Does Barack Have the Courage to Apologize?
By Larry Johnson on June 25, 2008 at 8:55 PM in Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Current Affairs, Hillary Clinton, New Yorker, Race Card
To whom? To Bill Clinton of course. So, do I think Barack has the backbone to apologize to President Clinton and seek his help? No. Barack’s immaturity and arrogance remain major obstacles to him taking the steps he needs to build a bridge to Bill Clinton. But if he wants to be President he will have to take that step soon. Because Barack Obama needs Bill Clinton to win in the fall.
For starters, he needs Bill Clinton to raise money. He also needs Bill Clinton to help calm the anger and resentment that Hillary supporters still harbor towards Barack.
But the apology road is rocky and painful. At a minimum Barack needs to walk backwards on the following charges.
He stood by silently while his backers accused the President of racism.
The Obama campaign’s “fairy tale” gambit was particularly transparent. Commenting on Obama’s explanation of why he is more against the war in Iraq than Hillary Clinton, and disturbed by the news media’s failure to report Obama’s actual voting record on Iraq in the Senate, the former president referred to what had become the conventional wisdom as a “fairy tale” concocted by Obama and his supporters. Time to play the race-baiter card! One of Obama’s most prominent backers, the mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, stretched Clinton’s remarks and implied that he had called Obama’s entire candidacy a fairy tale. (The mayor later coyly told a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she had not intended to criticize Clinton: “Surely you don’t mean he’s the only one who can use the phrase ‘fairy tale,’” Franklin said, in a tone that the reporter described as “mock indignation.”) Appearing on CNN, one of its pundits, Donna Brazile, hurled the wild charge that Clinton had likened Obama to a child. “And I will tell you,” she concluded, “as an African American I find his words and his tone to be very depressing.” With those kinds of remarks–”as an African American”–the race card and the race-baiter card both came back into play. Although Brazile is formally not part of Obama’s campaign, her comments made their way to the South Carolina memo, offered as evidence that Clinton’s comment was racially insensitive.
And Barack trashed Bill Clinton’s legacy. Ryan Lizza, writing in The New Yorker, noted:
That is what offended Bill Clinton. “Hillary’s opponent, in his entire campaign, every two or three weeks has said for months and months and months, beginning in Nevada, that really there wasn’t much difference in how America did when I was President and how America’s done under President Bush,” he said in Lock Haven. “Now, if you believe that, you should probably vote for him, but you get a very bad grade in history.” In the closing days of the campaign, Obama gave at least three speeches criticizing the former President, who, ever vigilant of his legacy, defended himself at every stop. Few paid attention; Barack and Bill were like two boxers trying to have a fight but both getting pelted by a mysterious third force—the saturation gaffe coverage.
Well, guess what Barack? Bill Clinton has been elected twice as President. You are still a wannabee. And your boy, Jimmy Carter, could only win one term and hung the albatross of defeat on Democrats for the next 12 years. And whose ass are you kissing? Carter’s. Word to Barack–pucker up baby and get some chap stick. You have got some major Clinton ass to kiss. You should start by praising his legacy. Next you need to make it clear to your idiot followers, who persist in sullying the names of both Bill and Hillary with charges of racism, that both Clintons have been the best friends of the African Americans.
But despite the news reports that you are reaching out to Bill Clinton, you and I both know that is a crock. Your words are empty rhetoric. You remain a petulant, arrogant punk. You need to find the grace and humility to apologize for helping trash the legacy of Bill Clinton. You need to pick up the phone and do some groveling. I doubt you have it in you. But I am ready for you to prove me wrong. If you can repair the damage you did to Bill Clinton, you might have a chance to demonstrate you can do a better job of governing. But I don’t think you have what it takes. We will see.
I am not sure if Obama means this about Bill:
“He’s as smart as they come. He’s a great strategist. We’re going to want him campaigning for me,” Obama said yesterday.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/20080625_Bill_Clinton_is_ready_to_help_Obama_.html
Do whatever it takes to win approach with the Clintons.
He’s doing what any candidate would do at this point. He’s not changing a thing. Friday will be a dog and poney show. Will they be able to make it believable or not?
It would be great to see the PUMA group cause a big stink during the event. That would be worth the price of admission to see it.
