Hillary Plays the Assassination Card
She’s tried everything else. Why not stoke the fears over Obama being assassinated?
Speaking before the editorial board of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota Argus Leader, Hillary Clinton journeyed to a place that no American politician has ever gone nor is likely to go again. In response to a question about calls for her to quit the race, Clinton made this observation
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” she said, dismissing calls to drop out.
Not surprisingly, the Obama camp has taken a dim view of Mrs. Clinton’s remarks:
“Sen. Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign,” Obama campaign spokesman said in a statement.
Now you might think that the Clinton campaign would have taken the hint and apologized. Guess again:
Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson defended the comments to The Post, “She was talking about the length of the race and using the ’68 election as an example of how long the races in the past have gone — she used her husband’s race in the same vein.”
Well, yes that’s true — as long as you pretend she never said that bit about Robert Kennedy being assassinated and overlook the outright falsehood that she used President Clinton’s race “in the same vein.” Wolfson virtually confirms the idea that the fear of an Obama assassination was used deliberately.
Hovering beneath the surface of this entire campaign has been the unspoken yet real threat that Senator Barack Obama is more likely to be the target of an assassin because of his race. The Secret Service started protecting Obama more than a year ago — earlier than at any time in the history of that detail — because of specific threats to the candidate.
The few times the issue has been raised in the media, there was criticism for even broaching the subject. Last February, the New York Times was roundly chastised for publishing a piece speculating that African American voters wouldn’t cast their ballots for Obama out of fear of him being assassinated. For months, one of the most popular search terms on the web has been “Obama” and “assassination.” Editor and Publisher wondered in an editorial if publicizing the fact that the topic was popular on the search engines didn’t increase the danger.
Suffice it to say, it’s been a touchy subject, and Hillary stepped right on it — as if slipping on a banana peel and doing a full backwards somersault landing right on her keister. And she’s got nowhere to hide.
This is the gaffe of gaffes, the Mother of all campaign faux pas. There’s no taking it back at this point. The statement is out there, hanging like a rapidly decomposing side of beef in the hot sun. To suggest that you should hang around and stay in the campaign “just in case” the unthinkable occurs is beyond anything yet seen in this campaign. And considering all the race and gender cards that have been flying around, the assassination card tops them all.
What is even more curious is that her statement comes on a day when rumors have been flying all over the internet and the national media about the Obama and Clinton campaigns having serious discussions about orchestrating her exit from the race with some reports even speculating that the Clintonites are pushing her for the vice president slot.
Both camps have come out and vigorously denied talks are taking place. Indeed, after today’s events, it would seem very unlikely – if there had ever been much of a chance in the first place — that Senator Obama would agree to adding Hillary Clinton to the Democratic ticket as vice president.
The Clinton campaign should be over after what she said in Sioux Falls. But the thing about the Clintons we tend to forget is that they march to their own drummer and have supreme confidence in their ability to wiggle out of danger.
Except this time, it appears that Hillary has painted herself into a corner with no way out.
Update: A statement released by the Clinton campaign apologized for the reference to RFK’s assassination: “I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever,” the former first lady said.
Not so blind ambition? (She’s smarter than that, I thought to my self.)
This is, as you say, the gaffe of all gaffes, and yet, I can’t get over the irony of the fact that simply to place Obama’s name in the same paragraph with the word “assassination” is thought to be an abomination, but speaking of Bush or Cheney being assassinated has been one of the great leftist fantasies of at least the past five years–and hardly a secretive one at that.
Language Control……seeing something for what it is while being prevented from calling it by name. Political correctness will doom this nation not allowing it to ask critical questions of itself.
She can kiss VP goodbye too.. good chance she’ll still have the majority of the popular vote though… and that put’s Dems in a heck of a bind.
Gosh, I couldn’t disagree with you more, Rick. This is a non event in my opinion. Otherwise political correctness has completely stiffled free speech.
