Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Empty Suit Meme (CBS covering for Obama gaffes, lies)
C'BS ^ | 7/23/2008 | Kevin Drum

Posted on 07/23/2008 7:17:18 PM PDT by milwguy

For those of you who don't keep up with the conservative blogosphere, one of the memes they've been trying to push for the past couple of weeks is this: Barack Obama may give a good prepared speech, but his dirty little secret is that he's actually an empty suit who's totally at sea without a teleprompter. Today, for example, Andy McCarthy, offers up this snippet from an Obama press conference in Jerusalem: Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran, as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon. But Obama isn't on the Senate Banking Committee! Busted!

I dunno. Do they really think this tack is going to work? What he meant was that the Banking Committee had recently reported out a bill that included some provisions from a bill he cosponsored in 2007. So he should have said "my provisions," or something like that, not "my committee."

There's a difference between verbal flubs, which every candidate makes plenty of, and gaffes that reveal some kind of serious misunderstanding of the world. When John McCain refers to Czechoslovakia, for example, that's just a verbal flub. When he tries to convince us that the surge was responsible for the Sunni Awakening, that's a serious gaffe. Somebody who really understands the past few years of history in Iraq just wouldn't make a mistake like that.

Obama makes verbal flubs as often as anyone, but he almost never makes genuine gaffes. The reason is simple: he's a very sharp, very grounded politician who's exactly the opposite of an empty suit. As M.J. Rosenberg says today, "He's smart. He reads. He knows his sh*t."

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2008electionbias; animalfarm; cbsnews; constantbs; dncbrownshirts; dnctalkingpoints; emptysuit; fakebutaccurate; flipflop; gaffe; gaffemachine; goebbelswouldbeproud; howtostealanelection; lyingliars; macacamoment; mediabias; obama; obamaflipflops; obamasbigadventure; obamavisit; orwelliannightmare; partisanmedia; propagandawingofdnc; seebs; stalinisttactics; yellowjournalism; zogbyism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last
Nice to see the author KNOWS what Obama was trying to say. Also nice to know he KNOWS the surge was in NO WAY RESPONSIBLE for the Sunni awakening and McCain is deluded to think so.

It seems to me the Sunni's stood up ONLY after our soldiers assured them we would help rid them of the butchers from Al Qaeda. Had we followed the Messiah and pulled our troops out, I am SURE the Sunni's would have stood up to Al Qaeda. Watching them butcher your friends, family, and neighbors would make any man courageous. You see that courage all the time in the inner cities of our country where gangs rule the day. People in fear are not going to stand up for themselves. It was ONLY when the US Military brought their firepower to Anbar province that the local shieks found their courage. This author is too dumb to see what everyone knows.

CBS is just channeling the Messiah's new storyline that Iraq didn't need the surge, that the success is the result of the Iraqi people, not the US Military. Disgusting does not begin to describe the network of Dan 'Guardgate" Rather.

1 posted on 07/23/2008 7:17:18 PM PDT by milwguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: milwguy

MSM busted, but still trying to do a Dan Rather coverup.


2 posted on 07/23/2008 7:19:33 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Huma for co-president! (it ain't over 'til it's over))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

Kevin Drum is a leftwing kneepadder.


3 posted on 07/23/2008 7:21:54 PM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy
Ron Paul had a similar problem. No matter what he said, whether it was off the cuff or a prepared speech, his closest, most ardent followers found it necessary to quickly go out in public (or hit the net) and tell us what he really meant.

That sort of thing is almost invariably fatal to a candidate's electoral aspirations.

4 posted on 07/23/2008 7:24:34 PM PDT by muawiyah (We need a "Gastank For America" to win back Congress)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy
Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran, as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon. But Obama isn't on the Senate Banking Committee! Busted!

I dunno. Do they really think this tack is going to work? What he meant was that the Banking Committee had recently reported out a bill that included some provisions from a bill he cosponsored in 2007. So he should have said "my provisions," or something like that, not "my committee."

Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my provisions, a bill to call for divestment from Iran,
Works for me
5 posted on 07/23/2008 7:27:27 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy ("Well let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's," - BroBama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

Only left wing Chomskyite crapbags use the term Meme.


