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Obama: Hillary Throwing "the China" at Me

April 20, 2008 9:57 AM

In Downingtown, Pa., Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., took the remark by the Clinton campaign -- that she would be employing the "kitchen sink" strategy against him -- a step further.

"You know, over the last several weeks since she fell behind, she's resorted to what's called 'kitchen sink' strategies," Obama said, per ABC News' Sunlen Miller. "She's got the kitchen sink flying, and the china flying, and the, you know, the buffet is coming at me.

"And, you know, look, I come from Chicago, I know politics is hard, you know, it's not for the faint of heart, I understand that," Obama continued. "But when we end up involved in these constant distractions, these petty, trivial slash-and-burn, back-and-forth, tit-for-tat politics, so that we no longer talk about the things that the American people care about, that may be good for the television ratings, but it's not good for you."

Forgoing for a moment any discussion over the "china" metaphor -- certainly one that, intended or not, feeds into the "harridan" caricature of Clinton -- how on Earth can Obama with a straight face decry these "distractions" when his campaign that very same day organized a conference call to harp on Clinton's Bosnia-sniper-fire gaffe?

On that call, veterans of the conflict in Bosnia, who support Obama, attacked Clinton as having no credibility because of that false story. Gen. Walter Stewart (Ret.) said, "One of the inherent duties of the president of the United States is to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. Now, we can assume, and let's keep in mind that Senator Clinton has said she was under sniper fire -- or she joked about it, which, to me, was the cruelest part of all this, she joked about it with Jay Leno.

"We can make an assumption here that the honored dead within the Tomb of the Unknown was killed by a sniper. Imagine the lack of moral authority she has now to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. I'll say this as a Vietnam veteran, hundreds -- we can speculate about how the 'Unknown' died -- but you go over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and certainty, there are hundreds on that wall that died under sniper fire. That's the incident, I think, in a nutshell."

Is Clinton's Bosnia-sniper-fire story not a "distraction," while Rezko, Wright, Ayers, Bitter-gate, and the flag pin are "distractions"?

- jpt

April 20, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (356)

User Comments

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The bare truth of the matter is that Hillary IS untrustworthy and IS a BIG LIAR and so is Bill. This is not spin or a "label". These are FACTS that are from her/his own spoken words and her/his own actions.
Yes I agree that all politicians lie. There are lies however that damage beyond repair. Bosnia is one of them.
Being pres and lying under oath is another. It is really bizarre that the Clintons are even at this point given their past history.

Posted by: dd | Apr 21, 2008 9:18:19 AM

Why is it every woman in America has to be labeled with some negative tag? At the beginning of this campaign, she was to soft. Next, she was a b***h. Later she was untrustworthy and now she is a lier. The labels kept coming until one stuck.
Hillary has been doomed to fail since the 1990's. She has taken more hits for Bill's actions than Bill has.

Obama is and has ran a negative campaign since New Hampshire and no one seems to care. If Hillary fights back then it is all over every news media from one exploited incident to the next.

All politicians lie. For example, Obama cannot change domestic policy even though he continues to tell people that he is going to change Washington. As president, his job will be to set foregin policy. Obama says that he does not take money from lobbist but he does take money from ex-lobbist who have joined his campaign. A lobbist by any other name is still a lobbist, they still raise money from corporate contributors.

Posted by: shell-ii | Apr 21, 2008 9:01:43 AM

Funny he should mention China.
He should wish along with the "CHINA"
she'd throw some of the china money along with it!

Posted by: Ann Kenevan | Apr 21, 2008 8:44:07 AM

I believe Hillary has a history of throwing White House lamps.........or was that a fabrication of the vast
right wing conspiracy?

Posted by: goombah | Apr 21, 2008 8:44:03 AM

Obama was paid $6,000 per year for serving on the Woods Fund board; it was not an unpaid position as was stated earlier here. Through that board, Obama and Ayers granted $75,000 to anti-Semite Rashid Khalidi.

Posted by: HoosierSue | Apr 21, 2008 8:43:55 AM

The internet is SERIOUS BUSINESS

Posted by: Alex | Apr 21, 2008 8:36:04 AM

To me, all of these claims of unfair treatment and biased reporting are what the republican party has endured for the last 30 years, the constant PR campaign for the Democrates and they are only even with the republicans now tells me that our country simply does not follow the democrate line of thinking, PERIOD. A more moderate social policy and a more conservative fiscal policy is what Americans really want, and for once we have a candidate who is exactly that, John McCain.

Posted by: Lou | Apr 21, 2008 8:24:27 AM

If you really look at the facts and the baggage of the 3 candidates then McCain wins hands down.
Hillarys Bosnia lie and then joke on Leno totally eliminates her to be commander in chief. No way out of this one. She has dis-honored thousands of people that have been killed by sniper fire. She could NEVER expect any service person to respect her.
Obamas pastor and shady friends etc. eliminates him.
McCain is lucky that in an election year when a dem has a good chance of winning, they put up 2 outright losers in this race.
If this is the best that the Dems have then that party is in deep trouble.
By the time all of this ends and Obama is the nominee their party will have split down the middle.
Thank you Hillary!!

Posted by: dd | Apr 21, 2008 8:24:20 AM

Hillary has nothing but lies to through.