You’re probably right. But I can’t even begin to get wigged out about this.
I’m surprised that I’m saying this, but I think I will continue reading you in the future.
This is much ado about nothing. I don’t believe she meant it that way, but she sure as heck could have phrased it better.
Hillary Plays the Assasination Card – no, BARACK OBAMA is high on the targets list!
Rick, I beg to differ here. I don’t think Hillary in any manner is betting her prospects on a hypothetical hit on Obama – that’s silly, and mighty exploitable by the Obamistas themselves, as it already began to happen (check HuffPo and see).
However, there is a much, much serious side to the ASSASINATION story which was only vaguely addressed by the press – until last Monday’s, Christian Science Monitor’s BARRACK OBAMA, MUSLIM APOSTATE, piece which surprisingly, didn’t get much traction (except on RCP), and which describes in serious and competent terms the LIABILITIES & DANGERS America faces if a Muslim apostate like Obama is elected president (I know, I know, he is not Muslim – he IS CONSIDERED MUSLIM by an enormous section of this world!)
Bellow is the Christian Science Monitor article:
* BARACK OBAMA – MUSLIM APOSTATE * (By Shireen K. Burki) CSM/ Mon May 19
Stafford, Va. – Osama bin Laden must be chuckling in his safe house. After all, the 2008 campaign could very well give Al Qaeda the ultimate propaganda tool: President Barack Hussein Obama, Muslim apostate.
The fact that Senator Obama – the son of a Muslim father – insists he was never a Muslim before becoming Christian is irrelevant to bin Laden. In bin Laden’s eyes, Obama is a “murtad fitri”, the worst type of apostate, because he was blessed by Allah to be born into the true faith of Islam.
There are two types of apostates according to sharia (Islamic law) and the Hadith (sayings of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him).
The first type is “murtad milli”, one who converted to Islam and later renounced the faith. The second, and most egregious, type is “murtad fitri”. It refers to a person born of a Muslim father who renounces his birthright. Two recent examples of the latter are Magdi Allam (a male Egyptian who converted to Catholicism in Italy) and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Somali-born woman who’s now an atheist). Both now face death threats.
According to Islamic jurisprudence, children of a Muslim father – even an apparently nonpracticing one, such as Obama’s father, and irrespective of the mother’s faith – are automatically Muslims. Most Muslims around the world agree: A child of a Muslim father is a Muslim. Period.
Should Obama become US commander in chief, there is a strong likelihood that Al Qaeda’s media arm, As-Sahab, will exploit his background to argue that an apostate is leading the global war on terror (read: attacks against fellow Muslims). This perception would be leveraged to galvanize sympathizers into action.
Remember: Al Qaeda’s ultimate goal is to restore the caliphate (the Islamic form of government that would preside over the community of believers) and expand Dar al Islam (“Abode of Islam”). Reaching it requires a long war against all – Muslim and non-Muslim – who don’t share its extremist Wahhabi worldview.
Al Qaeda, though, has struggled recently to recruit volunteers for this jihad. While bin Laden retains significant support as someone willing to stand up for Muslim concerns, most Muslims abhor Al Qaeda’s terrorist methods whose primary targets are innocent noncombatants.
But an apostate as head of the United States could change this equation. It would be a propaganda boost for Al Qaeda’s mission. All one has to do is read Al Qaeda’s public statements to recognize how frequently it makes baseless apostasy accusations against fellow Muslims who challenge its message or actions.
That’s why Obama is bin Laden’s dream candidate.
Once branded as an apostate, President Obama would face enormous difficulties in the foreign policy realm, especially in the fight against terrorism.
He’s caught between a rock and a hard place. If he softens the US strategy against Al Qaeda and its ideologues, his apostasy might be an afterthought for Al Qaeda. But if he acts firmly in America’s national interest to defeat the terrorist threat, he’d be vilified in an Al Qaeda propaganda campaign for reneging on his “true identity.”
