganda when the story was about Palin.
but my pointing out that there is no humor in left-wing “comediene” Sandra Bernhard suggesting that Palin would get gang-raped in Harlem deserves to be deleted. hmmm, I’ll try again.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/12/crush-the-obamedia-narrative-look-whos-gripped-by-insane-rage/
notice its the left (Bernhard) that’s engaging in just a bit of racist steotyping. but of course, nothing to see, move on.
I have no idea why 3rd parties aren’t taking off.
Two reasons: 1) our system is designed to prevent effective third-party challenge at the federal level, and 2) the third parties we have in this country have, by and large, been spectacularly uninterested in starting out at the local level and growing from there.
I have no doubt that it can, eventually, be done. But you gotta build the party from the ground up. Fielding a candidate for president should be the goal, not the first step.
Scott – if I acknowledge that Bernhard is a moron whose “jokes” were far out of line, can you acknowledge that Riehl is beyond the pale here, that his behavior is a disgusting obscenity?
In his book “Dreams From My Father,” Obama talks about having discussions with “Frank” throughout high school as he struggled to deal with his biracial identity. Does anyone really think those conversations would have occurred if he’d been molested? “Well, Frank, I know you raped me, but I need your two cents on something…”?
This is just another (and particularly nasty) attempt to feminize and stigmatize Obama in much the same way rapists go after their victims in court.
notice its the left (Bernhard) that’s engaging in just a bit of racist steotyping. but of course, nothing to see, move on.
I’m so sick of both lefties and righties constantly finger-pointing “but the other side did it first!” every time they get called out for misleading, dishonest and/or unethical behavior. That’s the kind of simple-minded justification my sister and I employed when we would get yelled at for fighting in the back of my parents’ minivan during long car rides. One would think that, at some point, somebody on one side of the aisle will stop and say, “You know, I’m not going to stoop to the other side’s level any more.” Sadly, empirical observation suggests otherwise.
[...] Radley Balko has little to say but singles out Dan Riehl, “who manages to find not just political opportunism, but humor in child rape.” [...]
but my pointing out that there is no humor in left-wing “comediene” Sandra Bernhard suggesting that Palin would get gang-raped in Harlem deserves to be deleted
Deserves to be deleted? Probably not, but it’s hard to say without some context. It’s also not particularly relevant to this discussion; Dan Riehl is a jackass independent of Bernhard also being a jackass.
On another note, am I the only person here that doesn’t get Riehl’s joke? I’m one of those people who can read something dirty out of the most innocuous of sentences, but this one just completely eludes me…
Sam,
We have a story here that of Radley says -
“There are now suggestions that the man may have molested Obama. I don’t have much to say on the story itself. If true, it’s awful.”
Obama has never claimed he was molested. So, we really don’t have a story now do we?
But Bernhards “jokes” are just “over the line”?
Give me a break. What a double standard.
I swear, if we found 2 bodies in a freezer in BO’s house 40% of the population would still vote for him and the press would ignore the story.
Gentlemen, I have to say, after reading the comments on Riehl’s piece, I feel very good about the level of discourse here. These sick fucks are actually discussing the political ramifications not only of a child possibly being molested, but a prisoner of war possibly being tortured and raped 40 years ago. In other words, they are making up the most horrible possible past for the other guy, and basing a political discussion on it. Is that really what we’ve come to? Standards, decency, reason mean nothing as long as our guy beats the other guy, who in effect will be no different in the way they run the government anyway? As sadly exemplified by Scott up there, it doesn’t seem to matter what the discussion is about, someone will come up with an absurd sensationalist argument against the “other guy.” Think, People!
Scott,
How exactly is the media ignoring Sandra Bernhardt equivalent to Obama having bodies in his house? I didn’t even know Sandra Bernhardt was still alive. Why should anything she says be of any import? She wasn’t funny when she was mildly well known, why should she be reported on when she is less funny and less known?
