Gephardt makes incredibly dumb comment

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...0230EDT0430.DTL

 

06-22) 23:30 PDT CHICAGO (AP) --

 

Democratic presidential hopefuls say they will continue to promote affirmative action regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in a case challenging the constitutionality of programs to help minorities in college admissions.

 

The court is expected to rule any day whether affirmative action programs at the University of Michigan are constitutional. The case was a main topic of discussion Sunday at a candidate forum sponsored by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

 

"When I'm president, we'll do executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day," said Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.

 

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich also made a pledge to put affirmative action into federal law as president.

 

"If this president doesn't want to let us be one nation, then it's time to elect a president who will let us be one nation," Kucinich said.

 

President Bush opposes the University of Michigan's policies, and several candidates cited his position as a reason he should be voted out of office next year.

 

"The president has divided us," former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said. "He's divided us by race by using the word 'quotas.' There's no such thing as a quota at the University of Michigan, never has been."

 

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said: "We deserve a president of the United States who doesn't call fairness for minorities special preferences and then turn around and give special preferences to Halliburton or to Enron to write the energy policy."

 

Kerry said he was committed to have minorities in positions of power in his administration, and pointed to diversity in his campaign staff.

 

Al Sharpton responded that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a black man who may vote against the university's affirmative action program. He said Democrats shouldn't be talking about getting more blacks in high places, but getting the right blacks.

 

"If we doubt that, just look at Clarence Thomas," he said. "Clarence Thomas is my color, but he's not my kind."

 

Seven of the nine Democratic candidates attended the forum. Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida said they couldn't make it because of scheduling conflicts.

 

The candidates discussed a broad range of issues of importance to the mostly black audience, including education, the criminal justice system, tax cuts and health care.

 

They pledged to address disparities in Internet access between the poor and more affluent Americans and to work to overturn the Federal Communication Commission's decision to relax limits on how media companies can merge and grow.

 

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman said the decision would particularly affect minority-owned media, but predicted it "will be temporary."

 

"It is wrong; it is un-American," he said.

 

Was there applause when he said that, or just stunned silence? I guess Al Sharpton has said dumber things, but he doesn't have a chance in hell anyway.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

WTF?

 

I can't even make fun of this. It's too bizarrely idiotic.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

::scratches Gephardt off primary ballot::

 

The field thins...

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Is Gephardt saying he's going to be a dictator?

[Guest Powerplay]

...? Zuh?

 

I do have to say, Jobber, you don't discriminate when it comes down to finding stupid people saying stupid stuff.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

"If we doubt that, just look at Clarence Thomas," he said. "Clarence Thomas is my color, but he's not my kind."

 

I'm surprised he held back and didn't call him an Uncle Tom...

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

My guess is that it's a slight misquote, or that he sincerely meant to say something else.

 

By "guess," I mean "hope," because man, STUPID.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

::scratches Gephardt off primary ballot::

 

The field thins...

At this point for me it's either John Edwards or Howard Dean. Edwards has actually announced a plan to respond to Bush's tax cuts and Dean has a good amount of support behind him. Neither guy has done any fuckups in their campaign thus far like the one above.

 

Both guys have enemies in their home region (someone here posted about Dean forcing out small business in Vermont, but didn't provide any details as to what he actually did, and Edwards has detractors because he's a Democrat who just happened to get elected into the majorily Republican North Carolina and then didn't act like a Republican.

 

I like Kerry as a speaker but he and Lieberman have both failed to stand out. They seem to represent the Bush Lite platform that the Dems probably need to get away from (as swing voters will just go for the real deal instead)

 

 

EDIT: Scratch that, it appears Dean flopped pretty hard on Meet The Press.

Edited June 23, 2003 by Jobber of the Week

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I feel confindent in saying Dick will not, in fact, be president anytime soon.

 

At least Sharpton can run on weirdness. Gephardt is supposed to be a real politician.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Funny. Seeing the audience, he probably got a standing O...

[Guest Cancer Marney]

EDIT: Scratch that, it appears Dean flopped pretty hard on Meet The Press.

Jesus CHRIST... fucking understatement of the year. We keep talking about suicide bombers blowing themselves up; I swear to God they don't have a fucking patch on Howard Dean. I'm stunned. I'm simply stunned. I feel like someone just hit me between the eyes with a goddamn brick. In God's name, what the fuck are the Democrats THINKING?

 

Dean: No. Different states are different. My state, we have no gun control. We also have one of the lowest homicide rates in the country. We’re a rural state with a lot of hunters in it. Right? In New York and New Jersey and California, they ought to have as much gun control as they want. My position is this is a state issue. Keep the federal laws. Enforce them vigorously. And then let every state decide what they want. Because when you say gun control in my state, people are going to think you're taking the squirrel rifle their parents gave them away. When you say gun control in New Jersey and California and New York, they say "Great. Let's get the machine guns and the handguns off the streets." They're both right. So why can't each state decide for themselves over and above the federal law what they want or don't want? What the result will be, you won't get more gun control than what you've already got in Wyoming or Montana and Vermont, and you’ll get a lot more in California and New Jersey. Fine.

 

In ONE response, he's come out for STATES' RIGHTS ON GUN CONTROL and SUBVERTING THE CONSTITUTION so state laws replace federal law as the supreme law of the land (Article VI, qv). Unfuckingbelievable! The entire Democratic field seems to be intent on complete self-destruction.

