Obama aide (retired Air Force General McPeak): "Bill Clinton like McCarthy"

SALEM, Ore. - A retired Air Force general compared former President Clinton to Joseph McCarthy, the 1950s communist-hunting senator, on Friday after Clinton seemed to question Democrat Barack Obama's patriotism. Merrill "Tony" McPeak, a former chief of staff of the Air Force and currently a co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign, said he was disappointed by comments Clinton made while campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a speech Friday in Charlotte, N.C.

"I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country," Clinton said. "And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."

McPeak learned of the remarks while at an Obama rally in Salem, Ore. Afterward, he called Clinton's statement horrible and compared it to McCarthy, the Republican senator from Wisconsin who held hearings on suspected Communist sympathizers in the 1950s.

"It sounds more like McCarthy," McPeak said. "I grew up, I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it."

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer rejected the comparison.

"To liken these comments to McCarthyism is absurd," Singer said. He said McPeak was "clearly misinterpreting" the remarks and suggested that might be an intentional effort to divert attention from a recent controversy involving controversial statements by Obama's former pastor.

In a posting on Hillary Clinton's Web site Thursday, the campaign said the former president was simply talking about the need to keep the race focused on issues, "rather than falsely questioning any candidate's patriotism."

McPeak, who served under Clinton and the first President Bush, was skeptical.

"It's a use of language as a disguised insult. We've seen this before, this little clever spin that's put on stuff," McPeak said. "I have no idea what his intentions are, but I'm disappointed in the statement. I think Bill Clinton is, or ought to be, better than that."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080322/ap_on_el_pr/obama_patriotism_2;_ylt=Ak4kul.DHMOBF2cnJWutJ1qpg9IF

He's right. Just because Bill Clinton is a Democrat and was president doesn't mean he gets a free pass on his bullshit.

demonstating the "politics of hope". How nice!

no one calls senator "The iron lady," a nick name attributed to margaret thatcher

the proper authorities have been alerted, enjoy your short stay

but I couldn't remember exactly how. She has come full circle. To bad for her that the circle ends where it begins, with her going absolutely nowhere.

got more.

The Hillary haters will say anything.

Rev. Wright spoke in the context of his history, too.

Can't wait for the blowback on this. :hide:

"GET OFF MY LAWN YOU DAMN KIDS!!!!"


actually I agree with the general. even unintentional, the whole "patriotism" thing is a republican tactic. the freeps are already making the rounds with the "OBAMA'S CHURCH SUPPORTS HAMAS!!!!" nonsense, so you can see where those smears are going.

hopefully president clinton can distance himself from that kind of rhetoric and hopefully clarify himself, its obvious that the general is mostly upset because he holds his former boss in higher regard than that. the level of the debate is getting so low brow its sickening.

:nopity:

become a human punching bag because he can't stop making obnoxious remarks.

As a Democrat I'm offended by Bill's remarks.

Are Hill and Bill going to run on McCain's ticket?

We've seen this before, this little clever spin that's put on stuff,"




"She and John McCain are very close," Clinton said. "They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they're afraid they'd put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/25/bill-cl... /


From McCain's own website showing Bill's endorsement



Now, I suppose it's possible that someone else is buying Web ads in order to promote Bill Clinton's kind words for McCain. But there's no getting around the fact that it's McCain's own campaign Web site that's using a big ole video of Bill Clinton, complimenting John McCain, as a way of drumming up votes for old John. And I've got to imagine that McCain isn't using Bill Clinton's praise to attract conservative votes - they hate Bill Clinton. He's doing it to win independents.
Here is perhaps the most devastating gift she gave to the Republicans as she patronizingly dismissed Obama:

"I think that since we now know Sen. McCain will be the nominee for the Republican Party, national security will be front and center in this election. We all know that. And I think it’s imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander-in-chief threshold,” the New York senator told reporters crowded into an infant’s bedroom-sized hotel conference room in Washington.

“I believe that I’ve done that. Certainly, Sen. McCain has done that and you’ll have to ask Sen. Obama with respect to his candidacy,” she said.

Calling McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee a good friend and a “distinguished man with a great history of service to our country,” Clinton said, “Both of us will be on that stage having crossed that threshold.”
Clinton couldn't stop herself from praising McCain: The pro-McCain comments were quickly and widely panned — so Clinton repeated them.

James Fallows reported on Wednesday, "In a live CNN interview just now, Sen. Clinton repeated, twice, the 'Sen. McCain has a lifetime of experience, I have a lifetime of experience, Sen. Obama has one speech in 2002' line. By what logic, exactly, does a member of the Democratic party include the 'Sen. McCain has a lifetime of experience' part of that sentence?"
Former Senator Gary Hart was one of the many long-term party activists who was appalled by Clinton's pumping up of John McCain while patronizingly dismissing Barack Obama. He decried her comments:

By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her.

Former presidential candidate and Senator Bill Bradley was quoted in a London newspaper:

Bradley believes that Clinton will stop at nothing to tear down Obama even if it boosts John McCain, who was confirmed last week as the Republican nominee: "The Clintons do not do long-term planning. They’re total tacticians and right now their focus is on Obama, not McCain."

love it! It sounds like bil is talking about hilary, though..we all know she doesn't love anything but her own little warped sense of self.

I saw what you been doing and you fooled me once in 90s
and now we are on to you.

Some are suggesting that the following remark by President Clinton was intended as a personal attack:

I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country and people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics

Actually, as is indicated by the quote itself, President Clinton was talking about the need to talk about issues, rather than falsely questioning any candidate's patriotism.

He was lamenting that these kind of distractions "always seems to intrude" on political campaigns. This is consistent with his criticism of the "politics of personal destruction," which dates back 16 years

I saw it as did others and reach the same conclusion

No amount of spin you do will turn this into a I did not have sex lie
that we bought into with Bubba.

I think that might be a double-edged sword.














http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

Because there are two possibilities: McCain vs. Clinton or McCain vs. Obama. He said it would be great IF both candidates loved America, so he's clearly insinuating that one of them does NOT love America. And since that cannot be McCain since he has no primary opponent, he must mean Obama. Shame on him.

The general is correct. Bill's comments today about "two candidates who love America" only reinforce what the general said.

It's like Rove. Accuse your opponent of what you are guilty of doing.

It's the Clinton campaign that is not sticking to the issues. That is calling Obama's character into question. Now they lament the state of the primaries. sheesh.

The only way I see a civilized general election that sticks to the issues is when it is Obama against McCain. And I'm not so sure about McCain--he might use surrogates like Bush did.

I guess that didn't include his campaign.
Or maybe they were just words.

A general who remembers the McCarthy years has heard these stinging words again. Pres. Clinton should not have said that. It is not an attack to discuss the words of a Clinton supporter.