Your Assignment: Compile Obama’s Flip-Flops
[This post will remain bumped to the top through Monday. New posts will appear below. -- Patterico]
I want you to help me compile a full list of Obama’s flip-flops.
Leave a comment fully documenting one or more flip-flops. Links are critical. For maximum usefulness, I would like to see the following for each flip-flop:
1) Obama’s original quote, with a link.
2) His later flip-flopping quote, also with a link.
Here’s an example of what I’m looking for:
Flip: Obama says the health exception for late-term abortions has to be a serious physical issue:
I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term.
Flop: the health exception can include non-physical issues like mental diseases:
My only point is that in an area like partial birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously . . . It can be defined through physical health. It can be defined by serious clinical mental health diseases.
Video proof of a flip-flop is even better. Link that if you have it. I know there are videos like that out there. I want to know about all of them.
Maximum participation, people! If you do this well, I can bring it all together in a single, massive post that documents all of Obama’s flip-flops. In that post, I’ll credit each person who first documents a particular flip-flop to my satisfaction.
Now start documenting!
Well, there’s a few in here.
Comment by Mike K — 7/6/2008 @ 1:56 pm
Let’s get McCain’s flip flops up while were at it and see who wins first prize.
[The rest of this comment is deleted. jharp has spammed this comment on my blog three times now. I am not going to let it derail this topic. The topic of this thread is Obama flip-flops. If you are completely fascinated with jharp's list of alleged McCain flip-flops, you may read it at this link, which is one of the two places he has already spammed it. However, I am not going to let this thread be about the validity of jharp's alleged McCain flip-flops. It is about compiling Obama's, and I'm not wading through reams of comments responding to the thread hijack to find what I'm looking for. Accordingly, I am hereby deleting every comment that responds to this one. If you want to debate the alleged McCain flip-flops, go to the above link and do it there. Not here.]
Comment by jharp — 7/6/2008 @ 2:00 pm
Here’s one flip that you may have missed, concerning welfare (it comes from Brit Hume, who’s usually unassailable regarding sourcing):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY2wa_cDXjI
Regarding FISA:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11349.html (note the line mentioning Obama’s vow to filibuster the bill if it ever came to a vote)
Here’s a link that contains a vid of his flip regarding gun control:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/obama-camp-disa.html (note the campaign’s attempt to spin his flip as an “inartful” statement).
One question - when Obama’s thrown all of those formerly close associates of his under the bus (Reverend Wright, campaign advisors, Ayers, etc.), do they, in fact, count as “flips” as well?
Comment by Dmac — 7/6/2008 @ 2:19 pm
Here is a lengthy article from a MSM source that is in the tank for Obama and there is nary of mention of, guess who ? His spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright !
Down the memory hole.
Comment by Mike K — 7/6/2008 @ 2:21 pm
Obama v.Jan.2007:
Obama v.Jul.2007:
Obama v.Jan.2008:
Comment by Elliott — 7/6/2008 @ 2:44 pm
Not to toot my own horn but I put a few together here:
http://antzinpantz.com/kns/?page_id=1892
and here:
http://antzinpantz.com/kns/?page_id=1828
Comment by Vilmar — 7/6/2008 @ 3:03 pm
From this point forward I am deleting every comment that responds to jharp’s list of McCain’s flip-flops. He has posted that on this blog three times and I will delete it the next time he does it.
I want people to focus their energies on finding the Obama flip-flops and not responding to jharp’s spamming.
In fact, I’m going to go delete it now.
Comment by Patterico — 7/6/2008 @ 3:11 pm
Strata-Sphere posted just such a list a while back. Just the big ones since he beat Hillary, not the ones from earlier.
He’s got links to videos and everything.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/6/2008 @ 3:18 pm
Obama said he could not disown Pastor Wright.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIW5C5NHBoE
Obama Disowns Pastor Wright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JztdU7MYLJA
Comment by Dennis D — 7/6/2008 @ 3:24 pm
OK, I just deleted every post that replied to jharp’s thread hijack. If he attempts it again on this thread, I will ban him. I’m not — repeat, not — going to allow a thread hijack on this thread. I have provided a forum to discuss these issues — see comment two — and you guys can hash it out there.
The rest of you, stay on topic. That is all.
Comment by Patterico — 7/6/2008 @ 3:26 pm
Obama, at worst, is belittling emotional health vs. physical health. He’s staking out a position that “mental distress” is insufficient grounds for an end-of-term abortion; otherwise the exception would swallow the rule. It may be called “pandering” to the faith-based right through a Christian magazine. But in retrospect it will appear more a push for a “well-defined exception” than “his Declaration of Independence from abortion rights groups.”
Not that we’re likely to define is what “mental distress” is to Obama and the people who will be making these decisions.
Comment by steve — 7/6/2008 @ 3:32 pm
Here’s the latest one concerning Iraq, which LGF called a “double-backflip”: Obama “puzzled” by Iraq comment frenzy.
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 3:43 pm
#11 - steve
“mental distress” is what Obama personally experienced every day prior to throwing Wright — and later his church — under the bus.
BTW, he should admired for his ability to flip an entire church under the bus without flipping the bus itself (and the campaign that it represents).
Comment by Icy Truth — 7/6/2008 @ 3:56 pm
Obama’s Thrown-Under-The-Bus list:
Wesley Clark
Fairness Doctrine
New York Times, Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune
Campaign Finance
His cousin Raila Odinga, prime minister of Kenya (registration required)
Jim Johnson
Jerusalem
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 3:58 pm
It’s sad to see a campaign implode so thoroughly. It’s about change - that is, continue change in core beliefs.
Comment by steve miller — 7/6/2008 @ 4:00 pm
Beautifully executed, too, right off the 10-meter high dive platform… and into an empty pool.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/6/2008 @ 4:02 pm
The list in #14 is not purported to be compete.
I wanted to make that clear.
Because I forgot his grandmother: Gateway Pundit: Barack Throws His Ailing Grandmother Under the Bus to Score Political Points.
Still not complete.
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 4:07 pm
Here’s a list of Obama’s flips from the time period before his Presidential run - it also lists his flops since then, but the first half features flipp - floppery regarding immigration, decriminalization of marijuana, the Cuba embargo and promising not to run for President and finishing out his Senatorial term in office:
http://massdiscussion.blogspot.com/2008/06/collection-of-obama-flip-flops.html
Comment by Dmac — 7/6/2008 @ 4:12 pm
Oh gee whiz.
How could I have forgotten the DC Gun Ban?
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 4:13 pm
Patterico,
No need to bother banning me. I won’t be back. I felt it was fair game to also mention McCain’s flip flop’s and don’t think too much of your censorship.
Best to you with your weblog but I’m going to where contrary views are welcomed.
Comment by jharp — 7/6/2008 @ 4:15 pm
jharp will be back in 5…4…3…
Poor boy. Confuses “censorship” with “please stay on topic.”
Comment by steve miller — 7/6/2008 @ 4:16 pm
#3 - Dmac
One question - when Obama’s thrown all of those formerly close associates of his under the bus (Reverend Wright, campaign advisors, Ayers, etc.), do they, in fact, count as “flips” as well?
– Absolutely. In fact, Grandma did both a front- and a back-flip, seeing how he ran over her on March 18th:
“a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe,”
– and then backed up over her two days later:
“she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know - there’s a reaction in her that’s been bred into our experiences that don’t go away.”
– After that double-whammy, Granny was flopping like a carp under those quad rear-wheels. And then there’s the fact that the ‘post-racial candidate’ made that speech on race in Philly in the first place; that should count as a flip-flop.
Comment by Icy Truth — 7/6/2008 @ 4:26 pm
Confuses “censorship” with “please stay on topic.”
He also confuses “censorship” with “please discuss it on the forum I have provided.”
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 4:27 pm
Small loss.
Here, he says the mental health exception is bad
Now, I don’t think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions.
Of course, last summer
he said otherwise.
[H]e told a Planned Parenthood audience last July he would make a top priority as president (here’s a transcript and a video, Obama says “the first thing I’d do as president is, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”
Then, having shocked his left wing base with that flip,
he flipped back.
Reporter: You said that mental distress shouldn’t be a reason for late-term abortion?
Obama: “My only point is this — historically I have been a strong believer in a women’s right to choose with her doctor, her pastor and her family. And it is ..I have consistently been saying that you have to have a health exception on many significant restrictions or bans on abortions including late-term abortions.
In the past there has been some fear on the part of people who, not only people who are anti-abortion, but people who may be in the middle, that that means that if a woman just doesn’t feel good then that is an exception. That’s never been the case.
I don’t think that is how it has been interpreted. My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases. It is not just a matter of feeling blue. I don’t think that’s how pro-choice folks have interpreted it. I don’t think that’s how the courts have interpreted it and I think that’s important to emphasize and understand.”
I repeat that a mental health exception to a ban makes the ban useless.
Comment by Mike K — 7/6/2008 @ 4:38 pm
Like DailyKos? Democratic Underground? Obama’s own website?
Yeah, really open to alternative viewpoints, every one of them.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/6/2008 @ 4:39 pm
Senator Obama defended infanticide while in the Illinois Senate.
Comment by Michael Ejercito — 7/6/2008 @ 4:51 pm
jharp,
There’s a link to another place you spammed that comment, and people are refuting you there. I don’t restrict debate often, but I planned to use this thread for research purposes, and I don’t intend to wade through comments talking about what *you* want to talk about, to find what *I* want to talk about.
It’s hardly censorship when I gave you a forum. But if you want to take your ball and go home, I really don’t care.
And that’s the end of that discussion.
Comment by Patterico — 7/6/2008 @ 4:57 pm
Having complained in January of this year that the bar of success was low and that the surge had reduced violence in Iraq to the “intolerable levels” we’d seen in 2006, Obama four months later worried more about setting the bar too high than solidifying the “messy, sloppy status quo”:
More Obama from April:
If “that breathing room has not been taken the way we would all like it to be taken,” why isn’t Senator Obama saying, “The civil war rages on,” anymore?
Comment by Elliott — 7/6/2008 @ 4:58 pm
The NYT Editoria Board is not happy with the ever-flipping positons of Obama: New and Not Improved.
h/t: Ed Morrisey at Hot Air
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 4:58 pm
Thank god for Google results and the future of this thread. Half of BHO’s gems are getting lost in a virtual spectacle of Oba-mannerisms. Clinging, bitter, guns. Typical white person. May this thread serve as a loving tribute to Barry’s astonishing oratory skills. #21:
Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 7/6/2008 @ 5:02 pm
Obama re Israel:
Flip: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided,” Obama thundered Wednesday, earning an ovation from the 7,000-plus attendees at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference. “
Flop: “On CNN the following day, however, he was singing a different tune. “Well, obviously, it’s going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations,” he said when asked whether Palestinians had no future claim to the city. Obama said “as a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute” a division of the city. “And I think that it is smart for us to — to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in Old Jerusalem but that Israel has a legitimate claim on that city.”
“From declaring that Jerusalem should remain Israel’s undivided capital to conceding that “Israel has a legitimate claim on that city” in one day — oh, what a difference a day makes! “
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12903.htm
Comment by Dana — 7/6/2008 @ 5:17 pm
OT: Alright, I gotta know. Why doesn’t Justin allow comments on his threads?
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/6/2008 @ 5:25 pm
Obama declares that the Second Amendment is an individual right……
…after pushing to ban guns within a five mile radius of any school. .
Comment by Mitch Berg — 7/6/2008 @ 5:29 pm
Drumwaster, #31, I don’t really know why but I do remember having a lovely discussion in the comments section re the movie Away From Her, which he had posted about…..but come to think about it, I also made a typo and addressed him as Justine rather than Justin….hope that didn’t have anything to do with it.
http://patterico.com/2008/02/25/quick-oscar-thoughts-and-observations/
:O
Comment by Dana — 7/6/2008 @ 5:30 pm
Oops - my links didn’t go through:
Flop: “The Second Amendment is an individual right”
Flip: “We should ban guns within five miles of schools“.
Comment by Mitch Berg — 7/6/2008 @ 5:32 pm
#35:
Hey Mitch! Good to see you here!
Comment by Paul — 7/6/2008 @ 5:42 pm
I found nine of them. My post has links to news stories about all of them, though it doesn’t include all the actual quotes.
Comment by Jimmie — 7/6/2008 @ 5:44 pm
NAFTAquiddick: During the primaries, especially whilst courting voters in Ohio, Sen. Obama said that we should threaten to unilaterally withdraw from NAFTA unless Mexico/Canada agreed to renegotiate it.
He sent his senior economic policy adviser Austan Goolsbee to Canada to privately reassure Canadians that he didn’t really mean it.
The Canadians were taking notes, and the notes leaked. When this was exposed, Obama minimized his relationship with Austan Goolsbee, and reiterated his opposition to NAFTA in its current form.
Obama would go on to say that small town folk who wouldn’t vote for him “cling to” anti-free trade rhetoric. When this was exposed, he denied that he supported free trade.
Then, once he won the general, he admitted that his rhetoric had been “overheated” and that he didn’t really oppose free trade as much as was previously claimed. Austan Goolsbee is now back with his campaign in an official role again.
Verdict: I count this as one flip flop (he took an anti-trade position in the primaries and now he’s taking a pro-trade position for the general). Since Sen. Obama is a liberal elitist, rather than a blue collar type, he is personally in favor of free trade. On this issue, he was lying during the primaries, and is telling the truth now. He won’t fight for any free trade agreements in office. If Congress puts a free trade agreement in front of him, he will sign it.
Comment by Daryl Herbert — 7/6/2008 @ 5:46 pm
#29 - Vermont Neighbor
– Thanks! I like “Oba-mannerisms”; that could be the new label for these kinds of things. (Barackian Slip? Barack-Flop?)
Comment by Icy Truth — 7/6/2008 @ 5:55 pm
OK, if folks being thrown under the bus are now included, it’s a veritable cornucopia:
First we had his senior Foreign Policy Advisor, Samantha Power:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/obama-aide-apologizes-for-calling-clinton-a-monster/
The flipp - flopp on NAFTA:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/20/politics/main4198107.shtml
Then his manager of the VP vetting process (who was the former head of Fannie Mae) was discovered to have received a sweetheart loan from Countrywide, after Obama had specifically condemned that company for it’s past abuses in the subprime market:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/06/analysis_vetter_laid_low_by_ve.html
How’s our list coming along at this point?
Comment by Dmac — 7/6/2008 @ 6:02 pm
I like the term ‘Obamanureisms’ because he flings the crap fast and furiously especially when the sentence begins ‘As I have always said…’ or
when he states, ‘This isn’t the X (person) that I’ve known for ‘Y’ (period of time’.
Comment by eaglewingz08 — 7/6/2008 @ 6:12 pm
Thanks, Icy!
#38,
That may be the one. Oba-manureisms just captures the man and his b*llshit so well. But he’s the greatest orator of our time, of course.
I did see a front-page Hillary ad on Drudge a while ago. I wonder if the messiah’s stumbles are making people think twice. Those ads, “Will you vote for Hill?” would seem out of place if Barry were doing okay. He’s not.
The only analysis I can come up with is that the hardcore ‘trons will take anything he spews out. So if it takes him 24 months to pull out, his supposed talent at ‘reaching across the aisle’ may bring one thing. Apathy and compliance from the Left. After all, they’re happily working over time on these flips because they want him. Their ideals as such are negotiable (. . anyone really surprised?).
Comment by Vermont Neighbor — 7/6/2008 @ 8:41 pm
#21 and #29
If I’m not mistaken, after running over grandma and then backing over her, Obama more recently resurrected grandma to feature her in his first general election TV ad, which ran in my state (Ohio). Further, I think that in his even more recent “patriotism” TV ad, he refers to Kansas values (and maybe even his grandparents directly).
Poor grandma, she doesn’t know which direction she’s going. I’d shove a bat up his a** if I were she.
Shifiting gears, although it’s a general flip-flop, I think you have to say it is so when Obama’s San Francisco comments hit the airwaves and then Obama tries to campaign in small towns throughout the Midwest as if he loves white people. Face it, Obama thinks whites are a bunch of lowlife crackers.
In fact, I look at Obama and think of the scene in “Jerry MaGuire” in which Rod Tidwell has Jerry on the telephone screaming, “I love black people!” Except in Obama’s case, everytime he’s in a small Midwest town he should be required to scream, “I love white people!”
Comment by SAM — 7/6/2008 @ 9:06 pm
Would those be the Kansas values they teach in Hawaii, in Indonesia, or at the Trinity Baptist Church?
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/6/2008 @ 9:13 pm
Slightly OT: In addition to flips and flops, how about some of his famous “flubs”, including the “57 states, with two more to go”, plus many others? Dan Quayle was excoriated for adding an “e” to potato; Barack the Magnificent is several light years beyond that.
Comment by navyvet — 7/6/2008 @ 9:25 pm
He flipped Hillary the bird on national TV, and now kisses her a** to get a few votes.
Comment by Scrapiron — 7/6/2008 @ 9:29 pm
This may be more of a waffle than a flip-flop but I’m trying to help you cover as many topics as possible:
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Obama consistently supported affirmative action according to a Newsweek article published April 7, 2008:
Newsweek’s analysis is supported by this excerpt from Obama’s Howard University speech given 9/27/2007:
On the other hand, in a May 13, 2007, interview on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Obama agreed he supports affirmative action but stated his own daughters might not qualify for affirmative action, suggesting that he favors a need-based rather than a race-based system:
Note: The link to the transcript of Obama’s “This Week” interview is to a reprint of the transcript at a Chicago Sun-Times’ blog by columnist Lynn Sweet. I couldn’t find the transcript at the ABC News’ website although I did find this announcement that Stephanopoulos would be interviewing Obama on May 13, 2007, and this ABC News/Mary Bruce article reporting on the interview, although it did not mention Obama’s affirmative action comments.
Finally, the “This Week” interview had this interesting comment by Barack Obama on a related topic:
What a difference a year makes.
UPDATE 8/10/2008 - The Politico reviews Obama’s changing positions on affirmative action.
Comment by DRJ — 7/6/2008 @ 10:28 pm
Here are 5 early Obama flip-flops compiled by the Washington Post in February 2008.
Comment by DRJ — 7/6/2008 @ 10:56 pm
One more as Obama takes credit for welfare reform.
Comment by Mike K — 7/6/2008 @ 10:59 pm
This site has a lot of them as well:
Mass Discussion.
Comment by steve miller — 7/6/2008 @ 11:01 pm
Here is a YouTube video link to affirmative action waffle in my comment #47, above.
Comment by DRJ — 7/7/2008 @ 12:49 am
This seems like a pretty academic exercise. What’s the point of this other than to show that people don’t speak exactly the same at different times. Is this supposed to be some silver bullet that is going to slay the big bad Obama-mobile and get Juan elected or is it just that you guys can’t stand constitutional scholars who can call you out on your nonsense?
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:55 am
I once saw Obama walking down the street. First he turned right at the corner before he realized he was going in the wrong direction and he turned to the left. I couldn’t believe the nerve of the guy to flip flop like that in the middle of the sidewalk. And he expects to be president? Ridiculous.
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:58 am
constitutional scholars?
Comment by Hazy — 7/7/2008 @ 1:01 am
Yeah, you know people who actually still care about the rights and protections of individuals and not the rights and protections of let’s say, incompetent Presidents who piss on the document or right-wing agents in the supreme court with an obvious agendas and large powerful billion dollar Telecoms who can probably fight off a frivilous lawsuit with the profit it makes in one second. Why the big bone against Greenwald? (Feel free to check my damned IP losers), Is anyone for real claiming they’ve caught out that guy on a sock puppet cos there were other people on the same ISP? That’s just about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of considering the many millions of subscribers that are even on an ISP in Brazil. Unless you’ve got a mac address for someone’s computer, you’ve got nothing. You basically pissing up a tree. Anyhow it’s past 4 AM where I am so you little right wing junior Swift boaters carry on with you sneaky little anti-Obama project.
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 1:15 am
Poor Peter.
Can’t argue against the facts (Backtrack Barack, epitome of honesty & smartness, can’t figure out what he really thinks until he takes a poll).
Reduced to bringing up irrelevant information which amounts to “stop picking on my candidate; it makes me feel sad.”
Thanks for stopping. Bye.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 3:42 am
Not “ISP”. That is the company that provides internet access. All of Gigi’s sockpuppets appeared at the same “IP” address.
That means a specific computer at a specific meatspace address. Multiple users from the same IP address are sharing the same keyboard, not the same service provider.
The MAC address identifies the specific piece of electronic equipment inside the computer, but the IP address is assigned by the ISP, and is specific to a single computer. When you connect, and are given an IP address, your computer will send that information out every time it seeks information from a website, so that the information makes it back to the right computer. (If it didn’t, your fellow citizens on the same ISP company would start receiving your web searches at random, and you would receive theirs.)
So, when multiple names are posting from the same IP address within a span of just a few minutes, I would expect that from a computer at an Internet cafe or public library, but not from a private home.
Next time you wish to opine about things technical, better ask for help from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. Which isn’t you.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 3:42 am
The essence of the argument is, of course, that “my candidate promises X today, and Y tomorrow, but I believe him no matter what he contradicts from day to day because — well, I’m impervious to facts.”
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 3:43 am
If he were just some wannabe State Senator who kept getting lost in the twists and turns of downtown Chicago, that would be one thing, and I would only questiuon whether I would want him leading tour groups around.
But when he can’t remember what he is supposed to be believing from one day to the next (when these are supposed to be his “core principles”), and he actually WANTS to be President, not being able to make up his mind between whether or not he’s going to toss his pastor of twenty years under the bus shows a severe lack of leadership on what would seem to be fairly serious personal issues - integrity and honor.
If the American people don’t know what to expect from him on crucial legal and political issues, why do you think that he deserves their support to be President? Because of his skin color? Although I can’t for the life of me figure out what that has to do with anything. Without that “one drop” standard he seems to be using to claim his “blackness”, he is nothing more than a fast-talkin’, “South Side of Chicago” pol with no experience that qualifies him for anything more complicated than precinct boss.
But because he’s black, that makes him the Great Black Hope for beating the GOP. (Of course, given the fact that he didn’t garner an actual majority of primary votes, I wonder what you are saying about “selected, not elected” nowadays.)
When even Democrats are poiniting out the Beam of saying that he is a flip-flopper (the likes of which would have embarrassed John Kerry), you can’t whine about the Mote of having Republicans notice as well…
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 4:20 am
Obama in a 2006 statement concerning his vote against the Constitutional ban on gay marriage: “…decisions about marriage should be left to the states…”
Obama in a 2008 letter to an LGBT group’s annual Pride Breakfast: “…I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts…of other states.”
Comment by SkewRed — 7/7/2008 @ 4:21 am
Some key phrases from Obama’s Super Tuesday speech:
“You’re tired of hearing promises made and plans proposed in the heat of a campaign, only to have nothing change when everyone goes back to Washington.”
– See: NAFTA & NARAL pandering.
“And if I am your nominee, my opponent will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq, because I didn’t, or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran, because I haven’t, or that I support the Bush-Cheney doctrine of not talking to leaders we don’t like, because I profoundly disagree with that approach.”
– Repeating what he had said in the debates about direct talks with foreign leaders, prior to attempting to say that there would be conditions, which happened right after he suggested that some of those countries were too small to pose a threat to anybody, like Venezuela which promptly threatened its next door neighbor Colombia; proving that when his surrogates start squawking about “Judgment! It’s ALL about who has better judgment,” they might as well be pissing in the wind.
“The Republicans running for president have already tied themselves to the past. The speak of 100-year war in Iraq.”
– I’m not sure if he’s ever flip-flopped away from repeating this lie.
“They talk about billions more in tax breaks for the wealthiest few, who don’t need them and didn’t even ask them”
– Falsely asserting that business-owners don’t want a tax structure that actually allows them to keep doing business.
“I’ll be the president who ends the tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas and start putting them in the pockets of hardworking Americans who deserve them”
– That’s right, business doesn’t DESERVE any tax breaks AND Bush’s tax-cuts weren’t good for the middle class; one sentence, two lies.
“I am blessed to be standing in the city where my own extraordinary journey of service began.”
– Can you feel the humility?
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
– Ah yes. The messiah and his flock. Strangely appropriate given the way that they follow him like sheep (or ’sheeple’ if you will).
“We are the hope of the future, the answer to the cynics who tell us our house must stand divided”
– This was the second time in this speech that Obama referenced Abraham Lincoln’s famous 1858 ‘House Divided’ speech, equating the current partisan rift in Congress, and the nation at large, with the then growing rift between the North and South regarding slavery . . . proving, as if everything else I’ve shown here hasn’t done it, that he has NO shame whatsoever; a fact proven just the other day when his people fabricated a presidential seal with his campaign slogan on it.
Comment by Icy Truth — 7/7/2008 @ 4:28 am
Well done Patterico - excellent undertaking.
This will make for a wonderful compendium. I have left leaning friends who will be referred to your long and growing list with a link once you’ve posted your compilation. They are starting to see a tarnish in the shallow Obama veneer.
Obama is one of those rare unprincipled politicians where you get more than a “flip” and then a “flop”. Often you get a third reversal. May I suggest that you label these “back flip”.
It’s amazing that Obama has not hurt himself yet with all of these contortions.
Comment by marvls — 7/7/2008 @ 4:31 am
#51 - Peter
you little right wing junior Swift boaters carry on with you sneaky little anti-Obama project.
Sneaky? We must not be speaking-out loudly enough!
Comment by Icy Truth — 7/7/2008 @ 4:39 am
While there are a few changes of position here (and I change my position sometimes, and even Patterico changes his position sometimes) most of these “flip-flops” are really just people parsing Obama’s words.
But of course, you’ve got nothing better to do, since this election is simply choice between “change” versus “more of the same.”
Comment by Phil — 7/7/2008 @ 5:08 am
Yep, being against FISA (”I will filibuster it!”) and then for it (”I voted for it without a peep of protest”) is just a simple change of words.
And being against the right to keep and bear arms (2007) and for it (2008) are just a readjustment of nomenclature.
And being for unrestricted abortion (2008) and for mental-health restrictions (2008) are just a redeployment of terms.
Backtrack Barack might be something special, but he’s not someone who has integrity. He’s a politician (and a money-grubbing one at that!) who claims to be purer and more sophisticated.
We rubes who think words mean things (actually, Bactrack Obama once made that very statement!) sometimes experience cognitive dissonance when someone says one thing one day, then contradicts himself the next, then flips back the third. We think that a man who has integrity would understand what he really believes.
But the faithful for the Obamessiah aren’t really thinking. They’re in love, and their lover can do no wrong.
Good for you to be in love. That’s a great feeling.
It’s a bad reason to vote for a shape-shifter, however.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 5:18 am
I think one of the most interesting flip-flops is, of course, Backtrack Barack’s “bitter voters who cling to God and guns” and his new-found public attachment to God and guns.
Is Backtrack bitter now?
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 5:31 am
“just people parsing Obama’s words”
Can I just say heh to that?
Comment by Lord Nazh — 7/7/2008 @ 5:32 am
I suppose that is true, provided the newest dictionary defines parsing as taking Baracky’s own words on the topic and comparing them.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 5:33 am
To anyone who claims that the making of such an argument is “just parsing words”, I would have to ask him what the meaning of “is”, is.
I mean, since parsing words is such a horrendous thing to do and all…
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 5:54 am
“parsing words” means “paying attention to what is said.”
After all, what, exactly, has Backtrack Barack ever done while in office? Or even out of office? He’s not known for doing anything in particular. He is known for saying words.
A man of many promises and positions, depending on the time of day.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 6:00 am
Phil,
It’s one thing to change your position on an issue. It’s quite another thing to change your position on virtually every issue for which you have stated a coherent position. And — when you’re comparing Obama’s changing positions to those of McCain — also consider the length of Obama’s political career versus the length of McCain’s career, the difference is striking.
Comment by aunursa — 7/7/2008 @ 6:00 am
Don’t you redneck rubes get it? It is nuance, beyond your ability to comprehend.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 6:05 am
‘May I suggest that you label these “back flip”.’
Maybe you could sing the theme song to the old TV series about a heroic dolphin, called “Flipper:”
“They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!
Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he’s near!
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!”
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 8:07 am
This focus on “flip-flops” is just another example of the old cynical politics that Barack is trying to change. It’s a distraction from the message of hope that voters are seeking. Looking forward in unity, not backwards in division, we are the change we have been waiting for.
Comment by g Hussein p — 7/7/2008 @ 8:20 am
Too funny.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 8:29 am
“…WE ARE THE CHANGE WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.”
ZEIG HEIL!
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 8:30 am
We are the chains we have been waiting for.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 8:33 am
These are not the droids you’re looking for.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 8:36 am
“Looking forward in unity, not backwards in division…”
To go backwards in union, nor forward in derision, nor sideways in illusion, but always in confusion.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 8:39 am
Changing my mind consistently from Day One.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 8:39 am
Stuck between Iraq and a hard place.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 8:40 am
The Democratic Party: Stuck between Barack and a hard case.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 8:51 am
Obama - not the man he thought he knew.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 9:03 am
“Hope and Change: He hopes you won’t notice his changes…”
Since it is all about partisanship and fundraising, I suggest that BO take on a hip hop name: D-Money.
Comment by Eric Blair — 7/7/2008 @ 9:07 am
“To change the changeless, to hope the hopeless, to defeat the defeatless.”
That acceptance speech in the Bronco’s stadium is going to be flat - out hilarious and/or creepy.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 9:08 am
Not one for keeping my word, I promise
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 9:11 am
Oh, come now. Nothing could be as bad as John Kerry saluting and saying, “Reporting for duty!” at the last such shindig.
I laughed ’til the tears came.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 9:11 am
Proving Abe Lincoln on fooling people.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 9:11 am
Oh, in the stadium his speech will start with
“Blessed are the poor in income, for they shall receive free healthcare.”
And go from there.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 9:13 am
I’m thinking it’s going to look something like this (vid of Asian prisoners dancing to “Thriller”):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 9:15 am
Braying donkeys, pooh flinging monkeys.
crouching communists, springing socialists
I’m trying to remember the movie title. Wasn’t it nominated for an academy award with the human butterball’s mockumentaries?
Comment by daleyrocks — 7/7/2008 @ 9:15 am
#38-
According to one of his fanatics, he’s an ORATATOR. Frank Luntz (sp?) had that beaut in one of his post-debate forums before he became the presumed nom.
I had to laugh…oratator. The irony (or would that be ironony?)
Comment by LickyLicky — 7/7/2008 @ 9:38 am
its been done already.
here you go.
http://massdiscussion.blogspot.com/2008/06/collection-of-obama-flip-flops.html
Comment by anon — 7/7/2008 @ 9:42 am
Let us not forget Chrissy Matthews’ utterance of “getting a chill up my leg” during the O - Man’s speechifying. Gives me a chill somewhere else when I think of what we’re going to hear from the adoring commentators during his mass indoctrination in Denver. Oh well, maybe some of Hillary’s supporters will show up and try to disrupt the mass love - in, accompanied with screams of sexism. Oh, how I wish…
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 9:43 am
Our Obamessiah, who may or may not be from Heaven, hallowed be Thy Middle Name, if a middle name Thou Hast, and any desire to see it hallowed. Give us this day our daily fresh fruit in the house if it pleases you and if not, not. Tell us also what to think from moment to moment about the GWOT, Iraq, abortion, taxes, the Second amendment, Reverend Wright, Your Blessed Grandmother, and just about anything else that might strike Your Whim. As Your Mighty Whim may please. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory should You wish it to be.
Amen.Vero possumus.Comment by nk — 7/7/2008 @ 9:51 am
Obama: He Who Must Not Be Middle-Named.
Comment by LickyLicky — 7/7/2008 @ 9:53 am
Done quite awhile ago; however, the list is getting so long the Executive Summary format was in order.
Comment by Mike O — 7/7/2008 @ 10:01 am
Chris Matthews humiliates state senator Kirk Watson on “Name one experience Obama has”, then gets a tingling up his leg on…voila, same Obama.Article and video, here
Comment by Entelechy — 7/7/2008 @ 10:07 am
This was good. (From Mike O’s link) IMAO.
Sub Currus Vobis: “Under the bus with you!”
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 10:11 am
Patterico, a friendly note
With the Obama messianic rise,
Flip-flopping is out.
“Inartful speech” (Obama) + “verbally maladroit” (Frank Rich) is in.
Comment by Entelechy — 7/7/2008 @ 10:14 am
Flip-flops have become boring; what we need is a better way of keeping track of the candidate’s changes, the flipindex, or flipdex. The initial statement of a position is 0, the flip is 1, the flop is 2, the reflip or flap is 3, each change increasing the flipdex. Note could be taken of the highest flipdex, the fastest change, and the number of changes in some period of time. Fractional flipdex numbers could allow for partial changes.
Comment by htom — 7/7/2008 @ 10:27 am
My favorite is his flip-flop on attacking patriotism, chronicled here.
But perhaps more concerning, is what’s causing the flip-flops.
Comment by Heywood U. Reedmore — 7/7/2008 @ 10:29 am
Obama’s biggest flip-flop was standing by the Rev. Wright until the ‘good’ reverand said “he will say and do anything to win; he’s a politician like all others”.
Under the bus he went, instantly.
Comment by Entelechy — 7/7/2008 @ 10:52 am
Obama: “I will not weaponize space. I will cut billions of wasteful spending. I will slow the development of Future Combat Systems”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs
2) High-Tech Combat Equipment Expedited for Use in Iraq
By Donna Borak Associated Press Friday, June 27, 2008; D04
WASHINGTON — The Army will deliver some key technologies to ground forces in war zones three years ahead of schedule as part of its $160 billion combat modernization program led by Boeing and SAIC. Senior Army officials said Thursday that changes to the Future Combat Systems program will expedite the use of high-tech equipment, including unmanned sensors and robotics, to infantry brigades fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2011. Portions of the program were expected to be used by armored units by 2014, but Army officials say the technology is needed for the current war effort.Lt. Gen. Michael A. Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, said accelerating FCS and other complementary programs will help fill in gaps created by huge demands on the infantry brigades while increasing the effectiveness and safety of U.S. soldiers. Army officials maintain that although costs might rise in the short term from the new schedule, they will balance out in future years and will not raise FCS’s overall price tag, which lawmakers have criticized. Lead contractors Boeing and SAIC said the Army’s decision to accelerate the combat system technologies shows confidence in the program’s progress. FCS includes 14 manned and unmanned systems linked through a secure communications network.On Wednesday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. briefed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on plans to restructure the program. Gates, who backed the shift, told reporters at a briefing Thursday that FCS “deserves support.”Dan Goure, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, said it appears that the Army “didn’t want to repeat the same mistake” as the Air Force, which battled Gates publicly over F-22 jets made by Lockheed Martin. Gates had previously raised doubts about FCS.”Clearly, this shows that Gates is in command in a way few secretaries have been of the services,” Goure said. A few lawmakers lauded the Army’s decision. But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie, chairman of the air and land subcommittee, expressed concern that the new plan “may not allow for adequate testing of the equipment due to its very tight schedule.”
Comment by J Fishman — 7/7/2008 @ 11:00 am
Didn’t Realize What He Was Saying?
An Obama advisor, Daniel Kurtzer, to Barack Obama says that Obama didn’t realize what he was saying to AIPAC when he used the term ”undivided” in reference to Jerusalem. According to Kurtzer, Obama had “a picture in his mind of Jerusalem before 1967 with barbed wires and minefields and demilitarized zones.” Kurtzer says that only after the speech did Obama realize it was a “code word” to use the phrase, “but it does not indicate any kind of naivete about foreign affairs.”
Not understanding that a key term is a code word, not having a current picture of Jerusalem, and not anticipating the implications of having to reverse field within 24 hours sure sounds naive. Even more so, if the advisor says Obama didn’t understand what he was saying. But wait a minute. Didn’t Obama have advisors on Israel assisting him with the speech? Where were they? Once again, this suggests that there is too little adult supervision of a candidate unaccustomed to speaking on the world stage about issues in which there are lots of code words, indeed in which every word (e.g. “preconditons,” “immediate withdrawal”) has meaning to Americans’ foes and friends.
Comment by J Fishman — 7/7/2008 @ 11:01 am
One time I heard Obama ordering a sandwich. First he asked for the ham and cheese on rye and then…THEN he had the nerve to change his mind completely and say: Make that ham and cheese on a roll. I tell you I was…SHOCKED!! SHOCKED!!! HOW DARE THIS MAN THINK HE CAN SAY ONE THING AND THEN ANOTHER. I TELL YOU WE DON”T NEED A PRESIDENT WHO CAN”T DECIDE BETWEEN WHETHER HE WANTS HIS HAM AND CHEESE ON RYE OR HIS HAM AND CHEESE ON A ROLL!!!!!
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 11:03 am
Obama: A visit to Iraq is “garbage”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5838315.html
Obama: I am going to Iraq
A report today tells us that Barack Obama foreign policy advisor Susan Rice says the issue of Obama’s failure to visit Iraq is “garbage” and since President Bush and Vice President Cheney went and didn’t learn much, neither would Obama. Well, this is disturbing on multiple levels. First, “garbage” is how a foreign policy adviser talks ? (Is this the trash-talk express again?)
Second, Bush and Cheney apparently did learn things in Iraq–they changed their entire strategy there, after all. And even if they had not, isn’t Obama supposed to be smarter and more adept at uncovering facts than they? Finally, this suggests that the know-nothing-ism that now seems to characterize the Obama approach to Iraq is not abating anytime soon and, indeed, is being encouraged by his advisers.
The report explains:
Brookings Institution military expert Michael O’Hanlon, who advised 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, says politicians need to see the post-surge changes in Iraq first-hand.”I think it’s a no-brainer,” says O’Hanlon, adding that Obama would be “remiss” as a candidate if he didn’t visit soon. O’Hanlon once was sharply critical of U.S. policy in Iraq, but after several post-surge visits is hopeful of a good outcome.”I’m struck by how much you learn on these trips, when you meet enlisted soldiers or a battalion commander in the field … When commanders in the field say it’s going a lot better, they’re not saying that because George Bush told them to. Obama’s going to get a lot of straight talk,” O’Hanlon says.
(For those interested in prior critiques by O’Hanlon of Iraq, much of his writing is available here and here. His New York Times piece, co-written with Kenneth Pollack, is worth a re-read as well.) But are we now to assume that Obama going forward will be deaf to any new facts that conflict with his predetermined views on Iraq? One certainly hopes not, but it is becoming harder and harder for him to align himself with reality the more he and his advisers protest that there is nothing more to learn.
Comment by J Fishman — 7/7/2008 @ 11:03 am
They were probably trying to make sure John McCain could tell the difference between the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq? But that’s just a guess…
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 11:06 am
How does that straw man taste? And those ALL CAPS were a nice touch. Let’s us know exactly what we’re talking to.
(Hint: CAPS LOCK is cruise control for stupid.)
When… no, if you are ever capable of discussing the ultimate failure that is Barack May-His-Middle-Name-Never-Be-Spoken Obama, feel free to step up and give it a whirl.
But sheer stupidity on the scale you just displayed leads me to believe that you won’t even know what the hell I’m talking about.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 11:09 am
Translation: “Quick! Look over there!”
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 11:10 am
aphrael and Leviticus - Can’t you teach people like Peter and harpy how to disagree without being disagreeable?
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 11:11 am
Here is how Obama responds on his website to some of the flip-flops. Maybe someone can refute what he posts for his own followers to believe. (I wish I had the time to do the research myself.) Barack Obama’s fact check on his website.
Comment by yourlilsis — 7/7/2008 @ 11:13 am
I don’t have time to read his website & wonder what else he has scrubbed away because it’s inconvenient.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 11:16 am
Of course he is. But Bush and Cheney (and Rumsfeld) have (had) the apparatus, technology and infrastructure of the worlds most advanced best equipped intelligence agencies and the full 24/7 round the clock supprt of the Pentagon to help them make decisions.
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 11:16 am
But Baracky knows better than all of those people, right Peter? Since he has vowed to not listen to the Generals and surrender immediately, and then listen to the Generals and surrender slowly, what are we to believe?
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 11:19 am
They just gather data and explain assumptions. They do not get to make the decisions. That responsibility rests squarely on NCA’s pointy little head.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 11:19 am
OBAMA WON’T WEAR “THAT PIN.”
LINK: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JmHtGQq-z_Y
OBAMA WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOWS HE’LL WEAR “THAT PIN.”
LINK:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/opinion/04fri1.html?_r=3&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Comment by jose — 7/7/2008 @ 11:34 am
FLIP:”ONE OF MY FAVORITY TASKS OF BEING A SENATOR IS HOSTING TOWN HALL MEETINGS.” -AUDACITY OF HOPE, PG. 101
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey97Zo4okBc
FLOP: OBAMA WILL DO ONE TOWN HALL EVENT ON DAY THAT NO ONE IS WATCHING
LINK: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign14-2008jun14,0,7914999.story
Comment by jose — 7/7/2008 @ 11:41 am
That means a specific computer at a specific meatspace address. Multiple users from the same IP address are sharing the same keyboard, not the same service provider.
No it does not. Anyone working of the same network from a conventional router or a wifi signal is going to generate the exact same IP address in the ip logs. The only thing distinguishable items from one computer to another are OS (whatever Apple or Windows or Linux variation) and Browser/version type.
And even if you have all those variables identical, it is still a stretch to say that you know exactly who’s keyboard it is or who’s behind that keyboard. Far as I know the only people with that knowledge are the ISP or the Sys. Admin who’s running the network and even then he/she would have to have access to the MAC address for Greenwald’s computers.
I think it’s silly for Mr. Patterico and his jolly crew of right wing attorneys to think Greenwald wastes his time with sock puppetry when he’s got a sizable reading audience. I mean to be honest it’s actually pathetic to be needling through IP logs trying to find a GOTCHA moment on the slimest of chances and on something that ultimately can’t be proved.
But you guys seem to like fishing around for ammo for you fight against…um who exactly: People who care about Executive infringement of the consitution? Because…AQ is going to use our rights against us? Okay…maybe, but it sure shows little faith in the cornerstone and legal foundation for the Republic, so I’m wondering…what part of the Constitution is still valid for you guys? Do you just want to trash it and let the likes of a President (any President) circumvent and suppress it at an time? Not much of a document if in the worst of times, suddenly it can be declared invalid for any reason short of a land invasion by a standing army…
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 11:46 am
people in this country cant be stupid enough to vote for this man……he has 143 days in the senate PERIOD…
he is giving us all whiplash with his twists and turns….it is evident he doesnt know squat about much of anything…..
john kerry is the king of flip flops but hussein obama is right on his heels…….
Comment by rjean — 7/7/2008 @ 11:46 am
OBAMA CAMPAIGN STATES THAT IT DIDN’T REASSURE CANADIAN OFFICIALS THAT HIS POSITION TO OPT OUT OF NAFTA IS IT CAN’T NEGOTIATE IS JUST RHETORIC
LINK: http://hotair.com/archives/2008/02/29/obamas-nafta-double-talk-confirmed-ctv/
OBAMA SENDS MAILERS TO VOTERS ATTACKING HILLARY FOR SUPPORTING NAFTA
LINK (WITH IMAGES OF MAILER):http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/obama_mailer_attacks_hillary_o.php
OBAMA: NAFTA NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL
LINK: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/18/magazines/fortune/easton_obama.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008061810
Comment by jose — 7/7/2008 @ 11:47 am
FLIP: And, even though he has been a member of Trinity United for the past 20 years, Obama said he had never witnessed Wright making such statements.
LINK: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/14/obama.minister/index.html
FLOP: OBAMA’S FIRST SERVICE AT WRIGHT’S CHURCH *WAS* CONTROVERSIAL
LINK: http://www.slate.com/id/2187358/
Comment by jose — 7/7/2008 @ 11:52 am
1996 IVI-IPO questionnaire: Seen or unseen?
Comment by Elliott — 7/7/2008 @ 11:58 am
Psssst….I have it on good knowledge (the pictures are going to arrive any day now) than when Obama lived in Hawaii…he wore flip flop sandals!! FLIP FLOPS!! The guy wants to be the most powerful man on the face of the earth and he WEARS FLIP FLOPS IN HOT WEATHER!! Someone get on the horn to the RNC and Rush with this. WE CANNOT ALLOW A MAN WHO ONCE WORE open toed flimsy FLIP FLOPS in HAWAII! Did someone say Manchurian Candidate or Marxist? Well what else would a Marxist wear, but flip flops…hell I’m wearing flip flops right now because it’s eighty degrees in NYC but never mind. I don’t even know who this Marxist guy is anyway (is he on MySpace or Facebook??), anyhow I digress. This is huge!! Everyone taked out your Rush Limbaugh decoder rings and get crackin’. It’s your duty as an American and a Patriot. Oh and btw…now that I know how evil Flip Flops are I’m going to stop wearing them…and only stick with the Hagee approved Jack boots and the brown shirt…I don’t care how uncomfortable my feet get…
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:01 pm
Anybody checked Peter’s IP address and jharp’s ? They might be twins separated at birth but…
Comment by Mike K — 7/7/2008 @ 12:01 pm
Right, he should be spending his time on writing a new best-seller so he can be read into the Senate record again. And, chasing the Cabana Boyz that were posting in his stead.
