Hillary and Me

In April 2007,  Don Imus uttered the now infamous “nappy headed ho” comment about the woman’s basketball players from Rutgers University.  His 30 second off the cuff comment was a dumb ass, unscripted moment . . . part of the “guy talk” and banter during the sports segment of his radio show.

Long time listeners like myself, winced knowing he didn’t mean to intentionally harm the girls. In fact, it was uncharacteristic for the I Man to after anyone like the women basketball players.  Imus saved his shot for the rich, the  pompous, the famous and infamous, political hucksters and hacks alike; that’s why we loved him.

The behind the scenes story that the MSM didn’t cover was this.  Media Matters had been monitoring his show for over years, recording it, waiting for him to say something that could be used against him. Imus gave Media Matters  an opening they were looking for:

At 6:14 a.m. on Wednesday, April 4, relatively few people were tuned into the “Imus in the Morning Show” when Don Imus referred to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed ho’s.”

Ryan Chiachiere was. A 26-year-old researcher in Washington, D.C., for liberal watchdog organization Media Matters for America, he was assigned to monitor Mr. Imus’s program. Mr. Chiachiere clipped the video, alerted his bosses and started working on a blog post for the organization’s Web site…

[...] Media Matters posted the video and transcript on its Web site and sent an email blast to several hundred reporters, as it does nearly every day.

The fact is, that Media Matters sent out an email blast to groups that included the National Organization for Women and National Association of Black Journalists.  When the Reverend Al got involved Imus was toast.  The rest, as we know, is history.

The truth is the whole event was scripted and staged.  People that had never heard an Imus broadcast were outraged . . . we had weeks of manufactured “outrage” by people with an agenda and raw political motives . . .  the cowardice and complicity of the MSM were on display. Imus apologized, multiple times, he was fired by MSNBC and CBS.

When the Imus brouhaha  happened, I was sure the conservatives and the cable entourage over at FOX News were going to have a hay day skewering Imus … he called Vice President Cheney, Pork Chop Boy on a regular basis.  He was critical of the Bush administration, after all.  But I was wrong! Wrong!

In fact, conservative radio and the right leaning cable shows jumped to his defense!  Ann Coulter (!) defended him, as did a legion of others I was sure would desert him.  I was stunned to see people in the press I had admired for years turn out to be frauds!  Slowly, I witnessed the bias of  liberal MSM . . . liberal bias wasn’t a delusion of those on the right!   It wasn’t a delusion and I was wrong.  Time Magazine was a rag and forget MSNBC.

It was the Imus controversy that started my activism.  I was calling radio shows (!) and blogging for the first time in my life, defending a grumpy old comic on principle! Irony abounds here, because at the time I was very critical of Hillary Clinton . .  and  I wouldn’t change my opinion about her until the New Hampshire primary, but that’s another story!

By the time the primaries were in full swing, the MO of the MSM was easy to spot and predict.  It was clear the MSM had a school girl crush on Obama.  Hillary and Sarah, on the other hand, were targets of the most vicious attacks and would remain so.  What happened to them remains unconscionable, which leads us to today, CBS and Dave Letterman.

Now comes Dave Letterman, CBS’s late night comic.   Apparently, Letterman is an Obama crackhead . . .  no longer capable of figuring out that a 14 year daughter of a politician is off limits to sexual comments and innuendo during a “comedy” monologue .  What he said was crude, tasteless, insensitive, and unnecessary.  Actually, it was unforgivable given the fact that his monologue is scripted and described over at HillBuzz:

On June 9th, 2009, David Letterman told his audience that Sarah Palin’s daughter had been “knocked up” during a New York Yankees game by 33 year-old Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez.  Sarah Palin’s daughter, the only child of hers attending that Yankees game in New York, is 14 years-old — making Letterman’s joke about statutory rape, and how funny it is that during a baseball game at the new Yankee Stadium Alex Rodriguez took time during one of the innings to rape Willow Palin, impregnate her, and then get back to his duties on the field.

The next day, on June 10th, 2009, David Letterman said Willow Palin had become a prostitute, and was now kin to the hookers hired by former Governor Eliot Spitzer.

