Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

If (that’s if) it turns out that the Clintons released it, and are participating in Willie Hortoning Obama, then I’d agree to (1) for sure. It’s unaccepable whether it’s done by a D or an R.

If (that’s if) it turns out that the Clintons released it… then I’d agree to (1) for sure

If? Does it really matter if this time it was the Clintons? Thats the beauty of any possible pre-emptive release of the photo by Obama’s camp - the Clintonian pattern and history of abuse plays right into it. Its almost karmic. She’ll be blamed regardless of whether this particular politics-of-personal-destruction belongs to her.

Fen

I’m not disagreeing with you. Maybe Obama released it. Maybe Huckabee did. Bush. Dick Morris maybe. I’m just saying that for me, if _this_ episode turned out true, I’d agree with (1).

What’s the big deal about the photo, it’s not as if the photo is doctored.  Obama wore Somali garb.  What’s the problem?

The big deal is that the Clinton camp released the photo to the press (according to Drudge, whom I believe, especially given the later circumstances) and then went on record defending releasing the photo without denying that they had done so (Maggie Williams was the most prominent).

If there is nothing to the photograph itself (and I agree with you there; I don’t care that, in foreigner-land, Obama put on funny-looking foreigner clothes) then the issue is: why did the Clinton campaign release it to the media?  What did Clinton hope to accomplish?  The answer seems to be, she was hoping to win votes based on the racial/religious bigotry of Democrats voting in Texas and Ohio.

I don’t think Hillary was behind this. I think someone from her campaign got desperate and did it without her approval or permission.  In fact, I think it was a black staffer who did it.  Think about the probable mindset of a black Hillary staffer:

They would believe Hillary is the better candidate for blacks.  They would believe Hillary has been treated unfairly and is entitled to strike back.  They would believe Americans are by and large racist jerks.  They might even think that releasing a photo like this would help Hillary to win the election.  Who else would think that?  Probably not a white staffer or a Hispanic one.

But Clinton can’t fire Maggie Williams now (if that’s who it was). Her campaign is falling apart enough as it is.  The last thing she needs is for black leaders to condemn her for having the temerity to fire a black woman who screwed up so badly that she deserves to be fired.

I liked how regal Maggie Williams’ statement was: it started with the sentence “Enough.” Enough, peons, stop questioning me.  That’s the kind attitude that led to the French Revolution.  Choosing Obama over Hillary is definitely a victory for political outsiders over the inside clique.

I think we are seeing just how dependent the Clintons are on the politics of personal destruction and just how impotent they are without that tactic.

As a nominal member of a protected group, Obama is largely immune from attacks based on his character. Anyone engaging in such attacks opens themselves up to charges of racism. It’s doubly dangerous for a Democrat to do so.

Hillary was forced, really for the first time in her life, to run against someone based solely on the issues. Without her arsenal of hardball tactics, she failed.

One thing that surprises me is that I’ve not seen anyone point out that the Clinton’s built their reputation as efficient politicians BEFORE the Internet was a major factor in politics.

The MSM, once it had “adopted” BJ, covered for many of his foibles.  That “screening effect” is not nearly as powerful today.

There’s been some analysis by pundits to the effect that the Internet is not realy that powerful --- the fact that conservative bloggers liked Thompson, and his campaign really went nowhere is often cited as an example --- but I think that such analysis misses the true power of the Internet which is to insure that all, or nearly all, of the information “gets out there.”

When the MSM was the gatekeeper of the information flow, they got to define reality, now they are no longer as capable of that.

So I think that we’re seeing both “Clinton Fatigue,” and “Clinton’s in the open” unscreened by the MSM.