Tue, Sep 9, 2008 9:36pm ET

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WSJ's Chozick misrepresented Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment

Summary: In a blog post, Wall Street Journal reporter Amy Chozick baselessly asserted that Sen. Barack Obama's statement that "[y]ou can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig" "played on [Gov. Sarah] Palin's joke during the Republican National Convention that the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom was lipstick." Chozick provided no evidence for this assertion, and, in fact, Obama did not mention Palin in at least the 65 words preceding his "lipstick on a pig" comment. Indeed, his preceding comments consisted of what he described as a "list" of Sen. John McCain's policies that Obama said were no different from President Bush's.
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Posted by ukobserver

And so it starts.

 

Posted by my4cents1172 in reply to ukobserver

And I hope it goes on, because this is the only sort of 'dialog' the country seems to understand.

Posted by NiceguyEddie in reply to my4cents1172

I love it.  Republican's crying sexism.  After all the stuff that was said about Senator Clinton, and assumed about Clinton's voters.

And even if it WAS aimed at PALIN, it wouldn't be SEXIST.  It would ugly, crude and a nasty thing to say, but unless it suggests that her support is only due to her gender, or that being female disqualifies her from being VP, it wouldn't be SEXIST.  It's far more sexist to suggest that because she's female, that she can't be attacked like everyone else.  (Hypocritical too - no one in their lot every treated Senator Clinton 'like a lady.')

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to NiceguyEddie

And perhaps it is not just coincidental that the Palin/McCain campaign makes this accusation on the same day it is revealed that Governor Barbie paid herself a substantial per diem for working at home and ran up travel expenses for her family. Perhaps the Palin/McCain campaign simply wants to divert attention from that and is a tad sensitive that Governor Barbie is just another pig at the trough.

Posted by nerzog in reply to IRONY 101

And it also comes on the heels of the revelation that Karl Rove is, indeed, heavily involved in the Barbie/Grampy campaign.

Surprise, surprise!

I guess rough, tough Warrior POW Grampy has no problem hiding behind his VP's skirts for the rest of the campaign, as long as he gets to be President for a few months.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to nerzog

An honorable man wouldn't conduct a campaign they way McCain does his.

Posted by pearlene_scott1602 in reply to IRONY 101

Crying sexism over the pig comment?

Come on, when is this pathetic show going to end?

The McCain campaign is beyond pathetic with their "She's a lip stick wearing pit bull, but, but, you can't hit her back because she's a girl" or   "they're being sexist against her". 

This is politics! If the pit bull in lipstick can't take what she dishes out, I recommend seeing a surgeon for a set of neuticles. 

Posted by NiceguyEddie in reply to pearlene_scott1602

All true, but the kicker is that HE CLEARLY WASN'T TALKING ABOUT HER!!!!  He lays out IN DETAIL how McCain's policies are exactly like Bush's - and SHE was NEVER MENTIONED?  What the pig? REPUBLICAN POLICES? How's the lipstick? That McCain trying to spin the OLD as the NEW. 

It's incredible.  THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PALIN! 

Posted by pointofview

Of course it was related to her joke at the convention.  I do NOT think he was calling her a pig, but he was claerly playing on her joke. 

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to pointofview

Liar Barbie can dish it out pretty good...but she sure can't take it.

Posted by wolf kotenberg in reply to IRONY 101

I think the speech was written for her, with the rush limbaugh comedy sprinkled on. I have heard the phraseology " lipstick on a pig ' for a long time now, probably before palin was even born. Might even go back to " Rowan and Martin ' the complete phrase is " you can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig ". We are voting for the president, not the people he surronds himself with, although after Cheney, that might actually be a vital concern.

Posted by roundhouse in reply to wolf kotenberg

Don't kid yourself, wolf.

We most definitely are voting for the people surrounding the McCain candidate (He is no longer an individual, he is a rightwing entity. He is the Mcain candidate.) He surrounds himself with anger and resentment personified: Rove, Bush, Palin, Graham and Graham, Bob Jones, Satan, Palin, Rove, Cheney, Satan, Nosferatu, Split Foot, Gramm, Romney, Lieberman, Hannity, Satan, the Devil, Palin, Rove, Bush and Cheney.

Posted by mary59 in reply to roundhouse

That's a great list.  I'm not happy about Nosferatu being over here but I'm sure that Europe is relieved.

Posted by roundhouse in reply to mary59

I Nosferatu, Giuliani. Same thing.

Posted by open_mind in reply to pointofview

Of course, because everything is about Palin.  Man, you guys just think the world revolves around your celebrity girl.  What egoism.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to open_mind

She's their only hope... Who could possibly get excited about John McCain?

Posted by leatherhelmet in reply to IRONY 101

More people listened to his speech than Obamessiah.

 

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to leatherhelmet

I think the revised numbers were about even, but, regardless... how many people were still awake by the end of John McCain's speech? All the Democrats who started watching it were dead drunk from chugging a beer every time it was mentioned that McCain was a former POW. The former POW doesn't exactly excite a crowd...

