Ellison disputes press accounts of his call for Gibbs' dismissal

[maddezmom]

Source: Star Tribune

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison said Tuesday night that he did not call on White House press secretary Robert Gibbs to resign.

The Minnesota Democrat says reports to the contrary, including here on Hotdish, are “wrong.”

Following reports in the Huffington Post that he was calling for Gibbs to go, he released a statement saying “in the final weeks before a critical midterm election Democrats need to pull together, not go after each other.”

“To set the record straight, I did not call for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to resign,” he says. “Unfortunately the Huffington Post and other media outlets got the story wrong. I did say, however, that he went too far in his rhetoric. We all know that words matter in politics. I hope that Mr. Gibbs has reconsidered the wisdom of his words.”

Read more: W3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI" target="_blank">http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/100407439.htm...

[catgirl]

1. K & R

[sendero]

2. I noticed that the quotes...

.. did not support the conclusion. Surprise, surprise.

[Hissyspit]

3. What he said:

Asked if Gibbs should resign, he said “I think that’d be fair, yeah. That’d be fair, because this isn’t the first time. And, again, people of all political shades worked very hard to help the president become the president. Why would he want to go out and deliberately insult the president’s base? And why would he confuse legitimate critique with some sort of lack of loyalty. Isn’t this what the far right does? Punishes people who are not ideologically aligned with President Bush?”

[sendero]

8. "That would be fair".

... is not the same as "I think he should resign".

There really is a disconnect between what he said and how it was characterized.

[old mark]

4. Well. I will say it. Mr. Gibbs, for the good of the Democratic Party, and the USA, resign now.

I have been a Leftist Democratic voter for longer than you have been alive, and I have taken a lot of abuse from the right, the media and even my relatives for it. I do not expect not will I tolerate it from an employee of the administraton I worked to put in power, and who evidently expects me to do so again.

Fuck you, Mr. Gibbs - you are an arrogant asshole and have no business in your present job.
Quit for the good of the country.


mark
Lifelong left/liberal Democratic voter,
veteran, retired Union Steward

(All the things you hate.)

[Shining Jack]

5. Well said sir.

[Arkana]

6. Hey, Keith, don't you have better things to do?

[old mark]

7. Sorry - I admit I was watching KO last night, and was possibly overly impressed with him....nt

[robcon]

9. I think Gibbs should ignore Ellison.

He's doing a great job, IMO.