This is, of course, in addition to Letterman calling the Governor of America’s largest state “a slutty flight attendant”, accusing her of having a crack habit, denigrating her intelligence, and implying she was a lesbian.

I’m going to say this again, the monologue was rehearsed & scripted and meant to hurt, demean, and diminish Sarah Palin and her family. Not only did the monologue go on for several minutes, but the controversy has continued roiling for days. The words in Letterman’s monologue were the equivalent of  media approved violence against a 14 year old young girl and a woman whose political views the MSM is terrified of. Cowards and bullies pick on girls and women attending a baseball game!

I can’t rid my system of the bile when I see videos of Letterman’s attacks on Sarah and her daughters.  His apology that he didn’t mean the 14 year old daughter, but the 18 year old daughter is obscene.  I guess rape against the 18 year old is OK.  Dave, you are an asshole!

And what about CBS’s reaction and the reaction of the cast of characters that were so outraged over Imus?   CBS the network of Katie Couric, the network that fired Imus … because of a 30 second unscripted moment  . .  has remained silent … not even a slap on the hand. The National Organization for Woman, the same group that went after Imus like a bunch of cats after a field mouse,  finally issued a tepid statement about Letterman’s Palin derangement … after three days!

Of course, NBC and MSNBC have not disappointed us in the hypocrisy department either.  Contessa (I’m dumber and denser than a stone) Brewer remains perplexed  why Palin didn’t understand Letterman’s joke.  Olbermann has continued his blame the victim routine against Palin; ya, how dare Sarah think she could go to a baseball game with her daughter and not be attacked? Matt Lauer took Letterman’s side while Sarah Palin defended her daughter and girls and women across the country.

The list of hypocrites and Palin/conservative haters goes on and on . . . all defending the indefensible.

So,  boys ‘n girls what have we learned through all of this?  Well, apparently some comedians get a pass and others don’t.   See, it depends on what color you are and your political persuasion.

If you are liberal, left, and an Obama supporter you get a free pass no matter how vile and hateful your words are. That’s why Letterman still has a job … what he said was comedy.  See the difference?

If you are perceived to be conservative, pro-life, or anyone that is perceived to threaten Obama and the liberal/progressive agenda . . . watch out.  If you are a black comedian attacking a white girl you get a pass as well, ask Miley Cyrus. See, what this jerk-off said was comedy. See the difference?

It’s become de rigueur . . . you must be rude and crude and anything goes.  That’s why Anderson Cooper can poke fun about how difficult it is to talk while tea bagging, Jenine Garafalo can spew her venomous hatred towards all things not Obama.

BTW, Al Roker former NBC Today Show fatso (see fatso is OK because it’s just a little teasing),  was among the cast of characters who was “outraged” at Imus 30 second remark . . . a few weeks later he was joking around &  made an off the cuff comment of his own about epilepsy and epileptic seizures.  He didn’t get fired.  See, the difference?

Obama dissed the Special Olympians during the campaign.  Any  outrage here by the MSM!  No, of course not!   See, the difference?

A blog entitled Hillary & Me probably deserves some explanation.

First, this is a blog in support of Senator Clinton and and in support of common sense. Hillary may not be the perfect candidate, but I believe she is the candidate this country needs now. Every time I hear some pundit, usually MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, say, “she’ll do anything to get elected”, my question remains, “And your point is?”

She’ll do anything! Good! We need someone tough enough to undo the damage inflicted on this country for the last seven years. The litany of charges against Bush’s failed administration is endless. President Bush, his VP Darth Vader, and the whole group of conservative radicals who brought us into a war with phony intelligence can’t leave fast enough. (BTW, every time I hear someone pose the question, “Why would Saddam have said he had WMD if he didn’t?” I want to ask, “Doesn’t anyone in Washington play poker?” Saddam had a pair of deuces! He was bluffing! He puffed himself up, said “boo” and we were suckered into war.)

According to Hillary’s critics, she’s mean; she’s tough; and she’s conniving. Good! Are we to suppose to believe that the bad guys on the world’s stage are any less conniving? She’s got bigger gonads than most politicians today. Given a choice of putting Senator “this contest isn’t over yet” Clinton or Barack “she’s mean to me” Obama against Vladimir Putin or his successor, Hugo Chavez, or the North Koreans, or the Iranians and their nuclear quest, which one do you think would fare better?