BTW, did you know that he doesn't like to talk about his POW experience...unless, for some odd reason, he's asked about houses. Strange dude...

Posted by DAWUSS in reply to leatherhelmet

Probably because of the hype building up from the Palin speech.

 

Also, I'm sure there was a spike in viewership once the Redskins lost to Eli Messiah (courtesy thehaternation.com) as well.

Posted by gg in reply to leatherhelmet

LH

People slowing down to see a car wreck doesn't mean they want to be in one.

Posted by deeznuts in reply to leatherhelmet

Absolutely false. I can't even believe you would make such an assertion when the numbers are just "a google" away. Do you think we're as stupid as you are?

Look it up.

Posted by ukobserver in reply to leatherhelmet

African American running for POTUS: I am NOT the Messiah!


Right wing stooge & weatherman on Murdoch morning cable show: I say you are Lord, and I should know. I've followed a few.

African American running for POTUS: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!


Blonde air-headed right wing news model : Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.


African American running for POTUS: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!

Moronic viewers of Murdoch morning cable show who believe everything right wingers tell them: He is! He is the Messiah!


African American running for POTUS: Now, fcuk off!
[silence]


Right wing stooge & weatherman on Murdoch morning cable show: How shall we fcuk off, O Lord?

Posted by wzwriter in reply to leatherhelmet

More people listened to his speech than Obamessiah.

And many people go to Adam Sandler movies.  That doesn't mean they're any good, and it's no indication that Gramps' speech (or Gramps himself) is any good.

Posted by annes10 in reply to leatherhelmet

I listened to both conventions ... do you think that means I'm going to vote for both candidates?

Abt 39M listened to the DNC convention, and 39M listened to the RNC convention. 90% were probably the same people.

Posted by wolf kotenberg in reply to IRONY 101

Mrs McCain could, unless she got replaced

Posted by Brabantio in reply to pointofview

Maybe, but there's no "of course" about it.  The phrase "lipstick on a pig" predates Palin's speech, and is pretty common at that.  You wouldn't be surprised to see it even if she hadn't made that joke.

Posted by Timmee in reply to pointofview

Really? Because "lipstick on a pig..." is an old saying.

Posted by rayfius476 in reply to pointofview

What matters is that he should have known how it could be interpreted and would be interpreted.  He slipped.  Let's move on....

Posted by Brabantio in reply to rayfius476

Why are you referencing moveon.org?  That has nothing to do with the topic.  Are you a troll or something?

Get the point? 

Posted by annes10 in reply to rayfius476

You mean how Grampy should have understood how people would interpret him singing "Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran"?

Posted by wzwriter in reply to pointofview

Of course it was related to her joke at the convention.  I do NOT think he was calling her a pig, but he was claerly playing on her joke. 

And of course, POV, you are wrong - again.

That line about putting lipstick on a pig was first used on the national scene by the late Ann Richards (former Governor of Texas) to describe government programs that don't deliver as promised.  Her exact quote was "You can put lipstick and earrings on a hog and call it Monique, but it's still a pig." (Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ann_Richards)

And Ann Richards was also the woman who said that George H. W. Bush had been born with a silver foot in his mouth.  Both jokes have been used many times over the years at various Democratic Partyt functions I've attended - they've become part of our party's history.

And the McCain camp has no right to cry foul here, seeing as Gramps McCain has also used this joke in the past.  Here's an excerpt from a news article dated October 11, 2007.  It shows Gramps McCain using Ann Richards' old joke to attach Hillary Clinton's health care plan:

McCain criticized Democratic contenders for offering what he called costly universal health care proposals that require too much government regulation. While he said he had not studied Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's health-care plan, he said it was "eerily reminiscent" of the failed plan she offered as first lady in the early 1990s.

"I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," he said of her proposal.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/mccain_rolls_out_health_plan_a.html

Barack Obama was not even TALKING about Sarah Palin for at lease 65 words before he used that joke, so to claim that he directed it at her is wrong, a lie, and ludicrous.  Just like virtually every position you've taken on this board, POV.

Posted by Graydogs in reply to pointofview

He wasn't playing on her joke....McCain has used this phrase and I believe Obama has used it in the past as well. He wasn't talking about Palin when he used it, the point everyone is missing about the smear.

 

On MSNBC Morning Joe,  Pat Buchanan said that the lipstick on the pig comment is not about sexism, it’s about “Him looking down on her”.

 

Though most on the show  thought the comment had nothing to do with sexism, the hosts continued to discuss that Obama has been attacking Palin, and he should be going after McCain. Of course, Obama is not attacking Palin….and his comment was about McCain’s campaign saying they were for change from old politics when they were clearly are not for change.The discussion should not have been if he was directing it at rural America, or working America. Obama was attacking McCain’s focus on change, which Obama constantly points out, is just the same.

 


 

 

Posted by IRONY 101

Obama's lipstick on a pig comment was probably an oblique reference to Liar Barbie's reference to herself as a pit bull with lipstick. So what...? If Barbie is that thin-skinned perhaps she should go back to heading the PTA.

Obama should respond by pointing out that both John McCain and Sarah Palin are well acquainted with pork.

