The Media's Obsession with Obama Gaffes

by zenful6219, Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 12:42:08 PM EST

I don't get it. Over the last couple of days, while Obama has been overseas, the media seems obsessed with any possible Obama gaffes. They make the case that, since he's a presidential hopeful, he should make any mistakes while meeting world leaders.

Excuse me? Let me remind them of President George W. Bush.

That guy has made just about every mistake possible, but the media has never given him the kind of scrutiny they are aiming at Obama. And, don't even get me started on McCain's f*ck-ups!

I'm so glad the media has raised the bar for presidential hopefuls. It's too bad they didn't do it 7-8 years ago.




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The funny thing (2.00 / 1)

They keep talking about "potential gaffes" as if they were nearly inevitable.

So far, so good.  Why are we still talking about it?  What's the point until he actually makes one?


In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.
by Dracomicron on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 12:49:52 PM EST

Re: The funny thing (2.00 / 1)

Here's one:

Following a "day spent witnessing the reduction in violence in Iraq," when asked in Baghdad yesterday by ABC News' Terry Moran, "what Iraq would look like now if Obama's policy of withdrawing in the face of the violence had been implemented," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) responded
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/ 2008/07/obama-on-the-su.html

That is a hard thing to speculate,... The Sunnis might have made the same decisions at that time. The Shii'as might have made some similar decisions based on political calculation. There was ethnic cleansing in Baghdad that actually took the violence level down.

Here's a real funny one:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0 708/The_wearing_of_the_green.html?showal l


The wearing of the green
Carrie Budoff and I write about an odd sartorial rule for Obama's trip:
AMMAN, Jordan--An Obama campaign ban on green clothing during the candidate's visits to Israel and Jordan has created wide puzzlement among observers of the Middle East.

In a memo to reporters, described as "a few guidelines we sent staff before departure to the Middle East," Obama advance staffer Peter Newell laid out rules on attire for Jordan and Israel.

First among them: "Do not wear green."

An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said.

Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.

"A ban on wearing green seems bizarre," said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Columbia University, who said the color is associated with the family of the Prophet Mohammed.

"I would hazard the guess that the campaign's concern is more with distorted--and religiously inaccurate--reporting by Obama's detractors than with any actual signal that might be conveyed," he said, referring to false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. "You don't want to have some blogger come along and say `Obama is showing his true color.'"

"I think they're just being overcautious to a ridiculous degree," Bulliet said.

Mohamad Bazzi, a professor of journalism at New York University and former Middle East bureau chief for Newsday, called the instruction "very strange."


by strongerthandirt on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:07:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Er, what? (2.00 / 1)

Neither of those are gaffes.


In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.
by Dracomicron on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:10:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The funny thing (2.00 / 1)

There was ethnic cleansing in Baghdad that actually took the violence level down.
Thank you for adding emphasis to a true statement by Senator Obama.


"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson
by MS01 Indie on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:25:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Media's Obsession with Obama Gaffes (2.00 / 1)

I loved it this morning, the press was whining "Obama is acting too Presidential." and "Not showing enough respect for the office"

WTF?

SOMEONE better start acting Presidential, cause Frat-boy is just twidling this thumbs while Rome burns.

And, respect?  

When did Bush or his band of criminals show ONE IOTA of respect for their rivals.

Hell, they accused us of collaboration, we WANTED a terrorist attack?

The media is in such a bubble, and they need a horse-race, they can't admit it when Obama is doing all the right things. They need a gaffe to obsess over, and if he doesn't give them one, they are perfectly willing to make one up.


My mom believed in Jesus, the Pope and FDR..... Just not necessarily in that order.
by WashStateBlue on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 12:50:41 PM EST

Re: The Media's Obsession with Obama Gaffes (none / 0)

As a former frat boy, I resent the lumping in with President Bush.

Plus, wasn't he in an ultra secret super duper society with wicked death symbolism, and not a fraternity?


No way. No how. No McCain.
by freedom78 on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 03:58:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Media's Obsession with Obama Gaffes (none / 0)

Yeah, kind of unfair, tarring all frat-boys with the Bush simile. Sorry bout that.

Still, I suspect his frat was more like the ones in Animal House with Nedemyer in charge then the one Belushi was in...

"Thank you sir, may I have another" seems like more Georgie-boys style.


My mom believed in Jesus, the Pope and FDR..... Just not necessarily in that order.
by WashStateBlue on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 04:49:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Media's Obsession with Obama Gaffes (none / 0)

Hmm.  I'll have to give this some thought.


No way. No how. No McCain.
by freedom78 on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 04:50:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some public figures (2.00 / 1)

get hit for their gaffes harder than others. W has committed many gaffes that Quayle would have been crucified for. Gore made some pretty minor ones, yet they made him out to be a serial liar.


by Mayor McCheese on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 12:55:45 PM EST

Another foreign policy gaffe (none / 0)

ok, it was made before the trip, but it's relevant:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/ 2008/07/illinois-obama.html

I


In the evening Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Weeks ago, speaking in Washington, DC, before the pro-Israel Jewish group AIPAC, Obama said that "any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."
It now seems clear that at the time Obama didn't understand what the notion of an "undivided Jerusalem" meant to the AIPAC members in the room, or to President Abbas, or to most people with a depth of knowledge about the conflict. The term connotes an unwillingness to accept a future peace agreement that allows Palestinians control over East Jerusalem, which became part of Israel after the Six Day War in 1967.
Obama has since backtracked from that declaration and the spin to explain what he meant was repeated today by one of his senior policy advisers, who said, "He's repeatedly said that Jerusalem is a final status issue to be negotiated by the parties, that Jerusalem will remain Israel's capital but it should not again be divided with barbed wire and check points like it was from 1948-1967."
The adviser acknowledged Obama's AIPAC speech did not have "optimal phrasing" and should have included the notion of "barbed wire and check points."


by strongerthandirt on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:09:16 PM EST

Not that relevant (2.00 / 1)

We're talking about the trip, not a conference held over a month ago.


In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.
by Dracomicron on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:12:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another foreign policy gaffe (2.00 / 1)

So Obama doesn't want Jerusalem to resemble Berlin during the height of the Cold War and you find what wrong with this?


"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson
by MS01 Indie on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:28:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another foreign policy gaffe (2.00 / 1)

Basically, Obama says "Hello" and StrongerthenDirt thinks it's a gaffe.


My mom believed in Jesus, the Pope and FDR..... Just not necessarily in that order.
by WashStateBlue on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 01:36:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]


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