Do you tire of flogging the strawmen, Peter?
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:04 pm
How about we start with Article II for starters, m’kay? (I’m going to leave the rest of your nonsense about “wifi” and the rest to the arguments already made by Patterico and others.)
It boils down to one thing, IMO: Where are all of these people that were defending him? Where is this mythical person using his Wi-Fi network? (Related: how can someone so computer-savvy not know about password protection?) Someone so familiar with his rhetorical style, his arguments, his reasoning, his enemies, and all the rest, yet isn’t him. In fact, Gigi, normally so dedicated to defending his honor, never appears in any thread where the sockpuppets have appeared.
And in one instance, a sockpuppet made the very argument Gigi was making in his very next column, including almost the same phrasing, yet claims to be a different individual.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 12:09 pm
Yeah…you know who else barely had any experience (only 12 years in govt.)Abe Lincoln. That’s right. Abe Lincoln and that guy could hold a country together or lead a divided government or give a good speech if his life depended on it.
Also I have it on good knowledge that if Obama gets elected Pres. no one with any experience in govt. or foreign affairs is going to help or advise him. I’m pretty sure Daschle, Kennedy, Edwards, Hillary, Wesley CLark, Colin Powell, Joe Biden, a clear dem. majority in the house and senate are going to want anything to do with him. They’ll be like screw you jack!! You want to be POTUS, do it by your own gosh darn self Mr. BigShot.
He’ll just be sitting in the oval office all by himself…wearing his FLIP FLOP (you have type FLIP FLOP in Capitals at all times amiright? I hope I’m doing it correctly.) wearing his FLIP FLOP sandals and wondering why no one will come visit him or be his friend. While the whole world goes to hell…
I can see into the future because I am psychic.
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:11 pm
I don’t know…do you get tired of flogging strawmen that are being flogged by other strawmen?? Or how about liars? You get tired of giving hand jobs to liars?
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:14 pm
he’s not even an entertaining troll
Comment by chas — 7/7/2008 @ 12:15 pm
You forgot a syllable. It’s actually spelled P-S-Y-C-H-O-T-I-C.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 12:21 pm
Dude. Please.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 12:24 pm
ESL student ?
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:25 pm
In actuality, Little Petey never gets tired of flogging himself, at least if his inane manic - depressive mood swings displayed here are any indication. The level of discourse posted suggests an intellect so shallow as to cause doubt that he actually casts a shadow when he goes outside.
“…um who exactly:”
Further indication of an adolescent presence here - note the use of “um’s” and ignorance of proper grammar usage patterns. Petey, when you finally get toilet - trained come on back here and please tell us all about it, we’ll be so proud of you.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 12:27 pm
“No it does not. Anyone working of the same network from a conventional router or a wifi signal is going to generate the exact same IP address in the ip logs.”
heh quit using the free ip loggers ok?
“you know who else barely had any experience (only 12 years in govt.)Abe Lincoln.”
Look over there!
Comment by Lord Nazh — 7/7/2008 @ 12:29 pm
That’s the thing. You don’t know what the IP address is for his Wi-Fi network and…you know on any given day…I can make a post from, work…from home…from the library…from an cafe or a bookstore and you know what? So can anyone else. The ip you people are fixated on might be Starbucks Internet ISP in Brazil…you have no idea. I leave my wi-fi unsecured plenty of the time (I like to share Internet access…does that make me a Marxist? Ooops.). Anyone who uses my wi fi network is going to generate the exact same ip as me and if that’s not enough, how many people are running XP with the latest Firefox millions?
Okay…let’s say there is a chance he’s making an anonymous comment? So what? It must prove that what…he’s insecure about his stance on FISA? He’s a sneak and liar? He’s gay? I’m not sure what’s the point of it? Seems to me if you guys don’t agree with him you argue the merits of his position. You don’t spend time trying to catch him using a sock puppet. Same with Obama…you don’t agree with his ideas and positions (they’re completely laid out in a pdf you can download from the Obama site), argue the merits or weaknesses in his approach…why spend so much time creating flip flops? It wouldn’t be because in both the case of Greenwald and Obama, you think it’s more fun to f*ck with people than it is to soberly debate the issues? It wouldn’t be because the record of failure and incompetence for Republicans is so embarassing would it?
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:31 pm
Well, I don’t miss the harpster, but peter is no improvement.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 12:31 pm
I miss Levi and harpy. Peter is a cock.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:32 pm
peter, I will do you a favor to prevent yourself from looking more foolish.
go google this site and find the articles by patterico on Gleen. then find the articles by a few other sites that collaborated to deduce the IP address used to make all the posts.
then after you read the information you will be better edumacated and not post speculation.
we’re not your teachers, and we don’t have to put it all out for every newcomer.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 12:33 pm
FINANCE REFORM: http://www.mediacynic.com/cgi-bin/mediacynic.pl?cynic=624081
Comment by jose — 7/7/2008 @ 12:34 pm
Which ones? The ones he voted on? The ones he claims credit for? The ones he campaigned on? The prior promises he made? Statements from the primary? Or today’s version of his position? Simply referring back to his website is not an argument.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:35 pm
steve - I do not think it would be possible to give Peter a clue, even with a cluebat.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:35 pm
DINGDINGDINGINGING!!
We have a winnah!
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 12:36 pm
More gems from “Thomas Ellers”:
“They’ll be like screw you jack!!”
“Like,” Petey? Are you even out of middle school?
“…and only stick with the Hagee approved Jack boots and the brown shirt…I don’t care how uncomfortable my feet…”
This doesn’t even make sense if it emanated from a ranting Tourette’s Syndrome mind - meld. “Ellers” is trying feebly to immobilize all cognizant thought by throwing waves of stupid at it.
Or maybe we’re dealing with “Rick Ellensberg” - aren’t there at least four other aliases that were discovered behind said sock puppetry? Rick, come out behind the hedge! Thomas, there’s no need to hide behind your secret identity anymore! Take down those walls, Rick!
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 12:38 pm
Not only does Obama wear flip flops in hot weather, but SO DOES HIS WIFE AND HIS KIDS!! You believe that. He lets his little girls wear FLIP FLOPS!!!
Man…what is this nation coming to, when everyone anyone can go to Old Navy and buy a pair of FLIP FLOPS!!!
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 12:39 pm
That reminded me of the Tanya Harding 9-1-1 call where the hilljack boyfriend was yelling “She’s a liar! She’s a liar, and a felon!” in the background.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:41 pm
Why do you insist on bringing Michelle, and Baracky’s children into this, Peter? You are just acting as a distraction, and not helping Michelle keep fresh fruit in the home.
Comment by JD — 7/7/2008 @ 12:42 pm
“…do you get tired of flogging strawmen that are being flogged by other strawmen?? “You get tired of giving hand jobs to liars?”
Lots of tirades regarding the use of one’s hands on one’s member - Petey, do you know what the word “projection” means?