Furthermore, his administration would struggle to positively engage the Muslim world, where Islam isn’t just a religion, it’s the way of life. Conservative Muslim populations that are riddled with poverty and low literacy rates can be more readily swayed to join the cause against the “Great Satan” (the US) if their imams and mullahs shout that it is led by an apostate.
Diplomacy is highly personal. The leaders of America’s Middle Eastern allies – such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar – already feel besieged by jihadists and disgruntled citizens who see their governments as toadies of the West. The murtad card could intensify that pressure, so leaders of these countries might be compelled to distance themselves from Washington.
In short, an Obama presidency – which might be fine domestically – could have serious repercussions for US foreign interests at a time when it is especially vulnerable in a tight global oil market.
So far, Al Qaeda has been conspicuously quiet on Obama’s candidacy. But that should not come as a surprise. Hoping Obama gets elected, they’re probably waiting until he’s taken the oath of office to begin branding him a traitor to the faith of his fathers.
Islamic terrorists know that the long road to success lies in stoking the “clash of civilizations.” To reach their goal of restoring the Caliphate in a form that fits their worldview, they need massive numbers of Muslims to join their global jihad.
Bin Laden and his followers have already shown their willingness to exploit real or imagined religious schisms to expand their support base. So it’s not hard to imagine bin Laden praying that Obama wins this November.
————————————————
Shireen K. Burki is an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Va. The daughter of a Muslim father and a Christian mother, she spent her childhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, where she studied Islam at school.
Her comment is taken out of context — what else is new?
She was simply stating that Bobby Kennedy was still campaigning in June, so was Bill Clinton.
This happens to still be May, for those of you who haven’t checked you calendars lately.
It’s along the lines of having campaigned in 57 states, only much less so.
Agree with those who say that this is political correctness run amok. Should she NEVER mention a modern Dem political campaign that went thru til June if it ended badly?
The mainstream media loves focusing on one tiny item of the thousands of things a candidate says in a day because most of it they have heard a thousand times already.
The Osaobama campaign LOVES these distractions! They jump all over them (like W’s “appeasement” comment) in order to distract media attention from his abysmal resume and his continuous gaffes re: foreign policy. One day Iran is a “tiny” country that poses no real threat to the US, the next day the are a “grave” threat because W has empowered them by invading Iraq.
All the headlines given this incident are only slightly less repugnant than the comment itself and how long has it been since you got to use that picture? Having said that, any chance HRC had of being the nominee ended a while back; today’s comment just washed overboard any chance she had of being on the ticket at all.
http://strictlyanecdotal.com/2008/05/23/when-really-smart-women-say-really-stupid-things.aspx
I would have preferred to see HRC yank Obama around some more, but she did a nice job of shooting herself in the foot. I want to see Obama appoint her to the Supreme Court now. Talk about losing your leverage….
Anyway, it’s time to get back to exposing Obama for the inexperienced, intellectual lightweight that he is. And let’s see if he can finally explain why he never confronted Jeremiah Wright about his lies and hate. I’m still stunned that Obama passed on doing the right thing by shouting that foul-mouthed bully of a pastor down because he was afraid of losing Wright’s congregants as a political base. New kind of politician my a**. He’s a gutless weasle.
Assassination? – No, it will be a “suicide” – like Vince Foster… or perhaps just “disgrace” like Web Hubbell, both formerly close Rose Law firm partners of hers…
http://sander.gnn.tv/blogs/26994/Hillary_s_Secrets
Since “they” (Hillary, the media, et al) brought this up, I would like to point out a couple of things.
Bobby Kennedy was assassinated by a Moslem Jihadist protesting his stand on Israel.
He Whose Middle Name Shall Not be Spoken (Obama) has said that he will negotiate with the IslamoFascists without reservation. Even if they vow on their belief in Allah that they will destroy Israel in a holocaust of fire, he will sit down at the table of friendship and brotherhood.
