You botched the joke, Barry O
Lipstick on a pit bull, genius.
Not “pig.”
The reaction of the audience speaks for itself. Watch the clip here.
Now, can you imagine if McCain had joked like this about Michelle O?
***
There’s lots of debate here in the comments thread and across the blogosphere about whether the McCain camp is overreacting, whether Obama should get the benefit of the doubt for using a common old metaphor at the wrong place and time, etc., etc.
Was he being malicious? Probably not. But it’s yet another in a long line of rhetorical gaffes that demonstrate his ineptitude.
Or, as one commenter below summed it up succinctly: “The guy’s a jerk.”
***
I should also note Obama’s diss of McCain. Welcome to civility, hope, change, and new politics:
“That’s not change,” Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said of what Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is offering.
“You know, you can put lipstick on a pig,” Obama said, “but it’s still a pig.”
The crowd rose and applauded, some of them no doubt thinking he may have been alluding to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s ad lib during her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech last week, “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”
“You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change,’” Obama continued, “it’s still gonna stink after eight years.
***
Reader Linda: “Someone commenting on my blog re. the Obama ‘lipstick on a pig’ gaffe suggested that disgruntled women should send Obama their lipstick. Not a bad idea!”
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With all the attention that the lipstick-pitbull joke got, there’s no way another lipstick joke targeting Palin was an accident or just a slip. It’s nice to give him the benefit of the doubt but if you think about it, you can actually envision the smug grin on the speechwriter who first said “Oh I know! We’ll turn the tables on’er with this lipstick thing! On the PIG! Snort.” But hey, he surely had the speech written for him, so when we all agree it was indeed an attack (albeit a weird one) perhaps the media can rush to his rescue saying they weren’t really his own words. Or maybe George S can gently remind him that he actually meant pitbull? So many possibilities. Such a doofus.
Actually, Obama pulled a Biden there – he plagiarized from Dukakis who, in 1988, refered to GHWBush as a fish rotting from the head down.
Hey Papa Bear (may I call you Papa Bear), I like some of your ideas. Here’s what I think about them:
Social Security:
While your idea is revolutionary it will never work. Liberals like bloated, social welfare programs. Even a hint of this will bring out the fear vote. As a younger voter (33), I’d scrap it. It became too convenient a fund to raid when politicians knew better. I’ll never see any of the money I paid into the system when it goes belly up.
Education:
I agree with most of your ideas. I’d keep special education and GT programs. I do agree with your mastery idea but I wouldn’t eliminate social studies from the curriculum for K-5. I do agree that all the “touchy feely” crap like “gay parents are special too” needs to go. I’d take it a step further and just scrap the public school system and devise a system that really prepare kids for different paths in life. Not all kids (sorry Obummer) will be going to college.
Medicare/Medicaid:
I agree with you that illegals need not apply. I’d actually go a step further and just see the program(s) be directed more to the elderly, poor, etc. Not the people who refuse to pay their own way.
Illegal Immigration:
Agree with you. No more anchor babies. I can’t tell you how angry I felt teaching illegal kids whose parents were working one over on the gringos. I had more fun teaching kids who had sought asylum from Bosnia and Eastern Europe because they wanted to learn (and gain their citizenship). Enforcement through attrition works. Penalize the employer who hires illegals. Deport as many as possible. The message will be felt.
Iran:
Diplomacy and sanctions are certainly not working. We need a counterbalance to hold them back. I’d bomb their nuclear capabilities if they even hinted at starting something. They’re as shifty as the North Koreans.
Iraq:
While I agree to a certain extent, we need to finish the mission. We need to finalize the exit terms and make sure that there is some kind of “reliable” power structure in place that will truly share power. The Iraqis need to recompense the US for the major economic investment we made in their country. That’s the one unfair tidbit that makes me want to personally shake al Maliki.
Healthcare:
I really agree with you here. This country is way too eager for blood than they are to seek solutions for the woes in the healthcare industry. People have just given in and stopped thinking really hard about a socialized approach. The free part is never free. The US is way too eager to socialize something just to make “everyone” pay eventually with poor care and standards. I go one step further…. reform what needs to be reformed. Get rid of that attrocious drug prescription law on the books. Don’t go the Tricare route that the military uses because, at best, military members (and their families) aren’t getting the care they deserve.
Taxes:
Totally agree with you here. The IRS was a liberal brainchild. We didn’t have it until it became an ammendment (FDR?). I don’t believe in a punitive tax code that punishes the innovator, the small company owner, or the rich person to pay for other people’s whims. It’s unrealistic and unfair to make the wealthy pay more than their fair share. If people really care about “fairness” then make the system fair. Oh, and Virgina? Please, get rid of that freaking personal property tax. An onerous usury tax if there ever was one (besides the income tax).
