Patterico's Pontifications

1/19/2006

Hillary the Centrist Faces the Heat for Ridiculous “Plantation” Remark

Filed under: Dog Trainer,Politics — Patterico @ 8:11 pm



So Hillary is taking some heat for describing the Republican House of Representatives as a “plantation,” according to the L.A. Times.

I’m confused, L.A. Times. I thought that, according to you guys she was a centrist! Somehow this absurd remark doesn’t strike me as a particularly “centrist” remark — and I guess that the Democrat party doesn’t think so either, as it felt the need to send out Barack Obama to defend the comment.

Still, the story says: “Her partisan attacks keep the Democratic Party’s base energized and her liberal supporters reasonably happy, even as she works in the Senate to burnish an image as a centrist, which would help her in a presidential campaign.” They might have said: “even as this newspaper works tirelessly to burnish her image as a centrist.”

11 Responses to “Hillary the Centrist Faces the Heat for Ridiculous “Plantation” Remark”

  1. So, daily we see examples of liberal bias evident on the LAT’s news pages, again and again it happens. Yet, again and again it’s denied or ignored, and always allowed to slide by, only to reappear the following day, and the day after.

    Editors come and go, writers too, circulation tanks, ad revenues fall, but the bias remains and continues on largely unaffected.

    Yes, the newspaper business is clearly not like any other business enterprise. The law of supply and demand doesn’t seem to apply, neither does it seem the customer is ever right, and yesterday’s news is ever today’s hot flash. Curious indeed.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  2. Not sure wtf Hillary could have meant by her remark. If the Republican HoR is a plantation, then it’s a mostly white one. Now, if she had been referring to the Democratic party and its leftist puppet-masters, she would have been making some sense. How else would you describe an operation that retains the services of so many black Americans while providing that constituency nothing in return, except recognition of a racially-defined identity?

    Which brings to mind another point — “plantation remarks” shouldn’t be out of bounds in political discourse, even if used inappropriately, as Hillary did. Enough already. Conservatives and Republicans need to deal with Hillary on the issues, rather than just calling her the spawn of Satan because she’s Hillary Clinton. She’s putting some important markers out there that might make her a formidable presidential candidate in 08, but also provide the opportunity to move the political battle line well to the right of where it is now. For example, her tough talk positions on border security and Iranian nukes need to be encouraged and developed. That would probably help formulate better policies and it would also provide the bonus of severing the gangrenous limb that is the Democrat left wing.

    TNugent (6128b4)

  3. Conservatives and Republicans need to deal with Hillary on the issues, rather than just calling her the spawn of Satan because she’s Hillary Clinton. She’s putting some important markers out there that might make her a formidable presidential candidate in 08

    Ahhh, well just how many times does Hildabeast need to be fisked before you realize that she’s NEVER put any, “important markers” out there, ever?

    russ (2d4887)

  4. Hill is a centrist. She’s not offering any radical public policy views.

    Intersting how the far right attempts to demonizer her for the “plantation” remark.

    They didn’t demonize Gingrich when he used the exact same term to bash the Congress some years ago.

    The right just never gives up. THey tried to demonize BIll CLinton out of the White House; didn’t succeed. Now they try the same thing to keep Hill out of the White House.

    That probably won’t work either.

    Carl W. Goss (aa4be4)

  5. The point, Carl, is that Hillary used the word “plantation” while addressing a black audience. Duh.

    Justice Frankfurter (2dcd84)

  6. “Hill is a centrist.”

    You bet, for sure, and the moon is made of green cheese, and Hillary doesn’t have any idea how those billing records got on the center of her table, and she was out of town when Vince Foster decided to eat someone else’s gun, shoot himself twice, or was it 3 times, wrap himself up in the center of a rug, and fly himself right on out to the center of Fort Marcy Park.

    Yep, old big ass Hill is a real centrist alright, and also a bit short in the leg as well.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  7. Russ, anytime a popular Democrat, especially one who’s mentioned as a “front-runner,” advocates a strong position on national security, it is an important marker, because the rhetoric of the mainstream of the Democratic party, at least those in Congress, is that of appeasement, isolationism and weakness. Hillary’s real policy preferences won’t be her contributions to the national debate if she doesn’t publicly acknowledge them. For almost all of the Dems (Joe Lieberman is the only exception that comes to mind), rhetoric claiming strong foreign policy positions is a head-fake, but most of the Democrat voters and a significant number of others will fall for it. Why do you think Kerry made his service during Vietnam his number one qualification for the Presidency (as if there aren’t a couple of million other guys who couldn’t claim the same qualifications — and without the element of doubt as to whether the claims were true)? “Reporting for duty” was intended to neutralize the Dems’ weakness on national security, and it almost worked. For the past four years, Hillary’s been making a record of tough-talk on national security that isn’t always matched by her votes (sometimes it is). What do you think will define her positions in the campaign? It’s gonna be what she’s said, as long as her voting record isn’t completely out of line with it — and it’s not, even if imagining a Hillary presidency (God help us!) that is strong on national security requires a few stiff drinks and a suspension of disbelief.

    TNugent (6128b4)

  8. Hillary Clinton is a “centrist” like Carl Goss is a “centrist.” What is it about lefties and the “mainstream?” Are they all Pauline Kael wannabes, or do actually think that the political spectrum runs from “far right” to “mainstream?”

    Xrlq (428dfd)

  9. “If the Republican HoR is a plantation, then it’s a mostly white one. ”

    As opposed to the other kind.

    actus (13675a)

  10. Shelby Steele has an excellent article in today’s WSJ Opinion Journal, Hillary’s Plantation.
    http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007854

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  11. Interesting how few African Americans were upset by Mrs Clinton’s use of the term “plantation.”

    In case anybody’s wondering, her remarks were not intended for the enjoyment of right-wing ideologues, who, so far as I can see, are the only ones upset about her choice of words.

    In any event, anything that annoys the far right can’t be wrong.

    Carl W. Goss (30b5da)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0702 secs.