If PUMA wants to make an impact then they should be dogging Obama everywhere he goes. The media could not avoid covering them.
Forget it ! Bill Clinton doesn’t owe that jackass
I hope it’s for real
anything. Let him implode so Hillary can take the reigns in August, show them how real Democrats, Clinton Democrats get the job done right, for the good of the American people. PUMA !
ps. I hear the mascot for the Unity, NH high school is a PUMA
and Hillary get’s her picture taken next to it !!!
LMFAO
That’s the attitude I like.
There is nothing Bill could say to make me change my mind about Obama. Because I know that Bill would have to LIE to campaign for Obama.
Obama is a national security risk — and Clinton know it!
No BOBO — ever!
Ralph Gramazio… Im trying to find you… please email me and lets get together soon!
Scott Burrage
Vallejo, CA
BurrageRealEstate@yahoo.com
I got such a kick out of the article in Bloomberg by Margaret Carlson. It sounds like the Unity Love-In is going to be a “fairy tale.” Here was the Clinton statement: “President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States.” Signed Matt McKenna, spokesman.
HA HA HA HA. Bill Clinton is still the Alpha Dem. He and his wife don’t need anything from the Dauphin or his hangers-on.
Where will Bill Clinton be during this maudlin event in a town too small for a traffic light? He will be in London’s Hyde Park for a concert celebrating Nelson Mandela’s birthday.
I saw Margaret Carlson on Hardball talking about the “new Michelle” and how Obama had said that “picking on” Michelle was down and dirty, and not ok.
Carlson just laughed out loud and said, “Spouses have always been fair game.”
But of course. Carlson was one of the Village gossips who trashed Hillary as First Lady all those years, along with Maureen Dowd, Sally Quinn, and all the other wankers.
FAIR GAME, Michelle. The media will pick you apart just like they did Hillary.
No special rules just because you’re African American.
He said that months ago, while he was still campaigning against Hillary. He went on to say, but he’s married to Hillary and that’s a problem. He’s been waiting for months to get Hillary out of the way so he could tap Bill’s popularity.
I hope Bill doesn’t fall for any sweet talk. Barack has stabbed both Bill and his wife in the back repeatedly. Doens’t matter to me. It is shameful for the DNC to expect Hillary Clinton to campaign for Obama before the convention. More evidence of their complete lack of a moral center.
You are completely right. From now on I think I’ll call him Brutus Obama, legendary backstabber.
Everyone seems to think Obama is an ace politician, because he defeated the mighty Clinton political machine (which he couldn’t have done without the help of the corrupt DNC, of course). But I don’t see that he has much in the way of political smarts. For one thing, he is so thin-skinned that he has to respond to every little criticism that comes his way. What did he gain from ridiculing Ralph Nader, for instance? He could have simply said that Nader’s comments were so outrageous that they didn’t deserve a response. Instead he has to denigrate Ralph as the “perennial candidate” who is just “looking for attention.” He builds himself up by sticking it to other people, like he did to Hillary after the PA debate.
Obama is a petty, juvenile and (despite all his arrogance) ultimately a very insecure man. He doesn’t possess the humility to apologize to anyone, especially Bill Clinton–even when such an apology would serve his political interests. And this is the guy who touts his ability to work across the aisle? He does NOT play well with others.
Unbelievable. I hope the idiots writing comments like this will learn to interpret newsmedia and uninformed angry blogtrash–and learn to tell the difference. It’s unimaginable that anyone could have the lack of insight (or could be so uninformed) to utter that Barack has been racist or has somehow “hurt” either Clinton in th is campaign. Those Arkansas SLEAZEBUCKETS have resorted to the lowest form of treachery possible. For them, of course, this is where they naturally feel at home, so it’s not as if it surprises me. But to try to insinuate that Barack has been the dirty one. You may as well say that George Bush has been pro-labor, pro-union, pro Hugo Chavez, and quasi-socialist.
Oh bite me. Obama is a racist, cocaine snorting dirtbag.
I agree — StrawberrybitesBarky –
And Trolls like that character are why Clinton should ignore Obama and let the psychopathic liar stew in his own defeat. The Clintons have been kicked out of the “new” democrat party and they don’t owe the current crowd a thing.