 

And I haven't even done anything! Jesus, at this rate I'm going to be out of a job in a month.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Don't worry, Marney. Even those of us leaning left know Dean's a little bit insane. I like the platform on his website and was all excited to shout "DEAN IN 2004!" when I first read up on him, but everything I've seen from him makes me more skeptical than an alcoholic at a root beer factory. He just doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

::looks at scratches of Dean, Gephardt, Sharpton, Lieberman, Woman Whose Name I Think Is Mosely, and Kucinich::

 

Dammit, Bob Graham. Make Florida proud.

[Guest Vyce]

After Meet the Press, I want Dean to win the Democratic nomination. Because that moron will guarantee a victory for Bush in 04.

 

As for Gephardt's comments, I think he was referring to something like the typical liberal fear that somehow conservatives / republicans are going to overturn Roe v. Wade by stacking the Court with ultra-conservatives. Or, in this case, he was hypothesizing that if he was prez, he'd overturn the Court if they had struck down affirmative action.

 

It's still a dumb statement, because the system doesn't work like that. The president isn't a dictator over the S.C.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

It appears that Gephart has just contacted the dreaded "Foot-In-Mouth" Disease.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

::looks at scratches of Dean, Gephardt, Sharpton, Lieberman, Woman Whose Name I Think Is Mosely, and Kucinich::

Carol Mosley Braun is running for president?

 

Are you fucking serious?!

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Yeah, I don't know why you would want to run for President when you lost the race for the Senate in Illinois, But Hey, maybe it's just her thing to do this, you know?

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

Think anyone remembers that time she took her campaign supervisor on a Concord to hang out with that dictator in Africa? Or was that too long ago.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Who cares? She was ambassador to Antarctica.

 

Next candidate, please.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Yeah, because it's not like Bush has never stuck his foot in his mouth. So we see that Dean doesn't put his positions forth well while thinking on his feet. Neither does Bush.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Oh, please. This went way beyond putting his foot in his mouth. He swallowed his whole damn leg. It wasn't a misquote, it wasn't a slip of the tongue; he stated his position and he said that he supported STATES' RIGHTS on the issue of GUN CONTROL. Are you seriously telling me this clearly stated position is NOT the diametric opposite of the position held by his party, and especially by the extremely liberal wing of the party to whom he has consistently pandered?

 

Why can't each state decide for themselves over and above the federal law what they want or don't want? What the result will be, you won't get more gun control than what you've already got in Wyoming or Montana and Vermont, and you'll get a lot more in California and New Jersey. Fine.

He even reiterated (correctly) the probable results of his policy and he said "Fine" afterwards. I'm sorry, but this is not some sort of hurried, slapdash misrepresentation of his opinion. These are his words. They are clear and unequivocal. You don't need to spin them. Everyone can see that he meant exactly what he said.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

After reading the entire transcript, I've had to conclude that he was catostrophically and undeniably unprepared. It looks like he came out expecting a cakewalk. He was wrong.

 

Notice, if you will, a lot of stammering as well; it sounds like a guy that didn't study his platform, or sit down and think about what he was gonna say beforehand.

 

I sincerely doubt -- if he sits down and thinks about it -- that he will support STATE'S RIGHTS in gun control. He's a pro-NRA guy, which is biggest problem with his platform, but I doubt that's going to be his official position on the issue. I hope he will sit down and prepare next time before going on national television, but at least this didn't happen during primary season. It's getting close, but it's not here yet.

 

By the way, the most attractive candidate the Democrats *may* have is General Wesley Clark. He hasn't declared his intention to run yet, but it's looking more and more like he might. If so, I think he wins the nomination easily.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

...

 

 

 

Oh my. Wouldn't that be a gift.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Why do you say that?

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Trust me. He's not exactly the kind of guy you'd want your party associated with in terms of credibility. Most people in the services can't stand him, and I think most civilians would look askance at anyone who's so thoroughly prostituted previous experience (note that I didn't say "skill") for the opportunity to spout endless meaningless vagaries on CNN.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

It appears he can speak, at least.

 

Apparently, he has a large base of support and has had it for quite a while now. I can see where you're coming from with the latter comment -- he looks like a huge attention whore to me -- but I'm not sure it matters with politicians, to tell you the truth. Right now, my biggest concern -- on strictly partisan terms -- is to get Bush out of office so he can't have a lasting impact on our nation's policies (e.g. the Supreme Court). Clark's platform is competent enough, he seems to speak well, and he's charismatic enough to make voters think, as opposed to just dismiss.

 

Plus, a dishonest politician? Marney, what world are you living on? I thought everyone who ran for public office had a GREAT background just bursting with truth!

 

Again, on a strictly platform standing, I'd support Dean. Unfortunately, if he keeps acting like an idiot and not preparing for appearances, I'll settle for someone else.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I meant just plain competence, not honesty.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

I obviously know less about him than you, since I'm more or less going on what other people have said. Do you mean as a military commander, or as a person in general? If you mean as a person, what leads you to that opinion? That's not a challenge, it's simply curiosity; I really don't know enough about the guy to make that determination, I just checked out www.draftclark2004.com to view his platform. That's about all I know about the guy, other than he was the NATO commander for a while.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

The former. I've never met him myself.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

In that case, I'd probably agree with you. None of the recent NATO operations -- to the best of my recollection, anyway -- have been particularly successful or effective.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

Who cares? She was ambassador to Antarctica.

AND she said, this Illinois senator, that a Chicago style hot dog has ketchup on it.

 

If you don't know that ketchup is not to be put on a Chicago style dog, you can't run the country.