Posted by pointofview in reply to IRONY 101

You really have some anger issues.  You need to relax....not good for the blood pressure.

Posted by my4cents1172 in reply to pointofview

huh?

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to pointofview

Anger...? Nah, just a straight talker...my friend.  ;>)

Posted by pointofview in reply to IRONY 101

LOLLLL  i have to give that one to you!!

Posted by Col. Harlan Sanders in reply to pointofview

Pointy, why are you wingnuts always seeing anger in others posts? It's just weird.Is it just that projection that rears its head when you feel yourself getting upset?

Anyway, this is ridiculous. Palin has already described herself as a dog with make-up, and I think pigs are smarter than dogs, so it was a compliment.

Posted by pointofview in reply to Col. Harlan Sanders

Col

Pretty simple...you came to this one a little late.  When the posts all start by calling her names......a liar.....barbie....all of the attacks....when in this case she did not say anything to start this latest attack/scandel/talking point......that is clearly anger.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to pointofview

She is a liar...and one of the reasons she was selected is because she looks like a Barbie doll. Liar Barbie... Caribou Barbie... Old Testament Barbie... They all fit... Deal with it...she's your girl.  ;>)

Posted by pointofview in reply to IRONY 101

I am more than happy that she is "our girl".  Seems like the world forgot about your pick......what was his name........Joe somebody

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to pointofview

Seems like the world forgot about your pick......what was his name........Joe somebody

Well, that's understandable...Joe Biden isn't a celebrity like Barbie is.

Posted by deeznuts in reply to IRONY 101

Indeed. Where's all the bellyaching about "celebrity" from the Right now?

Oh yeah. IOKIYAR.

Posted by onionhead in reply to pointofview

Your "girl" is just George W. Bush in a dress.  Your party never learns (I sure hope our country will).

Posted by wzwriter in reply to onionhead

Your "girl" is just George W. Bush in a dress. 

Which conjured up THIS image of Rufy Giuliani:

<B>SOME LIKE IT STRAIGHT:</B> Rudy Giuliani, doing his best Marilyn in '97 and speaking to conservatives in D.C. yesterday, is the target of a whisper campaign.

Posted by Col. Harlan Sanders in reply to pointofview

Sorry I'm late, somebody has to work all day or you don't get yer food stamps. Irony's post didn't start with name-calling, he just referred to her as "Liar Barbie" while making his point.

It's a harmless nickname based on some facts about Ms. Palin -- her tendency to lie, and her position as a pleasant -looking prop. I realize "Barbie" may not be the most accurate choice, as she's three times the age of what most consider a "Barbie Doll", but that's a play on "Caribou Barbie".

Anyway, for somebody who describes herself as a tarted up hound, she should be tough enough to handle "Barbie". And if she doesn't like the "liar" part, she should have Karl come up with a new speech that has more "true stuff" in it.

Posted by annes10 in reply to Col. Harlan Sanders

Col, I haven't had the impression that Gov. Palin can't take the heat ... there's been neither woof nor oink outa Sarah.

This isn't heat, though, this is just hot air from the kiddies in the McCain camp.

 

Posted by open_mind in reply to pointofview

"When the posts all start by calling her names......a liar..."--POV

Technically, calling her a "liar" is not calling her a name.  Unfortunately, there is a basis for it.  She has been caught in a substantial lie.  If you saw a person consume an entire bottle of Vodka in front of your eyes and he was staggering and slurring his speech, calling him a drunk is not a name.  It is what he is at the moment.

Now calling her "Barbie" is a name.  You are right about that.

Posted by Graydogs in reply to pointofview

Point of view: ."when in this case she did not say anything to start this latest attack/scandel/talking point......that is clearly anger."

 But everyone is mising that it was not an attack on HER. Obama and McCain, and WASHINGTON politicians use this phrase all the time. Obama was talking about McCain and his use of CHANGE, nothing about Palin.

Posted by wzwriter in reply to pointofview

When the posts all start by calling her names......a liar.....barbie....all of the attacks....when in this case she did not say anything to start this latest attack/scandel/talking point......that is clearly anger.

Nope.  We're just speaking the truth.  And the truth is that Caribou barbie is a serial liar who can dish it out but appeas unable to take it.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to Col. Harlan Sanders

Not just a dog...a ferocious pit bull. Tough woman, there... So why is she so thin-skinned and takes offense at a play on her joke?

Posted by wzwriter in reply to IRONY 101

Obama's lipstick on a pig comment was probably an oblique reference to Liar Barbie's reference to herself as a pit bull with lipstick. So what...? If Barbie is that thin-skinned perhaps she should go back to heading the PTA.

She can't do that - there will always be milk money controversies and the like.....

Posted by wookie

Here is a good take on it.

>>There was one glaring problem with the argument: McCain himself used the exact same phrase to describe Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan just last year. "I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," McCain said in October of 2007, describing Clinton's universal health care plan when she was running in the Democratic primary. He also, in February 2007, used the phrase to describe conflict over a resolution on the Iraq War. "It gets down to whether you support what is being done in this new strategy or you don't," McCain said at the time. "You can put lipstick on a pig, [but] it's still a pig, in my view."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/09/palin_camp_takes_umbrage_at_li.html

Posted by leatherhelmet in reply to wookie

LOL. Spin, Spin, Spin.

