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But Bush Was Talking About Obama, Wasn't He?
The White House has been claiming -- and McCain's spokesperson reiterated it today -- that Bush wasn't talking specifically about Obama when he said that "some" Democrats favor engaging terrorists.
But Ben Smith has already posted two examples in which administration officials acknowledged to journalists -- albeit anonymously -- that, you know, in fact Bush was talking about Obama.
CNN's Ed Henry, for instance, said:
Although the President didn't name names, administration officials are privately acknowledging this was a shot at Barack Obama and other Democrats.
Details, details.
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That's the response?? That's pretty weak...
May 16, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Democrats have spent eight years cowering to this?
May 16, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Forked Tongues! McBush/McShame.
May 16, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
So let me see if I understand; Dana Perino denied it was about Barack, is that it?
Sorry, she is the most ignorant person involved with the current administration. I think Bush likes his press secretaries to have no friggin idea what they are talking about. It is a recurring pattern.
These right wing talking heads are so stupid. You know, we should change the names of America's political parties. "Republican" and "Democrat" really don't capture the essense of the two parties.
From now on the Democratic Party will be called the "Smart Party," and the Republican Party will be called the "Dumbass Party."
May 16, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dana Perino is not ignorant. She was selected as press secretary precisely because she excels at stonewalling, distortion, and obfuscation.
May 16, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
No no. She isn't very bright (or is at least fairly ignorant). She volunteered that she didn't even know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was.
May 16, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree. I think the Bush admin gives their press secretaries (all of them, not just Dana) the mushroom treatment: they keep them in the dark and feed them shit. That way they can claim any damn thing they want and fall back on the "I didn't know defense."
The "I didn't know defense" is a long standing Republican tradition.
I didn't meen this as a slam on Dana so much as a slam on the way this administration is run.
But you have to admit, she is rather clueless, as noted above she didn't know about that Cuban missile thingy from a few years back.
May 16, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain response would be slightly less epic in its idiocy if McCain hadn't gotten up yesterday and he used Bush's Knesset appearance as the jumping-off point of a speech that... mentioned Barack Obama by name.
I'd forgotten what Amateur Hour really looks like. These guys make Mark Penn look like Niccolo Machiavelli.
May 16, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
After the gutting they just received, the better fire Gates as the one they were talking about
May 16, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Such straight talk.
May 16, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm amazed by McCain's response statement. "Hysterical diatribe"!
But the sad thing is, it will make the point loud and clear to the bitter, gun-clinging voters. My bet is this is the beginning of steady march downhill for the Obama campaign.
May 16, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait... what?
May 16, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, yes, we know. Just like Hillary supporters proclaimed the doom of his campaign every fifteen minute back before he finished kicking her ass in the primaries.
May 16, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Republicans are in a pathetic state of disarray. It's a pleasure to watch.
May 16, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Check Froomkin's analysis of this in the post... he offers three examples. From his article:
May 16, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
But the admission was "anonymous", so how can you prove it?????
It's amazing that journalistic ethics permits this.
May 16, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or ... Forked Tongue!
May 16, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would love to see it, but Bush and McCain would never have the courage to debate Obama about national security.
May 16, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to hand it to the MSM for once - they seem to be calling the White House on this. They aren't buying the crap for a change.
May 16, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because you now have Barack Obama - who already has a bully pulpit as powerful as that of Bush - standing up and calling it what it is.
May 16, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Having the WH Press Secretary directly contradict what the WH was saying on background the day before probably isn't the way to keep the MSM on your side. And then there's the fact that even if Bush didn't mention BHO by name, McCain sure as hell did.
Being coy about who Bush was talking about was a pretty childish gambit in the first place, but McCain and the WH staff managed to screw it up even worse.
May 16, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's sad is that the R's didn't suddenly get incompetent - they've always been this way. And they've beaten the D's at every turn, so who's the real incompetent? The real difference is that we finally have a candidate to call BS and not agree with them.
May 16, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a difference between competence in campaigning and competence in governing. The Republican party is like a company with a really good sales force that can't actually deliver the product.
May 16, 2008 10:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
But Dana Perino said it wasn't about Obama...we must all believe....believe...be....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OMG, so sorry! I tried to say that with a straight face and just couldn't do it.
Keep it up, Chimpy! All 28% of the country that will still listen to anything you have to say are riveted to their recliners and Posturepedics!
May 16, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
The best thing about this issue is that the Gopers are attacking Obama and Obama is fighting back smart. This will rally the party around him sooner rather than later.
May 16, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
This whole thing does give me hope that the Democratic party will present a united front in the general election. I just hope Bush keeps flapping his lips from now until November.
May 16, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
You bring up a good point...which is, McCain should know better than to expect Bush to keep his mouth shut if opening it will hurt McCain's candidacy (and it will)...Chimpy has never been about anything but Chimpy. He could care less if he brings the entire party down in smoking ruins if he perceives that it's in HIS self-interest in any way to cut all their legs out from under them.
May 16, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
'But the admission was "anonymous", so how can you prove it?????
It's amazing that journalistic ethics permits this.
Posted by Economides'
Oh no, it sure isn't amazing, not in any way at all. How can who prove what? To whom? This is how journalism works: the journalist gets two sources or more, and it doesn't matter if they'll admit to the public who they are or not, but the journalist knows and has it in his/her notes. If the journalist views them as credible sources, and the editor doesn't object, that's enough to write about it. ALWAYS. And if they screw up a lot, somebody will probably get fired, so the journalists and editors have an economic interest in being careful and in reporting correctly.
And if it wasn't this way, people would totally clam up and most reporting would consist of Dana Perino http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/1207/perino.jpg telling us, "Ooh! What an excellent job the White House did [on any given day!]" Not that she would necessarily know, not being aware of even what the Cuban Missile Crisis was, but that's why they call them Talking Heads, eh?
May 16, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Liar liar pants on fire!
silly Repugs.
May 16, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Random comment about nothing in particular:
Should we be putting HRC's face on a milk carton soon? She's vanished!
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Obama/Olbermann '08!
May 16, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary stepped up yesterday to object to Bush's Knesset blathering.
May 16, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, she did. And I thank her for that.
But isn't it clear after today --- and Obama's evisceration of McCain --- who our nominee is and should be?
May 16, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course Bush was speaking of Obama. And McCain took it the same way. Had Bush done it here at home, it would have just been infuriating. But by doing it in front of the Knesset he also disgraced himself and his country. Thank you Mr. Bush for doing your bit to reunite the Democrats.
May 16, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, Otto, I'm impressed by your newfound sanity. Kudos, my man.
May 16, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoa! Did monkeys just fly out of my butt?
Otto, you stun me!
May 16, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hear, hear!
May 16, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
She is an very well-programmed robot. For some reason I think of her as being inflatable.
May 16, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
All I know is that Dana is giving blondes a bad name.
May 16, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
May 16, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The fact that Bush was speaking of Obama should be forefronted more often so that McBush's new line - "hysterical diatribe" gets shut down. Hard.
May 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink