« The Shorenstien Memo | Main | A Better Answer To The Pregnant Pause » SNL For Hillary01 Mar 2008 11:43 pm She ditched her press corps tonight. No one would say where she went. A "private event" said one staffer. Radio silence from others. SNL, of course! An endnote to the cold open sketch on how unfair the media has been. This is becoming the story of the week: the media covering the media's coverage of the campaign. Comments (71)
Er . . . "has become" 
I'm sure the five other people who were watching SNL felt I as I did: eh, she's not so bad, but I'm still for Obama.
am i missing something here? HRC's whole campaign theme is that she is just as tough and capable as any man to be President. fine, no problem. but her complaining--EVEN IF IT WAS TRUE--about the media being unfair seems to undercut her whole "I'm just as tough" argument. would a male candidate get any traction with this? wouldn't the media and the voters generally say "suck it up"? so...everyone's equal, except when HRC thinks she deserves to treated differently. HUH?
I will give that SNL skit some points for delivery, so to speak. But what was striking to me about it was the degree to which it tried to emphasize the "Hillary as victim (of male commentariat sexism) meme, the New Hampshire rabbit out of the hat trick. I have been saying for a while when people like Russert attack Hillary, it helps Hillary through predictable backlash dynamics. I have often expressed the opinion that the whole schtick is staged, that Russert knows he's helping Hillary by being an ass towards her. And I have to say that the SNL skit confirms my suspicions that this is all one reality-television-esque manufactured gender war designed to give HIllary a sympathy female vote. The whole message of that skit is, "The men are beating up in me and Barack Obama is a moron." Nobody seems to want to talk about Obama getting grilled on Farrakhan, Wright, etc. Russert knows there is no backlash to grilling Obama because Obama is male. The other thing that they did was to portray Obama as a bush-like idiot...which is absurd. Anyways, I can go on and on,,,but I want to leave everyone with a thought to ponder.... When big media is helping a candidate spread a meme that they are biased against her, is it Big Media's self-awareness on display or is it their cynicism? This is going to be replayed over and over in the next 2 days and will be the dominant story line I am guessing. And who will benefit? HIllary. Big time sympathy vote coming thanks to Big Media (who are just soooooo biased against her). Give me a break.
Almost at the end of last Tuesday night democratic candidate’s debate, Tim Russert asked, “What can you tell about the man who’s going to be Mr. Putin’s successor?”As usual these newsmen always put questions to Hillary first, letting Mr. Obama take his time to formulate an answer, always giving him the advantage, even though he never had more skill at details or knowledge of policy, which was amply evident in all the twenty debates that were held, and in addition giving Mr. Obama a chance to criticize what Mrs. Clinton has to say. “I can tell you that he’s a handpicked successor, that he’s someone who is obviously being installed by Putin, who has very little independence, the best we know,” said Mrs. Clinton. “Who will it be? Do you know his name?” Russert insisted knowing. Mr. Obama looked very nervous; for sure he didn’t know the name of Russian leader who’s about to succeed Putin. “Medved or Medvedova! Whatever!” Mrs. Clinton said. Mr. Obama looked relieved. Thanks to Hillary fielding Tim Russert’s curve ball, Mr. Obama got out of a tight spot, although it was obvious that Mr. Obama did not know who Dimitry Medvedev was. Case and point: Mr. Obama isn’t ready to be the President of the United States of America.
Normally, a candidate who loses 11 consecutive contests (to be fair only 9 were in areas with electoral votes in November) and who loses 22 out of the past 31 primaries/caucuses gets treated as Mike Huckabee is being treated. Having the last name of Clinton helps Hillary with the media more than it hurts.
Chandra Well said!
Dan Well said!
Complaining about media coverage on f'ing Saturday Night Live: VERY presidential, Very Tough. nice play for sympathy votes.
SNL also has done a cartoon skit which features Obama with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Hmmmm.....just a coincidence? So you have the gender/victim card being played in the opening segment... And then you have the race card being played as a sketch later on.... I have one question.... When did Mark Penn become an SNL Writer?
Everybody knows who Dmitry Medvedev is. He's the chairman of Gazprom, so was well known before he was the anointed successor to Putin. The reason it was a curve ball, and the reason neither of them could give a very substantive answer, is that there are real questions about what he will do as president of Russia. He has made speeches about encouraging free press and democracy, but people see his promise to appoint Putin as PM as a sign that Putin will still hold the reins of power. So there are a lot of mixed signals and frankly, no one knows for sure. Perhaps more importantly, it would be very ill-advised, particularly for two candidates who are both promising to re-emphasize diplomacy and to improve America's image in the world, to make any strong statements about the man. If you say positive things about him, it would be perceived as naive. If you say negative things about him, it would sour relations between a potential U.S. president and the future Russian president before either of them even takes office. So yes, it was a tough question, and yes, Hillary was asked first. Then again, she's the one who's selling herself as someone who knows all the world's leaders, so perhaps that's fair. But other than reciting the guy's biography, there's really nothing you can say to that question politically.