Hillary didn't just make a famous speech referring to lipstick.

Watch the tape, everybody in the room knew what he meant.

So much for Obama's promise to run a positive campaign.  But that is they way it is every election so no big deal.  But it is a bad strategy for Obama. The high road would have been better, but he's worried right now no one is listening to him.

 

 

 

Posted by Col. Harlan Sanders in reply to leatherhelmet

Watch the tape, everybody in the room knew what he meant.

Leatherhead, can I borrow your magic TV that shows what the people in the picture know? Thanks.

I did enjoy the "spin spin lol" part of your post too. Were you playing outside?

Posted by open_mind in reply to leatherhelmet

"Watch the tape, everybody in the room knew what he meant."--leatherhelmet

Hahahaha! I love how you guys are mind-readers. It's so adorable!

Posted by Col. Harlan Sanders in reply to open_mind

Openmind, I only came back here because I flipped by Hannity & colmes just now, and he showed the clip. Guess what his take on it was? Yeah, "everybody in the room knew what he meant." Har! These trained monkeys amuse me.

Posted by open_mind in reply to Col. Harlan Sanders

I guess LeatherHelmet inadvertantly answered the question "Who falls for Hannity's bs?"

Posted by DAWUSS

http://images.art.com/images/-/Looney-Tunes---Porky-Pig--C11754811.jpeg

Posted by open_mind

"As far as I know there is only one candidate in this contest who wears lipstick," Swift said.

This is like the McCain "losing his bearings" comment.  Context means nothing I guess.  You just have to laugh at how stupid and defensive this kneejerk reaction makes the McCain campaign look.

Posted by wookie in reply to open_mind

Its especially shameless coming from the guy who gave us the Chelsea Clinton-Janet Reno joke.

Posted by Governor

Perhaps he was calling McCain the pig and Palin the lipstick.

Posted by Brabantio

Jake Tapper:"She is the only one of the four candidates for president, or the only vice presidential candidate who wears lipstick," Swift said. "I mean, it seemed to me a very gendered comment."

So let me get this straight.  McCain names a radical who can't hold her own against reporters to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and questioning her positions and his judgment is a sign of great desperation.  But when Obama uses a common phrase, it's perfectly legitimate to bitch and moan because Palin happens to wear lipstick too.  That doesn't come off as desperate at all. 

Posted by mary59

Posted by eweston8542983

Future conversation, very near future.

Moonbat: I still really enjoy a good cheese sandwich.

Wingnut: Stop trashing Sarah Palin!

Mb: Cinnamon toast is one of those simple guilty pleasures in life.

Wn: Why do you hate Sarah so!!

Mb: So what do you like for breakfast?

Wn: Your so deranged by your hatred of Sarah Palin that no impressionable honest person should ever have to hear what you say! Have you no shame at all sir, go hide away from the sight of all right thinking AMERICANS!!!?..oops!!!!!...!!

 

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to eweston8542983

To which John McCain added: When I was locked up for five years we didn't have breakfast...and I didn't have a table...or a chair...or a house...or a, uhhh...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz  ;>)

Posted by gg

I guess a down home paper like the WSJ isn't familiar with the elitist expression "lipstick on a pig".

Posted by IRONY 101

There's more...! Read this...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/a-piggish-debat.html 

McCain's campaign is also suggesting Obama called McCain an old fish. This is priceless...! And just think...we have two more months to go...  ;>)

Posted by open_mind in reply to IRONY 101

"Some of them no doubt were thinking he may have been in some way alluding to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's ad lib during her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech last week" -- Jake "the mindreader" Tapper

Conservative mindreading knows no limits!  How do you guys do it?! Where do you go to school to learn telepathic journalism?

Posted by princeofwheels in reply to IRONY 101

The new campaign slogan for the Reepers

                                       SURF AND TURF

Posted by wzwriter in reply to IRONY 101

McCain's campaign is also suggesting Obama called McCain an old fish. This is priceless...! And just think...we have two more months to go...  ;>)

There are manu differences between Gramps Mccain and an old fish.  An old fish can be used as bait to catch otehr fish, or added to a compost heap to make fertilizer.  Gramps McCain serves no useful purpose, other than serving as a bad example.

Posted by mescal in reply to wzwriter

Today the reich wingers are claiming that the 'old fish' line was a reference to the odor of Caribou Barbie's vagina.

I'm not making this up. They're actually out and making this claim. They really DO think that the voters are that stupid.

Posted by devnancy

Like a lot of people have said "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" is a very old saying.  I'm sure it was a play on Palin's "pitbull with  lipstick" comment, but the response to Obama's comment is far from "pit bull".  If she wants to play with the "big boys" she should be able to take it - those who defend her insult women - come on.  I am a 56 year old married woman with three children, and a small business owner.   My gender has NEVER been a hinderance to anything I wanted to do.   People need to lighten up, it's politics, it has always been this way, deal with it.  It's her policies that I totally and completely disagree with.  Get over the lipstick crap. As usual, a lot of people have changed this election from being about policy to being about bull....!

