Edwards Criticizes Clinton Comments

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Edwards Criticizes Clinton Comments
By EVAN BERLAND – 4 hours ago

SUMTER, S.C. (AP) — Democrat John Edwards on Sunday waded into a dispute between his rivals, criticizing comments by Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband that some have considered disparaging to Barack Obama and black people generally.

"I must say I was troubled recently to see a suggestion that real change that came not through the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King but through a Washington politician. I fundamentally disagree with that," Edwards told more than 200 people gathered at a predominantly black Baptist church.

Sen. Hillary Clinton recently was quoted as saying King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while Bill Clinton said Obama was telling a "fairy tale" about his opposition to the Iraq war. Edwards did not name either of the Clintons in his speech, but turned the argument back on them. "Those who believe that real change starts with Washington politicians have been in Washington too long and are living a fairy tale," he said.

- snip -

"As someone who grew up in the segregated South, I feel an enormous amount of pride when I see the success that Senator Barack Obama is having in this campaign," said Edwards. He the added, with a laugh: "Some days I wish he was having a little less success."

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hoAvkYTooNMqpzn8fF_3B76ko8eAD8U56TCO0

[Bonobo]

1. Go John! He nailed it with this line:

"Those who believe that real change starts with Washington politicians have been in Washington too long and are living a fairy tale,"

[liberalnurse]

8. Johnny is going alright..........spiraling down the drain.

I feel his grip is slipping, sweaty palms will do that....Man speaks out of desperation for any, any flash of attention.

[Bonobo]

9. Yeah, guy should be tasered.

[fortyfeetunder]

37. No, don't tase him, bro! n/t

[jaybeat]

16. In your dreams

He's speaking truth to entitled power. If YOU've got a problem with that, maybe you should be spiraling down the drain.

[Divine Discontent]

34. typical trash talk from that user... n/t

[prolesunited]

21. Just curious

Which candidate do you support?

[Divine Discontent]

33. your rhetoric is so negative. do you realize that?

you speak as a freeper. I would be happy as a Democrat to have any of the 3 as president, although I prefer John much more so, but they're heads above McCain and Giuliani. Do you not have anything in your bag o tricks besides being venomous?

[Binka]

50. Oh Shit That Poster Is A Big Ole Bag Of Venom

As far as sounding like a freeper, well the truth is in the posts eh? I suspect we have a big, big, (literally) person who has weight issues and a bunch of anger. It just spills over into his/her politics.

[truedelphi]

48. Edwards has one sixrh the amount of money to spend

As he has not taken money from the defense contractors, or health insurance companies.

Yet despite being short on money, and despite the M$M blackout in mentioning him, he comes in with a rather decent showing.

I think he is doing well.

[SammyWinstonJack]

59. ...

:boring:

[bemildred]

2. Tell it John.

We would still have separate toilets and drinking fountains if it was left to the politicians. All they care about is campaign money and getting another war started.

[ursi]

3. Great quote from a great man for President! John Edwards!

wooohooo!

[stopfascism]

4. I like Edwards but he is just

wrong about racism from the Clintons... and just when did the term "fairy tale" and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 become racist anyway? Try this week when the MSM wanted to portray the Clinton's as bigots. All they had to do was call a few black leaders\talking heads and ask them what they thought of the recent "racist" comments from the Clintons and then magically it's breaking news, it's headlines, "Clinton's are bigots." Edwards was playing a smart game but this will not get him votes.

[TahitiNut]

11. You concern is noted.

Question: Where did Edwards even mention the words "Clinton" or "racism"?? Just where is that claim grounded?

Funny how Rohrshcach works.

[Binka]

51. Jesus the Poor Wood Work Is Getting Over Time This Week

Can people read anymore?

[jaybeat]

17. The overtones are clear as day

"Sure, MLK was great and all, but it took an *experienced* (white) politician to actually DO anything to help black folk."

Blech. Patronizing at best. Racist at worst.

The "fairy tale" that Bubba's hung up on? Obama wasn't in the Senate, so he didn't have to vote on the IWR. Hillary did. Is Obama getting a pass because of that with some of the anti-war dems? Sure. Should Bill bitch about it? Of course not. Sour grapes never taste good to voters.

