H. Clinton and assassination remark

[RP1911]

Wow just wow. I think she totally blew it with this one.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20080523/Clinton/

[DB2]

As much as I despise the woman, I feel this is blown out of proportion. Sure she could have used a different example. But the fact is Bobby Kennedy was assasinated, it happened during the primaries, it is part of history. I don't see it as saying she thinks or is hoping for Obama to be killed.

I'm pretty sure all she means is that it not out of the ordinary to have more than one canidate so late in the game.

[RP1911]

The problem is it will be played up even if she didn't mean/intend the sinister aspect of her comment.

[RomanDad]

Oh boy.... That'll bring out the tinfoil hat guys....

[tombinghamthegreat]

Safe to say she's not getting the presidency. Funny about a year ago everyone thought the election would be between Rudy and Hillary but now both New Yorker politicans are not getting the nomination.

[Zebra]

Right, a Clinton would never, ever suggest any of that... :eek:

Frank

As much as I despise the woman, I feel this is blown out of proportion. Sure she could have used a different example. But the fact is Bobby Kennedy was assasinated, it happened during the primaries, it is part of history. I don't see it as saying she thinks or is hoping for Obama to be killed.

I'm pretty sure all she means is that it not out of the ordinary to have more than one canidate so late in the game.

[cbn620]

I'm not exactly offended by this but the comment was made in extremely poor taste and couldn't have been timed worse. What with Ted Kennedy in the hospital and everything, I just find it to have been disrespectful to have in any way used the Kennedy family as some sort of political tactic.

Assassination is a topic that hits home in every industrialized political society and it's just not something a candidate should bring up if they should hope to win any nomination. Considering the particular assassination she referenced, it's just that much worse.

I'm wondering what kind of point she was even trying to make, anyways. Hilary Clinton: assuming the worst! Hilary Clinton, I wasn't quite good enough to make it, but if any of you guys get killed, who ya gonna call? Hilary Clinton: Might I remind you of a downright despicable and horrible tragedy in our history as a nation?

She's obviously in second place, so I assume even if Obama were to be harmed and not be able to run, she would be selected. For her to even make reference to that is just stupid beyond words.

I personally was not offended. It doesn't sound like she's wishing death on anyone, it doesn't even really sound legitimately malicious. But the statement--or rather the reference, what a horrible reference to make-- was ignorant, somewhat callous, and in very, very, very bad taste.

[AfricanHunter]

As much as I despise the woman, I feel this is blown out of proportion. Sure she could have used a different example. But the fact is Bobby Kennedy was assasinated, it happened during the primaries, it is part of history. I don't see it as saying she thinks or is hoping for Obama to be killed.

I'm pretty sure all she means is that it not out of the ordinary to have more than one canidate so late in the game.

You know, that logic might fly for the average bear but we are talking about Hillary here! She is like a rat on a sinking ship and is looking for any way out possible.

I think her goal was to make a comment that could be later passed off as just alluding to what you said above ( "that it not out of the ordinary to have more than one canidate so late in the game." ) but in actuality would cause a ton of media attention for her and also bring the whole "Obama's Black and might get assasinated" idea into a lot of peoples minds.

[drclark]

The real question is how would the media be treating the same comment if it had been uttered by McCain or any other republican?

Implied racism has been a significant part of hillary's campaign in the closing days. Basically her only argument left to the superdelegates is that racism is still alive and well in America and there are plenty of white uneducated working class democrats in states like Ky & Wv that will not vote for a black man. Her and bill have gotten away with plenty of racial comments throughout this campagin that would have hung a republican... so I have no problem with the media roasting her over this.

I truly think her intent was to state that in past elections some nominations were not settled until June, BUT no previous election cycle had the bulk of the primaries so early!

Hillary's real problem is that her and obama are so close on actual policy positions that she really cannot differentiate herself except that she has "more esperience". She is losing simply because he is "prettier and more popular".

drc

[FlyingPen]

If the worst were to happen, she just blew her chances of getting the nod.

Implied racism has been a significant part of hillary's campaign in the closing days. Basically her only argument left to the superdelegates is that racism is still alive and well in America and there are plenty of white uneducated working class democrats in states like Ky & Wv that will not vote for a black man. Her and bill have gotten away with plenty of racial comments throughout this campagin that would have hung a republican... so I have no problem with the media roasting her over this.

Yeah, this sums up exactly how I feel as well.

[Sutcliffe]

Strange, poorly chosen, desperate. I'm willing to give anybody a pass that has been running themselves to death for the last six months. Being in front of a camera or mic 24/7 and burning the candle at both ends and from the middle pretty much gaurantees anybody will do something they regret. I really think people are making too much a deal of it.
On the up side she's pretty much immune from assassination. Think of all that experiance she got dodging sniper bullets in Kosovo.

[MisterDudeManGuy]

It's kinda funny that she purports to be talking about the length of the primary process and decides to bring up the "a" word. The one has nothing to do with the other last I looked. Certainly that's not the first association that comes up in MY mind...

If she were trying to discuss the primary process alone, she would have said that both Bill and Kennedy were campaigning through June. Period. The fact that Kennedy was shot has NOTHING to do with the primary process and certainly did not bear mention - if only for the political landmine that it was. She is too experienced a player not to know that - hey, she can't claim experience on the one hand and then not be expected to show it.