All this SNL loving for HIllary is negotiated penance for Shuster. Shuster is back on the air and the HIllary people are no longer calling for his head. I think Wolfson probably negotiated/extorted a race and gender hit job on Obama in exchange for not continuing to make a circus out of the shuster thing. It's amazing that for one slip of shuster's tongue, the clintons were able to exact so many pounds of NBC flesh.
in the real debate the question was asked without attribution to who should answer and clinton took the lead in answering. kind of hurts the premise of the skit, but whatever. my biggest problem with the skit is the brutal obama impression. getting the voice down is key to these things and armisen needs a lot of work.
Regarding the Medvedev question, Tim Russert said after the debate that it was a "jumpball." He purposely didn't ask either candidate, but Clinton grabbed it first. So she picked her poison...strange for her to complain about it now.
I love it. Hillary flubs a question about a soon-to-be major world leader and what does it prove? That Obama isn't ready to be C-in-C. Up is down, black is white, etc.
Kevin & Tight You are right, Hillary did miss the name of the Russian leader. However, the point is Obama's answers can be summed up in one word "ditto." He basically replies through her answers.
eward, when she just says what everyone else knows, what else can he say?
I am really, really enjoying watching the Obama supporters WHINING about the bad, bad, SNL. You guys have gotten so drunk with superlative media coverage for such a long time, it doesn't take a lot to bring you all down to earth. Get used to it. It is just starting.
Sam, I like Obama, but I'm not exactly worried about SNL. (Maybe if it were 1975...) However, when the cultural juggernaut that is MADtv gets its barbs in, well... like so many Indians crying about pollution, I too shall shed a solitary-yet-meaningful tear.
Armisen should probably work on actually being black before he works on his accent. And the cartoon on after the open (with Al Sharpton in a dog collar) was over the line.
SNL has, of course, lampooned many politicians through the ages. But can anybody ever recall such a sustained, coordinated attack on a single candidate in multiple segments like this? 1) Opening segment: gender/victim card, Obama is dumb/Obama is hypocritical on campaign finance, Obama is all talk with no substance, etc 2) Cartoon in which Obama, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton are lumped together 3) The dressed picture on Obama in Kenya is shown during weekend update 4) They mention that Obama's middle name is Hussein in weekend update. Dogs whistles galore tonight.....
By the way, does anyone else read Ambers' post as positively dripping with excitement? It looks to me like he's in such a paroxysm of delight and giddiness that he can barely form coherent sentences.
I know this is going to seem completely random, but I came across a passage in Carl Bernstein's biography of Clinton discussing Hillary and Bill's relationship with the black community. And since the topic of the Clintons' supposed racial comments have come up time and again on this forum I wanted to share it, and didn't feel like waiting until the next time this particular debate erupted (as it inevitably will): ... Black America had helped Bill Clinton win the election, turning out for him decisively at the polls. Since childhood his empathy for, understanding of, and easy camaraderie with blacks had been essential to his character, and these marked his identity as a politician and human being. He and Hillary came to their commitment to racial equality from different backgrounds and environments, but intellectually, personally, and socially they had achieved an extraordinary comfort and ease with black people (and vice versa), all the more notable in an era when so many white professionals and politicians were finding it difficult to maintain close personal relationships with blacks, no matter how firm their commitment to racial justice. Vernon Jordan, their closest counselor in Washington, was black. Of Hillary's closest friends, almost as many were black as white. Her mentor, Marian Wright Edelman, was black. The woman she had chosen to be her chief of staff, Maggie Williams, was black. Some of the most important jobs in the new administration were held by black men and women who had marched with Martin Luther King and participated in the great civil rights campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s..." I really wanted to share that because I'm frankly tired of continuing to read two people who have been at the forefront of the struggle for racial justice, equality and reconciliation, and the advanced of black people, being accused of racism or racist attacks.
Tim, if you email that to Marc, I'm sure he'd be delighted to make a whole post out of it.
Guys, I really didn't think it was that bad. SNL is about as funny and relevant as the Simpsons these days, but I doubt that there's some kind of conspiracy on the part of SNL writers to increase "sympathy votes" for Hillary. OK - I admit, the whole "the media hates Hillary" narrative is getting really old, but I thought Clinton did fine in her short cameo, and came off as quite likeable. The only "WTF?" moment for me came during the opening sketch when they sort of suggested that Obama is some kind of bumbling idiot à la Bush, which, even if you know the slightest thing about him, is quite laughable, and - while I thought the "Obama Files" cartoon was kind of funny, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it's not going to be construed as racist by some people. Otherwise, like I said - I think Clinton did fine.