Obama is like a toxic waste dump — anyone who gets next to him will be contaminated.
Editorial Correction: new unDemocratic Party.
What else can you call a situation where the presumptive nominee is not the choice of the majority of the voters?
This would be a rational and defensible outcome if Obama had better electoral prospects than Clinton but he doesn’t. Obama knew that he was being put in power by the superdelegates — that’s why he pushed so hard to convert them before the last primary so he could do the smoke and mirrors trick of having the last votes that ‘put him over the top’ appear to come from the primaries.
And yeah, Obama made false charges of racism and that’s part of why I decided that I could never vote to put him in the Oval Office.
Kindly F* Off! From an Arkansawyer.
No one is more sleazy than BO! Barry is probably the most corrupt politician. He continually lies and lies big. He promises one thing and reverses course when convenient. He belonged to a racist Church, had a racist pastor, and what’s worse in many people’s eyes, is that it was a Church that condemned America.
Bill Clinton still is, and likely to be for a very long time, the only Democrat to win back to terms in the White House. He had 70% approval rating during Impeachment! As far as corruption goes, it was no better and defintely no worse than the Bush Administration.
Obama has absolutely no experience, he lies about his votes, he lies about where he stands, he votes “present” to avoid taking a stand on any issue, and he is married to a person is probably more racist than he is.
There is a reason he has been endorsed by world leaders like Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong Il or North Korea and Hamas. They know what I know but what you obviously don’t know. Obama is no leader and he will be easy to push around.
Bill Clinton is extremely intelligent and was a great President. I would rather live like the 90’s anyday than have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in the White House, along with the corrupt Rezko, Daley political machine and the terrorist Bill Ayers, who blew up the Pentagon, giving policy advise to a Marxist and Muslim who wants to be POTUS.
Edison dear,
It is Obama that is the Sleeze bucket - James Dobson a well respected christian leader sure says so. Hugo Chavez has endorsed sleaze bucket Obama, as has Hamas,Casto and Kim Jon Ill, Now if that doesn’t have “sleaze bucket maggot” written all over it I can not imagine would does.
How can people like you believe this guy Obama with all of the crazy um’s and uh’s he does and the statements he makes one way, one day and another the next and his crazy shit no matter which way the wind blows and this does not even take into consideration his mentors, friends and associates, who are crooks, terrorists, convicted felons and racist preachers.
Don’t you dare refer to the one of the finest couples we have ever had in America the Clintons as Arkansas sleaze. You disgust me.
You’re a real joke yourself. Right now the arrogant Obama can’t bring himself to ask the only successful democratic president in many many years for help? His campaign has trashed Bill Clinton at every turn so far.
Wait until the middle of September or so when the 527’s are targeting Obama’s sorry corrupt ass; he’ll be crawling on his belly to have Bill Clinton in his corner. On. His. Belly.
snakes can;t crawl… only slither!
Bill won’t fall for any sweet talk from this man and you can take that to the bank. I think a better protest in Unity would be for PUMA to be absolutly silent through the whole thing, then turn their backs if he comes around to shake their hands or kiss their babies
Barack, where’s your real birth certificate?
Larry has an amazing video revealing Barack’s real birth certificate. He’ll be posting it by next Monday at 9 AM along with Michelle’s shocking “whitey” rant. That’s for sure. Oh, and PUMA is also going to have a major effect on the election. Count on it!
YES WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A MAJOR EFFECT!!
I am a member of PUMA myself.
Why do you think the Gallup poll showed Obama and McCain tied up even yesterday.
McCain will beat Obama without even trying for there is soooooooo much the Repubs are just lying in wait to bring out on Obama. They darn sure have a lot of material to work with.
go back to your cave troll
Joe,
BO has no real birth certificate, I hear he was delivered by a mid wife in Kenya and they don’t give out birth certificates.
Good old atheist Mom Stanley somehow got him on record in Hawaii as being born but it is not a real birth certificate, it is fake and there is not a real one. Obama should be forced to tell the truth and JUST PERHAPS HE WILL BE.
There is a thread dedicated to this topic.
What have the supposedly loyal Clinton fans - all 17.5 million of them done to pay of her giant campaign debt?
Errr. Oh they seem to want Obama to help her out. Right.