Papa Bear, I will add Two Things:
Defense:
Review whether we still need certain bases overseas or shut down the ones that are major money dumps (I know some as a military spouse). I’m not advocating downsizing but reanalyzing our current needs like readjusting how many bases we may need for the future. Support the freaking Air Force. They need new planes and equipment. Hell, the B-52 is 50 years old and we can’t continue to rely on it forever. More than anything, we need continuous sustainment of the military, not lip service and cuts. Rein in the contractors and make the different branches effective at both a unit and service level.
National Term Limits- Federal, State, Local. If Americans really care about a government that works for them, then stop voting for the same silly, ineffective chumps. While I respect Pres. Bush on many levels, he didn’t “build any bridges” and the Dems certainly didn’t bring any cooperation to the table (big shocker). If the President is limited to 2 terms then such a limitation needs to apply to Congress critters. However, many Americans neither really want “change” (getting rid of their own Congress critter) nor do they connect the dots except to say that it’s one party’s fault. If Americans really think that, then they’re naive.
Until Americans get their hands out of the treasury and start asking for real change, they’ll keep getting the Obummer’s, the McCain’s, and the Tim Kaine’s (cough cough claiming to be a moderate but actual do nothing VA governor). We need some drive at the local, then state, then the federal level…. perhaps something like a term limits ammendment (since the length of terms wasn’t really discussed in the Constitution). The reason Washington sucks is the same ole losers as Teddy Kennedy get voted in perpetuity instead of being term limited years ago.
That’s my young, ignoble two cents. Sorry about the length.
Somebody put Gov Palin’s and Obama’s “lipstick” comments back-to-back in a 47 second video at YouTube. Link below – pass it around, if you are so moved.
You Stay Classy, Obama
Purplepeep #196:
Yeah, I thought I try. I know that what BOR’s reaction to what Geraldo did to Michelle was inadequate. I don’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with a person who would tolerate such inexcusable behavior from Geraldo, not only directed toward Michelle but the host himself.
I just wanted to get the thoughts of everyone on the blog. I’m pretty sure I can guess (I’m omniscient!)
but everyone on here has an interesting turn of phrase.
Yes, I’ve been disappointed with BOR. I’m a regular watcher because of the diversity of opinion. There are times I just want to throw something at the television when his show is on. I’m not the only disappointed viewer out there because many were disgusted at the lengths BOR resorted to to get the interview in the first place.
If you have to go to a “special meeting” with Obummer, and the Fox big wigs, it spells “negotiation with conditions.” Obummer often negotiates with the truth about everything from his family, to his connections, to his background, to his character, to his actual ideas for the country. If you have to go to those lengths to get an interview, was it really worth getting?
I guess I’m being the devil’s advocate. OMG, I think I know how Dakine feels now!
Obama is a sexist bigot. And the MSM looks the other way.
Remember when he flipped off Hillary and got away with it? Now he calls Palin a pig and most of the media ignores it.
Obama is a disgusting piece of crap.
Self-edit: Virgina should be Virginia. The lead finger is mightier than the poison pen!
He also insulted Hockey Moms, Soccer Moms, and Moms in general…
Naw, not at all, emjem – I catch BOR once in a great while and I watched the first segment of the Obama interview. Not much to it. If BOR had really nailed Obama on something it would’ve been served up fresh right off the bat, so I passed on watching the other segments.
Funny how the interview that got the most attention this last weekend didn’t come from BOR, but from Geo Steffy on ABC with Obama’s “my Muslim faith” slip.
I’d like to see someone like Michelle or Laura Ingraham take BORs timeslot. We need less huge egos (like BillO) and more classy “lipstick pitbulls”!
How would BO like it if he were called a “nigger”?? He wouldn’t …and we would see the MSM et al want a ton of flesh from the person who said that…but alas look at how giddy they are with his “pig with lipstick” comment…just watch all the liberal women/men licking up that slop when that is said about Palin….but they would be so hypocriticaly outraged if that were said about any other woman who could be milked for political advantage.
I still remember all the non-sense over “sexual harassment” that was the liberal/feminist rage 20 years ago-when they could use it as a weapon against Republican lawmakers like Sen. Packwood of Oregon (no conservative himself by the way). But when Bill Clinton and our own Gov. Lowry (D-Washington state) actually did it…the feminazis were just silent about it…and then then that’s when the media attention on “sexual harassment” started to almost magically disappear.
Other than this folks…keep your eyes on the prize…the fact that the dems are this barbaric will be their own undoing…the more they do stuff like this the more they bury their own candidate into political defeat…this time as before it will be their own fault-they are doing our job for us.
Great stuff! Thanks for engaging. I like the free exchange of ideas when it happens on here.