Tim K, you're entire post is a joke and you're a liar. To sit there and pretend that Bill wasn't race baiting with his Jesse Jackson comments is beyond idiotic. Look, we all know you're a Hillary partisan and will defend her no matter what she does. To me and many others, the Clintons simply don't have the character to be in the White House again. They had their chance, and were a total embarrassment to the country. Bill getting blowjobs from interns in the Oval Office might not mean anything to you, but to most Americans it's just a disgusting way for their President to act. And of course, to see Hillary go out and pretend the woman who was giving her husband what she apparently wouldn't was a "stalker" is just sick. Hillary has a history of this, she's went after all of Bill's gal pals, and done so dishonestly. Whatever. This is all gonna be over late Tuesday night and all of you Hillary fans can pack it in. No more Clinton scandals is gonna be just fine for the country. It's high time to move on from Clintons and Bushes....
Correction: I mean that I think the cartoon *will* be construed as racist, though that's not exactly my interpretation.
Those comments at 2:02 AM are yet another example of not only the irrational hatred of the Clinton's political enemies, but, more generally, the kind of political of personal destruction the Obama campaign claims to wish to move beyond.
Tim K, The commenter may have crossed the line a little, but there really isn't anything irrational with being embarrassed by Bill Clinton's conduct in the White House with Monica Lewinsky. Not at all. In fact, to NOT be embarrassed would be irrational. Were you not ashamed of what he did?
Dave: Bill Clinton should be embarassed about the Lewinsky affair. But it's an example of personal misconduct and personal embarrassment between Bill, Hillary, Chelsea, and no one else. It's none - repeat, none - of that person's business, or yours, or mine, if a President commits adultery. It's personal. Most Americans understand the difference between job performance and personal conduct, which is why they continued to give President Clinton a more than 60% job approval rating throughout that whole fiasco. This puritanical streak that runs through American society is really sad and pathetic. The idea that you should be embarassed by a public officials sex life is the exact same sentiment that leads to banning sex education and condoms from schools, passes restrictive abortion laws, and prevents granting same-sex couples equal rights. There seems to be a total lack of understanding among many Americans of the difference between public and private behaviors.
"No more Clinton scandals is gonna be just fine for the country. It's high time to move on from Clintons and Bushes.... " Agreed. I'm so looking forward to the McCain or Obama scandals instead. La plus ca change...
Screwing around with an intern in the Oval Office is not a private act, sorry. It's disgusting. If a parent can't send their daughter to intern at the White House and trust she isn't going to be molested by the President... It has nothing to do with puritansim. Fuck whoever you want, whenever you want. But a President should honor his office. Bill didn't - he used his office as a way to fuck with 22 year old girls. And Hillary, instead of admitting that what her husband did was wrong, went after the poor girl. We can all admit the Republicans were out to get the Clintons without letting the Clintons off for the way they treated their power in the White House. After Bill and George Bush, we need a President who will honor the office. And Hillary has shown herself to be only concerned with her own political future. She is the very worst of politics, and it will be nice to see her go down on Wednesday.
Nice move by Hillary to be on SNL, although she could have used some better lines. And the 'debate' explanation of how she can better take on the oil companies than Obama, because she is such a shrill, unpleasant person that they will fold rather than have to keep dealing with her, was not exactly a pure pro-Hillary message. The media-baiting is getting pretty stale by now, right? You lose 11 in a row you get more negative press. He wins 11 in a row he gets more positive press. And others here have already answered Tim K, but I'd add that as one who was a strong supporter of Bill, and deeply, deeply admired his commitment to racial equality, I was horrified by his role in the campaign's attempt to weaken Obama by labeling him as 'the black candidate'. The Bernstein passage explains well why that was such a painful moment for so many of us, who were thinking "is there ANYTHING they won't do to try to win this election?"
Most Americans understand the difference between job performance and personal conduct, which is why they continued to give President Clinton a more than 60% job approval rating throughout that whole fiasco. Not the rehash the late nineties, but the guy had the affair while doing the job with an employee. This wasn't some mere private moment of personal weakness. This affair WAS his job performance. I was embarrassed when Bill Clinton used his office to get oral sex, and then had that sex while on the job, with an employee, in an office paid for and furnished by...us. If you have sex with someone during work at your desk, your boss is going to be pissed with you. The whole sorry affair was an embarrassment that could have been avoided had Bill Clinton's personal failings not been so completely intertwined with his role as President. You should be embarrassed by it. To not be is just...weird.
somebody please wake me in november... like it or no this thing will NOT be over on tuesday, without a clear win by obama (not likely) the super delegates will remain frozen out of fear and lack of leadership. it seems clear that this race is becoming more and more destructive to both candidates and the prevailing debate will go from bad to worse... its a shame
Also, something to ponder: Had Bill Clinton resigned in disgrace during the Lewinsky matter like he should have, Al Gore would likely be president right now, and the 7 year nightmare we just endured would have likely never happened...