Posted by Brabantio

"UPDATE: The McCain campaign quickly struck back convening a conference call with reporters and former Mass. Gov. Jane Swift to paint the common expression as a sexist jab at Palin. "As far as I know there is only one candidate in this contest who wears lipstick," Swift said."

"As far as I know"?  I guess all the right-wingers who claimed that Hillary was deliberately planting doubt about Obama's religion will be chastising Swift for planting doubt about whether McCain wears lipstick or not.  I can't wait. 

Posted by friedbergboy1422 in reply to Brabantio

Any chance this comment will be played in context?  If this comment hurts him, I will lose all faith in this country.  McCain can use the expression to describe Hillary's health plan, he's not sexist.  Obama talks about the plans/ideas of McCain/Palin and uses the  same expression and he's sexist.

McCain makes a horrible joke about Chelsea Clinton, he's hilarious, he laughs at a question "How do we beat the b!tch?" No problem.  Obama uses an old expression, the Right (thank you for reaffirming some of my faith in people, POV) goes ballistic.  Unreal.

Posted by Brabantio in reply to friedbergboy1422

McCain's "wrestle with a pig" comment about Romney is even better evidence of how idiotic all of this is.  "Lipstick on a pig" is about policy here, not people.  But McCain's comment about Romney was regarding Romney's attacks against McCain, so that was about Romney himself.  But Swift said McCain wasn't calling Romney a pig in that instance.  How does that work?

Even Mark Halperin said it was a load of crap.  The only way to make this look like any sort of controversy is to take it out of context and pretend that it's not an old expression at the same time.  Otherwise it couldn't fool anyone at all. 

Posted by roundhouse in reply to Brabantio

Screw 'em. They're going scream like stuck pigs about everything Obama says.

They ARE pigs and they know it.

Let this be about Palin, she is a zealot pig who would overturn Roe v. Wade and author a rapists a bill of rights by outlawing abortion even in the case of rape or incest. I mean, damn, if Palin's attacks indicate a person of low character, then Obama should have no problem attacking Palin's low character. And low she is with her snide, "Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's (Obama) worried that someone won't read them their rights?"

It is damned un-American to divide us like that, as if we justice loving liberals wish death to our own families. That is the lowest of the low and does not deserve to be said without pointing out how filthy such an accusation it is.

And just who does she think she is, trying to tell us about her family values and abstinence only? Low character indeed. Hypocrite.

See, if she gets her way, our only choice will be her choice. I don't know about anybody else, but I have had it with these religious extremists using government to tell us how we ought to live.

Like I said. They really are pigs, ain't no lipstick gonna change that.

Posted by Col. Harlan Sanders in reply to friedbergboy1422

To his credit, smarmy churchmeister Mike Huckabee was questioned on this tonight (on Fox, I believe) and he couldn't bring himself to get on the bandwagon. Huckleberry has squandered pretty much all of his "decent guy" reputation he may have had in the past with this campaign, but he had to "cut Obama some slack" on this one.

Scary that it's that noteworthy when one of the prominent Repubs occasionally has a little flicker of conscience and doesn't jump on the taling point smear.

Posted by princeofwheels in reply to Col. Harlan Sanders

Colonel, Maybe the Huckster is a little pissed about his rapid decline in the Top 20 list of Republicans.  Palin is sort of like the Arkansas Football Team being 0-3 then whipping the School of the Ozarks and being ranked #2 in the country the next week. (Huck, 9/11 and My 5 Sons are history). SORRY, I used the wrong team..Arkansas' nickname is the Razorbacks, something to do with a hog or a pig...POV, cut me some slack. And if you do, I'll never say that Sarah brought home the bacon.

 

Any chance this comment will be played in context?

Unfortunately, no.  I didn't see any news last night, so the first thing I heard about this was this morning, compliments of the right-wing morning DJ on WJR (Detroit), Paul W. Smith, who has been a substitute host for Limbaugh.  Smith and his stooge, whose name I can never remember, recounted the incident 'fully':

Smith:  So, what about Obama's comment, "Lipstick on a pig."  What was that all about?

Stooge:  Palin.

Smith:  Figures.  Sheer desperation, that's all I can say.  Desperation.

So no, no context, no proof, no acknowledgement that the comment could have been about anything else, and a quick insult dropped in at the end.  This is right-wing political discourse, folks, in a relatively mild form.

Posted by elephty

Ever since the RNC the media has been deceitful with the public about the John McShame/Sarah PiledOn ticket the propaganda media has been doing a yoeman's job of helping the republicans sell it.

Barack Obama better not apologize the Palin for his putting lipstick on a pig statement. Putting lipstick on a pig is a common phrase not unique to Obama and existed long before Palin appeared on the national scene. It's meaning describes what the Republican Party is attempting to do with the McShame/PayLong ticket. It is attempting to dress up, "put lipstick on" the same old republican incompetence, but even lipstick cannot hide the fact that McShame's policies are no different than Bush's. No apology needed. He cannot apologize because it would make him appear to fall for another fake republican controversy.

