Archives and Asses
04 November 2007 10:50 am by Taylor Marsh
h/t to reader Denise for the video
Survivor, indeed.
The New York senator gets 44 percent of the overall Democratic vote, compared to 24 percent for Obama (down a point since NEWSWEEK’s August poll) and 12 percent for Edwards (down two points). She is the first choice of 45 percent of self-identified Democrats (compared with 39 percent of Democratic “leaners”). She also trounces Obama among Democratic female voters (48 to 19 percent) and enjoys a marginal lead among male Democratic voters (38 to 32 percent). Obama runs better among younger Democratic voters and minorities. … Still, Obama and Edwards both run significantly stronger than Clinton among independents.
Now read
this.
Inspired by
this.
… .. In New Hamphire on Friday, she stayed above the fray, saying that
her male rivals are not “piling on” because she’s a woman
but because she’s “winning.” Meanwhile, she let her aides
below the fray stir up fem-outrage by putting a video on the campaign Web
site called “The Politics of Pile On,” edited to highlight men
ganging up on her to the tune of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro.”Mark Penn presided over a conference call on Wednesday to rally supporters
to the idea of a fem-backlash, during which one devoted Ellen Jamesian suggested
that Tim Russert “should be shot.” The woman quickly repented,
not the sentiment, but the fact that she shouldn’t have said it on a
conference call. (NBC security remained on high alert.) … ..Gift of Gall,
by Maureen Dowd
Dan Abrams made a point of mentioning the inappropriate comment about Russert being shot on the air this week during our segment as well. It was a horrific statement that should never have been uttered, especially in these times, but it’s hardly something on which to stake a claim against Clinton. It was conveniently used to offer cover for Russert who was shown for what he is. Someone who thinks it’s his task to take down Clinton, even if he has to insert himself into a debate to do it.
Maureen women
should attract equals Dowd is plainly confused. In her book on relationships,
Are Men Necessary?, Dowd reveals that she not only doesn’t understand the modern
dance between men and women, including the threats women pose to some men who won’t let go the reigns of power, but even when a woman does marry her equal she’s discomfitted. She doesn’t like that two power people can utilize one another’s strengths to get ahead. Poor MoDo, she just doesn’t know what to do with Clinton so she
pillories Hillary, including gobbling up the latest media
talking point on Clinton’s presidential records, putting the former first lady
in her sights.
If she wants to run on her record as first lady while keeping the lid on
her first lady record, that’s only fair for the fairer sex. – Maureen
Dowd
She takes aim, shoots and misses by a mile.
Eriposte over at
Left Coaster continues to make the case, offering
a link to former President
Bill Clinton’s latest statement on the fake archives issue.
One issue is whether Bill Clinton had sent a letter to the Archives asking
that the communications not be released until 2012, and whether Hillary Clinton
would lift any ban, a question raised by debate moderator Tim Russert.“She was incidental to the letter, it was done five years ago, it was
a letter to speed up presidential releases, not to slow them down,” the
former president told reporters Friday. “And she didn’t even, didn’t
know what he was talking about. And now that I’ve described to you what the
letter said, you can readily understand why she didn’t know what he was talking
about.”Russert’s question “was breathtakingly misleading,” Bill Clinton
said. … ..
I broke the story when I talked to an archives
expert the other day, putting Russert’s people over at NBC
in a twist. But as you can see from the video at the top, the “Today Show” didn’t get the memo.
After spending time on the phone today with a source very familiar with archive
procedures, the truth of the matter is quite different. The letter Russert
held up was from 1994. It’s also standard operating procedures for all presidents.
Once documents start being produced by a president, something has to be decided
about what to do with them in case something happens to the president. I was
told it was standard for presidents to choose the 12 year maximum to hold
the documents, which are put in categories like national security, senior
administration, secret, etc. The highest level documents often stay secret,
and with regards to Bill Clinton specifically, are then run by Bruce Lindsay
to decide whether to make them public. What Russert didn’t bother to add at
the time of his document waving drama, was that right after Bill Clinton left
the presidency he asked that his documents be released immediately. But after
George W. Bush came into office, he decided that presidential papers would
be kept secret indefinitely, something Bill Clinton openly fought against,
including opposing Bush on the 12 year secrecy procedure, but especially on
the new indefinite stand. So back and forth the conversation went, with Bush
pushing back on Bill Clinton.
All these days later, Ms. Dowd runs yet again with the bogus archives story.
Facts have left the building, with Obama’s
team parroting this nonsense as well.
… As Obama was campaigning in South Carolina, two of his leading supporters
in Iowa released a letter calling on Clinton to expedite the release of thousands
of pages of documents from her husband’s presidential library that bear on
her activities during his two terms in the White House.“Throughout this campaign, you have repeatedly emphasized your experience
as First Lady,” wrote Tom Miller, the Iowa attorney general, and Lu Barron,
a Linn County supervisor. “However, by refusing to authorize an expedited
release of the records from your time in Washington, you are preventing the
Iowa voters from thoroughly reviewing that experience.” … ..
This is the exact same thing that Samantha
Power did with Tucker Carlson recently, as he made up out of whole cloth
that Clinton was complaining Obama was “mean to her.” Not only did
Power believe something completely false about Clinton just because Tucker said
it, but continued the talking point because it benefited her candidate. Mind
you, Samantha Power is an astute foreign policy voice so she knows how this
works. I know team Obama wants to win, but can we at least not do it while forwarding
talking points that are concocted out of whole cloth by media talking heads?
I guess not.