Wow, SNL? Really? Anybody who isn't living in a closet knows that neither SNL or the Clintons have been worth a shit since the 90's.
How is it that Amy Poehler has such better hair than Hillary? Quite apt that Hillary is getting so much run out of SNL as her campaign becomes a joke. What won't be funny is when Obama wins Texas and Hillary won't admit the truth that she's lost. It will be a national holiday when all the superdelegates abandon her Titanic of a campaign and go over to Obama.... Good riddance....
lostintranslation: You simply assert things that are not true. The "fairytale" remark had nothing to do with race, it was to do with Iraq. The MLK comment also had nothing to do with race. The Jesse Jackson comparison was simply an historically accurate comment. He probably should have known better than to be that honest, but if the truth upset you in that particular instance that's your own problem. Dave: Save your name-calling and personal attacks. Americans' unusual obsession with personal impropriety and scandal among elected officials is just a huge distraction, and may partially explain why - compared to most other advanced democracies - hardly anything progressive ever gets done. The garbage you folks are spewing is yet another example. The Clinton's came to Washington to advance a progressive agenda for the American people and what they got was 8 years of relentless personal attacks, wasteful investigations, endless hearings, vindictive special prosecutors, which severely hampered and nearly crippled their ability to get anything done. And most of that was before anybody ever heard of Monica Lewinsky. This pattern goes way beyond that. I already said clearly that Bill Clinton should have been, and I'm sure he was very, embarassed and ashamed by his conduct in that instance. It was wrong. He admitted that publicly in front of millions of viewers. Should a husband having an inappropriate (not illegal) relationship somehow disqualify a wife from seeking a high office? That's ludicrous.
Woa, who did I call names? Or attack personally? This has nothing to do with Hillary. If you ask me, her conduct during the Lewinsky affair is a testament to her character and makes me much more confident in her ability to be president. That said, I don't relish the though of Bill Clinton once again being in the White House. He lied and embarrassed us once before and I don't want to go through it again. Also, Hillary herself has indicated that Jesse Jackson comparison was way out of line. It was.
Dave: You said I was somehow "weird" if I'm not as personally embarassed as much as you are by Bill Clinton's very regrettable behavior of over a decade ago. I'd call being called "weird" a personal attack. Maybe that's not the way you meant it, but that's how it came across. I really do not think there would be a serious possibility of that particular sort of incident happening again, in terms of White House employees or interns. If he's still having affairs I really couldn't care less, that's between him and his wife.
Dave: I forgot to respond to the Jesse Jackson remark. Can you point me to where Hillary said that remark was out of line? I think it's the kind of comment that is easily misinterpreted, so I don't think he should have made it. But it wasn't racist. Jesse Jackson himself said he wasn't bothered by the remark. The fact is of South Carolina primary victories over the past thirty years the size and demographic composition of Obama's victory was most similiar to Jesse Jackson's victories in 1984 and 1988... not identical, but most similar. Obama's victory was certainly not like Bill Clinton's much larger 1992 caucus win which was with a majority of both whites and blacks. And it wasn't like John Edwards smaller win with the majority of whites. I understand why the remark was taken as it was, but it was also historically accurate.
tim k: thread killer
This woman is so out of touch. Who watches SNL any more? Her geriatric base is zonked out by 11:30pm. The female base is split between people who whine and thus empathize with Clinton and people who move on, and well, they've moved on. I think the real message here is that everyone's curiosity was peaked because we all thought Clinton's disappearance act was due to securing the Edwards or Richardson endorsement. But it just proves that no one except an old, outdated tv show is getting on the Hillary train at this hour. Ah! 72 more hours until all the Obama supporters will be calling the Hillary supporters to see what their response is (March 5th, at 3am). Hah!
NBC's Lisa Myers and Jim Popkin report that Hillary Clinton has declined to return $170,000 in campaign contributions from individuals at a company accused of widespread sexual harassment, and whose CEO is a disbarred lawyer with a criminal record, federal campaign records show. The federal government has accused the Illinois management consulting firm, International Profit Associates, or IPA, of a brazen pattern of sexual harassment including "sexual assaults," "degrading anti-female language" and "obscene suggestions." Sen. Clinton's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, told NBC News in a statement that the senator decided to keep the funds because the lawsuit is "ongoing" and because none of the sexual harassment allegations has been proven in court." It is so hypocritical that she will not Reject and Denounce. This is the usual Camp Clinton Hypocrisy Spin. Hillary Clinton has no Credibility on national security since she cast her Yes vote to authorize war in Iraq. There where other Senators who voted NO! They knew to vote yes was to automatically Invade a Country that had nothing to do with 911, but all about OIL. That is not Judgment and it is the wrong kind of Experience. And what National Security Experience Does She Really Have? Will she run the country like she has run her Campaign?