Defense needs an overhaul led by a crew that gets what is at stake. Totally agree…as i do on so many others…but i need to go to sleep now…workin too much tonite lol
Bear1909 out.
Bemusedlib said:
You mean to tell me that Obama, who has had no experience in creating his own kind of change he prefers, is going to deliver us to that (which we don’t want)?
If McCain’s policies are so unpopular, Obama -not McCain- should be climbing in poll numbers…but he isn’t and hasn’t has he?
Rasberries for you bud.
Does this look familiar to you too??
Tom Toles, Cartoon, September 5, Washington Post
WATCH OUT, MR. BUSH!
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ECONOMIC POLICY AND ENERGY POICY AND SOCIAL ISSUES AND TAX POLICY ANDFOREIGN POILCY AND SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS AND ROVE-STYLE POLITICS,
WE’RE COMING IN THERE TO SHAKE THINGS UP.
That’s right…Obama plagerized that comic panel!
Does the man not have an original thought…at ALL???
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078816/posts
Considering Bill O’REilly was part of Inside Edition for years before becoming a “conservative” Talk Radio/TV personality, his realtionship to MSM is all the more suspect. Yes BO’R should be replaced by a real journalist like our host, and Fox News would watch its ratings go into outer space as Michelle Malkin kicks the living sh^t out of Geraldo Rivera…oh I’d go Pay Per View to see that!
No apoligies.
No excuses.
Time for Republicans to metaphorically wipe the floor with Obama for this remark.
The Dems destroyed George Allen for “macaca”…and Republicans are “just sitting there” on this one?!?
Time to roll…all over Obama.
It’s time he be held acountable for his…ahem…W O R D S.
Rumba, just a friendly note: we don’t use the “N-word” in these parts. Unless the discussion is about some rapper using it, putting it on their CDs, clothing, etc. – things like that where it’s inherently topical. Otherwise, I believe Michelle frowns on the use of racist terminology in comments.
One of the problems when someone tosses that word out is it, by it’s very nature, tends to taint any otherwise good points a person might be making.
In this context, we are talking about a term a person applied to herself. Had Obama used the N-word in reference to himself you would be spot on.
You would be more correct for an example comparison to take something Obama said – such as one quote he cited “If they bring a knife, we’re gonna bring a gun” and, based on that, referenced him as a “gangsta”, “street thug”, etc.
The focus is not on specific terms used, sexist or racist, but on the extremely bad judgment and lack of basic human civility displayed by Obama with these attacks on Gov. Palin.
More for his displays of the worst of manners, Lockstein. i.e. “being a jerk”, as another commenter has said. It’s what drives his constant flow of snobby, hateful gaffes.
Didnt Mccain call his wife a C*NT?
YOWZA!
O’Reilly/Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lqjuW2V7K4
OUCH! (sorry if someone already posted this…well worth all 5:25min)
_____________
“thutmose18″, you and your comment disgust me.
no class i think sarahs guy needs to kick his sorry ass
As much as I like Sarah Palin and want to see the McCain/Palin ticket win this election, and as much as I dislike and distrust the Obama/Biden ticket, I’m going to have to weigh in on this one. I’ve often heard the expression “putting lipstick on a pig” and I honestly believe it was used in the context of making the point that there would be no change with McCain/Palin. It greatly disturbs me when, instead of hammering Obama on the issues we’re mumbling and grumbling about perceived insults. Just stop it! It’s not productive! It’s a time waster! It makes us look silly and petty. There’s very little time left before the election and and there are many really important things about the Obama/Biden duo and their ill conceived agenda that need to be said. Get on with it.
Obama’s failure to reconize the context of his words (regardless of his intention) “stinks” of inexperience.
Obama’s been begging for this type of hit, directed at him.
Having his minions make them up for him (the Sambo thing, ‘he’ doesn’t look like those others on the $, etc) isn’t getting him the victim status that he needs.
So, Look for the new Sarah Palin dolls to come out of the box speaking phrases like “I’m going to cut his nuts off” and “He’s so clean and articulate”.
Oh wait…..
Whether BHO was referring to Palin or not, the fact that this statement is being discussed in the media is a huge problem for BHO. If he says, instead ‘walks like a duck, talks like a duck ….’, there’s no problem.
I don’t think it was on a teleprompter, as he was doing his usual painstakingly search for a coherent thought with his ‘Uhs, ahs, etc.’. What this shows is BHOs complete lack of judgement when he is speaking ‘off the cuff’. This man is sooooo unqualified for the job. McCain and his group need to be quiet and let the media feed this discussion. McCain should stick with the issues that have made him so successful in the last couple of months.
