HELLOOOOOO-The President's spokesman (Robert Gibbs) CAN'T say certain obvious things

[jenmito]

that we all know and would LOVE to hear him say. He speaks for the PRESIDENT! Could you imagine if Gibbs said he felt the angry mobs/protestors WERE motivated by race? The entire media would go NUTS running with this story! "The President says those who disagree with him are RACISTS!" "The President dismisses protestors as RACISTS!" The President is a RACIST!" Come on, people, you should know Gibbs AND Obama would get destroyed over it!

[CakeGrrl]

1. Yep. They know the MSM is no friend to the White House. n/t

[jenmito]

2. Thank you. And O/T-John King (CNN) today tried to use twisted logic to say Obama called Sarah

Palin a liar in his speech Wed. night. :eyes:

[Parker CA]

12. LOL, John King took that one hook, line, and sinker directly from facebook apparently. Kingfail. nt.

[Cha]

22. Well, john pimp king..palin is a pathological liar..

thanks for pointing that out.

john king is such a dick cheney fan.

[liberal N proud]

3. The President is a great man because he does dismiss the rhetoric

He knows how to play this and come out on top.

[jenmito]

5. Exactly. n/t

[DJ13]

4. I dont recall Ari Fleischer backing down

I know Gibbs represents the President, but I want the President to show some guts against the bullies.

That means the Gibbs we saw in the primaries that wouldnt back down on Fox News needs to come back.

[Phx_Dem]

7. We don't hold ourselves up for comparison to fucking Ari Fleischer.

[jenmito]

8. Apples and oranges...

He can't say, and never DID say, the hate-mongers were motivated by race. That would be terrible PR-wise.

[Klukie]

13. Sometimes having guts means to turn the other cheek so to speak

but that doesn't mean that I have to turn mine....I will call it as I see it. President Obama can't afford to get caught up in a racially political shitstorm ...Besides, if we give them enough rope.....

[DJ13]

16. Besides, if we give them enough rope.....

......we usually end up tripping on it ourselves.

Dont get me wrong, on this occasion I agree Gibbs couldnt admit race was involved, my comments are more about his laid back demeanor in general when anyone with a brain can see the media is playing him like a fiddle.

As Obama's representative he needs to show that Obama himself is tiring of the games played by the MSM that seems to be a conscious effort on their part to undermine the administration.

[Bicoastal]

14. Completely different. These "bullies" are nutjobs who WANT to be antagonized.

Nothing would make them happier than an opportunity to go "See? SEE?! President Angry Black Man is playing the race card!" That's a month's worth of
Beck and Hannity right there.

Gibbs absolutely did the right thing by refusing to take the bait.

[DJ13]

17. Tell them to bring it on

Seriously, I dont give two shits about their feelings nor their intentions.

We do ourselves no favors by allowing them to grab the national spotlight without us daring to confront them.

[Bicoastal]

21. Sigh. When will people learn that saying "bring it on" is not always the best political strategy...

...no matter how tempting it seems at times? Some antagonists you confront head-on and destroy; others, you side-step, for a confrontation would only make them stronger and larger and more difficult to eradicate.

I'd say the Chess vs. checkers analogy is completely true.

[DJ13]

24. How would we know if its the best strategy?

When was the last time our party showed enough guts to try it?

[Bicoastal]

28. Um, the whole Skip Gates episode?

THAT was a head-on confrontation of perceived racism by the White House, and look what happened. It worked out reasonably well in the end, but it completely took over the precious news cycle for a week.

Guts without strategy mean nothing.

[georgian style]

37. The White House did not say racism was involved

Obama said the behavior of the police had been stupid.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

39. And look how the media and the pukes blew it up into a racial shitstorm.

You're making the same point as the OP.

[georgian style]

30. that's a good point. No Big Democrat ever tried it.

So it's all speculation at this point.

[DJ13]

35. This is where Im coming from

“A lot of these outbursts have to do with delegitimizing him as a president,” said Congressman Jim Clyburn, a senior member of the South Carolina delegation. Clyburn, the man who called out Bill Clinton on his racially tinged attacks on Obama in the primary, pushed Pelosi to pursue a formal resolution chastising Wilson.

“In South Carolina politics, I learned that the olive branch works very seldom,” he said. “You have to come at these things from a position of strength. My father used to say, ‘Son, always remember that silence gives consent.’ ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

[georgian style]

42. One of those "racially tinged" attacks were "Obama's Iraq policy is a fairy tale"

An example of blowing things out of proportion.

