Comments on: Reject vs Denounce: The power of words

By: EEllis

EEllis — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:24:15 +0000

Reject maybe, denounce, not that I've ever heard. He tries his best to avoid the issue as if it is ignored long enough it will go away. I don't really care but that is not denouncing anything.

By: lurxst

lurxst — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:05:39 +0000

This and several other comments made by Russert do, in fact, expose him as a cheap hack too invested in controlling the tone of debate and less in allowing the candidates to express their views. The baiting of Obama with “well Farrakhan said” was low. How about we get moderaters for the GE debates that have a more nuanced grasp of the issues and less talking head self-aggrandizing Washington DC pundit-class idiocy.

By: Davebo

Davebo — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:40:07 +0000

Cosmo, quite likely.

Here's hoping Holly doesn't have any sharp instruments laying around on March 4th because it's not looking good for Hillary here in Texas.

By: cosmoetica

cosmoetica — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:29:08 +0000

Davebo: Correct, but then she's claim that he was only betraying his sociopathic side, and couldn't be trusted with the Presidency.

By: Davebo

Davebo — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:51:17 +0000

Let's face it folks.

If Obama had responded by dragging Louis Farrakhan on to the stage and beheading him Holly would still not be satisified.

By: GeorgeSorwell

GeorgeSorwell — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:36:04 +0000

Tim Russert is a disgrace.

And Paul Silver's summary of Obama's response is, in fact, right on!

By: cosmoetica

cosmoetica — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:10:20 +0000

Holly: All pretense of an open mind is now gone.

Good for you for coming out of the closet!

By: Holly_in_Cincinnati

Holly_in_Cincinnati — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:57:49 +0000

This Democrat is grateful that Tim Russert asked the questions and is not satisfied with Sen. Obama's answers.

By: invadesoda

invadesoda — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:29:20 +0000

I didn't see the debate, but it sounds like Tim has been watching too much Jeremy Paxman

By: Polimom Says » An illiterate or a hack?

Polimom Says » An illiterate or a hack? — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:07:46 +0000

[...] I’ve written more on this here, at The Moderate Voice. [...]

By: JSpencer

JSpencer — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:06:21 +0000

Russert has a history of trying to insert himself into debates well beyond the role of a moderator. As far as I'm concerned it's an ego issue and undermines the usefulness of the debates.

By: cosmoetica

cosmoetica — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:06:16 +0000

Paul: Right on.

And since when did Teletubby Russert rise above his hack buddies like Bill O'reilly or Keith Olbermann? He's always been LCD.

By: PaulSilver

PaulSilver — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:03:27 +0000

I thought Obama made himself clear the first time. He denounced the sin but not the sinner.

By: superdestroyer

superdestroyer — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:57:36 +0000

Senator Obama did not denounce Louis Farrakhan. Senator Obama specifically denounced the anti-semtic comments made by Farrakhan. Does this mean that Senator Obama agrees with everything else that Farrakhan says?

Senator Obama seems even better than former President Clinton is saying things are mean one thing but are heard as something every different. I guess America will have to relearn the meaning of the word parse again.

By: elrod

elrod — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:42:20 +0000

It was a deeply uncomfortable moment for me as I mentioned in my post last night. I felt like Russert was trying to anti-Semite-bait Obama by pushing this point. As a Jew I was deeply offended by the assumption that somehow Barack Obama has some special obligation to prove that he's not anti-Semitic because of something Louis Farrakhan said, or even because his pastor heaped praise on Farrakhan. It's classic guilt-by-association tactics and Obama has addressed this before.

Obama, in so many ways, symbolizes the return to close black-Jewish relations that characterized the civil rights movement until some of the excesses of the black power movement convinced some Jews to go the other direction. David Horowitz and the neo-conservatives are products of this feeling of rejection. But most Jews are still solidly liberal on racial matters and Obama's support in the Chicago Jewish community reflects that.