The dilemma for Obama supporters is, if Obama is as smart as they claim, then he’s smart enough to know how the “lipstick on a pig” comment would be perceived.
If he’s too dumb to realize how it would be perceived, he’s too dumb to be president.
Which is it?
If news reports are accurate, that was your wife.
On September 10th, 2008 at 6:21 am, Lilycat #122
Fair enough. I’ve ocnsidered that aspect, too.
YET…
Politics, being that irrational thing it is sometimes, DOES also function on the “if it sticks, use it” principle.
With George Allen, I thought it was mainly the “macaca” thing that did him in…THEN, someone mentioned Allen’s citing excerpts from Webb’s (his then-opponent) book.
A sign of desperation. IT MAY HAVE BEEN JUST THIS SIGN OF DESPERATION that signaled the Dems to “go for the jugular”…as Republicans should do NOW.
AGREED, NOT at the expense of “diverting attention” from Ayers/Woods Fund/Annenberg, Wright/Pfleger, Rezko or other things.
BOTH / AND.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Obama’s such a loser. He even stole his lead-in tripe… from a cartoon!. I recall him counting on his fingers as he was trying to remember his plagierized points. What a clod. He has to have everything scripted or he’s totally lost.
This is all coming from a guy who posed in a turban.
I would have to say, I think that Barack was just ignorant of how people would take that joke. I would give him the benifit of the doubt. As conservatives, we really need to be better than the people who find racist inuendo in everything. I also would cut back on the sexism scream, and just say the things are plain and simple not fair and irrelevent.
Barack Obama is many things, but neither dumb or unprepared, fit the bill. He knew exactly what he said, how it would be received and where it would end up, and then even paused for the ‘joke’ to be taken in by the crowd. He sent that remark straight at Palin. It is not something that should be ignored anymore than a racial slur sent in his direction by Palin or McCain. That you will never see as they both have way too much class.
New McCain campaign ad on lipstick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZd_Y_D-RaA
Crafty old fox – he’s letting them beat themselves. It’s not going to be long before Obama’s entire camp implodes and gets crushed under an avalanche of their own making.
His statement on Wright was ok, although I don’t believe for one minute that he didn’t know the guy is a racist, not after attending the church for 20 years. Obama never really answered the other question about Ayers, but like most liberals who are caught in a pickle, he deflected the criticism away to Sean Hannity ( in this case) and then tried to compare him to DK? I would have some respect for him if he’d just tell us how he really felt. For those of you claiming we’re playing the victim here, check out this part of the interview and ask yourself, “who’s really playing the victim?”
It was a lousy and poorly stated joke, but that’s all it was.
“Lipstick on a pig” is an old metaphor, and one that many people use.
It was used properly by Obama, to boot. He was talking about how McCain is basically just re-running Bush’s policies. Thus “same pig, just with lipstick.”
No malice towards Palin – just a really poorly times and paced joke. He had the material, but his timing was atrocious…
Lily, I’d say it – pigs & lipstick – seems more like the Obama campaign’s talking points du jour, especially when refering to Gov. Palin:
“This isn’t the first time in a 24-hour period that lipstick has become an issue. As he was introducing Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, Missouri Rep. Russ Carnahan said Palin had “zero experience in national government, zero experience in foreign affairs. There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.”
Republicans struck back, calling the attacks on Palin old-style Washington attacks that run counter to Obama’s promise of change. “Sarah Palin’s maverick record of reform doesn’t need any ‘dressing up,’ but the Obama campaign’s condescending commentary deserves some dressing down,” says RNC spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson.
Hogs were a theme of Obama’s town hall. Later in the event, while discussing the No Child Left Behind policy that puts stress on teachers to test students, he made another swine reference. “There’s a saying in Southern Illinois that you don’t fatten a hog by weighing it. You can weigh it everyday, that’s not how you fatten it up,” Obama said.”
WSJ.com : Obama Puts Different Twist on Lipstick
Even across the pond this as an attack on Gov. Palin hasn’t gone unnoticed:
“Barack Obama has caused a storm by attacking Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
The Democratic presidential nominee said: “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
The comment was a barbed reference to Ms Palin’s description of herself as “a pit bull in lipstick” in her acceptance speech last week.”
Obama attacks ‘lipstick on a pig’ Palin
According to every news article I’ve read, Obama’s audience itself got the personal jibe.
I think you’re looking at things from a false either-or dichotomy, Lilycat. McCain-Palin are taking on the substantive issues that divide them from Obama-Biden, but that doesn’t rule out also making some hay when their opponents step in it bigtime, as Obama has done here.
Not at all true in this case. You have to watch the video.
Behind Obama are some of his maniacs that go CRAZY when he gives the “pig” line. All that screaming, cheering, and standing up for a “pig joke”, or for an attack on the woman that is going to beat Obama?
