I usually have either CSPIN or a cable news channel on in the background of my office (NO, not Faux. That really isn't news, anyway). So, when I see BET's Bob Johnson's truly below the belt, uncalled-for, campaign approved, bullshit attack on Barack Obama, this being the third person from her campaign to pull this shit on Obama, I begin to see a pattern.
And it ain't pretty.
Obama isn't even my first choice, and knowing intimately the percolator that is Illinois politics, I am sure that he can defend himself more than adequately.
Four, count them, FOUR separate Clinton spokespinners appeared either on CSpin, MSNBC, or CNN to do what can only be labeled a bullshit-filled hatchet job. They managed to deny what Johnson was referring to, without denying it.
This sucks. Or, if you prefer, it blows.
This is nothing less than swiftboating by the Clintons. And when you add Bill's "fairy tale" attack, it is clear that one and only one candidate from either party who currently practices the Constant Attack of Personal Destruction is Hillary. Against a fellow Democrat, no less.
Not even the wry, curmudgeonly McCain personally attacks Romney (a man he personally and professionally abhors), then lies through his teeth about doing so.
What is even worse than the three pronged attack by surrogates is how Hillary deals with attacks that she must have approved. She lies. Her surrogates lie. Her campaign lies. She is not worthy of our support, not after this shit: First, the campaign organizes a personal attack on Obama, on events that took place 25 yrs ago. The attacks continue directly from Mark Penn, and grows to include other Clintonites. Then, they repeat it, always using people just far enough removed from the top so Hillary can claim innocence.
That is the first strike. EVERY SINGLE STEP this campaign takes is scripted. Hell, her attack dogs here and on other liberal and progressive sites even use the same damn words. The idea that someone like Penn or her top SC campaign chair "fell off the reservation" is absolutely unbelievable.
What is worse was how the campaign defended Bob Johnson's latest attack. Johnson, a multi-millionaire who has more in common with George HW Bush, than with poor or middle class blacks, claimed he was really talking about Obama's neighborhood organizing, not his tasting of blow as a teen. BULL SHIT. Those smug campaign workers who smile, lie through their teeth, then insist that it is our fault that we misunderstood a perfectly clear attack by Johnson, well, they may sing in the same key, and in time with the conductor, but the tune really sucks.
What Hillary, Bill, and Mark fail to realize is that people, many people, ended up with Clinton Fatigue at the end of his second term. Even the most loyal liberal democrats were tired of the definition of "is", or Bill's personal behavior inside the People's Oval Office. By pulling this kind of crap against a fellow democrat, they are reminding us all of how low class, lying, spinning and oily both Hillary and Bill were in the White House, and how they seem intent on repeating the worst kind of excesses and unsavory behavior yet again.
What they are doing it pushing moderates, uncommitteds, and a growing number of loyal democrats away for the general election. I say, shame on them. But, of course, the thing that Hillary and Bill have with George Bush is that they have no shame.
I admit this. I don't like her, never did, since before Bill ran for president. But, even though I personally had an unfortunate run-in with her, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, particularly when the good of the party, and more importantly, the good of the nation required it. No longer. What the Clintons are doing now, intentionally, by design, will destroy our party's chances in November. This election is ours to lose. And if Hillary is our candidate, that is precisely what will happen.
The only good news that comes out of this disgusting display of craven attack politics is that my fave, John Edwards, stands to gain the most. Hillary will destroy Barack - attack politics is like that. It does work, much to our chagrin. But in the process, she may be destroying her own chances, leaving it wide open for Mr. Edwards. And that would be a good thing.