CON GAMES: Six Degrees Of Condemnation

March 26th, 2008 at 02:13pm Michael Conniff 2

Democratic Presidential politics has been devolving for years into the unspeakable drip-drip-drip of he said/she said.

Say what?

In such a cesspool, Barack Obama enjoys a distinct advantage because he is not old enough to have said all that much, whereas Hillary Clinton on the record has been a broken record for time immemorial.

Flotsam and jetsam of all kinds are bound to come to the surface unless the candidate is gagged and then flogged and then bagged by bloggers. Whether it’s a plagiarized speech or a phrase ineptly gleaned, Presidential candidates of all persuasions know from the get-go that everything they say can and will be held against them. We get that and so do they. But what is becoming as absurd as the blow on your face is the notion that the candidate is on the hook his own self for everything anyone they know says about race or the race.

The gotcha web has grown like Spidey goo. When Geraldine Ferrara spake about Obama’s so-called advantage in being black, she was bleeped into oblivion by the Clinton campaign and forced to resign from her theretofore insignificant role. When one of Obama’s operatives called Hillary “a monster,” she might as well have inked her own political death sentence in stem cell discards. Roger Clemens be damned: moronic tabloids erupted in ’roid rage over idea that someone in the Obama campaign could find Hillary a monster. (Stop the presses.) And let’s not forget Dollar Bill Clinton’s say-it-ain’t-so hoof-in-mouth disease in South Carolina and beyond.

You can make a case that a candidate has to answer for a spouse or a close adviser. Fair enough. Beyond that? Foggedaboudit!

The latest twist is to treat the candidate pastors like they are speaking in the tongue of he or she who would be the next preacher-President. When throwing the anti-semitic Black Muslim Louis Farrakhan against Obama didn’t work in the Ohio debate, concerns about his local preacher and church hit the news cycle like a hammer.

The political six degrees of separation works on the rumps of the Elephantiasis Party as well. Republican Presidential nominee-to-be John McCain got hit upside the Scriptures in much the same way as Obama. Not happy to whack him for what he’s actually said and done, the blundering herd realized it could smack the Mac Attack for the excesses of his local preacher.

As if the third-party blindsiding of a Presidential contender isn’t nasty enough, the subsequent drill requires the candidate to personally denounce what that particular person has said as if it were his or her own. Crazy, you say? You said it. The only reason this is happening is because partisan fart-blowers need fresh ammunition the way sharks need chum.

Where does it end?

It won’t in our lifetimes. At some point, Kevin Bacon will say something that embarrasses his chosen candidate, and the candidate will have to repudiate what Kevin Bacon says, return his contribution, and then profusely apologize for what the inseparable actor thinks out loud.

Of course, that’s much easier than actually judging candidates on what they say or do. So let the vetting begin. Presidential candidates angling for 2012 and beyond had best beware: the friend you befriend must truly be your own.

Entry Filed under: Politics, Religion, Basalt, Media, Colorado, Con Games, Pitkin County, United Post

9 Comments Add your own

1. Casey McConnell | March 27th, 2008 at 8:40 am

Sorry Con Man but I disagree. It's one thing to have a family member speak such things because they are blood and you had no choice what family you were born into it's a different thing when it's your pastor. Because you have the ability to get up and walk out of that church.

The notion that he stayed because he felt loyal to him is crazy. If that is the case speak up about his words of division. Instead Obama tried to sweep it under the rug when he threw his hat in the ring. Then he makes him his spiritual counsel. Once this thing hit the air ways he cut this guy so fast it's not funny.

Watching him on the News shows that Friday when he was trying to defend his position he looked silly. The reporters took it right too him and Obama couldn't do a thing. He didn't look to Presidential in that moment.

I am sad about this development, as a middle of the road guy I was going to vote for him. But I am glad this came to light before I had the chance.

If your stance is to unite the nation aligning yourself with such a person shows a lot about your character. Yes by the very definition you will need to bridge the ideas of such extreme believes but it doesn't mean you stay in that church and not speak up about the hate being spoken. This is true is for the other side as well. If you want to align yourself with some crazy nut you can't be the president of the entire nation.

The right is going to have a field day with this episode and middle America is going to have a hard time over looking this fact come voting time.
2. Hugh520 | March 27th, 2008 at 9:44 am

The fact of the matter, or if you will the gaffe at the center of much of what Reverend Wright says, is that its true. He's right. The chickens of much of our post WWII policy have come home to roost. The CIA term for it is blowback.

Our Middle East policy has generally favored despots, our South American policies the same. We trumped up two wars of choice based on lies and deceit. Our so called rulers have plucked citizens, white and black, and placed them half way around the world in harms way based on proven lies.
3. Hugh520 | March 27th, 2008 at 10:47 am

...I just lost a second post on this topic that took an bloody hour to write. I'm pissed. What is up with this?
4. Hugh520 | March 27th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

... Alright this is my last attempt to finnish this post. Pastor Wright has railed against what I consider to be the institutions of perpetual enslavement. From the Suharto regime in Indonesia --backed by American policy, to despotic regimes in the Middle East again backed by American policy. His ministry is primarily for the exploited and wretched poor of this world and against the power elites -- represented ably by the World Bank, the IMF et al. The fact that they're white is incidental to his anger -- anger that they treat the majority of humanity as indentured servants.

The most jarring comment made in Senator Obama's speech on race is that the most segregated day in America is Sunday. And he's right.

The politics of "gotcha" are being practiced by the Clinton's. I have every confidence that a constitutional scholar such as Mr. Obama can not only separate a generational bias and some pastoral hyperbole from that which is worth taking away from Pastor Wright's sermons. Have you ever read a constitutional law argument? Mr.Obama happens to be a constitutional scholar. There are always dissenting opinions, and I'm sure Senator Obama could easily provide his to his pastor's fiery oratory.

But the Clinton's in wanting you to believe Obama's a bigot are practicing the lowest form of political manipulation and disparagement.

There are monsters here. They live in the richest suburb of New York. They obfuscate the truth. They toss anyone who gets in their way aside like garbage, they vote for wars they probably don't believe in for political expediency. And If Hillary had a 1/4 of Obama's vision and rhetorical skill -- she wouldn't have to resort to her ad hominem attacks and pathetic "gotcha" slime.
5. B Jon Traylor | March 27th, 2008 at 5:24 pm

Thank you, Hugh520. Very, very well said. This "created" issue has troubled me the last two weeks. I read and researched and did more. What you wrote here is perfect, in a manner which is the truth we all need to hear.
I, too, read and downloaded and listened to his speach. It was amazing, it was profound, it was true, and innocently real. His comment about the most segregated day of the year, repeatedly, beingSunday-- moved me. How amazingly simple, yet true. That statement stood out to me. I think he's the real deal. I think he should be our next President. I know he still has my vote, as for now.
I think what you said here took courage, thought, and will. Thank you. I agree. -- Jon
6. Mitch Mulhall | March 28th, 2008 at 8:52 am

Hugh--(OFF-TOPIC, FREE ADVICE) Try composing your posts and comments in NotePad, WordPad, or your word processor of choice, and then copy/paste them into the Comment pane/post editor. While I've had few bad experiences posting comments, having your words disappear into computer netherworld is not the kind of thing that makes your day light and frothy. If you've composed your comment/post in your word-processor of choice and something goes wrong, you will feel a huge smile coming on...

Cheers,
7. Hugh520 | March 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am

Many thanks for the generous comments above.

I'm a bit of a imbecile when it comes to the copy/paste process. Let's say I use Word. Could you walk me through it?

PS. Though I write from NYC, I'm an old friend of The Con Man. We went to grade school together.
8. Mitch Mulhall | March 28th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

I'd be happy to Hugh... I'll put together an email for you about this so we can keep this diversion here in the comments short...

Cheers,
9. Hugh520 | March 28th, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Mitch, you can get my email from Micheal if necessary.

Many Thanks,

Hugh