Seems clear when the video is viewed…
Obama “misspeaks” too many times. He’s actually uttering what he believes and then realizes he goofed and tries to correct himself.
His “my Muslim faith” is a perfect example. If you’re a born again Christian, you don’t fall back to referring to your previous state of spirituality on accident. You may mention your previous spiritual state while giving your testimony, but you don’t keep referring to your previous state as if it were still in existence. Christians are new creations – their former self is gone.
All born again, evangelical Christians came from something – Muslim; Hindu; agnostic; one of the liberal denominations who only call themselves Christians but in actuality are not, etc.
Either Obama still considers himself a Muslim, or he is very confused about his Christian faith. He may call himself a Christian but the question is does he have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
RobM1981 said:
Not true. I’ve never seen or heard this used. I’ve been around a while too.
I remember during the 2006 election, George Allen (a republican running for the senate in Virgina) said something stupid and the libs hounded him for it. It was in the news for weeks and he lost the election as a result of it. It’s funny how when Obama says something stupid, the libs are now saying this is not a big deal and just a distraction from the issues. Did you say the same about Allen two years ago?
This is way bigger than the lipstick comment!
Obama/Biden: The Plagiarism Ticket!
You would think a smart politician would know better than to use it only a week after a rival described herself as a pit bull with lipstick than.
Either Obama was being petty, or he was being stupid. Which is it?
Bob Beckel: Palin the Rottweiler will self-destruct
He also used the word “pig” as well.
That’s not the end of Obama’s gaffe.
Is lead up to the lipstick remark seems exactly like a Washington Post cartoonist’s cartoon.
Tom Toles, WaPo cartoonist had this on September 5.
Coincidence?
Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt on using an old saying, in an unscripted moment, because he was tired, etc. etc., it’s still another major gaffe in what’s becoming a LONG line of them. We’re being asked to put this man up as, among other things, a spokesperson on the world stage for the USA? Can you spell A-M-A-T-E-U-R?
You’re apparently not as well-read as you think you are. A Google of the phrase turns up 150,000 hits, including the title of a book by former Rumsfeld Pentagon mouthpiece (and McCain adviser) Tori Clarke.
McCain used an obscure racial slur to describe the only non-white at a gathering and welcomed him to “the real America”. It was, if not outright racist, a particularly revealing moment which, combined with his shame of his Jewish roots showed someone who might not be dealing well with a multicultural America.
Obama used a common, non-offensive statement to describe the agenda of his opponent. It shows someone who disagrees with John McCain.
Michelle,
You are too kind to this guy. Bill Clinton pegged him: instincts of a thug. He’s been making sly, ugly digs for a long time, and the audiences love it. He’s only nailed for it once, and then it took a regular voter with a cell phone to catch him.
I’m not a fan of Obama – he’s a fool with a 19 year old’s view of the world – but this is being taken out of context. He was talking about McCain repackaging the same old ideas and calling it “change”. The analogy works. He was clearly not speaking about Sara Palin.
I worry about those who see Palin insults in every speach the way I worry about those who hear racist comments about blacks in every adverse commentary. It reduces the debate from policies and character to “you insulted me. Take that back.”
Good catch, Coffee – looks like Obama “Bidened” the cartoon almost verbatim!
Michelle should note “odd coincidence”.
Even the Italians figured out Obama’s attack:
AGENZIA ITALIA
OBAMA SPEAKS OF PALIN AND “LIPSTICK ON A PIG”
“(AGI) – Norfolk (USA), 10 Sept – Vitriolic comments have been made by Barack Obama against the Republican ticket of John McCain and, most especially, the latter’s choice of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In the eyes of the Democratic candidate running for the White House, the commitment which has suddenly become the banner being flown by his adversary is like “lipstick on a pig”, simply something to hide the emptiness behind. “We,” said Obama in a rally held late yesterday evening in Virginia before 2,400 people, ” have spoken of change both when the polls showed us in the lead and when they showed us to be lagging behind. Now, on the other side, they have suddenly begun claiming that they too are for change. Give the matter a second’s thought. These are the same people who have been in power for the past eight years. You can give a pig some lipstick, but a pig it will remain. You can wrap an old fish in a newspaper and call it change, but after eight years it will, in any case, continue to stink. We have had enough!”, he exclaimed, after which the crowd roared and granted him a standing ovation as a response. Last week during the Republican Convetion in St Paul, Palin had said that the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom like her, a suburban housewife who takes her kids to play hockey, is the fact that the Alaska governor uses “lipstick”. The Republican party staff reacted by accusing Obama of discourtesy and sexism. “Shameful and disgusting expressions,” were the words used by an aide, Jane Swift. Even McCain, however, in speaking last autumn on a health care proposal by Hillary Rodham Clinton, had spoken of “lipstick on a pig”.”