Obama's record is not that thin, unknown, perhaps. He has had over 20 years if one would investigate. And the Clintons have had years of Scandal, that one should investigate. How many presidental families Plunder the Whitehouse after they leave taking pictures and furniture? Not to mention the scandal of Impeachment. And then there is "file gate" and so much much oore. There is a lawsuit pending because there are records of the Clintons not to be released until 2012 and some want them released. Has she released her Tax Returns, No? America we need to turn the page from this kind of Politicking.
This really is the 1992 election, with Obama as the youthful and hopeful Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton as the candidate who cannot believe that anyone would vote for the inexperienced upstart who complains about the media. I remember when George H.W. Bush supporters had bumper stickers that said, "Annoy the media - Vote Bush." At this point, after HRC has gone after Obama pretty toughly, I don't know how many votes or how many supporters she motivates by complaining about media bias.
The absurdity of this strategy is well encapsulated by Maureen Dowd in today's NYT: "On “Nightline” last week, Hillary once more wallowed in gender inequities, asserting that it’s harder for her to run than her opponent — a black man with an exotic name that most Americans hadn’t even heard a year ago. “Every so often I just wish that it were a little more of an even playing field,” she said, “but, you know, I play on whatever field is out there.” Is that how she would deal with dictators, by playing the refs and going before the U.N. to demand: “How come you’re not asking Ahmadinejad these questions first?”"
I'm not sure it's fair to say that SNL has long been in the tank for Clinton. They seemed more pro-Obama and anti-Clinton last year (Poehler hitting on the inevitability meme last year had her playing Clinton as a total bitch, but that also seems to be the only way she can play any role). However, it is odd how Clinton goes about this. Primaries are very much about who is the politician who is best at being a politician and selling the party. When you can't game the media and make them play your tune, then you aren't a good politician. Bill Clinton was a good politician. Bush and Reagan are good politicians even if their policies sucked. Gore had good policies, but was a poor politician and is a much better elder statesman, much like Carter. Kerry is a poor politician as well. Hillary Clinton is a bad politician because at this point all she can do is complain the media doesn't like her. Maybe she isn't doing well because she never had a message that made sense, especially going against McCain. Bush-lite foreign policy ideas aren't going to sell well against Bush-on-steroids policies from McCain. After all, are you going to pick an iPod or a Zuno or whatever it's called? McCain wins against Clinton on experience, including foreign policy experience (recognizing Vietnam with Kerry). Lee Feinstein could only point to Clinton's Beijing speech as her being tested, but she's attacked the idea of giving good speeches. She attacks Obama for not having mandates, but her base of downscale white voters doesn't like mandates while Obama's upscale white voters do because they can afford it. She may know how to play the game in smoke-filled rooms (though her failure on health care suggests otherwise), but you also need public support for major changes. After all, what made the Iraq War initially so popular was the media campaign to turn opposition into near-treason and nobody wanted to be a DFH. She is supposed to be experience, but she never mastered politics as theater, especially not to the extent Bill did.
Before last night, I really thought, I truly believed, that SNL would be fair to both candidates. I expected to wake up Sunday morning and watch clips online of a faux-Hillary Clinton whining during the MSNBC debate, because what she did there was childish. Instead, they used the show to attack Obama again, on the idea that the media is giving Obama a free ride? Sounds to me like the one getting a free ride is Clinton on SNL. I laughed at the last SNL, where faux-Obama said that reporters all over are saying "Yes they can" to taking sides. I won't watch last night's episode however. Especially because of the use of race. SNL's idea of media bias is, pun very much intended, a joke.
Tim, the fairy tale comment and some of the other 'attack dog' statements by Bill were upsetting too because he was demeaning the office by playing that role -- but I agree that they had no racial component. But that week before the South Carolina primary was probably the turning point of the campaign, because of Bill's large and so inappropriate role, and because he of all people became the point man in the 'black candidate' strategy. Obama had clearly established himself as something very different from Jesse Jackson, by winning Iowa, nearly winning New Hampshire, nearly winning Nevada and from his rhetoric, his platform, his broad appeal. The Clinton folks tried to weaken him by playing up the racial angle. Is there some smoking gun, a written memo, an explicit quote from Bill or Hillary? Of course not. (Not yet, at least. Perhaps one will come out in the post mortems.) But many people, including some like me who came into this race with a huge reservoir of good will for Bill and Hillary, recognized it for what it was and were appalled. And so did Ted Kennedy, and so did a lot of black voters (who not so long before that had been generally thought to be wavering between Hillary and Obama) and so did others too. It was cynicism taken to so extreme a degree that I felt it as betrayal.
No wonder she looked so unusually cheerful --my guy in charge of knee pads @ 30 Rock tells me that what we didn't see was Lorne Michaels under that desk.