Hillary has said that she would turn Tehran into a radioactive parking lot if they attacked Israel.
A thinking person would suspect that Hillary was in far greater danger from assassination than Obama.
JFK was assassinated by a pro-Castro pro-Mao Liberal. Do we know anyone like that?
I have to laugh at all this bickering back and forth between Democrats and the poor choice of words over and over again. You are as much of a joke as much as Republican politicians are.
Although, i can imagine McCain sitting in the background laughing his ass off as he gains more and more knowledge about how you halfwits operate. Then you’ll drop little boy Obama in and McCain’ll figuratively tear him apart and win the elections.
Clinton comments sound like an assassination threat to me. Clinton is truly disturbing.
I agree BubbaJ, this is just media and talking head blab hype that drives out real news,
pat, it’s great to have the usual dishonest crackpots like you to bring up that garbage again. He couldn’t even keep his affairs secret yet he had some KGB level hit squad working for him: CRACKPOT!
Steamboat Jack: Actually, Sirhan Sirhan, although a Palestinian, was a Christian.
This reminds me of Huckabee’s “That’s Barrack Obama falling from his chair after the shot” (something like that) remark at a NRA event. The obligatory apology followed, and nothing much happened after that. The NY Times reported on Mccain’s onflight sex romp, and nothing came out of that either. Barrack Obama can’t even say “Sweetie” without the feminist establishment shaking in their heels. If John Mccain wasn’t so white and boring he’d get the TMZ treatment too. =P
The media has been talking about doing away with Hillary for months. I read about people wanting to kill her and put her out of her misery every day. She is threatened on a daily basis. If she was thinking about assassination, it was her own.
Obama has to get over himself. Not everything is about him.
Much ado about nothing. She knows she lost, she can’t stand it and like a fighter pilot trying to avoid a locked on missile she will say anything and do anything to avoid being shot out of the sky. Think about what a bad dream come true this campaign has become. From almost a certain election to president to zip in a few short months.
I would not have voted for her under any circumstances, but she is tenacious. And that’s a good quality in a president. She just stands for the wrong things and has no moral compass as this and many other statements have shown.
She is tenacious and her running in adversity has surprised everyone. Now putting PC issues aside, it’s politically unsavy reference. She should have chosen Teddy’s run against Carter and how he went to the convention with less delagates then she has now.
Maybe she is just building up reasons to bow out of the race with this remark and her need to seat Florida and Michigan.
This is her third time making that statement. It wasn’t a Gaffe. She is really using fear. No matter how the nitwits here spin it. She herself made a horrible insensitive remark. Not a supporter of hers not a another repub not a crazy Clintonite. So you can say what you want about other assassination comments regarding other politicians. They were not made by high profile politicians. political correctness is not in play here. The comments no matter how true they may be were in poor taste and have no place in politics. How many crazys heard her message and think she is asking them for help? Or Give reinforcement to those already thinking it.It was irresponsible and classless. She’s Finished
Perfect example of how Hillary is being treated by the MSM as a Republican.
Normally, such gaffes by liberals are not covered by the liberal press…they knew she was using RFK’s death in the context of the month of June, her remarks are being misrepresented…
The MSM wants her gone.
She’s just tired. Again.
Her words are not being twisted or used against her. There is no context in which that was appropriate. There are plenty of other references she could have made. That was a very poor choice of words.
I hope that people wake up and see Hillary for what she really is. she is a dangerous person when she doesn’t get what she wants. she planted the seed, and she knew what she was doing. i too would like to see a woman president, but not this one. Read her scandals and biography on the internet and it will give you a clear picture of what was behind her remarks. We don’t need her answering the phone at 3 am and make a mistake and say, I was tired. How sad that we have people like her that will resort to anything so they don’t lose. Doesn’t she understand, there are a lot of people that don’t want a Clinton back in the white house. We have had enough of clintons and the Bushes.