The first thing my wife said after watching Palin's nomination speech was that she was fake. That was my first impression and remains my impression no matter how well the republicans attempt to market the ticket as authentic when it is so far from authentic it would be laughable if the stakes were not so high.

This isn't some silly game. It is the life of the country at stake here, because McShame/Painin ambitions make them willing tools for the corrupt Washington lobbyists, business interests, and others who see the ticket as the easiest couple of people to manipulate for their silent overthrow of the American people.

McShame/PainIn may not be neo-fascists, but those who will be cracking their whips are and neither of them would let something as trivial as the fascist overthrow of our democratic republic get in the way of their greatness.

Palin is a Holy Roller, and in these dangerous times the last person we need holding the second highest public office in the land is someone who believes that she speaks in tongues. Sensible people cannot possibly believe that it is a good idea to have a superstitious voodoo Christian attempting to cope with foreign policy. She'll abdicate her responsibility to McShame and if he is gone she'll hand over the responsibility to the CFR. Then we will be right back with the same people whose decisions screwed up the past eight years four more years to continue weakening and damaging America.

A friend of mine said that he had to believe that at the very worst our elected officials would not deliberately cause harm to the U.S.

I harbor no such belief.

Posted by rdirkse

Republicans = LIES.  What else is new?

Posted by LarryE

The disturbing - albeit unsurprising - aspect of this whole business is how quickly and easily whatever nonsense the GOPpers puts out appears in the media as conventional wisdom.

Posted by fantagor

Isn't it nice to hear from those long time femanists, the GOP, right after Obama hauls out an old chestnut about adorning unattractive things like pigs? The only question is:

WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?

Must be another one of those Pentecostal miracles... 

Randy

Posted by reaganred

Certainly the comment will go unchallenged by the mainstream media, but could you imagine the uproar if Palin or McCain made the comment "you can put a tie on a monkey, but it's still a monkey".

Posted by Brabantio in reply to reaganred

Of course there would be outrage.  There are three major differences.  First, "tie on a monkey" is not a familiar phrase.  Second, neither Obama nor McCain has previously used it, while both of them have used this phrase in the past.  Third, "pig" has no connotations regarding gender.

Posted by moe

I’m outraged, outraged I tell you!! Senator Obama calling The Greatest VP Candidate Ever a pig with lipstick and a smelly fish wrapped in newspaper really pisses me off.

I believe the record shows that she is in fact a Pit-Bull with lipstick; a noble attack dog one usually sees chained to a fence and looks nothing like a pig (pigs have a short, curly tail). And she is certainly no ordinary smelly fish wrapped in newspaper but rather a smelly Barracuda wrapped in The Washington Times (maybe with lipstick). Her running mate, McCain – nothing short (pun intended) of a very old Clown Fish (I’m sure he’s smelly but no one cares about him anyway).

So stop with the sexism Mr. Obama – Noble, Pit-Bull with lipstick chained to a fence and a Barracuda that smells after about 3-4 days – 5 tops.

PS - correct me if I'm wrong but I think a Barracuda would eat a Clown-Fish. Thought I saw it in a movie.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to moe

Thought I saw it in a movie.

And then the barracuda began speaking in tongues, smote the gays and single-handedly overturned Roe v. Wade. I saw that movie...scary.  ;>)

Off topic, but I just heard that the group Pigs For Per Diems (a splinter group of Hogs At The Trough) are supporting the Palin/McCain ticket. They greatly admire the way Governor Barbie has paid herself a per diem for working at home.  ;>)

Posted by Governor

It's getting downright embarrassing for me to even listen to people spin things to their advantage.  Pat Buchanan just said that Obama was calling Palin 'trailer trash' by using the 'pig w/ lipstick' expression.  I may have to take a break from election news for a couple weeks.

Posted by nerzog in reply to Governor

If Grampy wins, I may have to take a break from it for the rest of my life.

It's depressing to watch our political system devour itself, with the worthless Corporate Media sprinkling salt on it.

Posted by Governor in reply to nerzog

Agreed!  I have far less of an issue w/ the McCain Campaign's oh-so-lame tactics than I do w/ MSM's love of running with it for them.  It cheapens the democratic process to the point of worthlessness..

Posted by Lorelei in reply to Governor

It's pretty much worthless now.  Why is Bush in office....twice none the less.

If it goes republican this time....I am out of politics for good.  What would the use be, its sewed up with Diebold, and with the media.

 

Posted by revisionist_guy395

Obama turned Bill Clinton’s comments that Obama’s record of voting against the Iraq war was a ‘fairy tail’ into a smear that he said a black man becoming president was a fairy tail. Obama can’t then go around talking about lipstick and pigs and not expect it to be seen as calling Gov. Palin a pig.

What goes around comes around.

Posted by mary59 in reply to revisionist_guy395

The Obama campaign did no such thing.  Media Matters documented the right wing press doing that.  Yes indeed what you put out reflects on you.

