Dan Rather, on Morning Joe, just said something a handful of minutes ago that will dominate a lot of chatter today and will have implications for the race going forward. Asked by Tiki Barber about his take on Fox News' release of the Jesse Jackson off-camera video, Rather premised his take by noting that in today's 24/7 news media culture, you had better be ready for anything you say to be on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, after being all over TV the day before.
Rather then proceeded to talk about his respect for Jesse Jackson, who had certainly "paved the way for Osama bin Laden." (Yes, the whole name.) Nobody reacted or said a word, and Rather did not notice. To drive the irony point home, he then finished by referring back to the "front page of the newspaper" a 2d time.
Rather has just given carte blanche for Republicans to "slip" and negate the hue and cry with "Rather made the slip too... innocent mistake!" Wonder if McCain himself will do it in one high profile way and Plead the Rather.
EDIT: slight quote correction (video link here)... "paving the way for an Osama bin Laden."
Friday, July 18, 2008
Ready for the Next Mini-Maelstrom?
-- Sean Quinn at 6:52 AM
Labels: controversy
160 comments
Rather shocking this.
Hey, he's 76. Oh, wait, McCain would be 76 at the end of his first term.
Also on the news watch, NPR this morning both quoted (possibly clipped) McCain as saying Obama had never been to Iraq and repeated that lie themselves. Obama visited Iraq in January 2006.
well? he could have literally meant that. lots of americans have helped the bin laden family over the years, especially the bush family. Jesse Jackson has spent a lot of time abroad helping former friends-who-are-now-enemies and also former enemies-who-are-now-friends.
after all, jackson is a self styled "peace maker."
I agree with fractal. Jesse Jackson's career has been dominated by racial divisive rhetoric that has guaranteed that his platform would never be taken seriously. It certainly didn't pave the way for a decent, hard working man like Obama.
I thought that's what he said, but no one reacted, so I figured SURELY I misheard him...
*sigh*
Hey all,
I´m from Germany and my english ist not good enough to understand this psot. Can anybody explain why it may become a Maelstrom, what Rather said? And to whom it may become it?
Thanks
Val
Maybe Rather was trying to subliminally mind-mess with the elderly viewers? Still this isn't as shocking as McCain and a joke he allegedly told in 1986 concerning a gorilla (that's a lovely one to google).
I was also watching Morning Joe and while I noticed it the second it was said, my grandmother thought nothing of it. Then when I pointed it out she was shocked that she had missed it. I really don't think it is that big of a deal. Furthermore, if and when the McCain camp does it, it will seem tasteless and only be base rattling, not appealing to independents . Maybe I'm an optimist and give too much credit but to me, low information voters won't here about it and high information voters won't be affected either.
What everybody is failing to realize in the likely voter screen is that older people are much more likely to vote.
They are skewing toward McCain. In fact, McCain is probably underrepresented in these polls because young voters will not go to the polls in November.
How many ex-presidents depended on young voters to win an election?
Val - Republicans have been trying to get people to associate Barack Obama's name with Osama bin Laden by "accidentally" saying things like "Barack Osama" or "Obama bin Laden." Having a major news media figure say the same thing gives them an excuse to keep doing it.
Maybe Obama should formally change his name to "skinny kid with a funny name."
Off topic...
Obama campaign just reports $52M for June.
kerry,dukakis,mukakis: Ha, I see through what you're trying to do - goading the young into turning out for obama -nice one!
Thanks Anonymous!
I have to say, I thought this might be the reason, but I was sure, he would never have been so stupid.
I did not know Rather and had to Wikipedia him. After that, I was sure, he really MEANT that Jackson paved the way for bin Laden because of some implied "Anti-American-Politics" he might have made. (I don´t think he has).
*oph* If he let it "slip", it was a sign of his age but also his fundamental believings.
Also: A good journalist would have corrected him.
Thanks again and greetings from Germany! We all (80-90%) want Obama as POTUS and follow your election! We even will have a Election-Night-Party here in Aachen-> www.jusos-aachen.de
Val
I heard the same thing, but I think we have to stop making a big deal out of it. Clearly Rather respects Obama and let's face it, the names are easy to mix up.
"Republicans have been trying to get people to associate Barack Obama's name with Osama bin Laden"
Huh?
I liked 538 back in the good old days before all these partisan people showed up, and it was just election math geeks.
new rasmussen poll. obama mccain tied in va, leaners mccain up 1.
This is only proves that the senile should not be on TV, nor President
Shame on you, nick for this line: "Wonder if McCain himself will do it in one high profile way and Plead the Rather."
By all account McCain has run a squeaky-clean campaign. So much so that it frustrates the republican faithful, like myself, who think that Obama's lack of moral approbation towards people like William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn disqualify him for the presidency.
Might as well have typed "I wonder if Obama will spend significant parts in his campaign tour working out in gyms to exacerbate fears about McCain's age event though medical reports show him to be in excellent health." Oh, wait...
I think it's funny liberals have been accusing conservatives of trying to engage in racist or fear-mongering accusations in trying to discredit Barack Obama.
To me, the three biggest and most appalling racial gaffes have come from the left or left-sympathizers:
1) Bill Clinton's condescending dismissal of the Obama campaign as a newer version of 1984 Jesse Jackson. quote - "Give me a break!"
2) Jesse Jackon's own mouth.
3) The New Yorker's satirical cover.
All those were from the left. Don't give us this holier-than-thou crap about racial politics. The left has shown more disgusting behavior among its more influential people than the right has with isolated pockets of rednecks and hillbillies in the South.