Someone here quoted Mark Twain; If someone thinks you don’t know what your talking about, don’t open your mouth and remove all doubt.
This isn’t a case of charity. Her donors are maxed out to her, but not to him. He wants them (it seems they might not want him too much) anyway his donors are maxed out to him. Why do you thnk he was only able to raise $21mil in the month of May and John McCain raised $26?
It is quid pro quo or if your not familiar with that quotation, tit for tat.
UKfordems,
A lot of Hillary supporters are maxed out to her and I am one of those and now they are appealing to us to give to him because we are not maxed out to Obama. I would never give BO one red cent.
The way I see that is Hillary is wealthy and she can handle the debt herself, and if folks want to give to BO so he can in turn get his maxed out supporters to give to her then so be it but I for one will not give that snake oil salesman one of my pennies. I don’t trust him enough to give money to him and then he in turn get his supporters to give to her.I love Hillary but I think she will survive just fine.
I think you guys should refuse to do so. It will be the next slap in the face of her supporters.
I’m all for you showing just how little class you have.
Well typical Obama, political expediency and pandering. The guy is disgusting slime, cannot be trusted. Worst, he has NO qualifications, no record of accomplishments, distorts the facts, claim credit where it is not due.
Talk about affirmative action at its worst. Obama single handedly has set race relationships back decades and has damaged the good affirmative action has done for black, Native Americans and hispanics in irrevocable ways. These groups should run from Obama as fast as they can. Any association with Obama will only pull them down to the gutter level where Obama sits.
Let me translate the “obamamism”
means…
“He is a commodity I desire to exploit”
Message to the greatest president of our generation, Bill Clinton: Tell Obambi to KYA!
Barack Obama orders Bill to help him.
From today’s ABC News written by Jenifer Duck:
On Bill Clinton’s role in his campaign, Obama said, “I want him involved. He is a brilliant politician. He was a outstanding president. And so I want his help not only in campaigning but also in governing. And I’m confident that I’ll get that help.”
CONFIDENT?? How arrogant!Earlier in the campaign, the surrogates disrecpected the former president and now, because BO WANTS him (ordering the lowly “servant”) they are now “nice” to him.
I just e-mailed President Bill Clinton & pls. send him your feelings regarding his NOT endorsing the unqualified BO: contact@clintonfoundation.org
He doesn’t need Clinton to raise money. He’ll have money coming out of his ears.
Barack won’t get the Clinton donors without Bill.
Mr. Johnson, did you happen to catch President Clinton’s speech at the Mayors Conference?
He mentioned Obama only once and it plain his heart was not in it.
I seriously doubt BO has it in him to do anything that can undo the damage he has caused. Even if he wanted to he does not have the inter-personal skills to accomplish this “feat”.
What “pound of flesh” could President Clinton exact from BO’s skinny frame?
Barack doesn’t need a damn thing of Bill or Hillary Clinton’s. He beat her with bill going full scale below the belt. Let Bill and Hill go campaign for McCain. Barack Obama wins this Presidency without Bill, hill, or any of their racist, sexist allies. Barack=Change. Hillary= lewinskytravelgatefilegateinappropriate pardonwhitewatertakeamericathroughtheringerbullshit. And by the way, none of us need four more years of bill Clinton’s lewd sexual inappropriateness.
Than why would he need Hillary stumping for him, douchebag?
Thanks for posting J.J., it never ceases to amaze me how people act after they drink that damn Kool-Aid. lol. You guys are like the Zombies in 28 Days later. Like you can do it all on your own, right, you don’t need us?, right, go smoke another one stoney.
As usual deluded and delusional.
And you seem to be following your master’s example very nicely - hit below the belt and then scream victim!
Hillary has the populist message and 18 million voters in the palm of her hand.
You’re foolish if you think Obama can dismiss her as irrelevant.
Sorry Larry (not really). There is nothing that can get me to vote for this sniveling, immature, inadequate black man.
Clinton won’t get Obamas donors to give charitably to her failed campaign without him. Who was better at raising money?
Exactly.
Time has passed the Clintons by and Bubba is no longer at the top of the party. Obama doesn’t need either of them.
Pride goeth before a fall.
The Road to the Whitey House:
http://perrylogan.org/images/WhiteyHouse.jpg
No problem, sleepy.
