Herbert: Hillary Opened 'Trap Door' Under Obama

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

"The opening of a trapdoor and the sudden snap of a hangman's noose at dawn yesterday brought an extraordinary end to a political era in Iraq." -- Opening line from The Guardian's report of the execution of Saddam, Dec. 31, 2006

"Senator Clinton never gave a second thought to opening the trap door beneath her fellow Democrat." -- Bob Herbert of the NYT, Confronting the Kitchen Sink, March 8, 2008 [emphasis added in both citations].

When Bill O'Reilly, in an impromptu response to a phone caller's question, said that he didn't want to "lynch" Michelle Obama, critics on the left from Media Matters to Keith Olbermann were outraged. Star Jones condemned O'Reilly's statement as "racist, unacceptable and inappropriate on every level."

[governsleastgovernsbest]

[governsleastgovernsbest]

What if a conservative had said it ping to Today show list.

[randita]

What if a conservative had said it ping to Today show list.

A lot of people perceive O'Reilly to be conservative, even though he's not.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

I didn’t specifically have O’Reilly in mind. Imagine if any leading conservative pundit had said it.

[ARE SOLE]

"How dare this white man with a microphone and the trust of the public think that in 2008, he can still put the words "lynch and party" together in the same sentence with reference to a black woman; in this case, Michelle Obama?"

Man, I can almost see her head going from side to side at a high rate of speed.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Interesting quote; who’s it from?

[Krankor]

When I think of a trapdoor, I envision Flash Gordon standing before Ming the Merciless just before he falls to the basement below to face some horrendous monster.

[ARE SOLE]

Sorry, Star Jones. Or is that Sorry Star Jones?

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Of course you’re right that trapdoors aren’t only used for hanging, and I discuss that at the end of the article:

“So how will people — from Hillary Clinton to the guardians of political correctness — react to Bob Herbert’s line? Are hanging metaphors suddenly acceptable when used by pundits of the left? Will Herbert claim he used the trap door image only to suggest that Hillary wants to make Obama suddenly disappear? What if a conservative pundit had said he’d like to open a trap door beneath Obama? Odds his explanation along such lines would be accepted on the left?”

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks, AS.

[aruanan]

Are hanging metaphors suddenly acceptable when used by pundits of the left?

They were in The Case of the Hanging Chads.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

LOL!

[SlowBoat407]

They were in The Case of the Hanging Chads.

So now you want to apply the term to an entire African nation?

Al Sharpton is gonna be ma-a-a-d!

[PGalt]

They were in The Case of the Hanging Chads.

LOL!

I won't even mention, Hang Time. /sarcasm

[libertylover]

There's a much bigger example of the double standard that didn't get ANY attention to my knowledge. Remember the photo of the Obama campaign headquarters with the Cuban flag and the picture of Guerrero Che (sp?)? Imagine if a campaign headquarters for any Republican had had a Nazi flag and a picture of Himmler!!! Ya think the New York Times would've noticed??

[domenad]

Hee hee! Man, there isn’t enough popcorn in the world to enjoy all of this!

[uncbob]

Herbert claim he used the trap door image only to suggest that Hillary wants to make Obama suddenly disappear?

That is the way I interpreted it

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Bonus Analysis: Hard to See ‘Trap Door’ as Innocuous Metaphor Here

Upon further reflection, it’s hard to see Herbert’s use of the trap door metaphor as standing for the relatively innocous notion of making someone suddenly disappear rather than the more sinister hanging one.

Consider the context in which Herbert used it:

More serious was Senator Clinton’s assertion that she was qualified to be commander in chief, and that John McCain had also “certainly” crossed that “threshold,” but that the jury was still out on Mr. Obama.

In other words, if a choice on national security had to be made today between Senators Obama and McCain, voters — according to Mrs. Clinton’s logic — should choose Senator McCain.

That is a low thing for a Democratic presidential candidate to do to a rival in a party primary. Can you imagine John McCain saying that Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney or even the guitar-strumming Mike Huckabee might be less qualified than Hillary Clinton to be commander in chief? It couldn’t happen.

But Senator Clinton never gave a second thought to opening the trap door beneath her fellow Democrat.

So Herbert says by suggesting Obama was unfit as Commander in Chief, Hillary had done a “low thing.” Clearly this was not something that would make him suddenly disappear. No one doubts that Obama, with a virtually insurmountable lead among elected delegates, will remain in the campaign to the convention. So it’s difficult to see Herbert’s comment as meaning other than that Hillary intended to do Obama serious harm.

[InvisibleChurch]

is there where we are to believe that bill and hillary were so smart that they baited obama all along, losing all these primaries? my! how smart and clever they are!

[nuconvert]

There’s a difference between “a hanging” and “a lynching”.
A hanging, complete with gallows & trap door, usually refers to a formal punishment done by legal authorities.
A lynching usually refers to action taken by unauthorized individuals, civilians, outside the law.

The problem with using the term “lynching” is that it conjures up different images to different people. With someone of O’Reilly’s age and background, the term lynching came from growing up watching old western movies and has nothing to do with race.