Get a life!
Palin called herself a b*tch. Actally, she was more specific — pit bull. The “lipstick on a pig” line was Obama quoting McCain.
Have you heard of the issues? Health care, economy, war, jobs, environment? Nah! Let’s talk about lipstick.
Go back to your Hollywood Studies course that you indoctrinate….moron!
Morning, Bemused.
You mean Allen, right?
Again, we’re reading something into what he said. Allen knew the word was an insult, but said he had no idea that the word had taken on a racist context. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.
First, let me say that I’m willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on this one. He was speaking off-the-cuff and we all know he’s not at his best when speaking that way. That being said, it’s easy for McCain camp to show that he didn’t mean to statement to be an attack on policy, but rather on Palin herself by just showing the crowd’s reaction. Plus, when he was speaking, Obama didn’t put the pig comment into the context which I think he meant for it to be in. I only heard the audio for the first time this morning on the radio. I heard lots of hoots from the crowd when he said it. Do I think he was attacking Palin personally? No. Do I think it was a stupid thing to say? Yes. Should he apologize? Considering that there has been a 20 point swing in woman to McCain/Palin, he had better.
lgm,
Try peddling your weary wares over at
http://www.highlights.com
I’m sure you’ll find an audience more at your level there.
Too late. It’s taken on a life of its own and has become an issue. It’s even being published in foreign newspapers. People are going to be talking about it.
Let’s not forget that there’s been many comments made over the years that the liberals jumped on and purposely put them in a negative context knowing full well that the speaker didn’t mean what the libs are trying to portray negatively.
Trent Lott is a good example when toasting Strom Thurmond.
And there’s George Allen’s famous “macacca” moment. No one knew what it meant but it sounded bad anyways.
There have been countless others over the years.
Has he ever used the analogy before? If not, why now? The answer is obvious. We have democrat hack Bob Beckel, Joe Biden, and Obama all referring to lipstick in the past week. Yes, the pattern is clear.
Indeed – going by how much Obama and his surrogates insist on talking about lipstick and Gov. Palin, it must be his campaign’s new theme. They’ve given up on “HopeNChange”. Good luck with your strong stance against lipstick, Barry!
When I first saw the video excerpt from Obama’s speech (and before I read this thread) my first thought was to chuckle and think: Zing, he got her! Great play on words! It seemed to me that it was directed at her and McCain’s policies, not at her, and did not seem offensive at all to me.
Now I am reading all about how I should have been offended. Come on folks. There is a lot more offensive about Obama then his verbal jousting skills. You can respect your enemy’s skills without agreeing with their policies or goals.
All this contrived outrage makes us look petty and, in my mind, seems more like a Kos thread rather than a MM thread. This detracts from the real issues – Obama’s dangerous positions on foreign policies, energy, taxes and social issues, and his willingness to affiliate with people that want to bring harm to our freedom or nation.
I’m sure with people like lgm defending Obama’s actions, he is sure to loose.
Meet the Real Sarah Palin blog, has a poll about the pig and lipstick comment, you can vote here.
http://sarah-palin-2008.blogspot.com/2008/09/campaign-rhetoric-hits-new-low-with.html
The next Republican ad should put lipstick on Obama and have him morph into Jimmy Carter.
Who said you are supposed to be offended, LMC?
The fact we are noting here is Obama’s utter lack of civility and good judgment.
But since you confess to getting a major case of the giggles whenever The One attacks Gov. Palin, you likely have a very different take on Obama than most folks do around here.
Certainly, in the context of a mass smear campaign against Sarah Palin, a smarter politician than Obama would have been aware of the hazards of using a loaded phrase like “lipstick on a pig.”
There are other metaphors he could have used that weren’t so loaded. “Old wine in new bottles,” for example. Or, “Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss,” would have made the point better.
Obama’s choice of metaphor, in context, demonstrates either his lack of judgment, his immaturity (name-calling), or most likely both.
Here is the proper response to the lipstick thing…….”Same to you ….but much more on it”…..meanwhile we have enemies that want to do us great harm….we have serious energy problems…we will get what we deserve if we stay at the 2nd grade level..
The first few times I saw Obama, even before he had announced he was running for President, I took note as he appeared to be a very mature, reserved, thoughtful and intellegent person. The more I’ve seen and heard from him now, not so much…
He’s an immature, whiney, undiscipline person, outwardly vindictive. It’s ok to make these types of comments in the privacy of your trusted circle, not in front of cameras. If he doesn’t have any more reserve, understanding or self discipline than this, he absolutely doesn’t need to be president.