When Hillary entered the Senate, she made sure she got on the Armed Services Committee; she crossed the aisle and worked with the other side (Lindsey Graham, one of her husband’s harshest critics), and she gained the respect of 30 generals now supporting her candidacy. That was smart. It was politically savvy, as well.

By contrast, when Barack entered the Senate what choices did he make? In his judgment (a corner stone of his campaign) running for president was more important than attending to the people’s business. Maybe Hillary can’t say this, but I can. He chose career over country. I have no shortage of contempt for this man knowing he has been the Chairman of a committee capable of investigating the Bush administration’s neglect of Afghanistan & the war and did nothing. Surprise, this is a fact that was revealed in a debate not uncovered by the media.

There is no shortage of irony in the blog title, Hillary and Me. If anyone were to tell me in April of 2007 that I would be blogging in support of Hillary’s candidacy, I would have said they were crazy. What happened in April of 2007? The Don Imus, Media Matters, Hillary, “nappy headed ho’s”, debacle. Long time Imus fans and supporters watched in disbelief as the media convulsed. The so-called “liberal media” were particularly shameful.

Not to argue the Imus matter all over again, but it was during this period I watched FOX News, Bill O’Reilly, (OMG) ANN COULTER (!), and numerous conservatives defending Imus, pointing out that the stupid comment he uttered didn’t rise high enough for him to be fired. Anyone familiar with my posts during that period can attest to the fact, that no one was harder on Hillary than I was. There were multiple posts as to the cowardice and complicity of MSNBC, NOW, NABJ, Steve Capus, CBS, and Olbermann and others in this mess.

So, how did we arrive at this point, Hillary and Me?

Watching what the media didn’t report during the Imus affair was a major part of the change. When Kerry got “Swift Boated” in 2004, we knew everything about the PAC group that put on those political ads. We had news clips going back to 70′s demonstrating the animosity that existed between Kerry and some of these Viet Nam vets. The liberal mainstream media reported every about this PAC group except their shoe sizes.

By contrast, when Imus got punked by Media Matters, we heard virtually nothing about who did this, how they did this, why they did this. Here you have one of the most influential radio talk show hosts in America being fired (for an admittedly stupid & insensitive comment in the middle of a comedy sketch) and no one was asking how this was possible in so short a time? Say, what?

The Imus show was requisite listening in Washington every morning. Every morning we heard intelligent political conversation by members of both parties. Even Dick Cheney and wife appeared on the show, and no one in the mainstream media was the least bit curious to get answers. The truth is, these weasels were too busy running for cover and constructing their new narratives about Imus, the show, his fans, race relations in the country.

Which brings us to today, as we watch the media selectively “reporting” on Hillary’s campaign, on Obama’s campaign etc. The hypocrisy has risen to obscene levels. The media have honed their skill sets. Their abilities to take things out of context and spin topics any way they want to, is now unparalleled.

The truth is, regardless of the topic you pick . . . race relations, the economy, what Hillary said, what Barack said, the cable news outlets don’t want context. They want conflict. Never let the truth get in the way of good story, right? Context is a concept that was left in the dust when the corporations that bought the networks decided to combine the news and entertainment divisions.

When the media started piling on Hillary, just before New Hampshire election I had to reevaluate my position. Defending a cranky old cowboy and radio host was one thing, evaluating the person best suited to be the next president was another thing, My views on Hillary were changing.

Finally, Hillary and Me is here because of Barack, himself. I listened to of his lofty and inspiring speeches and I gotta say, I was taken aback. His “Joshua Generation” speech is very good and he is very appealing on many levels. It was, “Wow, is he for real?” Hear that blowing sound in the background? That’s me being sucked in.

Had Barack not broken his word about running a different kind of campaign, had he (and his surrogates) not gone after Hillary the way they did I would probably still be drinking from the Obamakins kool aid. Yes, the “Campaign of Change” is behaving like every other political campaign before them.

So here we are boys and girls, Hillary and Me. Let’s rock ‘n roll.