Maybe we should dig up the corpse of Fatty Arbuckle and ask if he’d rape Michelle Obama, if he says yes and the press chooses to cover the fact that Fatty Arbuckle’s corpse can talk instead of the fact that he’d be willing to rape Michelle Obama your gentle sensibilities will be soothed by the elimination of the double standard of ignoring inconsequential events.
Is it really easier to scrape the bottom of the barrel and dig up a quote from a washed-up, never-been-funny comedian who is basically nothing but a living Trivial Pursuit question than it is to say, “Wow, Dan Riehl represents all that is wrong with political commentary these days.”?
I get into this with my brother all the time. Any time I criticize his hero, Bill O’Reilly, he reacts with something about Keith Olbermann, as if the mere existence of Keith Olbermann excuses O’Reilly’s bullshit. I think Olbermann is an arrogant, smug, sanctimonious prick; that doesn’t mean I support Bill O’Reilly, whom I find to be a lying, whiny douchebag.
I’m envious of those of you who’ve never heard of Riehl. He’s featured regularly on Fox News, but then again, so is Debbie Schlussel, who is another reprehensible human being.
Other than a part inThe King of Comedy (a sadly overlooked Scorsese film), being one of the voices in Shogun Assassin and dipping her tongue into Madonna’s stench trench 20 years ago, Sandra Bernhard hasn’t done anything worthy of the public’s attention… except give Michelle Malkin something to whine about.
Maybe if Malkin does enough investigation, she can turn up some damning comments by the actor who played Skippy on Family Ties…
I could care less about Davis’ sexual proclivities. I’m much more interested in the fact that he’s yet another in the long (and growing) list of various communists, radicals, Marxists and assorted other pinko loons that Obama has been thick as thieves with for what looks to be his entire life.
Just put Dan Riehl on Ignore. Suggest others do same.
“On another note, am I the only person here that doesn’t get Riehl’s joke? I’m one of those people who can read something dirty out of the most innocuous of sentences, but this one just completely eludes me…”
No Matt you are not. I caught the humor in it as well. Reihl is seemingly poking the Enquirer in the eye with a stick, not attempting to bash “the one”. Joyner and Henley seem to be acting as if it’s all true and jumping onto the PC wagon of talking heads on any 24/7 news channel.
TC–
Well, I mean more like, what is the actual joke Riehl is making. I understand he’s trying to make one, I just don’t get it. I mean, if Obama pronounced Pakistan as Pack It, Stan, okay, maybe there’s a buggery joke there. But he pronounces it Pocky Stahn, doesn’t he? So what’s the joke?
notice its the left (Bernhard) that’s engaging in just a bit of racist steotyping
No, its not “the left” doing anything. It’s Bernhard, all by herself.
“The left” or “the right” don’t do anything and I am sick of people saying so. Individuals on one side or the other say all kinds of crazy things, but that is all it is, individuals saying things. There is no central committee of the left or right getting together and deciding what kind of horrible nonsense they are going to say this week.
oh Zeb,
It IS the “left” that is IGNORING the viscious hate speech (amply demonstrated by Bernhard) that has been going on for the past 8 years, while now decrying of course as RAAAAACIST! any criticism of BO.
It seems the “left” only thinks its “hate speech” if its uttered by the “right” (Malkin, etc etc), even when its not even “hate speech”. The “left” (including the BO campaign, the Clinton campaign, the Democratic Party etc) hasn’t seen fit to condemn a single person like Bernhard, even those who are a little better known, for anything. All the while “left” has been visciously attacking Bush, Rice, now Palin with the most egregious smears and personal attacks.
Yet a comment like that above by Riehle (and I have no idea who he is) is somehow worthy of note. Admittedly, it is Radley’s comment, so perhaps he thinks Riehle is worthy of note. My comment is by no means reflected at him.
Rather it is directed at the response to the post such as -
“Truly, their hypocrisy knows no bounds.” by Danno49 above, obviously referring to the “right”, as Radley refers to Riehle as a “right-wing hack”.
Excuse me while I choke on the REAL hypocrisy, served up daily by the “left”.
Scott, you’re seriously comparing Michelle Malkin to Sandra Bernhard? Now THERE’S a joke we can all laugh at.
