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He did speak publicly about this. He stated that he made the phone call and why.
He didn't set out to do that, though. He was questioned on it. You are treating the actual words of his apology, a private conversation between him and another person, as some sort of public speech. So what if he confirmed he made the phone call and why he made it. Is he supposed to lie about it when asked?
The point is, you don't and will never like anything that the man does. You will pick it apart to find anything/everything that could possibly masquerade as a flaw and exaggerate it.
If the man feels sorry because a woman petitioned congressional folks for a change in policy and then got shred up on the air by doing so, I might feel bad about it too if I were a high ranking member of the political process. People should not have to fear humiliation for doing that. Not that anyone would ever ask MY opinion about things in Congress but I would LOVE to go stand up and give my thoughts on some specific issues: be it healthcare, the miitary spending, or student loan debt. In doing that, as a citizen and not a professional politician or lobbyist, do I have to fear someone like Rush Limbaugh getting disgusted with me because I might happen to agree with a president's agenda? Do we really have to tolerate or fear, as citizens, our names being dragged through the mud, publicly, and have ourselves be called names that don't even fit because of one person's hate? I don't think we want to get to that point and I think that was Obama's direction in that apology. He's sorry that she (or anyone) would have to endure that public ridicule when they were just providing a point of view at a congressional hearing.
I'll say it again, vicious name calling really is never necessary BUT when you knowingly put yourself in the public eye as a celebrity or a politician and you go out publicly looking for attention and inciting divisiveness, you better well darn expect that people are going to comment on you. That's ALWAYS been the name of the game for as long as I can remember. Remember Chelsea Clinton, The White House Dog?
Palin and others put themselves out there, had hateful rhetoric at times, and were fodder for many commentators but they know that going in. She also paraded her kids out like a badge of honor, where most politicians try to keep them sheltered and out of the way. In any case, Obama stood up against people trashing on Bristol Palin. Doesn't matter, though, does it.
He made a point to speak as the president admonishing Rush and apologizing to the woman Rush insulted, on behalf of his daughters and concern for their sensibilities. He addressed the country as the president regarding this. Why does he only show concern for his own daughters? As the president, shouldn't he show concern for all the children; even those born of a different political persuasion woman? Why doesn't he admonish Letterman and apologize to Palin for the way Letterman berated her and her daughter? Instead, the First Lady will grace the Letterman show with her presence and Obama has accepted a large donation from another foul-mouthed, woman berater, Maher. The hypocrisy shouts out at us; although most of the left predictably puts their earplugs in.
Obama does not need to stand up for Palin's brood. Pitbull with lipstick mama has a mouthpiece of her own which she never fails to use when she insults and belittles anyone else. When has Frau Palin ever displayed empathy or fair play while she has had a public platform on which to run her crooked motor mouth?
She called the President a Muslim terrorist and she even belittled The First Lady for starting a eating healthy program for kids. The POTUS and First Lady owe her nothing!
And when Sarah Palin goes on the show, the response will be "that's different".
And you know she will eventually. When FOX tires of her inane word salad commentary, and nobody wants to buy her next reality show, I think it's a pretty safe bet that she will, one day, some day, appear on Letterman - just because she can't stand not being seen and heard.
Even if it means appearing on Letterman. Hell, maybe some day she'll do another interview with Katie Couric.
I for one would not be ok with it and I'm sure not many would be. But I still see a difference between an isolated joke that crosses the line to extremely poor taste or off the cuff remark and a three-day tirade followed by an insulting attack on yet another young woman. The former demands an apology, the latter demands that we ask who enjoys listening to that kind of thing.
He didn't set out to do that, though. He was questioned on it. You are treating the actual words of his apology, a private conversation between him and another person, as some sort of public speech. So what if he confirmed he made the phone call and why he made it. Is he supposed to lie about it when asked?
Who asked him about this? Who was this person he had a "private" conversation with? It seemed pretty public to me. It was all over the news. Indeed, it seemed like a staged political move.
I'll say it again, vicious name calling really is never necessary BUT when you knowingly put yourself in the public eye as a celebrity or a politician and you go out publicly looking for attention and inciting divisiveness, you better well darn expect that people are going to comment on you. That's ALWAYS been the name of the game for as long as I can remember.
And that is what Ms. Fluke did; put herself in the public eye. She was not some little wide-eyed co-ed. She is a grown woman, with a resume of heavy duty political activism. I don't like vicious name calling either and am not even a huge fan of Rush. But the point is, the type of name-calling by Rush at Ms. Fluke has been hurled at many Republican women, including Ms. Palin and her daughter by Letterman. The fact that Obama chose Ms. Fluke to publicly defend, while showing acceptance of the lashes from Letterman toward Palin & her daughter reeks of hypocrisy and makes us question the sincerity of his fatherly motives and suspect a more political motive.
Palin and others put themselves out there, had hateful rhetoric at times, and were fodder for many commentators but they know that going in. She also paraded her kids out like a badge of honor, where most politicians try to keep them sheltered and out of the way. In any case, Obama stood up against people trashing on Bristol Palin. Doesn't matter, though, does it.
If that was true, I would give him some credit for that. Too bad, he isn't following up with it at this time. Who knows, maybe the first lady will take the opportunity to address it specifically when she is on Letterman's show! Now that would be a smooth political move.
He didn't set out to do that, though. He was questioned on it. You are treating the actual words of his apology, a private conversation between him and another person, as some sort of public speech. So what if he confirmed he made the phone call and why he made it. Is he supposed to lie about it when asked?
The point is, you don't and will never like anything that the man does. You will pick it apart to find anything/everything that could possibly masquerade as a flaw and exaggerate it.
If the man feels sorry because a woman petitioned congressional folks for a change in policy and then got shred up on the air by doing so, I might feel bad about it too if I were a high ranking member of the political process. People should not have to fear humiliation for doing that. Not that anyone would ever ask MY opinion about things in Congress but I would LOVE to go stand up and give my thoughts on some specific issues: be it healthcare, the miitary spending, or student loan debt. In doing that, as a citizen and not a professional politician or lobbyist, do I have to fear someone like Rush Limbaugh getting disgusted with me because I might happen to agree with a president's agenda? Do we really have to tolerate or fear, as citizens, our names being dragged through the mud, publicly, and have ourselves be called names that don't even fit because of one person's hate? I don't think we want to get to that point and I think that was Obama's direction in that apology. He's sorry that she (or anyone) would have to endure that public ridicule when they were just providing a point of view at a congressional hearing.
I'll say it again, vicious name calling really is never necessary BUT when you knowingly put yourself in the public eye as a celebrity or a politician and you go out publicly looking for attention and inciting divisiveness, you better well darn expect that people are going to comment on you. That's ALWAYS been the name of the game for as long as I can remember. Remember Chelsea Clinton, The White House Dog?
Palin and others put themselves out there, had hateful rhetoric at times, and were fodder for many commentators but they know that going in. She also paraded her kids out like a badge of honor, where most politicians try to keep them sheltered and out of the way. In any case, Obama stood up against people trashing on Bristol Palin.
"I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics, it has no relevance to governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,"
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