Saying You're Sorry

http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/26/mccain-apologizes-for-radio-hosts-obama-comments-at-rally/

A political situation occurred on Tuesday once again for John McCain as Radio talk show host Bill Cunnigham oversteps his boundaries at a McCain Rally.
Cunnigham’s comments seem to be directly against the Obama camp, as maybe no he or John McCain see Hillary out of the race already. Cunningham delivered his speech of one-sided ignorance by saying “Barack Hussein Obame” about three times over his whole speech. Cunnigham is obviously inferring to Sadam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader who only stirs up anxiousness and hate in the minds and hearts of American people. This was intentional rhetoric that was used in order to illicit a bad taste in the mouth of Americans over Barack Obama. He says: “Obama just came back from meeting Ahmadinejad; he’s got a meeting the next week with Kim Jong Il of North Korea. Then he’s going to saddle up next to Hezbollah; they’re going to have a little cookie-and-cream party. All’s going to be right with the world.” This is a completely inappropriate way of dealing with an opponent, and I believe if anything John McCain has lost even more credibility by having such an ignorant supporter on his trail. Although McCain apologizes, this still gives Americans a sour taste in their mouths. Instead of his famous supporters backing up and citing all of the wonderful things McCain has done, an approach they take instead is just to attack the other side, making their rhetoric look scared and threatened. On another note in this article, it is cited that McCain was in a situation where he did not repudiate a voter for calling Clinton a “bitch” until a few minutes later after he was done chuckling, managed to not apologize about this comment, he just said that he respected her. I think as this dialogic exchange of Candidates and supporters shows that regardless of if the words came out of the candidates or supporters mouth, it is the responsibility of the candidate to take complete credit for it, almost as if they had said it themselves.

Clinton Mocks Obama

Hillary has recently chosen to go negative to halt Obama's momentum, it may have the opposite effect on potential voters. at a While at a campaign rally in Providence, Rhode Island, she mocked Obama and his message of hope and change in a very theatrical, over-the-top manner.

See for yourself:





While her jabs at Obama were met with rousing applause from a live audience, internet onlookers have not shared the reaction. Comments on various websites that have posted the above video include things like "Hillary is flat out desperate..." "she is just looking mean spirited" "Hillary's campaign just proves how cynical we have gotten in America" and last but not least "what a b*tch."

In Hillary’s defense the media hasn’t been easy on her. It seems like everyone from the Today Show anchors to Saturday Night Live writers are taking pot shots at her.

Still it seems like Hillary could have picked something other than his support of hopes and dreams to parody and poke fun at. This only exaggerates her persona as a domineering and heartless being. To be honest, I had a very clear analogy in my head as I watched this clip. I couldn’t help but think of Maleficent from Walt Disney’s 1959 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty.

But not right now

The Baltimore Sun reports:

In New Orleans earlier, Clinton offered her regrets for any hard feelings stemming from husband Bill Clinton's comments comparing Obama to the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Yet, when asked about that, all the senator would say is: “I’ll have more to say about that some day, but not right now."

Does she really mean: "I'll have more to say about that when my advisors tell me what to say"?

Scientology Silliness

An online group known only as Anonymous has been hacking away at Scientology for a few weeks now. They even arranged protests outside Scientology churches.


The green masks and the word XENU partially visible on the far right poster are a reference to the figure in the Scientology religion who supposedly was a dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy," brought billions to Earth in an airplane-like spacecraft 75 million years ago, and killed them, leaving their souls to haunt people today and cause us spiritual harm.

From a rhetorical standpoint, I find it interesting the mere word XENU has become an argument. The word singlehandedly evokes laughter in many. "What? They believe in some alien named XENU? XENU???" Scientologists attempt to keep the Xenu story secret--I believe it became public through some documents entered into evidence in court--but protestors bring up the word as a way of ridiculing Scientology. Even one of the most prominent websites attacking Scientology, Operation Clambake, took xenu as its domain name ( www.xenu.net ).

Obama on Pakistan

Obama made an interesting statement last August:

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," Obama said.