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 12:43 pm
Not everyone walking into Old Navy should be President, but thanks for finally admitting that Obama’s only qualification is that he bought a pair of shoes once.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 12:43 pm
…and not helping Michelle keep fresh fruit in the home.”
Not to mention the astronomical price of Arugula today - that’s gotta be a hardship for both of them.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 12:45 pm
Obama: “Arugula’s not the vegetable I thought I knew.”
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 12:46 pm
Dmac - that was funny. Thanks!
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 12:47 pm
Sheesh, is there a pharmacy in Brazil that’s run out of Prozac?
Comment by SPQR — 7/7/2008 @ 12:56 pm
John McCormack found a gem (which the RNC is now disseminating), an Obama television appearance from January 2007:
MSNBC Transcript here.
Comment by Elliott — 7/7/2008 @ 1:03 pm
You’re pretty funny yourself, Steve! Decent tag team on the nutbag this morning, if I do say so myself.
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 1:04 pm
LET’S EXAMINE SOME OF PETER’S QUOTES:
This seems like a pretty academic exercise.
– As in ‘theoretical’? No, think “scholarly”.
Peter: I’ll handle it, Lois. I read a book about this sort of thing once.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn’t nothing?
Peter: Oh yeah.
What’s the point of this other than to show that people don’t speak exactly the same at different times.
– Your future career as a spin-meister is assured.
Chris: Dad, what’s the blow-hole for?
Peter: I’ll tell you what it’s not for, son. And when I do, you’ll understand why I can never go back to Sea World.
right-wing agents in the supreme court
– Where ‘inside’ the court are they? IN the halls? IN the walls? Under the floors? Within the doors? Beside the bench? Next to a wrench? Is it one of the bailiffs? the janitor? one of Justice Ginsburg’s legal aides? Is it possible that you meant to say “ON the Supreme Court”?
Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there’s a message in my Alphabits. It says, ‘Oooooo.’
Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.
Bush and Cheney (and Rumsfeld) have (had) the apparatus, technology and infrastructure of the worlds most advanced best equipped intelligence agencies
– And as a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, SENATOR Obama does get to view intelligence reports on a regular basis.
Dennis Miller: I don’t wanna go on a RANT here but America’s foreign policy makes about as much sense as Beowolf having sex with Robert Fulton at the first Battle of Antetum. I mean when a neo-conservative defenstrates it’s like Raskalnakov filibuster dioxymonohydrostinate.
Peter: What the hell does RANT mean?
– DISCLAIMER: Due to the non-specificity of his name one or two of those quotes may have originated with a different Peter.
Comment by Icy Truth — 7/7/2008 @ 1:06 pm
I have it on good knowledge that Obama FLIP FLOPS on leafy vegetables. It’s deplorable.
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 1:12 pm
For Icy Truth (any relation to Vanilla ICE?):
Academic (adjective) -
3 a: theoretical, speculative b: having no practical or useful significance
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 1:17 pm
Peter,
You done googling Patterico & others? Or are you satisfied with ignorance on the issue you’re so confidently talking about?
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 1:18 pm
Perhaps Peter is daunted by the sheer amount of flip-flops by Backtrack Barack and is (quelle horreur!) trying to change the subject.
Anything to avoid talking about the Man of Spin.
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 1:20 pm
To the lib freaks who claim this is parsing..
Let’s listen to Obamessiah himself: “JUST WORDS?!! Was Martin Luther King’s speech JUST WORDS? Don’t tell me words don’t matter!!”
Here ya go: Obama himself stating words matter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQ_eCGbdg0
So libs, are you disagreeing with your messiah now?!
Comment by J Fishman — 7/7/2008 @ 1:21 pm
Fishman - of COURSE the answer is no.
It’s not what Backtrack Barack says. That’s irrelevant. It’s that he is DIFFERENT.
Foolish consistency is the hob-goblin of word-parsers.
These same poseurs who are so unaffected by Backtrack’s changes in position would be mighty upset if the terms of their mortgages were suddenly changed by a bank claiming “5%? 8% Fixed? Variable? These are all just words.”
Comment by steve miller — 7/7/2008 @ 1:25 pm
Peter, why are you doing this?
Why not start a blog and make arguments instead of doing your level best to destroy this one? Is politics just a game to you?
All Patterico is trying to do here is collate all of Obama’s statements. It’s a legitimate enterprise that will informt he voters. He’s asking for links, and I just don’t see any injustice there. Your attempts (fairly successful) to cloud this thread with dozens of unreadable comments are an attempt to keep voters from being informed about Obama. You’re a brownshirt fascist in the service of your hero. You’re a thoughtless mindless sub-pawn, devoting hours of your life to your hamfisted effort to censor criticisms of your political party.
What drives someone like you? Hatred or boredom?
that said, like Ron Paul, Obama’s greatest liability is his insane supporters. This thread is a great argument against Obama. Unlike Mccain, a President Obama probably won’t answer to anyone about anything, and many actually want it that way.
Comment by Juan — 7/7/2008 @ 1:29 pm
Having been both defenestrated and disembowled, Petey tries a lame misdirection play - rejected! Much like the duel with the Black Knight in the Holy Grail…
Black Knight: “Where are you going?”
Arthur: “I’ve chopped off your arms and your legs!”
BK: “It’s just a flesh wound! Come back and fight, you coward!”
Comment by Dmac — 7/7/2008 @ 1:29 pm
Did anyone pick up the Selma myth on Barack’s conception that he tried to peddle.
Don’t tell me that dates don’t matter!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by daleyrocks — 7/7/2008 @ 1:37 pm
Yeah, that was pretty poorly worded on my part and in honor of one of my favorite old guys, a Scoop Jackson Democrat who recently succumbed to the big C and thought pretty well of the Roberts court, I’m going to retract that.
It’s not as good as what the POTUS has access to as Commander in Chief, especially as proven by the somewhat exxagerated and flawed intel reports that they asked the agencies to put together before the run up to the Iraq war.
Anteitum is spelled A-n-t-e-i-t-u-m.
Comment by Peter — 7/7/2008 @ 1:57 pm
He was for public campaign financing before he was against it: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2008/06/19/the-hope-for-more-loose-change/
He was against wearing flag pins before he was for them: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2008/04/16/obama-admits-he-has-no-true-patriotism/
He was against extended American troop presence in Iraq before he was against it… then for it again before he was against it again: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2008/04/04/obama-campaign-opposes-obama-campaigns-stance-on-iraq/
He was for negotiating directly with Iran before he was against it: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2008/03/03/the-duplicity-of-hope/
He was against laws favorable to lobbyists before he introduced 9 such laws to protect *his* lobbyists: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2007/07/16/obama-hates-lobbyists-unless-theyre-his-own/
He promised constituents of Illinois that he wouldn’t run for President in 2008… before he ran for President in 2008: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2007/02/11/well-he-is-a-democrat-afterall/
He was against Congressional “micromanagement” of the war before he was for it: http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2007/01/16/depends-on-the-definition-of-micromanage/
Comment by TexasRainmaker — 7/7/2008 @ 2:01 pm
Actually, you moron, it’s spelled A-N-T-I-E-T-A-M.
If you’re going to act snottily superior (even without any legitimate basis for it), it would really help the old public image if you actually got your snotty little corrections RIGHT.
Comment by Drumwaster — 7/7/2008 @ 2:05 pm
I don’t wanna go on a RANT here but America’s foreign policy makes about as much sense as Beowolf having sex with Robert Fulton at the first Battle of Antetum.
Anteitum is spelled A-n-t-e-i-t-u-m.
No, it’s not. It’s Antietam.
But the statement is still loonier than a mad cow on locoweed.
Comment by nk — 7/7/2008 @ 2:05 pm