[me b zola]

19. This has been their strategy on racial issues since the primaries

Team Obama skillfully avoids calling the racists racist for the same reason that Obama's opponents have used race baiting since the primaries. Obama would be labeled as "playing the race card", which would bring out racial fears in many white people. Its sad but its true.

[DJ13]

20. I agree, but whats the upside?

They're still doing it.

They will continue doing it so long as no one dares to call them out on it because it works.

[Bicoastal]

23. Because it frames the protesters as the ones with racial issues, not the White House. nt

[me b zola]

27. Yes, they will continue to do it

We need to call them out. It has become so obvious that even the lazy media has been talking about it.

If Obama called them out for the racism, his struggle to get anything accomplished would increase 10 fold and he would likely only be a one term president. But the more emboldened the rw becomes, the more they expose the racist thread that binds many of those people.

[CakeGrrl]

25. They have to pick their issues because the MSM does not have their back

they way they carried water for the Bush administration.

Ari could say crap like "Democrats need to watch what they say and do" and the MSM didn't make a bit of an issue of it. Gibbs couldn't say something like that without it getting twisted and blown out of proportion.

[georgian style]

6. Gibbs is Playing Chess n/t

[jenmito]

9. No. Gibbs is using common sense. n/t

[Parker CA]

10. It's the exact same thing as saying they want bipartisanship with the work on the HC bill.

They say what they need to say, and the GOP cards just begin falling onto the table.

[jenmito]

11. Yup. Exactly right. Some people will never get it. n/t

[CoffinEd]

15. Yep!

There would be 24/7 news coverage about what the "president said" about the protesters, not to mention Rush, Savage, Hannity, and the likes going on and on and on about Obama being the "real" racist.

As Sarah herself would say, "thanks but no thanks."

[jenmito]

18. Thank you.

You get it. :hi:

[CoffinEd]

45. Occasionally I'll have a lucid moment. ;-)

n/t

[msongs]

26. institutional cowardice in the democratic party - why be right when u can keep quiet? nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

31. The difference is you enjoy martyrdom and losing

While these folks are trying to get stuff done.

"How to fight the power
Cannot run and hide
But it shouldn't be suicide..."

- Chuck D.

[jenmito]

41. Exactly...

and thanks for the Chuck D. memory. :hi:

[alcibiades_mystery]

44. The real implication for the other poster was the following two lines

left unstated

;-)

[jenmito]

48. I hear ya.

:D

[ChiciB1]

32. Ding! Ding! Ding! I'm Losing The Battle So I Wonder Why I Keep Trying

to make a point, but I have to give support to like-minded people! I've made my opinion known, so I'll just agree with those who seem to understand what I feel!

[jenmito]

40. The Democratic party DOES speak out against these protestors being racially

motivated-but the PRESIDENT can't be one of those Dems. to SAY so!

[georgian style]

47. Barney Frank didn't want to go there

Friday in the Rachel Maddow show. He said it "wasn't a big deal," and didn't speak about racism.


Who are the other ones condemning racism? And who are the ones not condeming it?

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[georgian style]

33. Thanks for bringing that up. I've heard more than once that if you aren't black you don't know

or you can't perceive racism or the lack thereof.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bicoastal]

38. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when someone says "All white people are evil racists..."

..., as did our tombstoned pal, that's not exactly a hallmark of tolerance and acceptance either.

I'm not entirely convinced the guy was for real, but if he actually was: I may never understand what black people have had to go through over the last 300 years, but I do know bigotry when I see it.

[Bicoastal]

36. GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE--

You're either a crazy bigot or someone deliberately trying to make black people sound angry and hate-filled on a liberal website for god knows what purpose.

Either way, you're unwelcome.

[rufus dog]

43. If the question is "Do you believe Joe Wilson is racist?"

There is more room to bring race into the conversation. Based upon Wilson's past and associations a good case can be made that his remarks could be racially motivated. To call a movement racist is a large jump and difficult to defend. All they have to do is push out some teabagger that is just ignorant, but sans any affiliation and the press will be all over it.

[georgian style]

46. Good luck expecting the White House to call Joe Wilson or any big politician racist

You say that the Joe Wilson of the world should be called on their racism, and I agree.

But why didn't Gibbs do it today or previously? Or do you think Obama or Gibbs will condemn Wilson's racism or any other congressman's racism any time soon?