Posted by roundhouse in reply to revisionist_guy395

Palin is a pig. Not that it matters to you. I'm guessing you're fantacizing about Caribou Barbie 20 out 24 hours a day, anyway.

Posted by k-mckay2402

 

I can't believe how fast this campaign has gotten dirty!!! Now all the news media outlets can talk about is a "pig comment"!!! Its amazing to me that when McBlame says the SAME comment in regards to Hillary's health care proposal NO ONE accused him of calling her a pig. But of course, NOW when OBAMA says the same comment, he's accused of calling Palin a pig. YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!! Is this actually the behavior of rational mature adults or are we back in jr. high school? I just watched FOX/fix news and they're actually implying that YES Obama meant to call her a pig while they convienently ommitted McShame's same comment about Hillary. Now, that doesn't surprise me at all of course since everyone knows how slanted they are to RepubliCONs. But now every other media outlet is hopping on the same bandwagon. Lets be fair people! It seems to me we should have one rule. If Obama was calling Palin a pig, then McCain was calling Hillary Clinton one. If McCain wasn't, then Obama wasn't. End of story. Focus on the friggin' issues and leave this childish crap on the playground!!

 

 

Posted by Plug-Baby-Plug

Reginald Denny said it best: "Why can't we all just get along?"

I would like a media blackout - no commentators - no pundits - no spinners - no ' no spin zones' - and the rest of the baloney.

Just candidates debating. Period. F- the rest of this.

Palin made (read) the joke, and Obama made his quip, and she should take it like the lipstick wearing hockey mom she purports to be. Hillary should be screaming from the rooftops. USA will be the laughing stock of the world (again) if the Republican Guard (oops, freudian slip...) slime their way into that oval office again. F-ing pathetic. I feel like I'm watching E! Entertainment television.

-Depressed at the fear&smear, divert&pervert, lie&buy, distort&distort some more power brokers that prevent an honest discussion of what the country needs and how we can work together. GWBush let unity slip after 9-11: a chance for America's shared purpose. At this point I am beginning to believe that only a more devastating disaster will pull us together. God (and citizens) help us.

Posted by wesley

 -- The "analysis" is perhaps marginally interesting as cocktail party chatter; as journalism, it is pointless vanity and role-playing -- if reporters want to be campaign managers, they should go do that. But if they want to be journalists, they should start by giving their customers important information -- Jamison Foser

That was Foser on the lousy state of the news media...and it is perfectly applied to the "lipstick on a pig" hoopdedo.

Was Obama playing off the "lipstick on a pitbull" comment?. Could be, but so what. He was clearly not calling Gov.Palin a pig. The only thing newsworthy about the pig comment is the fact that Obama was emphasizing that he doesn't believe in McCain's "change" message.

Hannity is the poster boy for the shabby journalism that Foser identifies. He very predictably jumped on Obama's pig comment...with the only goal being a healthy dose of red meat to his audience. But a more telling aspect of Hannity's performance of late has been his screech that Obama is attacking him.

So what! The presidential race has nothing at all to do with Hannity. The boy is cruising for a rather loud and heavy fall...as a result of his out of control ego and crappy journalism.

Posted by nerzog in reply to wesley

"The boy is cruising for a rather loud and heavy fall"

Now that would be newsworthy. The collapse of the Karl Rove Propaganda Machine would be a wonderful and beautiful thing to see.

Posted by princeofwheels

The hell with journalists, blogs, talk radio and MSM why doesn't Sen. Obama ask Sen. McCain if he believes that Obama is a sexist.Why can't Americas' Man be a man. Has anyone noticed him lately. Nope. Does he talk. NOPE. This man approved 2 ads concerning the lipstick stuff,already.

Let us be honest. McCain is being TOLD to hide behind the skirt of a woman. McCain is being TOLD what ads to approve. McCain was TOLD who to pick. Please SEN/POW McCain, be all the man you can be and come right out and tell Obama that he is a sexist. No table, no chair and I add, NO B@ALLS.

P.S. You can varnish a turd and it is still a turd.

Posted by Graydogs

Daily Kos:

"McCain criticized Democratic contenders for offering what he called costly universal health-care proposals that require too much government regulation. While he said he had not studied Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's plan, he said it was "eerily reminiscent" of the failed plan she offered as first lady in the 1990s.
 
"I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," he said of her proposal" 

Posted by Graydogs in reply to Graydogs

And this from FOX NEWS! Are they being fair and balanced by showing the FACTS??????

 

by FOXNews.com Wednesday, September 10, 2008

"............. Obama’s campaign said the “lipstick on a pig” expression — frequently used in Washington D.C. — wasn’t referring to Palin, and GOP outrage is “a pathetic attempt to play the gender card.”

The common analogy is “the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan just last year. This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run,” said Obama campaign senior adviser Anita Dunn.

The Obama campaign swiftly circulated a 2007 article that quoted McCain using the term “lipstick on a pig” to refer to a health care proposal from Hillary Clinton.

Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki also noted that Obama too has used the expression before — to criticize the troop surge in Iraq.