Tim K: Lick my balls, you pedantic freak. You seriously need to get a life.
I think that the BHO camp is primarily made up of the most biased
none thinkers on the planet What's a "none" thinker? Moron. Are you one of Hillary's trailer park supporters?
Hamfisted "Saturday Night Live" Clinton boosterism versus Jeff Tweedy 'n' co. sportin' Obama buttons. I hope no one has any questions about why Barack Obama has the youth vote sewn up anymore.
Thanks to the magic of Tivo, I can list all the Clinton talking points propogated, all the clinton weaknesses spun as strengths, and all the identity politics dog whistling performed in last night's unprecedented, tour-de-force hit job on Obama: 1) (Opening Sketch) - Hillary wants to talk about health care, but the moderators won't let her (Message: Hillarry is serious and presidential, everyone else is not). 2) (Opening Sketch) - Tim Russert waxes poetic about Obama's eloquence (Message: HIllary has solutions, Obama has speeches) 3) (Opening Sketch) - HIllary is a tough fighter whose abrasive tactics are actually a big plus in defeating the special interests. (Tactic: Turn a weakness into a strength via jujitsu even though there is no evidence that being abrasive helps you overcome senate fillibusters). 4) (Opening sketch) - Whenever Obama is asked a question, he says nothing and has a blank stare on his face (message, Obama is just like that Bush guy, when clearly his intellect is stronger than either HIllary's or Bush's...but since Obama is young and black, it's easy to create this false meme because it plays into peoples sterotypes of black people as dumb who are only in positions of power due to welfare and affirmitive action. Portraying Obama as dumb was a not-so-subtle dog whistle) 5) (Opening Sketch): Obama is a pledge breaker on campaign finance (message: he's really a liar) 6) (Opening Sketch): Russert apologizes for asking Obama a semi-tough question (Message: Obama is getting unfair softballs, just ignore the grilling on Farrakhan and Wright!) 7) (Opening sketch): Brian Williams snaps at Hillary: "We ask the questions here, sister" (Message: major dog whistle to women...the men are sexists, dismissive, and arrogant to boot while Hillary is a victim) 8) (Opening Stetch): Tim Russert asks her about NAFTA but it is portrayed as a piling on interrogation with a Law & Order cameo (Tactic: Blur the distinctions on NAFTA by blaming the messengers instead of addressing the underlying substance of the facts in order to cast doubt in voters minds about her NAFTA advocacy. The point of this is to link Barack Obama to that Law & Order interrogator, evoke visceral feelings of men being cruel to women) 9) (Opening Sketch) HIllary gets every question first with the world leaders while Obama gets answers fed to him (message: the deck is stacked against Hillary ignore how Obama is slandered as just another Bush) 10) (Opening Sketch) The moderators declare HIllary the winner (message: the media spins for Obama, just ignore all the debates this year they declared for Hillary when polls and focus groups said Obama did better) 11) (Hillary response): The fake debate was "sort of" like the real debate (message: this exaggeration is really not too far off from the truth...I am getting a raw deal here as a woman. Never mind all the free air time NBC is giving me toair my grievances, soften my image, correct my weaknesses, gin up a gender backlash, blow some racial dog whistles, and smear my opponent) 12 (Hillary response): Amy cackles, Hillary asks if she really laughs like that, Amy says no (Message: the media has not only been unfairly panning my laugh, but its not even true) 13. (Obama files): Obama says "We have the momentum and nothing can stop us" (message: the black guy is getting Cocky. Never mind that hillary was entitled to 2007 being a year of inevitability, but when Obama credibly claims some momentum, its like the black guy does not know his place) 14. (Obama files): Obama disses Jesse Jackson by meeting with him in a closet (message: Obama is ashamed of Jackson, never mind the fact that Jackson was in the Obama spin room after the cleveland debate!) 15. (Obama files): Obama refers to a "secret plan" between him and Jesse Jackson. (message: despite his good exterior, Obama is a manchurain candidate with subversive ulterior motives) 16. (Obama files): Obama mispronounces geographic locations, sending jackson to "Lower Zambova" and Jackson has to correct him as "Lower Zambuta." Later, Jackson figures out that neither location exists, but there might be a country called Zambia. (Message/Dog whistle: Obama is dumb about the world, but Jackson is even dumber...they are both black after all, and yet they don't even know African geography) 17. (Obama files): While being interviewed with Brian Willimms before Sharpton walks in, Obama is talking about bringing people together (message: he has no substance) 18. (Obama files): Al Sharpton wears a electrocuting dog collar and gets shocked trying to enter an Obama rally as an all white backdrop of texans go in unencumbered. (message: Obama is uncle tom, "not black enough" slave-master while poor Al Sharpton is being treated like a dog/slavr. I find it astoundng that while dog whisting, NBC would actually portray sharpton as a dog. Nevermind the fact that Sharpton has not even endorsed Obama and, with his NY roots, was hedging between both Hillary and Obama for most of the primary) 19. (Obama files): in closing scene before Al and Jesse try to parachute in, Obama is once again talking about brining people together and saying "Yes, we can" (message: Obama is a one-trick, substance-less pony) 20. (Weekend Update): Picture of Obama in Kenyan garb and turban is shown with no context or explanation of why. (message/dog whistle: if you have not seen this already, here you go...those e-mails you've been getting are true) 21. (Weekend Update): In a blurb on McCain/Cunningham, Seth drops a "Hussein" bomb. (message/dog whistle: See, the dress matches the e-mail which matches the middle name....he's a scary foreigner who is really an al qaeda operative) I challenge anyone to come up with an example of SNL engaging in wholsale shillery of one candidate while simulateously evsicerating another candidate. This is even worse than what SNL did to Al Gore in 2000, portraying him as insufferable while Bush as likable. Those 2000 SNL skits were playes over and over and became part of the memes of so-called serious reporters. I sense that SNL is trying to do the same thing here but in a much more frontal assault on Obama, trying to drive mutliple memes that help Hillary and hurt Obama yet show little, if any, fidelity to an underlying truth, the basis for comedy that is actually good. If SNL thinks this is going to help it get the coveted 18-45 demographic to watch their has-been show, they are sorely mistaken.