Should Edwards add his voice to those objecting to the first and groaning about the second? Hey, its a free country. He STILL talks more about real issues than Clinton and Obama combined, so I say, give HIM a pass for this one.

[JerseygirlCT]

60. The Clinton take on IWR is funny to me

They're trying to question Obama's anti-war credibility, but all it does is continue to point out her vote FOR it, and then intransigence about admitting her mistake afterwards. That's one of the character flaws about Clinton that I most dislike; I'd have respected her more if she said: "yeah, I blew it, big time. I was wrong". Instead, we got more tap-dancing.

[robbedvoter]

5. He ought to know - his own Washington career illustrates his example!

A bit of pandering to the South Carolina black voters...

[equipmentandtrucks]

6. she need some

she needs it and deserves it

[Binka]

52. Read Your Sig Line Lately?

Stop with the pandering canard. You are tiresome.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Edwards is so good at his phrase making, and at exposing bullshit

He's got the Clintons pegged down pretty good, they have been in Washington too long.

[Captain_Nemo]

24. And how i this? Her statement was factually correct. Prove to me where her statement is wrong

[IndianaGreen]

32. Just as I wouldn't have wasted my time with any of Evita Peron's adoring throngs

I won't waste my time with any of the American version of Evita Peron's adoring throngs.

Hillary is a pathological liar!

[Captain_Nemo]

40. you'll have to prove that one.

[Binka]

53. Indiana Has To Prove Her Opinion?

Good luck waiting for that. DU isn't a corpo state. We are free to say what we believe, don't like it go elsewhwere and drink their kool-aid Nemo.

[anamandujano]

10. Actually she said that King's dream

of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No one would argue that there isn't a distance to go.

King had the dream and fought for it. A milestone was reached when LBJ signed the bill.

To twist her words and try to suggest that LBJ (the politician in this case) started the ball rolling is somewhat disingenuous, to be kind.

And HELLO! Edwards and Obama are politicians. Did Edwards just slam himself?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

14. I'm sure Mrs Clinton regrets saying it all

I don't think she meant it as demeaning but it was something that had been best not said?

[jaybeat]

18. LBJ *never* would have signed the Civil Rights act

If MLK and JFK hadn't made it politically advantageous for him to do so.

And that, regrettably, is what makes the comparison to HRC so apt.

She voted for war with Iraq when it looked like political suicide for any Democrat to oppose Bush in the post-9/11 era. John Edwards voted for it, too. Remember, Dean was widely derided as a "fringe" candidate because he was running on an anti-war platform.

Now, of course, everyone wants to claim they were against the Iraq war (after they were for it) SOONER than the other guy (or gal). But the modus operandi is the same--doing what seemed politically best at the time, and then trying to rewrite history when it ends up looking bad in hindsight.

At least Edwards can say "I made a mistake."

And LBJ sure loved taking credit for a party he joined very late in the game.

So Hillary wants to spin history to emphasize the role of the establishment politician who sees the writing on the wall and gets in front of the wave instead of being swamped by it.

Edwards and Obama want to spin history to emphasize the outsider forcing change that would not have occurred otherwise.

Regrettably, George Bush *and* Bill Clinton were both elected because people believed they would *change* Washington.

The question for us Dems is, who will really pull it off, and who will go farther?

My money is still on Edwards, but any of the Dems will still be infinitely better than ANY of the Repukes.

Let's not forget that!

[Captain_Nemo]

23. Get facts on this one. You are spinning. She was correct in her quote.

Where do you come up with this?

If MLK and JFK hadn't made it politically advantageous for him to do so.

[jaybeat]

61. No Civil Rights *Movement* = No Civil Rights Act

It's that simple. JFK paved the way politically, but without MLK, it never would have gotten to the point of critical mass where LBJ found it in his own interest to act.

That's the point. "Experienced" politicians are out for their own interests, as they see them; activists are in it for other reasons.

[creeksneakers2]

12. Edwards should quit

He can't win. Its OK for him to hang around to make a case for himself but he can't do just that. He has to make inflammatory remarks to prolong a problem the party is having now that hurts both sides. As usual, Edwards twists what the Clintons said and plays on emotions with distortions and fancy rhetoric. Edwards is a liar and a phony.