I'm not saying anything other than as a public figure, Hillary does know how to craft her words for maximum effect - it's her JOB. She has spent many years in using communication and persuasion to get her political goals met. For someone to think that she did not mean something by the words she chose should wonder: Out of all the examples of late primary activity in the history of our country, she chose two for her comment. And she chose to mention a candidate being killed, despite the obvious problems that kind of comment would generate. Interesting.

Do not forget - she CHOSE to say that. Out of all of the possibilities in the world that there are, she chose that.

[Steyr_223]

Keith Olbermann Special Comment: Clinton-Obama Assassination

Great rant! Best rant ever. You can smell his dislike of Hillary.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DLNFsl130_Y

[gspam1]

Keith Olbermann Special Comment: Clinton-Obama Assassination

Great rant! Best rant ever. You can smell his dislike of Hillary.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DLNFsl130_Y

Olbermann joked with glee about Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney being shot, but that was okay? Agree, excellent anti-HRC rant though.

[Solidmch]

Olbermann joked with glee about Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney being shot, but that was okay? Agree, excellent anti-HRC rant though.

Keith Olbermann is a worthless waist of atoms! I cant stand HRC though. Obama scares me to death too.

[yellowfin]

It's not out of line at all for her to say. Stop this ridiculous sensitivity junk--there's enough perpetrated by the other side as it is. Makes me sick to my stomach. I wouldn't at all think it unlikely that something foul (well, depending on your point of view) could possibly happen. There's a lot of power struggle here and human history has had hundreds of examples of such. Ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece, the Papacy, medieval Europe, China, Japan, France, England, Scandinavia during the Viking era, Russia (both with czars and communists, and even a few years ago), etc. all have instances we know of precisely that sort of thing. Given that it's been a while, I'd say it's only a matter of time.

[MrTuffPaws]

You know. She just needs to go away.

[yellowfin]

You know. She just needs to go away. Only if she takes Obama, Feinstein, Boxer, Kerry, and all the others like them with her. If they don't all go away, we need her out in the spotlight embarassing all of them the way they need to be. She is doing our work for us and we all should hope she keeps it up. Let her speak all she wants and let the truth get out.

[berto]

The blow-up over this is ridiculous. If Obama got whacked between now and the convention Hil could stake her claim whether she was still in the race or not.

[dfletcher]

Personally I don't see this as a "mistake" on her part. She made a very similarly worded statement a few weeks ago, referencing "what happened" in CA in 1968 but not using the word assassination. No one in the media really picked up on it and as a result, I think she thought it was OK to say it again, perhaps a bit more strongly worded this time..

[Steyr_223]

Vince Foster, Ron Brown and ....

Don't cross the Clinton Mafia..

:)

[MisterDudeManGuy]

It's not out of line at all for her to say. Stop this ridiculous sensitivity junk--there's enough perpetrated by the other side as it is. Makes me sick to my stomach.

It is a matter of fact, not sensitivity, that out of a myriad of possibilities she had to draw upon to illustrate why she should keep campaigning, she did decide to mention the death of an opponent as a good reason to keep running. Note: Observence of fact is not sensitivity.

This comment was an outcome of her intellectual process. I find it to be quite interesting that she ended up there. With all of the information in her head from the study and experience she has had, that is what came out. How many others have had the same or similar discussions and never went that direction? That's kind of like two contractors bidding on the same job, and one openly speculates that "...yeah, good thing there are open bids on these jobs, 'cause some people get killed in this business..." I suppose that's perfectly fair for them to say that, but - wow.

People need to be responsible for what they choose to say. Words have meaning. If that was not the idea she meant to convey, then it might have been wiser not to bring it up... Funny how that all works - don't bring it up and it's not an issue... Seems so simple.

The funny thing is that Kennedy's numbers were sliding when he was shot, so his position actually more mirrors Hillary's than Barak's... :-)

[dfletcher]

It is a matter of fact, not sensitivity, that out of a myriad of possibilities she had to draw upon to illustrate why she should keep campaigning, she did decide to mention the death of an opponent as a good reason to keep running. Note: Observence of fact is not sensitivity.

This comment was an outcome of her intellectual process. I find it to be quite interesting that she ended up there. With all of the information in her head from the study and experience she has had, that is what came out. How many others have had the same or similar discussions and never went that direction? That's kind of like two contractors bidding on the same job, and one openly speculates that "...yeah, good thing there are open bids on these jobs, 'cause some people get killed in this business..." I suppose that's perfectly fair for them to say that, but - wow.

People need to be responsible for what they choose to say. Words have meaning. If that was not the idea she meant to convey, then it might have been wiser not to bring it up... Funny how that all works - don't bring it up and it's not an issue... Seems so simple.

The funny thing is that Kennedy's numbers were sliding when he was shot, so his position actually more mirrors Hillary's than Barak's... :-)

Agreed that Kenndy in '68 was by numbers closer to Clinton's position. My memory may be suspect, but I think it's more accurate to say his numbers were not as positive as people have remembered in these last 40 years. The thought that "he would have won only if ...." may not have been borne out. He lost Oregon but won California - may or may not have been picking up steam, but again - the ordained winner he was not.

It seems to me that under her scenario, Ms. Clinton is tacitly acknowledging the only way she can win is for the frontrunner to be killed?

[MisterDudeManGuy]

It seems to me that under her scenario, Ms. Clinton is tacitly acknowledging the only way she can win is for the frontrunner to be killed?

...Freud would have had volumes to say about what was ticking inside her head to cause her to utter that particular statement. Out of all the others available... :D