part of the angle of the sketch, that Obama is dumb, seemed like an odd tack to take. as an Obama supporter, i'll admit the guy has a lot of things one could pick on him for, but i think only the most die-hard Clintonistas would suggest Obama is dumb. (if he is, how does he keep winning? mass-hypnosis?) i'm not given to conspiracy theories much, but it almost seemed like once the SNL writers got down the stuff they wanted--the "media hates Hillary" stuff--they didn't bother coming up with any sort of incisive commentary on Obama, so they just sort of shrugged and "eh, let's make his dumb." i'm interested to see if on Monday's TDS Jon Stewart lets himself get used like SNL did. i doubt it.
"And so did Ted Kennedy, and so did a lot of black voters (who not so long before that had been generally thought to be wavering between Hillary and Obama) and so did others too. It was cynicism taken to so extreme a degree that I felt it as betrayal. Posted by lostintranslation | March 2, 2008 8:43 AM" Yeah, losing your husband's base, especially when he never got over 50% of the vote, is rather stupid. Even dumber was when she tried to get blacks back by blasting Latino immigration. She's lucky she didn't lose Latinos as well. Hell, her husband lost Cubans after Elian Gonzales.
"part of the angle of the sketch, that Obama is dumb, seemed like an odd tack to take." Especially when he was the editor of the Harvard Law Review and she failed to pass the bar the first time she took it. And the fact that she's now claiming she got tricked on the war, when even the children of her and her colleagues friends knew that Bush was going to use the AUMF to go to war.
i grew up watching and loving SNL, but its moment to be THE place for incisive political commentary passed a long time ago, and any chance to get it back was buried when Jon Stewart took over TDS. like i said, it was laaaazy comedy writing(i should put comedy in quotes, i guess). if you want to rag on Obama, fine, but do it accurately. making him seem dumb is just pathetic. i guess the 4 month long writers strike wasn't enough time for the SNL writers to, you know, read the newspapers, check the web, and come up with one or two decent political sketches.
"i grew up watching and loving SNL, but its moment to be THE place for incisive political commentary passed a long time ago, and any chance to get it back was buried when Jon Stewart took over TDS." Yeah, she's still stuck in the 90's. Hell, Huckabee has been smarting on using TDS and TCR to his advantage and he's a crazy fundie wacko. It also doesn't help everyone knows that SNL is filmed in New York, so "doesn't count" can come right back and eat her on this. Also, since when is calling someone dumb a winning move in American presidential elections? If that was true, Mondale and Gore would have won in landslides.
It is funny that Obamites insist that binning Jesse Jackson and Obama together is "racist". One of Obama's campaign heads is Jesse Jackson Jr and the Rev Himself was all over Illinois drumming up the black vote for Obama in his Senate run. And, lest we forget, Obama's Speech Showing His Superior Judgement over ALL other candidates for Prez - was delivered at a rally set up by old 60s radicals that had him follow their anti-Iraq war keynote speaker, "Jesse Jackson, Sr.". On the speech, Jesse, at Obama's side can be heard encouraging him at speech pauses "Thats right! Say it!" [In fact, the speech the Obamites worship was not atypical of the "Superior Judgment" of others giving near-identical public speeches against Bush and Intervention in Oct of 2002: Rabidly anti-Iraq War Mayor "Red" Ken Livingston of London, Chapaquiddick Kennedy, Ayman al-Zawahiri of Al Qaeda, Barbara Boxer, Saddam Himself, Russ Feingold, Noam Chomsky, Jesse Jackson, Saddam Henchman George Galloway, Lynn Woolsey, Nancy Pelosi, the bribed Kofi Annan, Vladimir Putin, the Saudi monarchy, all the Indonesian political parties, Cynthia McKinney, the Supreme Ruler of Iran Khameni, and Jaques de Villepin.] Alas, only a few of Obama's kindred spirits so admired by Obamites for THEIR superior judgment were eligible to run in 2008!