Win without them. Win without us.
Go for it.
Sounds like Obama doesn’t like having to eat humble pie. He trashed the reputations of two of the hardest workers for the Democratic party. Now he wants them to just come along and work for him. Bill and Hilary said, “No, our support now comes with a price. Since you like Patti Solis Doyle so much, you can reimburse Mark Penn for postage stamps, too. That will be 3.4 million, thank you. Then there’s… ” I love the Clintons.
Thank you. It is tiring to explain the facts of life to these children.
Hi Larry,
He will never get me nor any other Arkansans that I know. The mere suggestion that he could win Arkansas is such a laugh. He will lose to McCain by at least 60% in Arkansas.
Thanks for your site and your continuous investigation of BO. I loved what James Dobson said about him, didn’t you and I am not normally a big Dobson supporter but he is right on about
BO.
Agree, Larry.
And here’s the irony: Obama hasn’t even TRIED to contact Clinton or talk to him.
Until Obama reaches out on his own in a respectful way, he won’t get Bill OR the Clinton contributors on his side.
And he doesn’t deserve them, either, until he makes the effort.
I will not send him a dime nor the DNC and all the $5 and $ 10 are busy buy gas.
That’s why McCain raised more money in May than BO. It is also why the RNC has 41 million and the DNC has 4 million.
The Republicans were supporting BO financially. Karl Rove organized major Republican donors way back in 2005 to back BO. Now that their support is over, and I know for a fact the Obama campaign is hurting for money, we’ll see what kind of money he can raise now.
By the way: McCain will do better because he is doing what he said he would do and that is use Federal funding for his campaign. BO is such a liar. I believe nothing of what he says.
Comment by DeniseB | 2008-06-25 21:01:00
He doesn’t need Clinton to raise money. He’ll have money coming out of his ears.
Uh huh… and those are some mighty big ears!!!
Ooops… what that ‘racist’? :::koff:::
Larry,
It’s been a LONG campaign. Have you seen Barry admit to making even ONE mistake?? He is so much like BUSH that way. Except Bambi has his OWN acronym remember? worm? hehe
BHO is Stubborn and NOTHING is EVER his fault! (Hello Junior)
I know you were being rhetorical up thread. LOL
not holding my breath either
He doesn’t have to admit to mistakes, he just tosses whomever and whatever caused the offense right under the big yellow bus and everyone ewws and ahhs while heaping piles of praise on him for his courage to keep shoving things under there.
Please President Clinton, I beg you not to campaign for this jerk. He absolutley does not deserve to be besides you. He does not worth it, he is going to loose anyway.
I love this post from Chicagoan Against Obama
http://chicagoagainstobama.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/bubba-blows-off-barrythe-former-president-has-his-spokesperson-issue-half-ass-statement-of-support-to-obama-today/
No way. Pres Clinton, please keep your current stance. He is a disaster waiting to happen. Obama did so much harm to you and Hillary it hurt everyone of us..Please don’t back down. He will lose anyway.
I saw Pelosi and Rangel smirking today during Hillary’s speech to unite the party speech. Didn’t she already do one yesterday? It looked obvious to me that she was being blackmailed. She looked pained. Pelosi and Rangels smirk is something I’ll never forget.
I don’t think that’s going to happen, seriously. OB doesn’t need him for his choir. He needs him for Hillary’s and Obama isn’t going to like it much standing next to him. There is only one politician alive who can outshine Bill Clinton and that is his wife. what’s OB gonna do when all the love goes to Bill?
this is what it is really all about.
for his own gain, obama adopted the msm slimes of clinton amd i for 1 will never forgive him for it.
f obama.
How phony and insincere that would sound if Barky apologized to the Clintons. What would he say? Oh well, I meant all the nasty stuff I said about you then but now that I have the nomination, I don’t believe that stuff anymore.
I sincerely hope that Bill does not raise money or do anything for that ingrate, liar of a candidate.
Regarding the ‘fairy tale’ crapola, I saw a news clip of Michelle Obama herself repeating this smear in front of a crowd at a campaign rally, saying “they called us a fairy tale”. That was the last shove of me off the Obama train.
So many cow chips a flying out from those two Oblah-blahs.
Michelle should be disgusted with herself.