“I think that both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are capable people who have been given an impossible assignment,” Obama told The Washington Post in September 2007. “George Bush has given a mission to General Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig.”

Posted by Graydogs

This is poll is shameful for MSNBC..........

The poll clearly is there to feed the smear that he attacked Palin with his comment, since they ONLY want to know if voters think he was crossed the line, or if the attack was"rough and tumble politics".

There is no choice, for:  "No I don't think it was meant to attack Palin.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26637798/

 

Live VoteDo you think Sen. Barack Obama went too far with his 'lipstick on a pig' remark?Yes, he has crossed the line this time.No, this is just part of the rough-and-tumble of political campaigning.I don't know.
Vote to see results

Posted by Graydogs in reply to Graydogs

Sorry, my copy-paste vote box lost it's format and graphics when I posted and now it's a jumble of text....but you can still read the questions.

Posted by right-winger

I HAD TO LOOK AT JOE AND PAT TODAY ON HIS SHOW AND I LOVE IT !!! JOE,PAT, RNC, AND THE MEDIA WENT AFTER OBAMA EVERYTIME HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT HIS RACE AND HOW HE WAS PLAYING THE RACE CARD BUT THIS  WOMEN AND MCCAIN CAN PLAY THE SEX CARD AND IT'S OK. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! IF I WAS OBAMA I WOULD TELL THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE VOTEING FOR MCCAIN BECAUSE OF PALIN TO GO TOO HELL IF YOU WHAT TO VOTE FOR THIS WOMEN WHO YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BUT YOU COULD NOT VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE YOU SAID YOU NEEDED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ME THEN GO RIGHT AHEAD BUT DON'T COME TO ME WHEN YOU PUT HER IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND SHE TAKE YOUR RIGHT AWAY TO YOUR PRO CHOICE OR ANY THING ELSE SHE AND MCCAIN STAND FOR THAT YOU DON'T STAND FOR. AS A BLACK PERSON I REMEBER HOW BUSH 1 PLAY THE RACE CARD TO GET THOMAS ON THE BENCH  AND YOU SEE WHAT BLACK PEOPLE GOT FROM THOMAS!!!!!

Posted by princeofwheels in reply to right-winger

RightWinger, you lost me at I....P.S. nobody can read the caps. Is your CAPS LOCK button stuck or is it about some type of envy?

Posted by Brabantio

Michelle Malkin has the funniest take on the whole thing:

Lipstick on a pit bull, genius.

Pit bull.

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?

Michelle apparently hadn't heard the phrase before, so she jumped to the conclusion that he really meant to say "pit bull".  And this would be offensive...why?  Palin called herself a pit bull.  It's not the sort of "I can say it but you can't" thing like "I'm gaining too much weight...".  She's proud of being a pit bull, so there's no comparison to some joke about Michelle Obama.

It gets better:

 

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:

First off, if it's a "common old metaphor", why didn't she recognize it?  What "wrong place and time"?  Anytime after Palin's speech, or what?  So we get an admission that it wasn't malicious, yet it was a "gaffe".  Um, why is that?  It's not Obama's fault you're a moron.

Best of all, Malkin is now claiming that this was a mistake, yet the charge of "jerk" somehow has merit.  And then she wants to talk about "civility, hope, change, and new politics".

Who looks desperate, again?

Posted by shaggles

That's a common expression.  I don't think Obama was calling Palin a pig and I don't think McCain was calling Hillary a pig.  This is like the terrorist fist jab thing.  Trying to take something common and make it seem unusual and troubling.

Posted by Graydogs in reply to shaggles

The MSM is now says that the young staff and bloggers of McCain saw the word "lipstick"as a similarity between Obama's comment, "lipstick" used by Palin, and thought, hey that could be offensive and they went for it. Well, there you see, it's just the silly staff and bloggers who took off on something they shouldn't have. Is that an explaination or appology? Nope.

 The MSNBC host just called this whole thing a "scandal" before the news segment leading into the McCain/Palin rally.....shouldn't it have been more correctly called a McCain smear tactic? 

BTW....Palin is now giving her same speech about taking on the big old boys, BUT she just left the "I said no to the bridge to nowhere", and she stumbled several times because her speech is now rewritten and she's having a difficult time reading a new speech...too funny.

She just said she took a pay cut and upset her husband, and fired the chef which upset her children.....so obviously they still haven't learned their lessons about telling fibs have they? 

McCain's facial expressions during her speeeches make him look so uncomfortable and emotionless .

 

Posted by Graydogs in reply to Graydogs

Oops again...BUT she just left out the "I said no to the bridge to nowhere",

Posted by Graydogs

Marsha Blackwell McCain advisor was just on MSNBC claiming that Obama called Pail a "sweetie". Did anyone from MSNBC ask for example or clarification of this statement? No. 

The only reference I saw of this was a poster's question asking  if Obama would lose votes if he called Palin a sweetie.


Posted by Graydogs in reply to Graydogs

Blackburn I meant.

Posted by pklute63

This is just another way for the republicans to avoid talking about the issues....pathetic!