Controversy followed. Is Obama too strong on terrorism, too weak, or like the fabled porridge, just right?

The statement itself struck me as almost tautological. (A tautology, if I'm not mistaken, is a statement where the predicate means the same as the subject; for instance, "a bachelor is an unmarried male.") You can interpret Obama's statement as: "If we have intelligence worthy of action, we will act." Well, no kidding! The key part, of course, is about acting regardless of Pakistani president Musharraf's position. But I still think Obama got himself into a trap with the tangle of words he used.

McCain vs. Obama - that is, Cindy McCain vs. Michelle Obama

Here's something you don't always see in a presidential race - the wives going at it! Well, sort of. Last Tuesday, Cindy McCain introduced her husband at a campaign event, saying, "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier - I am very proud of my country."

This is being viewed as a blatant response to a comment Michelle Obama made the day before, saying, "For the first time in my life, I am really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback... not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

What interests me more so than the comments themselves is the reaction that followed. Apparently this has become something of a "controversy," and both Cindy and Michelle have made statements to the effect of saying that they didn't mean what it sounded like they said.

On Monday, Obama's spokesperson covered Michelle's tracks, saying, "Of course Michelle is proud of her country, which is why she and Barack talk constantly about how their story wouldn't be possible anywhere on Earth."

I see this is a very bad rhetorical strategy. First off, Michelle herself isn't commenting, making it seem like someone else realized this was a bad political move and scrambled to correct it for her. Second, the fact remains that she said she was proud of America "for the first time in her life." If you're going to say something like that, stick behind it at least, and don't have a spokesperson correct it - I think it makes Obama seem just a little catty, not to mention either incapable or unwilling to address her own mistakes.

McCain isn't much better - she showed her own claws when she responded to Obama's in he first place. In an interview, she denied this, saying, "I just wanted to make the statement that I  have and always will be proud of my country." At least she commented on the issue herself - still, its obvious that she was responding to Obama, and would not have said this had Obama not made her remark.

All in all I think this snippy little exchange is totally unnecessary and unrelated to the election at hand. The race is between the candidates, and snippy little comments from the wives aren't going to strengthen anybody's case - all they're going to do is make the wives in question look like a couple of high school girls. The men are taking low blows already - the wives could at least be civil about the whole thing. I think this did absolutely no good rhetorically. Neither McCain nor Obama cited a relevant social issue - save Obama's regurgitation of that whole "change" thing - and McCain's snapping back was completely unnecessary. I appreciate the support for their husbands, but come on, let's make women look reputable and educated, not catty and childish.

A Wise Choice for Romney

(So apparently my post didn't go through last week... sorry... here we go again)

I've been pondering Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the presidential race since his exit after disappointing Super Tuesday defeats. I thought Romney was a decent candidate - he was experienced, which for me counts for a lot, and supported true conservative values. I was extremely confused and disappointed when he resigned, or in my opinion, gave up, after stating that he would be persevering throughout the race. That sure didn't last long, did it?

After thinking about Romney's decision, however, I think his strategy was a wise one. Although he may not have thought either of the other Republican candidates ideal, they supported Republican values. Romney would rather see his party win than see himself win, and so by resigning, the votes that would have gone to him will now go to one of the other GOP candidates, possibly swaying the election against Obama or Clinton.

Honestly, I don't think the guy had a chance, anyway. It's a shame, but I think his religion had a lot to do with it. I'm familiar with the Mormon religion, and many Christians do not take kindly to it. Whether their views are valid is another debate entirely, but I think it's a bit sad that a man's religion - Christian religion - could actually lose an election for him. Now, the religion wasn't entirely to blame, but it did play a role.

Bloggers seem to be pretty happy with Romney's resignation. I've seen some pretty nasty things - people calling him a shell of a candidate or simply a slick, attractive exterior. I don't agree with this, but I do agree that Romney probably didn't have a chance. And with a good part of America feeling dissatisfied with the Republican party, Romney made the right choice in securing more votes for one of his Republican running mates, hopefully.