Larry, as usual you are right on. I can only hope that Bill Clinton tells him to shove it. No way should Bill tarnish his image by being associated with him. I can’t stand that Hillary is having to stand beside this moronic anti-American terrorist lover. God, please don’t let this asshole get to the White House.
Friday would be a great day for the 18 million Hillary supporters to unite and send a message. We have not gotten over this.
Polls indicate that the vast majority of those 18 million have united–behind Obama.
Who is this “we”? Posters here?
Hey sleepy…shove those polls. Reality will bite you in the backside on election day.
here’s a poll for you — a Noquarterusa.net poll shows Obama’s favorability rating at 0%.
Uh, no sleepy.
ABC poll shows 25-30% of Clinton supporters will either vote for McCain or just stay home, like Donna Brazille told them to do.
Nice try, though.
Yesterday’s poll on RCP show that even after this length of time, 1 out of 4 Hillary supporters indicate they will vote for McCain.
That’s not good news.
Moreover, there is a discussion on RCP at the roundtable on the recent polls by both Bloomberg and Newsweek. The methodology used was the same with both, indicating that both polls are skewed to being irrelevant.
Obama is ahead by about 6 points. Gallup showed him today tied. It’s going to be tight, and it will become tighter.
Today McCain inched up in NM. Obama widened his lead in CA.
The problem will be that if his gain is in states that he’s already got, it won’t do him much good.
McCain is now 7 points ahead in MO. Not good news for Obama.
The newspapers can tout all day and all night how Minn polls are strong for him, but who cares?
Look at the true swing states.
Moreover, Obama has the frontrunner status now. That means he’s under the microscope, day in and day out.
Now that Senator Obama has beaten the Clintons, why wouldn’t he be gracious? What he got to lose now?
Because he needs their help? Duh?
Kool-aid is clouding your judgement.
He’s very immature and will not admit he needs them. It kills him to have to do this, so he will hold back and wait for them to be forced (by the media) to crawl to him. Hillary’s got class, Barack is a petulant child.
Having to “grovel to the white man” is something that pains believers of Black Liberation Theologists.
In their opinion, the white man has to help and bend over backwards for them no matter what, and without having to meet the white man half way.
A noble person never has to grovel or bend over backwards.
Noble people do not let skin color affect their actions or beliefs.
Noble are the Clintons.
Now that Senator Obama has beaten the Clintons
Your premise is incorrect.
He did not “beat” anyone. He has not “won” anything either.
What he got to lose now, you ask?
He has nothing without respect and will loose the election.
I doubt he has it in him too.
And his supporters lap up everything he says. They are a hopeless case.
Obama is too gutless to do it. He will fool himself into thinking he owes WJC no apologies. Then he’ll wonder why WJC didn’t campaign harder for him, but he will shrug it off.
Yes. And then his surrogates like James Clyburn will get on the TV shows and imply that it’s all Clinton’s fault, and not Obama’s.
Gimme a damm break.
Larry I just want to say that you and Bill Clinton (and Hillary, of course) are my heros.
Larry, Friday would be a wonderful day if someone could pull out that Whitie tape.
Invite that Larry Sinclair guy to the circus on Friday, along with Rev. Manning and have a real show.
Call Rev Manning. I’m sure he’ll appear. He would have appeared with Larry sinclair at the news conference had he been invited. He is Da man.
Larry why don’t you go too. Get a front row seat and have at it.
No, Obama doesn’t have the courage. Like you said, he’s immature and arrogant. I hope Bill and Hillary do the bare minimum for his punk ass.
Take some comfort from this being more difficult for Obama than for the Clintons. As I said up thread, they both diminish him and every time they stand side by side with him will be another opportunity for voters to make comparisons, They out class him in everyway. And he has to say nice things about them. That should be a real hoot. Poor Obamdots. They will be so confused.
If you want to prtoest at tomorrows “Unity Show” seems that it is not posible cos tickets are REQUIRED in order to gain entrance. Welcome to authoritarian Obamakracy.
Really they are requiring a ticket, well then it’s staged for sure now. It’s at a school, then be outside near all the TV trucks and make a big stink there.
go to BO’s website and geta free ticket.
Of course it’s staged!!!
This whole deal is a complete farce, I completely agree you…