Yeah because Sarah Palins child and who “really” gave birth to him is a real issue. YOUR side started this run away train. Not ours.
Both comments (pig lipstick and smelly fish) seemed directed at McCain’s new found change message. Obama wants people to think McCain is a continuation of Bush. In that context, the comments made sense, if a little hackneyed.
And McCain used the same lipstick on a pig comment in the summer of 07 when asked about Hillary’s health care plan. Do the same rules apply? Was he talking about Hillary?
This is a non-issue, in my opinion…
How about we just talk about “Hope and Change” instead?
It would be if not for the 70 plus other smears from the DNC in the last 2 weeks.
The guy obviously has no class. I think he knew exactly what he was saying.
purplepeep – I do not get the giggles when anyone attacks Palin. I get the giggles when there is good comic relief on an issue regardless of the source.
Comments about Palin’s family are offensive. A play on words attacking an opponent’s prior statements are fair game.
Again, let us not get down to the petty level of Kos-ers
“Lipstick on a Pig”
Was that a “smart” thing to say?
Was that a “dumb” thing to say?
QED
Obama is supposed to be “really smart.” So if he is “really smart” then knew what he was doing.
So Obama called Sarah Palin a pig? What a Jack-Ass Obama is.
He didn’t botch anything… Just like Kerry did 4 years ago, his joke was an attempt to malign someone. And he’ll try to squirm away from it like Kerry tried to, but the McCain campaign should immediately call him out on it.. in BIG way.
Uhhh…. psst… Obama may be a HArvard graduate… but he’s not actually smart. Well spoken yes…. Smart? no. If he were smart he wouldn’t be attempting to turn the USA into a Socialist Welfare State.
He’s actually not well-spoken. Take the teleprompter away and he’s lost.
Obama is smart. The most dangerous ones are always the smart ones, who use that intelligence in negative ways.
Me thinks that’s called a back handed slap.
So what if Obama did not intend to call Palin a “pig”? Should McCain show understanding that it was just a mistake? Let’s see, McCain jokingly said middle class was an income of $5 million, laughed and predicted Obama would make hay of it. He was right. Obama went on and on attempting to fool, as usual, the ignorant and uninformed. Well, turabout is fair play. Whether Obama meant it or not (I think he meant for the audience to make the connection) he purposfully used the obvious tactic of trying to make a joke serious policy….live by the joke….die by the joke!
You seem to be debating yourself here, LMC. Above you correctly note it was an attack on Gov. Palin’s pitbull w/lipstick line. In your prior comment you said just the opposite:
Obama waded in the quicksand on this, I’m content to let the leftist MSM try to pull him out. Where you chuckled at his snide attack on Palin, I derived glee watching him walk right into the swamp in so doing. It was like watching the “Dean Scream” for me – the thought is “this guy really knows how to blow it!”. (Tho the “Dean Scream” was much more dramatic and satisfying to behold.)
Though there will some longterm negative fallout for the Obama campaign on this, the story itself will be replaced before too long by whatever comes down the pike next. In the meanwhile, it’s popcorn and shaudenfreud time!
I’m not sure the American people needs McCain speaking publicly on this issue – they will be outraged whether he does or not..women should send Obama their lipstick. That would do more than anything McCain can do. McCain needs to take the high road let us speak for ourselves on this one.
Just another reason to be wary of this dangerous idiot. He knew what he was saying. The McCain camp is should be running hard with this smear. Say stupid things…yea it’s an issue.
Obama called Hillary, Annie Oakley. His sexism is well known. He is going down the tubes based upon his own arrogance as Gore and Kerry did before him.
What would people think if Mc Cain called Obama a bastard?
Why isn’t the plagiarism a bigger issue?
BO blatantly stole:
Deval Patrick’s “just words” speech
Tom Tole’s “exception” cartoon
John Kerry’s “I’m not Bush” strategy
In all fairness, he repackaged it as “change”
I don’t know if anyone is still reading these comments after 284 of them, but it seems like no one has mentioned that the “lipstick on a pig” comment is something he ripped off from the late Ann Richards – former governor of Texas that Dubya defeated.
Obama needs to stick to his day job because he stinks at “folksy” – something Ann Richards was a master of.
Read below – I copied it from Fox News – it’s pretty on the mark
I Can’t Help Myself…Advice for Democrats
By Andrea Tantaros
Republican Political Commentator
Dear Democrats,
You still don’t get it. Election Day is weeks away and you appear as discombobulated as Republicans did a few short months ago. Your anger at the GOP, at Bush, at anyone who is unlike you in mindset and values is more than palpable, it’s nauseating, even for the centrists in your party. I know you are ticked at our current President (I can appreciate that sentiment on some fronts) but you are doing major damage to your cause. Your nominee looks weak, his running mate is worthy of a missing person’s report, and your party looks rattled. It is rare that I give you advice, but I can’t help myself.