Actually JW, I’m not comparing Malkin to Bernhard.
My point was that the left claims Michelle engages in hate speech when she is not even while ignoring actual hate speech from Bernhard.
“No wonder he says ‘Pakit-stan’ in that funny way of his! heh!”
THIS is considered comedy to America’s authoritarian Right. Remember folks, these are the same “tough guys” that claim they will save us from terrorists, gangsters and drug dealers! But in the next breath, they make light of a possible case of child sex abuse. I believe Bill O’Reily at one point theorized that a victim of a kidnapping/molestation in Missouri may have “liked it,” so perhaps these nuts aren’t the crime fighters they claim to be. Instead they are encouraging the stigma attached to sex abuse that I thought was fading in our more “enlightened” times. Heroes one and all!
It seems the “left” only thinks its “hate speech” if its uttered by the “right” (Malkin, etc etc), even when its not even “hate speech”. The “left” (including the BO campaign, the Clinton campaign, the Democratic Party etc) hasn’t seen fit to condemn a single person like Bernhard, even those who are a little better known, for anything.
I’m not going to indulge you in this much, but I will say…
1) I’m not sure why it is that the entirety of “the left” is obligated to condemn the rantings of a has-been performance artist like Bernhard.
2) As for “the left” condemning people, I’m pretty sure that both the Clintons, Geraldine Ferraro, Joe Biden, Jerimiah Wright, and Bill Ayers have all been roundly chastised for their dumb statements and/or possibly racist statements.
3) If Malkin gets accused of being a racist, it’s probably because she’s a xenophobic jingoist who wrote a fucking book defending WWII internment camps.
Here’s a better example.
When that Seinfeld guy “Kramer” went off on a black heckler, that made the news.
But Bernhard. yawn.
Why?
Oh, I know why. The first was an attack on a politically protected class. The second is ok because “conservatives” are not politically protected. And the sideswipe of blacks (how else can you describe Bernhards suggesting Palin would get gang-raped in Harlem as anything other than a racist smear?), well thats OK in this case because the ultimate target is a “conservative”.
Finally,
Matt D sure proves my point.
You know, I’ll not only accept your terms, I’ll embrace them.
African Americans comprise a relatively small minority in this country. They were subject to centuries of viscous racism, which lasted until fairly recently–a black man in his 60 today experienced segregation and the civil rights movement as an adult. And they’re still underrepresented in most of our powerful institutions–Barack Obama, AFAIK, is the only sitting US senator who is black, there are less than half a dozen black CEOs in Fortune 500 companies, etc.
The GOP, on the other hand, represents roughly half the country, has owned the white house for the last 8 years, and until recently, also had control of congress. During this time, they’ve started 2 wars, appointed 2 justices to SCOTUS, spent a couple trillion dollars, and danced around the notion that they have the right to indefinitely detain and possibly even torture American citizens.
So yeah, I’ll leave it to you to figure out which of these groups receives “political protection” and which perhaps actually should.
here’s something from the xenophobic Michelle -
http://michellemalkin.com/
doing the reporting about voter fraud that the MSM won’t do.
Scott, I’ll say it one more time, “the left” doesn’t do anything. There is no agency which can properly be referred to as “the left”, “the right”, or whatever group you want to make up. Each person as an individual decides how to react to things other people say. Get over your retarded two sides mentality. People of all political stripes can overreact, be hypocrites and say stupid things. So what?
Reihl is referred to as a right-wing hack because that’s what he is. All by himself. Because he makes a bad joke doesn’t mean that “the right” is a bunch of assholes, even though he is in some sense part of “the right”.
The story with Marshall is known – Marshall was very specific in his memoirs about his pedophile inclinations and also, about his (and his wife’s at that time) sexual relationship with a very young lady, by name Stanley Ann Dunham.
If the Enquirer opens this can of worms, they may well try to talk with Larry Sinclair (he’s in jail now) – since Obama’s past is so passionately kep under lid by the press, I have no other choice than believe anything I hear about him, so I declare Larry Sinclair credible.