Edwards' campaign is imploding. In the last week he's fallen from 23% in the Rasmussen poll to 12%. That's half his votes gone, an 11% drop. The only thing Edwards is accomplishing now is harm to the party and a delay that keeps his ego from accepting that he lost. The man is worse than useless.

[Captain_Nemo]

26. I once liked this guy. I guess over time we always see the truth emerge.

[McCamy Taylor]

29. Another DUer parroting the corporate media talking points on Edwards.

If every candidate who was attacked by the powers that be just upped and quit because they had been labeled "phony" and "losers", we would all be twice as bad off as we are now.

Luckily, some political leaders have some spine. And some Democrats have some vision.

[Divine Discontent]

35. your feelings on this are so shallow and obvious

and for your blind information - John Edwards was at 10% in that Rasmussen poll on the 11th of December, then went up to 23 for one day a week ago or so. Even if he was at 1% I'd back him, because what he stands for matters to me. He's staying to your dismay, aw too bad.

Oh wait, why bother with someone so venomous like you. There's plenty that behave like you on this site, but may you always remember, there's 100x more of us who aren't obnoxious with our words - "liar and a phony". Yeah, you're right, what are we thinking, everyone just shut it down, creeksneakers2 says he's a liar and a phony. puh-lease.

[creeksneakers2]

38. I have no fantasies about a single Edwards supporter

changing because of anything I say. I'm just adding my opinion to threads that slander Hillary.

As for venom, look what Edwards says in the OP and how it keeps being posted.

[Divine Discontent]

41. ok

he said he fundamentally disagreed with what she said. and, "Those who believe that real change starts with Washington politicians have been in Washington too long and are living a fairy tale," of which if that fact applies then that's the case - because change does not start in DC, it comes from the people. He used her husband's words back on them. He was rather dignified I thought, instead of calling the Clintons out for being borderline disgraceful to the memory of MLK as not being the reason for the mass change in this country involving racial issues. Yes, the president went out on a limb, but that's his job, but he didn't start the change, it came to him and he reacted to it in a positive way.

[Binka]

54. Had your diaper changed recently?

Wah Wah Wah Wah. Jesus you are a broken record, another added to ignore. Jesus slander? Hyperbole much?

[customerserviceguy]

36. It will take defeat in South Carolina

the state where he was born, and where he handily won the 2004 primary (after John Kerry had won both Iowa and New Hampshire!) to show him that the journey is over. He's clearly banking on a strategy of having each of the three winning a major primary before Super Tuesday, but I think Oprah's campaigning in SC will finish him off.

I just drove through that state back in November, and didn't see a single Obama sign or bumper sticker, but I did drive through many predominantly African-American cities and towns, and was frankly surprised to see the lack of support for Senator Obama. I guess the people of those communities just didn't believe that white America would vote for a black man, I think both of the primaries so far tells them otherwise.

[olddad56]

43. If not Edwards, then a republican...

The corporations aren't plying Obama and Clinton with warchests full of cash for no reason. They are doing this becaus ethey know that their republican candidates can beat either Obama or Clinton.

Sad as it is, this racist, sexist nation won't elect a black person, or a woman. Especially a woman whose husband was caught up in a sex scandal while President.

The democrats choice is Edwards or McCain. Plain and simple.

[rockybelt]

13. I am so tired of all this crap

The longer politicians talk about all of this irrelevant bull shit like it didn't happen until Johnson signed a bill. So fucking what? It's a matter of scemantics and timing.

All the time they, and YOU, are talking about all of this nonsense, nobody is talking about the real issues. Issues like starting WWIII, getting out of Iraq, holding this administration accountable, getting rid of corruption in Washington, impeaching the pres and vp, stopping torture...........

Get your minds back where they belong.....on the fucking issues!!!!!!!

What this country faces is far too important than when some fucking bill in the 1960's was signed and who was responsible. Get into todays world and wake up to the fact that America is going down the tubes while war mongers get rich.

Stop it!!!! Just fucking stop it!!!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

15. they love drama

we should be hearing what they are going to do about the economy and jobs?

