Friday, September 09, 2011

America now has official hate speech

We read:
"Will Barack Obama condemn Joe Biden and Jimmy Hoffa for calling Republicans 'barbarians' and 'son of a bitches'

I enjoy political hardball as much as the next reporter. It's barely concealed truth that campaign journalists, like the operatives we cover, love negative campaigning and revel in OTT insults and martial rhetoric. Even candidates often lapse into the language of "rip his throat out", "tear his eyes out" or "drive a stake through her heart".

But the statements today by Jimmy Hoffa Jr and Vice President Joe Biden demean the presidency and, tactically speaking, are stupid own goals.

Hoffa, the Teamsters president, was warming up a Detroit crowd when he said: "President Obama, this is your army, and we are ready to march. Everybody here’s got a vote. If we go back, and we keep the eye on the prize, let’s take these son of a bitches out and give America back to America where we belong.”

Biden, whose mouth has long been a liability for Obama, was at an AFL-CIO rally when he told union members: "You are the only folks keeping the barbarians from the gates…the other side has declared war on labour's house."

The difference, of course, is that they were uttered publicly by someone chosen by the White House to introduce Obama and by the sitting vice-president at a time when Obama is calling for a bipartisan coming together to tackle the economy. To add to their foolishness, they follow on from Obama's sensible call in January for "civility" in public discourse and for people to talk "in a way that heals, not a way that wounds".

But will Obama have the political and moral courage to repudiate a powerful union boss and his own vice-president?

Source

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama has already noted he will not police the speech of his cronies. He is of course still quite willing to police the speech of his opponents though.

A. Levy said...

All along, Obummer's basic strategy has been to let his underlings and worshipers do the dirty work, while he maintains the illusion of having "clean" hands.

There is one thing you can bet on. Nothing is said, especially now that they're in full campaign mode, without first being cleared by the WH. From now until the election, everything that is said and done by the administration, the Demoncrats, and the MSM, will be "highly" choreographed by the WH.

Their hope is, of course, that America's voting sheep are still asleep.

Anonymous said...

The only time America recognizes (and accepts) hate speech is when it comes from the left.

President Not Sure said...

The double standard makes me want to vomit.

Anonymous said...

Don't vomit. Vote right!

Anonymous said...

"Will Obama have the political and moral courage to repudiate a powerful union boss and his own vice-president?"

No, because he never has become a "President". When a man becomes president, he should rise above being just another politician. While they are members of a political party, they should try to lead the whole country. Our current white house occupant has never been more than smooth talking politician who never stops running for office. His underling are reflecting their leader's philosophy.

Anonymous said...

To condemn speech one ought to at least view the whole of it. Righteous anger at excerpts is a bit disingenuous. Hoffa's quote was clipped to make it sound worse. It begins with an exhortation to vote and makes clear in the full version that the "army" is expected to vote, not commit acts of violence. Now, one can certainly take issue with this, but at least one ought to be condemning the whole of it, not just the selective quotation used to make something sound worse than it was.

A. Levy said...

Anon 10:28,...... how about all the "already-committed" acts of violence by the unions? Do you take issue with those?

Aside from yourself, there are still a few fairly intelligent people around who understood "very clearly and exactly" what Hoffa meant. His blatant rhetoric, clearly meant to incite his "army", have been seen and heard before. Also, Obama and the labor movement both know that they are fighting for their very existence. He is labors last hope at controlling this nation and it's economy, something they've done for far too long. Look for both to do and say things that have never before been seen in America's politics. It's called, DESPERATION!