6 posted on 07/23/2008 7:29:16 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy
Obama makes verbal flubs as often as anyone, but he almost never makes genuine gaffes. The reason is simple: he's a very sharp, very grounded politician who's exactly the opposite of an empty suit

Is this twit on Obama's payroll? Weathervane OBambi is about as "grounded" as flagpole rag.

7 posted on 07/23/2008 7:36:53 PM PDT by Nonstatist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

First came the Surge, then came the Sunni Awakening, just as McCain said.

I suppose this guy thinks that when Obama said there were 57 states he really meant 47. Yeah, that explains a lot... NOT!


8 posted on 07/23/2008 7:38:37 PM PDT by FFranco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

“Obama makes verbal flubs as often as anyone, but he almost never makes genuine gaffes. The reason is simple: he’s a very sharp, very grounded politician who’s exactly the opposite of an empty suit.”

Halprin, the political editor for ABC tried to use this same excuse for disparity in covering lies and gaffes back in 2004.

Democrats cheat. Socialists lie. Always.


9 posted on 07/23/2008 7:39:06 PM PDT by weegee (Obama loves America like Bill loves Hillary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pissant

Had he ever tap danced with the devil in a bathroom’s pale light?


10 posted on 07/23/2008 7:40:05 PM PDT by weegee (Obama loves America like Bill loves Hillary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

As M.J. Rosenberg says today, “He’s smart. He reads. He knows his sh*t.”

LOL. BHO is as dumb as a box of rocks. Nice try though Kevin(Not So Tight As A)Drum, but no cigar.


11 posted on 07/23/2008 8:16:11 PM PDT by princeofdarkness (Barack Hussein Obama- The Only Candidate Who Makes John Kerry Look Steadfast and Principled.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

Is it too early for CBS to call Florida for Obama?


12 posted on 07/23/2008 8:17:12 PM PDT by Obadiah (I remember when the climate never changed, then Bush stole the election.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Obadiah

“With zero percent of the ballots counted, the polls not even open yet, and the nomination convention still a month away... our early polling data suggests Obama has WON Florida, we repeat OBAMA has WON Florida...”


13 posted on 07/23/2008 8:21:35 PM PDT by weegee (Obama loves America like Bill loves Hillary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: milwguy


14 posted on 07/23/2008 8:29:24 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist -CTHULHU/NYARLATHOTEP'08 = Nothing LESS!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chode

Hide and goatseek?


15 posted on 07/23/2008 8:50:22 PM PDT by weegee (Obama loves America like Bill loves Hillary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: milwguy

Well, he was only on the job in the Senate 143 days before he decided to run for President, so you can’t expect him to know what committees he was on. Maybe that’s why the committee he chaired never met at all. Wonder if he knew where the bathroom was?


16 posted on 07/23/2008 8:52:31 PM PDT by kittymyrib
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: princeofdarkness

How would the average journalist know who is smart? My experience tells me that the average IQ for the profession is at best 120.


17 posted on 07/23/2008 8:59:25 PM PDT by maro (Repeal the 8th Amendment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: milwguy
When he tries to convince us that the surge was responsible for the Sunni Awakening, that's a serious gaffe. Somebody who really understands the past few years of history in Iraq just wouldn't make a mistake like that.

Drum knee-caps his own man. Obama's statement on believing the surge would not reduce violence was that he had not "anticipated" Sunnis turning against AQ. if it had already happened to the degree that it was significant or irreversible, why would he have had to "anticipate" to determine whether to oppose or support the surge (time frame 1/07)?

18 posted on 07/23/2008 9:07:23 PM PDT by gusopol3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gusopol3

Nice catch!


19 posted on 07/23/2008 9:21:19 PM PDT by Sudetenland (Those diplomats serve best, who serve as cannon fodder to protect our troops!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: maro

How would the average journalist know who is smart? My experience tells me that the average IQ for the profession is at best 120.


Are you sure you meant an IQ of 120? That’s a higher IQ than 90 percent of the population. Maybe you meant an IQ of 100, which is the average.


20 posted on 07/23/2008 9:22:48 PM PDT by FFranco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson