Assassination
I won't comment on this. There's nothing else to add.
|
|
|
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
|
|
|
An Online Resource for Alternative Queer Events and Ideas
Search TNG
Get Updates Via Email
Recently Added Events
Out and About - DC
TNG Coming To Your Town
TNG started off as a DC-based blog/website for alternative queer culture, events and commentary, but we've realized our writing and concept isn't applicable only to DC. We're working to expand into other cities throughout the US. Here's how you can help:
* Become a city events editor.
* Write for TNG.
* Join the TNG Street Team.
Recent Comments
TNG Archive
15 comments:
ebony tower? I love it.
Clinton made a stupid comment. However, I honestly find this rant far more offensive than her comment, because Olbermann outright says (repeatedly) that Clinton is encouraging someone to assassinate Obama. Her comment, as far as I can tell, was in no way directed at Obama. Rather, it seems to be an ill-considered rejoinder towards media pundits demanding that she give up, and an appeal to voters to not feel pressured to vote for Obama just to finish the contest. Stating that she’s encouraging murder as a way to clinch the nomination is an intentional character smear.
Pundits hold candidates accountable for what they say, which is a good thing. But who hold the pundits accountable when they deliberately step WAY over the line, especially with the intent of influencing someone to vote a certain way?
It appears this video is no longer available online. Could someone link to something that can inform the rest of us who are late to the game as to what her comment was?
Okay... I found this from the Huffington Post online. My reaction? BFD. People need to chill out. It's not "too soon" to refer to the Kennedy assassinations. Bobby was killed 40 years ago.
True, she could have said "RFK had won the primary in June and was sadly assassinated shortly thereafter" but really. BFD. People need to relax.
People just use things like this to support the candidate of their choice, just like I had an effing field day when Obama called a reporter "sweetie." I was like, "SEE!? He's a misogynist!!" He's not. He was probably tired, which is probably why Clinton made this comment. I agree with Michael -- people need to chill out and remember we're all on the same side.
1) Olberman does not say Clinton is "encouraging someone to assassinate Obama." Exactly the opposite, actually. He says that any reasonable person would not believe this. There's no doubt in my mind that Clinton did not mean to imply that someone should kill her opponent. That isn't even the point.
2) Regardless of overreaction from supporters of both candidates (it really is ridiculous), riteous anger should not be lumped in the same box with political nonsense. BFD? Seriously? Clinton invoked the spectre of assassination in a race against another candidate that is tainted with that possibility (We have all thought about it) Yet, she has not apologized to him. Really? She makes a comment that at first can be construed as a veiled reference to someone blowing her opponent away and she offers no apology? None? Has our moral standard sunk so low that this kind of behavior is BFD? Depressing.
Olbermann has had a hard on for Obama the moment he stepped into the race. It's sad that as a liberal, watching MSNBC and CNN throughout this entire primary campaign, I've actually noticed that the only network to be fair in its coverage of the Democratic primary has been Fox News - I NEVER thought I'd say that, but it seems to be the truth from what I'm told.
Let's keep all of this in perspective. These candidates are literally awake 20 hours a day. When they aren't out giving stump speeches and greeting voters, they are in strategy meetings, calling donors for money and talking to reporters. They are exhausted. Obama (and his surrogates) have made remarks that have been considered offensive, as has Hillary. Perhaps Olbermann and our other fellow liberals should direct more of their attacks against the real enemy in this race - the right-wing, homophobic, Confederate flag-waving Republicans and John McCain. Now that'd be more productive than some rant on some shitty network talk show.
Either the video you had originally posted drew some connections that I haven't seen or heard yet, or people are just connecting too many dots... either way, nothing I read about this even touched on the possibility of insinuation that Obama was even the least bit referenced in her misstatement about RFK's assassination. Can you try to re-locate the original video?
Yes, by all means, let's "keep this in perspective." Clinton can hold a press conference today and ammend her original apology to the Kennedy family, by saying "I also apologize to Senator Obama. I should have not brought up the topic of assassination in any way considering the context of our current political environment."
That's all it would take. Civil, heartfelt, and she would be forgiven by reasonable people, such as myself.
The connections are obvious just by bringing up the topic, and Olbermann understands this because he feels it, like so many of us do. Many are terrified of the possibility of dealing with the splattered brains of the first female or the first black male president, particularly since the represent so much, and affect us so deeply by what they represent. This would rip our country apart, as it did when Kennedy and MLK were killed. I've heard too many stories of how those deaths harmed the collective consciensce of our country. I know old people in my family who still can't talk about it, or do so haltingly and with hushed tones. We shouldn't be providing energy to a self-fulfilling prophecy, and if we do, we should apologize.
Ben why are all of your posts so polarizing? In my opinion they typically go far beyond thought-provoking or challenging, and more towards annoying if not odious.
agree with post above....
also if TNG decides to cover political bits... I would hope it would follow its non-mainstream feel and not feed us with MSNB bias.
Obama is the media's 'golden boy'. They all have a hard-on for him and had he said the same thing it'd be no big deal.
I hate MSNBC as well.
Straw Man Argument:
Person A has position X.
Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
Person B attacks position Y.
Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.
Who cares if Obama is a golden boy. Who cares if MSNBC is slanted. Who cares if I'm "Polarizing," or you don't like Olbermann.
A major presidential candidate brought up the issue of assassination in a heated political campaign, more than once, while running against a guy who many people fear might get shot....and she hasn't offered an apology to her rival for misspeaking. That is indecent, and beyond the pale.
If I used the "N" word in a room full of black people or the "F" word in a room full of gay people, even if I were using it in a context not meant to be disparaging, I would apologize if I offended someone (I don't use either word). The same goes for mentioning the act of a presidential candidate getting their head blown off, particularly If I'm running against a guy people fear might get his head blown off.
Does anyone actually care about this issue, separate from their particular political leaning? This is bigger than a candidate. This is determining what your values are. Do we have a standard for civility in public discourse, or do we retreat to our ideological foxholes and automatically dismiss real moral quandries in the name of political bias?
I keep thinking we're better than all this bomb throwing, but all I keep running up against are sheep blindly running behind a candidate, whether their name be Clinton, Obama, or McCain. I find critical analysis of their actions doesn't matter to the sheep so much as the sound and sight of the shepherd.
I've already accepted that anything I say that may be criticial of Senator Clinton will be met with an intense rebuttal, as she has somehow been voted the fairy queen. I can appreciate the passion people feel for her, but if we can't speak critically and constructively about any of the candidates without creating straw arguments or automatically dismissing one another, our problems are bigger, and more personal, that choosing between two (or three) candidates.
Post a Comment