You guys need to get a grip.
Are you really suggesting that a US Senator, former first lady of Arkansas and the US is hoping for the assassination of another Senator?
I mean really?
If you do you need your head examined. This is beyond the pale.
the problem with her using the Kennedy assassination as an example of a long running primary? It wasn’t. He’d only been campaigning for a month when he got assassinated. And her husband: he was the one who was winning DELEGATES.
Screw her. Screw her apologists. This just points to another problem for Hillary: she simply can’t apologize when she’s wrong. Her “apology” was regret that the Kennedys might be offended. She didn’t say, “I should never have said that. I was tired, it was totally insensitive to your family.” Nor did she apologize to Obama’s family. Michelle has expressed worry that he might be assassinated. Where is this woman’s sense of shame. She was upset because she realized she shot herself in the foot. She didn’t express any horror over the insensitivity of her remark.
I can understand defending her by saying she was tired. I don’t understand defending her by saying there was nothing wrong with what she said. There was.
I’m sure she doesn’t want Obama assassinated, but that doesn’t mean it was ok for her to allude to the assisination of another president as a rationale for her staying in the race. How can anybody spin that this was ok?
It was a stupid thing for her to have said. I don’t care how tired she is. The Commander in Chief has to be in control of what comes out of his/her mouth!
The Clintons have always known how to ‘play with fire’ This is right out of the Clinton hand book on dirty politics. This woman will do and say anything to win, ireguardless of morality, ethics or principle. This is just ‘Hillary, being, Hillary.
RE Chaya: “I don’t care how tired she is. The Commander in Chief has to be in control of what comes out of his/her mouth!”
Sweetie, you mean something like a (possible) Commander In Chief, sided by his spiritual adviser yelling “God damn America!”, announcing from the 57th state of the union that he would meet with Ahmadinejad or Cesar Chavez despite the protests of those bitter white people clinging to their Bibles and guns?
Anona,
Thank you for the correction. I should have checked before I miss-spoke.
Kind regards,
Steamboat Jack
Thanks Misanthropicus,
A too generous spoonful of strawberry yogurt was headed for its destination – to join another – but never made it.
I lost the spoonful at “Sweetie” and should have quit while I was ahead. Couldn’t stop reading and lost the mouthful at “57th state.”
There’s more work to do on the keyboard, but it was worth it.
I don’t know why all of you keep referring to her “regret” statement as an apology – it simply was nothing of the kind.
*yawn*
Yet more evidence that bloggers who cover politics have a selective thin skin. Why? To gin up something to talk about and try to get eyeballs their way. This is boring and manufactured hackery.
She can’t have misspoke; she said it three times. If her point was that campaigns often last until June she could have used Clinton’s (Bill) example and stopped. There was no reason to bring up Kennedy… three times! She is a politician. She knows the power of words and she knew they were weighted. She didn’t look tired to me, she wasn’t rushed or hurried. She seemed calm and relaxed. She said it, paused, and let the inference hang in the air. Usually a gaffe looks worse on paper than it actually is on video but in this case it seems far more deliberate in the video. She is going for the assassination angle. She is playing on fear. Clinton is truly desperate and will say anything to try and win this.
Of what i’ve heard according to a Luciferian occult readind the 44′rth president of the United States will be assassinated. Mrs. Clinton is aware of it. Whether it will happen is another story…only time will tell. The true powers of this world are the Elite Secret Societies who happen to be Luciferian worshippers. They desire a new one world government with them in sole power. They will get it for a seven year period-Revelation prophesy-with their bloodline handpicked Antichrist on the throne. All the headline ills of our world for the past two centuries were designed by them. They are very brilliant,extremenly powerful and they control the leaders of our society and it’s institutions.
