The Politics Of Personal Destruction
Posted December 13th, 2007 by Da King
The Clinton campaign brought up Barack Obama's high school drug use as a weapon against him. Obama has openly admitted to it and never attempted to hide it. Unlike Bill Clinton, who "didn't inhale", Obama did inhale and is honest about it. I respect Obama for telling the truth, even if it hurts him in this presidential race. There are no perfect people on this earth. As for respecting the Clintons…nah, don't think so.
This story is standard operating procedure for a Clinton campaign. First, the story is leaked to the press, and then the Clinton candidate denies any knowledge of it. They have run this play many times before. The hit man this time was Bill Shaheen, national co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Shaheen made his remarks to the Washington Post (Gosh, I can't imagine how it became public after telling the Post !). Now, get a load of this. Shaheen said he was concerned that REPUBLICANS would use Obama's past drug use against him, even as Shaheen, representing the Clinton campaign, was using Obama's past drug use against him. These people are shameless.
Here's what Shaheen said, from the article:
Shaheen, an attorney and veteran organizer, said much of Obama's background is unknown and could be a problem in November 2008 if he is the Democratic nominee. He said Republicans would work hard to discover new aspects of Obama's admittedly spotty youth.
"It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'" said Shaheen, whose wife, Jeanne, is the state's former governor and is running for the U.S. Senate next year.
"There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome," Shaheen said.
And here's the stock Clinton denial:
Clinton's campaign said it had nothing to do with his comments, and Shaheen said later he regretted them.
"I deeply regret the comments I made today and they were not authorized by the campaign in any way," Bill Shaheen said in an e-mail released by the campaign.
A campaign spokeswoman, Kathleen Strand, earlier had said "Senator Clinton is out every day talking about the issues that matter to the American people. These comments were not authorized or condoned by the campaign in any way."
Right. And Bill Clinton did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.
Anybody who believes this was not a planned move by the Clintons, please raise your hand (Seriously. I have special software that allows me to see you sitting at your computer reading this…Reverend, you can put your hand down. I already know you believe the Clintons. It's part of your religion, The Doctrine of Democratic Infallibility). The rest of us all know better. The second Shaheen mentioned the Republicans during this dirty political trick against Obama, everyone in the country should have know it came straight from Hillary. Hillary blames the Republicans for everything, especially her own coverups. A vast right-wing conspiracy, remember ? Every time she gets into a rough spot in a debate, she starts talking about the "Republican machine". It's a reflex with her.
Obama knows the Clintons are being dishonest. Here's a response from his campaign manager, David Plouffe:
"Hillary Clinton said attacking other Democrats is the fun part of this campaign, and now she's moved from Barack Obama's kindergarten years to his teenage years in an increasingly desperate effort to slow her slide in the polls. Senator Clinton's campaign is recycling old news that Barack Obama has been candid about in a book he wrote years ago, and he's talked about the lessons he's learned from these mistakes with young people all across the country. He plans on winning this campaign by focusing on the issues that actually matter to the American people."
I, for one, hope this blows up right in Hillary's face. I hope she loses Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Does anybody have Oprah's phone number ?
December 13th, 2007 at 11:15 am
You hit the Clintonistas right in the solar plexus with this story. I always have wondered how one of them leaks to the press, gets the desired result with later printings, and then the machine says that he was not authorized to tell that story. I wonder when they will fire one of the leakers for telling unauthorized stories about opponents. For some reason they don't seem to understand that after their story gets in the media it won't die immediately. LOL We all know that they know and have planned all the "leaks" they put out, but some of their followers just don't want to look at the truth.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
You're probable right, King. The Akron Atheist and many other Kool-Aid drinkers automatically believe whatever story the Clintons spin.
Well, maybe not. They may not actually believe the Clintons; only a complete fool could. Rather, it's that the Clintonistas — as Roysoldboy has aptly labled them — will defend whatever the Slickmeister & Comrade Hillary say, using half-truths, outright lies, and denial to try and prove their case, thus degrading themselves to the gutter level of the Clintons.
But this is what makes this primary campaign so delicious. The Clintons are attacking a fellow quasi-socialist, Obama. And he's Black to boot — well, not quite accroding to the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and other so-called civil rights leaders.
Too bad Obama doesn't have the balls to go after Bill on his heavy cocaine. Remember, when speaking of Bill's cocaine use, his brother Roger said Slick has a nose like a vacume cleaner. Party on! — or the numberous other scandals of the Clintons — Cattlegate, Filegate, Rose Law firm billing records, Travelgate, White Water, Pardongate, stealing private property from the White House on leaving, etc., etc.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
The reason the Clintons are successful is that they are able to raise lots of corporate money. As founding members of the Democratic Leadership Council, they've help remake the Democratic party into Republican-lite. This is why they are able to raise so much campaign money. The media anoints them as front runners because it lusts after that money.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
How is the media going to get that money? That doesn't make sense to me.
The media favors the Clintons because everyone knows who they are and it makes their jobs easier. It's like the Yankees coverage on ESPN.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Vince, I did hear Obama make a joke about Slick Willie's claim that he didn't inhale. Obama said he didn't understand that, because inhaling was the whole point. Obama said it during his talk about drugs to those high school kids. Regarding cocaine, I never heard Willie claim he didn't snort, so maybe he didn't lie about that one
December 15th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Much to do about nothing. While Hillary is not my first pick…..the Obama drug use stuff was out in the open, information. Barak wrote about it in his own book.
There isn't any story here…..none. The open mouth breathers are so desperate for ANYTHING to use against Dem frontrunners, they even get hysterical about old news.
But please….enjoy yourselves…..yuk it up…..bring up all the old Clinton hate stuff….all of it.
The electoral train wreck that's headed the GOP's way will need all the humor supporters can find.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:54 am
After that response, I'm wondering if you are on drugs. The point wasn't that Obama used drugs in the past, the point was that Hillary's people were using it as a campaign tactic and attempting to shift the blame to Republicans all at the same time. More Kool-Aid ?