Posted by: cwm | Apr 21, 2008 8:07:50 AM

Obama has been a hypocrite from the start. He has just used the media to do his dirty work. He attacks in conference calls and memos and then goes out and says that he is above that kind of politics. Hillary had to do it out in the open because the media wouldn't pick up her attacks like they did Obama's. That is why we always thought there was a media bias. Now that the shine has come off of Obama, the media is finally seeing that. Kinda. LOL

Posted by: Harley. | Apr 21, 2008 7:55:58 AM

Threw the China? You mean she threw a bunch of lead-painted, low quality crap made by a society enslaved by its government at him? Now THAT's rough.

It's just more proof that Hillary will do, say, or be anything to win. It's 90s-style politicking and mudslinging at its best, and if Obama fights back the media decries negative campaigning. What the media and Hillary fail to realize is that Americans have moved past the Jerry Springer-style politics and want cooperation. There is no red and blue, us-and-them anymore-it's who's going to get the job done?

Oh, and by the way-ABC? Next time, if you host a political debate, you may not want to have a member of Clinton's former cabinet as one of your panel. "I know you're not comfortable with this, Senator Clinton, so we'll move on"

OH PLEASE!

Posted by: Todd | Apr 21, 2008 7:39:35 AM

This is more fun than a barrel of monkeys-to watch...wish this garbage would never end; that way good well-meaning democrats would get continual flow about what the enemies of this nation are truely all about.

Posted by: claspur | Apr 21, 2008 7:37:36 AM

Obama might want to be careful about his use of the word "China". Everyone knows that China is synonymous with Crap, and that using China in that context is offensive to Communist Red China. We must be more sensitive to the people of Communist Red China. We need Communist Red China if we are going to survive as a nation. Obama must understand this if he is going to be President. Even George Bush understands this. GO CHINA!

Posted by: Roger That | Apr 21, 2008 6:59:19 AM

Half black socialist vs. Half woman socialist. Who cares?

Let them rip each other apart! (hehe)

McCain '08

Posted by: Garland | Apr 21, 2008 6:52:59 AM

Frankly, if he doesn't fight back he is a wimp. If he does he is going negative.
If Obama was really going negative he would bring up the numerous scandals while Bill was in the white house, and ask people if they want to live through that again. Remind us all of whitewater, Monica gate, etc. No, what you call Obama going negative is him reminding us of a LIE that Hillary told in the previous 4 weeks on this campaign trail.
All you have had to do to win an election in America is hint... terrorists, muslim, etc and people get SOOO scared they vote REpublican, because we all KNOW the Republicans are going to save us.
IF Obama was involved in corruption or himself spoke hate rhetoric, I would want to know about it. But frankly I don't care if he served on a charity board with Ayers or Ayers gave $200 once to his Senate campaign. There must be millions of people who have given money to Obama this time around. What a load of nonsense.
And as for McCain - 'ol straight express needs to release his full tax returns and not hide behind his wife, AND his health records.

Posted by: Susan | Apr 21, 2008 5:51:10 AM

the reality is they all lie when it suits them. this year we really have no outstanding candidates for either party.

Posted by: pp | Apr 21, 2008 5:31:06 AM

jeanie,
duh, he is a racist in america, so of course he ran.

Posted by: pp | Apr 21, 2008 4:51:48 AM

Rev. Wright doesn't even come close to the racism that Hillary Clinton grew up around. Her father's favorite word for African Americans was the N-word. Now I know a little something about child development. When you grow up in a racist home, under stress you tend to revert back to those attitudes. The Hillary campaign reflects her racist roots. Obama joined Rev Wright's church when he was an adult. And let's face it, any biracial man who is part black just doesn't run for the highest office in the land and hold some of the beliefs that Rev. Wright holds. It's a contradiction. I mean people use your common sense. If he believed that America was populated by racists, he wouldn't run. Duh!!

If you don't want to vote for Sen. Obama, fine don't. But please don't use really ridiculous arguments to rationalize your voting against him.

Posted by: Jeanie | Apr 21, 2008 4:47:27 AM

mary,
you made the point you agreed we should all be called americans, wondering why we always point out a persons race or color.
what in the world do you think the black population does everyday by calling themselves "african-americans". you do not have to point it out, they do it for you...as their choice.

Posted by: pp | Apr 21, 2008 4:46:49 AM

Doug,

I agree that association with a neighbor is a questionable link. A pastor, however, that was the spiritual light that brought Barak to Christianity. So pursuaded him that he not only stayed with him for 20 years but was married by the Reverand and thought him educational enough to bring their two children to the church. When Barak defends the Reverand and refers to him as practically a member of the family then this has transgressed beyond a passing acquaintance.

When the heat was applied Barak danced from:
I understand why the Rev. would say these things if he said them because I was not there. I can't disown him.
to:
I might have heard some talk of the Rev. saying things like this.
to:
Okay, I was there for some of it but I don't agree with everything he said.
to:
If he had not retired I would have left the church.

What a politician!! Note that his grandmother was just a typical white person but he gives an entire speach on why we should not judge Rev. Wright.

This year will be a "hold my nose and vote" year and it will not be for either Dem.

Posted by: Tarmangani | Apr 21, 2008 4:28:36 AM

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