Tighten up and pick a message. I know McCain effectively yanked the change mantra out of your hands when he selected Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate and your nominee settled on establishment fixture Joe Biden, but you’ve got to get over it. There are other ways to go after Republicans. You tried the John McBush routine. It bombed. There is no plausible way anyone would believe McCain is Bush when conservatives still bristle at the mere mention of his name and resisted warming up to him until two weeks ago. (Remember immigration reform, campaign finance, stem cell research, etc.? Many conservatives do.) You can broaden that theme. (Pssst! We’ve been running the White House for the last eight years.) Run against our brand.
Reign in the lefties. It’s time you told the progressives to stop being so awful. Especially to Sarah Palin. It’s like they have nothing else to do but call people names and insult their choices. Where’s the tolerance you preach? I’m wondering, is this some kind of bizarre revenge on the popular girl who rejected them in junior high manifesting itself? How low do Obama’s poll numbers need to drop before they realize that, just like junior high, taunting the “it” girl to get a reaction doesn’t work. They are hurting the man you want to elect and reversing all of his efforts up until this point. Do Senator Obama a favor: tell them to shut down their laptops and head to anger management for the next two months.
Get off defense. In politics, when you’re explaining, you’re losing. The only thing we’ve heard out of the Obama camp since Denver are excuses on why your candidate didn’t get a bigger bounce after your convention, why the polls are wrong, and why Barack has more experience than Sarah Palin. Senator Obama: you should not be comparing yourself (the top of the ticket) to Palin (the bottom of the Republican ticket). It looks bad. Plus that’s my job.
And what’s with the lipstick on a pig comment? I don’t think you meant to call her a pig but you are being labeled classist, sexist and rude. Rookie mistake.
Democrats, you still have time to turn it around, and not with those veiled jabs at McCain’s age and stability. By executing real discipline. By intelligently going on offensive on this issues you can win, like the economy. And by not letting us distract you so damn much.
This is what you like to call the fierce urgency of now. Simply put: check yourself before you wreck yourself. If your motto is change you can believe in, right now is the time for some change–believe it.
Andrea Tantaros is a Republican political commentator and media consultant and former Press secretary to the House Republican Conference.
I agree, Miss Cheryl – McCain should make just enough hay on this so it’s the talk of the town and then let it walk on it’s own legs. There will be another Obama gaffe before too long antway. As I sez, “He’s the gaffe that keeps on gaffing”.
purplepeep –
Part of Obama’s statement: (Thanks to coffee260 above)
“John McCain says he’s about change too. Exce- and and so I guess his whole angle is – watch out, George Bush – except for economic policy, healthcare policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy, and Karl-Rove-style politics, we’re really gonna shake things up in Washington.
That’s not change.
That’s that’s just callin’ sumpin’ the same thing somethin’ different.
But you know, you can’t, you know, you you can put, ah, lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.”
Obama attacked McCain’s and thus Palin’s POLICIES by using her lipstick on a pitbull COMMENTS against her. He did not attack her as a person.
A verbal zing is a verbal zing. And, yes, I laugh at good ones regardless of the source.
Obama is a dangerous man but we are not going to sway voters away from him by focusing on petty (and IMHO funny) issues.
Even his “rotting fish” line was ripped off from Dukakis.
DougT said:
McCain’s crowd didn’t hoot and holler in response. There is a reason for that – it is called context. Palin’s most notable sound byte was about being an animal (pit bull) with lipstick.
If you didn’t get it, rest assured a lot of people in Obama’s audience got it.
DougT said:
It is a big issue to a lot of people, because it plays right into the narrative about Obama being sexist.
Again, why not create your own blog, LGM? You can write only about the “issues” and never stray. You can even hijack your own comment threads.
It appears that we have here a candidate who can’t tell the difference between a pig and a pit bull. Do we really want this fellow in charge of our foreign policy?
Obama/Biden ’08 doesn’t look to be anything other than Dukakis/Bentsen ’88–Barry’s even using some of the same talking points, and, when he’s not busy plagiarizing them, he steals from political cartoonists? Wow.
When he gets behind the wheel of a tank, the curtain will be pulled completely back, and hopefully, the sheeple who still think The One is right for America will realize in a collective V-8 moment that this isn’t high school anymore–it’s our society.
You wish..
And so to be considered wise and witty and see her name in print she is giving advice to Obama. SHUT UP WOMAN, let them sink!
A metrosexual chauvinist pig is still a chauvinist pig.
Everyone see that Letterman’s going to shill for Obama tonight over the pig comments?
No, not from the Obama camp. He never talks about issues.