All three of the major candidates running for president have been haunted by statements made by those around them or sometimes, like with Hillary Clinton, statements they’ve made themselves. While it it’s easy for a candidate or anyone in the public eye to say something that they will later regret, it appears that the upcoming election has people tripping over themselves trying to find something that can be used against those running for our government’s highest office.
It seems to have started with Obama and his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. While some of Wright’s views could be considered extremely controversial, when he made the infamous “America’s chickens are coming home to roost” remark during a sermon, many refused to accept the fact that he was quoting a white man who served under Pres. Ronald Reagan. The public was outraged; Rev. Wright was lambasted as un-American and Obama was guilty by association.
Just a few days ago, John McCain rejected the endorsement that he had received from Rev. John Hagee because of a sermon that Hagee delivered in the early 1990’s. In it, Hagee stated the following:
God says in Jeremiah 16: ‘Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers. … Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them.’ That would be the Jews. … Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter.
Basically, Rev. Hagee was saying that God allowed (or caused) Hitler to destroy millions of Jews so that they would be forced to reclaim their original homeland. That might sound outrageous to someone who isn’t familiar with the Bible, but anyone who has read the old Testament can easily see that God apparently did some rather atrocious things to his “chosen” people. They were enslaved, starved, forced to wonder in the wilderness for forty years, abused by various kings, etc. Taking all of that into consideration, it’s easy to see how a evangelical Christian who believes in the infallibility of scripture could believe that Hitler was somehow part of God’s overall plan.
While I strongly disagree with some of Hagee’s other remarks about Hurricane Katrina and the Catholic Church, I find it incredible that anyone could accuse him of being anti-Semitic. After all, he’s a Christian Zionist who’s church has donated millions of dollars in aid to Israel. He has even be praised by Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Then, today, we hear the latest uproar over an answer that Senator Hillary Clinton gave to an editorial board. After being asked loaded questions about whether it was time for her to bring her campaign to an end, Hillary responded:
My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it.
Almost immediately, Clinton’s remarks were attacked by rival Barack Obama as “unfortunate” and having “no place in this campaign.” Clinton then issued the following statement:
The Kennedys have been much on my mind in the last days because of Sen. [Edward] Kennedy, and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever.
I just find all of this so annoying. Why does the public overreact to every little thing? Do we have to depend on the media to tell us what is and isn’t politically correct? Why are we eternally (myself included) jumping to conclusions before we listen to all the facts?
I hope that among all this trivial nonsense and round-the-clock hyperbole, I can at least retain the ability to think for myself. That seems to be a foreign concept for far too many Americans.
4 Comments
I agree with you that most of this nonsense has been overblown to the point of ridiculousness.
But not Hillary’s unfortunate comment. I don’t care who you are, you just don’t go there. Ever.
Hillary knows that.
And it’s pretty disingenuous for you to say that Barack’s camp attacked her over this. David Axelrod was asked about the remark, and he merely answered the question. Most people - myself included - think Axelrod was being extremely kind in his reaction.
last I knew you can’t condem someone for being associated with another person who’s sayings something you don’t agree with while at the same time you are seeking the endorsement of a controversialy person too. don’t blame hagee & parsley on democracts, this was McCain making not their’s,
try this progression on for size
thanks for your comments. i, too, have been watching with dismay the “gotcha” journalism being practiced by tabloid cable and the perceived need to follow on by the mainstream press. we have reached a sad state of affairs and i have one posit for why this gotcha crap has gained such traction.
first, anyone knows clinton was merely saying that “shit happens” in campaigning, even as late as june, so why should she back out now. in saying that, badly as she did, she is saying no more than was reported at http://www.straightrecord.com/over more than six months ago in looking at the unique campains ahead.
what is most troubling is that the general public has lost the ability to read these statements that have become “gotchas.” just look at the blogs and reactions even from people one used to consider reasonable. there has been a great loss of intelligence and functional literacy in this country, leading to misreading of many statements and a burgeoning and profitable tabloid cable market.
I don’t really understand her need to bring up RFK. Her point was made by her saying that her husband didn’t have the nomination in the bag until June. We get it–she’s not dropping out. If she felt it necessary to bring up the Kennedy assassination, she certainly could have worded it better, but I guess her brain-to-mouth filter was a little slow that day.
The media (and politicians) count on the stupidity of the American public. It is sad, but very true. The people who are actually paying attention and care enough to look things up and find out the whole story (or even THINK about what is/was actually said in its proper context, rather than what the other side says about it) are the exception rather than the rule. Campaign spin doctors work around the clock, viewing tapes of rival candidates’ speeches, tearing them apart, looking for something to twist around to use against the candidate (if you don’t believe me, rent The War Room–it’s about Bill Clinton’s campaign). It doesn’t matter if something is true or not (take the “swiftboat attacks” against Kerry), if they can cause damage to the other person, they will. Is it fair? No. Is it going to change? No.