Obviously Obama's candidacy is a lot stronger, and more serious than Jesse Jackson's was. Having said that, they aren't as different as many of you seem to think. For instance, Barack winning Iowa doesn't make him different from Jesse Jackson. Jackson won Vermont in 1988, which is also a lily white state.
I would just like to interject that Tim K. has got to have some of the best posts on this blog. What I think sucks is that really, Obama or Hillary would be a far better leader than anything else on the table right now - and yet we are getting very personal in our attacks - especially about Hillary - but generally too. What will be will be, my vote is already cast, but these two leaders voted almost exactly the same in the Senate, they share the same or very similar beliefs on almost every basic democratic issue. The differences here are gender and race apparently (moreso fueled by the media) and political background. I like Hillary, I think she was unfairly portrayed by the media, but I also think it is a reflection of America's inability to accept a powerful and abrasive female leader. I do think America is at least more frightened to be openly racist as they are covertly sexist. It was also pretty clear to me during the debate that she got far tougher questions, and I have heard men and women politicians complain when the media has treated them unfairly (you can be tough and point out inequalities - it would be imprudent not to). But I do wish that these were not the things to decide who the candidate would be - and I think educated democrats should lay off these attacks. One has more experience and is more compelling and detailed on the programs and direction she intends to lead us in. The other would be quite good too, and is probably more inspiring. I don't think his health care and economy stimulus packages are quite as good - but I would have no problem voting for either. We can't let our backing of one politician, especially politicians so closely ideologically related, from getting in the way of the fact that its really great to have two people you are excited about. And although SNL may not have the clout it once did, I for one still really like it, and wonder what happened to Rachel Dratch after 30 Rock...
"but I also think it is a reflection of America's inability to accept a powerful and abrasive female leader." i'm sure that's true for some people, but it seems too easy to dismiss most of the reasons people won't vote for Hillary is because we're all sexist. my girlfriend didn't/won't vote for the hillary for the same reason(s) i didn't/won't: --enough of the bush/clinton dynasty ...is my girlfriend sexist? can't people have an honest lack of trust for hillary clinton? i have zero--ZERO--problem with a woman being president, just not this one. and it seems like its just as morally limiting to say "all women must vote for the woman because she's a woman" as the sexist "no one should for vote for the woman because she's not a man" argument. as a white man, i'm tired of how badly my fellow honkies have screwed things up so horribly. its time for people with different backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences. i would love it, if/when Obama clinches the nom, he has a woman as VP, if there's a solid candidate out there. just not Hillary.
I saw the SNL sketch and didn't find it hostile to Obama. The jokes were on the media and Clinton. When Pohler did her whole schtick about a shrill, bombastic woman annoying the special interests into submission, the audience roared with approval of the portrayal. That's not real flattering to Clinton.
I thought the sketch was a ridiculous hit job on Obama. Portraying him as stilted, dumb, totally non-charismatic, almost robotic. Normally SNL tries to exagerrate funny aspects of a politician's personality. But they didn't do that with Obama. Instead, they make him look like a robotic idiot. It's total b.s., and it's not funny either.
Why am I, this morning, being haunted by that scene from Being John Malcovich where Mr. M. enters his own head?
Obama and Jesse Jackson are very much alike. Both hailing from Chicago, both black, both play the race card at the drop of a hat. Neither in my opinion is especially learned or substantive, and both seem to deal in vague generalities aimed at the minority vote. Many of yo don't seem to realize this. But many of you don't seem to get a great number of things.
The timing of SNL was perfect. So many of us felt like we were in a totalitarian state. One network, one message, one candidate all the time. Were we going mad? No, SNL had their finger on the pulse of millions of American's "why am I seeing something happening in the media that no one is talking about" it was brilliant political theater and I think considerably more than 3 people watched it (to the bitter post above) Now she is a whiner because she is a woman and she has to prove she's tough and if a woman tells the truth she's whining and if a man tells the truth he's a stand-up guy? More sexist bullshit. Tina Fey is a truth-teller. Society needs more people like here. Haters beware, you can keep the truth at bay but you can't make it go away.
|
Subscribe to this blog by Email Twitter || On Facebook || QIK Live Channel  Recent Posts
Monthly Archives
|
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
| 
Ironic, really, that Clinton's media bias talking point become the "story of the week."
Posted by Leo | March 2, 2008 12:01 AM