Mrs. Clinton isn’t as nice as some people think. Infact she is the complete opposite. Mr. Obana may become Americas 44′rth President. It is possible Mr. Al Gore will be handed the Vice President position for the purpose of becoming President. If this scenario comes into play, he will hand over U.S.A’s sovereignty to the elite. Of course a designed world catastrophe will take place such as a phony shortage world food crisis, manipulating circumstances for bogus rising oil prices,deteorating economies with job losses and extremenly high inflation. To follow will be riots for survival and martial law will take form with an army to slaughter. Something exremenly major must happen so that out of desperation people will give up their countries sovereignty. Al Gore may be there to do that he was chosen to do with much oblige.
The world will be made of ten regions-or provinces-whichever sounds better. The world will be a country. “Ten Kings will give power onto Little Horn”-Antichrist.
I’ve always said time is the best healer of inner sorrow. Time is also the best predictor. For the non believer, it is just around the corner…time will tell. Meanwhile go about your daily routine as if ill’s (of the past or present that only happens to others) will never enter our lives. The Great Myth.
Yep, just as I thought.
Politico editors just confessed to ginning the darn thing up to drive traffic. Hope everyone enjoyed the political heroin.
Miguel,
I don’t know your faith, but mine is that Christ is “the best healer of our inner sorrow.”
We will all know sorrow in one form or another. It’s foolish to think otherwise; I think you’d agree. But it’s often how we react to our sorrows that separates the faithful from the faithless.
We err if we point our finger and say, “There is the antichrist.” Or, “The antichrist will one day appear.” Scripture tells us the antichrist is the one who denies the Father and Son.(IJohn2:22)
By that definition he is already here. Perhaps even in our own hearts. He makes his appearance more easily than we might imagine:
Each of us, as Christians, must be careful that our actions and words don’t deny Him; that instead they reflect His work in us to make us more like Him. Our love for one another – our treatment of those who mistreat us – reveal how much of Him is in us.
We would do well to concern ourselves with receiving as much of Him as possible. This will sustain us throughout our sorrow; and, in the best of moments, might even reflect something of the Divine.
If I am as deluded as I imagine, Hillary Clinton’s reference to assassination might be a thunderrod for more people to vote for her as opposed to less people voting for her!
Let us not underestimate the Clintonesque Machiavellian Appalachian strategy that will surely make her constituents happy in this modern day America!
Her constituents will almost certainly overlook this assassination strategy and hug her like a lost child!
God Bless America!
From Truth, “She herself made a horrible insensitive remark.”
Truth?:ironic name for someone who choses to use the one weapon (sensitivity) designed by the leftist language czars to stifle any truth from surfacing.
she planted the seed, probably hired the hitman and is planning on blaming it on the vast right wing conspiracy
Hey Don,
I can’t help but notice how people here change the issues of the editorial or opinion for their own agenda. I will say again regardless of whatever context she used her reference. There is no place in politics for those comments. Also its amazing how many seeds were planted by her campaign that she has the nerve to say the other campaign initiated.
Hillary is toast! Always was. A potential Commander-in-Chief does not make mistakes like that! Wise up people! She has been completely and utterly the biggest baby I have ever seen with her husband coming in at a very close second! She is racist and evil. Her past has been scandal ridden through and through and too many prominent people have mysteriously died under the Clinton’s watch! Take a look at “Hillary the Movie” on YouTube. She is unpredictable, has a bad temperament, and as stubborn as an Ass. Remember what she said about Iran? “If Iran nukes Israel, I’ll obliterate them”. If she were president, she would have the U.S. involved in World War III. The last thing America needs is a female hot head that can’t even control her cheating husband. I used to actually like her but the more she opens her filthy pie-hole to spew out more hate and filth, the more I hate her! And Michelle Obama is definitely NOT going to have that witch in the White House as the VP or otherwise…and that you can believe! She is not Presidential and never was! She is pitiful and sad. She is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and an embarrassment to women. This act of hers will not be forgotten!
um, how did my name end up in the comments section of this right-wing site? Please take it off.