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Edited on Wed May-14-08 11:10 AM by BerryBush
They have not only turned on Keith, they have thrown him under the bus, out the window with the bathwater, off the cliff, stabbed him repeatedly, hanged him (and not necessarily in effigy), and burned him at the stake.
It began, interestingly enough, when some Obama supporters began saying he was a "Hill shill" because he said things to and about Hillary that were polite, respectful and positive, and, well, just didn't SAY all that much about Obama, period. Also, these people decided he was "racist" because, when he moderated the AFL-CIO Forum last summer, he asked Obama, but none of the other candidates, whether he would welcome Barry Bonds at the White House. To them, this proved that he would ask only Obama the "trivial" questions, questions about sports, or questions about black men violating the rules. It was obvious to them, he was in the can for Hillary.
Later on, some Edwards supporters became angry with him because they believed him to be part of the "MSM embargo" against covering Edwards and his campaign. Some of them continued to believe this, despite the occasions on which Edwards would appear on Countdown, or Elizabeth would appear, or knowledge of interviews in which he would say he thought Elizabeth should be president. No, they said, he hated the Edwardses, that was obvious!
While all this was happening, there was always a certain contingent of Dems who were annoyed that KO spent any time during the show covering celebrity garbage. They wanted him to spend the whole show talking about the Dem candidates, deriding the Repugs and outlining the crimes of Bushco. You know...kinda like he does most of the time now?? Some of them, being feminists, decided that any time he spent deriding the latest stupid antics of Paris/Britney/Lindsay/etc. or making crass sexual jokes about them was "sexist," despite the fact that he just as readily did so with celebutard men. Others saw scary videos of animals on Oddball and decided he was a supporter of animals hurting themselves/being abused for human entertainment. *sigh*
So. Stage three began when the scales fell from Keith's eyes (as they did from many others) as Hillary, having lost some key states, began to say and do things Keith apparently believed she would never do just to get elected. Republican things. You know, such as...lie and twist the facts to suit her purposes. Exploit fears of terrorism in her campaign ads. Have her husband compare her opponent's win of South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's to imply it meant nothing, it was just a bunch of black people in one state and reflected not at all on the country as a whole. Have someone else say on her behalf that her black opponent would not be where he is today were he not black. That kinda stuff.
Now we all know that when Keith sees someone he once supported turning into someone he doesn't recognize, he doesn't hesitate to open his mouth and express his feelings...often in very strong terms.
And, ta-daa...thus did Keith become a terrible sexist pig, a traitor and a person who had "changed" to the point where Hillary's supporters no longer recognized him.
They thought he would always be loyal, no matter what. Well, yes, he will...to his principles. He supports people who support those principles. He does not remain loyal to those who betray those principles.
He's not the one who changed. He's still the same person he always was. Hillary isn't. Either that, or she has shown her true colors. She realized she wasn't winning against Obama using the strategy she was using, and rather than analyzing where her strategy was flawed and changing it, she and her husband flopped and foundered and attacked and blamed and accused and rearranged and reframed. And have done so ever since. And now that it's too late to do anything else, they can't even be graceful losers and retreat to support the man who will be the nominee. She has shown that she, and Bill, will do and say anything to get her elected. Everything they say and do now tells us that making a better country is not what it's about for them...it's about overcoming their shame and getting their power back. If holding office was ever about anything else for them, that ended a long time ago.
And Keith is calling her on it. That's all. He is doing exactly what he has done to George Bush. Thing is, Hillary's supporters don't like it when it happens to their candidate. They never thought it would happen. They mistook Keith's support of liberal principles for support for Democrats. Or for THEIR favorite Democrat. Or for unswerving loyalty to a person rather than to principles. And as a result, they feel angry, turned on, betrayed.
We tried to tell them ages ago, that they were wrong when they called Keith a Dem, or a Dem supporter, when they touted him for Dem-ticket president or press secretary for a Dem or whatever. We tried to tell them his true calling was not as a politician or PR flack, but as a journalist, to tell the truth as he saw it.
They didn't listen. And now they call HIM the liar and the deceiver, and say he's changed or shown his true colors are not what they thought, because he turned out not to be what he never promised them he was in the first place.
I can only imagine how that must feel. Luckily, he's still got people out there who do understand. Thank goodness. People who understand that loyalty to people, and valuing loyalty to people over principles, is a Bushco value, and will get you nothing different than what Bushco got you. That when you value principles, valuing people--the people that matter--follows naturally.
Oh, and I have to admit, I'd rather date Keith, but I probably have a better chance with you. How Keith would treat me is a crapshoot. For all I know, I'd end up staring across the table at the long face of a Man Who Wasn't With His Girlfriend. I have a feeling that with you, no sparks would fly either, but we'd have such a good time, it wouldn't matter!
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