[rockybelt]

19. We should be hearing

about when they are going to impeach bush and cheney for the war crimes they have committed. We should be hearing about the crimes and the disastrous harm done to the US by the outing of Valerie Plame and her cover corp. We should be hearing about the destruction of the Constitution. We should be hearing about stopping the torture. We should be hearing about the illegal, immoral war with Iraq, We should be hearing about the attempts to start WWIII. We should be hearing about stopping the warrantless wiretapping of you and me. We should be hearing of the secret BAE account. We should be hearing of a multitude of things before the economy.

The economy is being pushed by the far right to get you to forget about anything really important. Remember, the economy is Being driven by the war in Iraq and the borrowing from China, japan and other countries to finance the war. And I mean the economy is being driven into the dirt.

Don't let the neocons change the subject. Just because they and the MSM tell you things are better in Iraq does not mean they are not lying. They are lying their asses off! More troops killed in 2007 than any other year. How many Iraqis? Nobody knows because they don't even fucking count them. Most reasonable estimates are more than one million.

Economy and jobs? Give me a fucking break! Jesus H. Christ, that should be at the bottom of the bubble up list. If we do not stop this war and other wars that this maniac wants to start, the economy and jobs will not mean shit. Why?

BECAUSE THE US WILL NOT EXIST ANY MORE!!!!!

[tandem5]

20. yeah because ganging up last time with Obama to attack Clinton worked out so well. nt

[Captain_Nemo]

22. Bullshit. What she said was correct. LBJ muscled and convinced and pushed racist congressmen to

vote for the Civil Rights act. It was largely his efforts because he was strong. Edwards needs to read history (And Obama too for that matter.)

She said: Dr King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964... The power of that dream became real in people's lives because we had a president capable of action.

[RaleighNCDUer]

42. A president who muscled and convinced and pushed -

not one who triangulated, conceded and compromised.

LBJ did spend a long time, devoted much of his career to civil rights. But he was not the one getting arrested, or getting his head broken for it. The dream began to be realized before he ever set pen to paper to sign that bill - that was at the ass end of the process, not the the beginning.

She may not have meant it that way, but the way she said it put LBJ at the inception of the process, which gives no credit to the hundreds of thousands who marched for the ten years leading up to that moment. She should know better than let that kind of comment get past her.

But then, I've always said she has NO political instincts.

[Kokonoe]

44. And let's also give credit to republicans who had their own plan

that was equally good, but just could not muster enough votes.:sarcasm: I would say washington had to listen.

[jaybeat]

63. LBJ wouldn't have done shit if it hadn't been for MLK, etc.

It took a MOVEMENT to get Washington, including LBJ to move.

Could he have ignored it and still succeeded politically? Maybe. But he didn't think so at the time. If he thought he could, he might still have pushed for it, but he might not have. We'll never know.

We do know one thing. Without MLK and everyone else who marched, fought and died in the civil rights movement, there would have been nothing for LBJ to muscle, convince or push about.

[Divine Discontent]

25. THAT'S why I want Edwards as our next president!

"As someone who grew up in the segregated South, I feel an enormous amount of pride when I see the success that Senator Barack Obama is having in this campaign," said Edwards. He the added, with a laugh: "Some days I wish he was having a little less success."


He is speaking from his HEART and is so ready to lead this country. No offense to the others, he just took a messed up story that has many people upset, and turned it into a positive for not only himself, but Obama. This is the kind of leader I want. I see it in John so EASILY. I've met the man, he's the real deal and is on FIRE for the American people.


Edwards - Ready To Lead

[KakistocracyHater]

27. life isn't a film, an opponent

instead of a critic, because a critic sounds & FEELS so minor & HAS been unable to influence & change the course. I'm annoyed by the constant use of "critic" everywhere.

[Yukari Yakumo]

28. Bad move, John.

Unless his goal is to help Hillary. But I think the vote in NH demonstrated the people do not like it when two guys double team a woman.

This is Obama's fight, John really should have stayed clear of it. But by doing this, it lets Hillary play the victim card and makes Obama look weak.

[Hulk]

30. "If you're not making waves, you're standing still"

Lock down the hatches. We are in this for a full year. Taking things out of context, using the old 20/20 hindsight to decide what a person should say or do.....holy shit. I'm glad I'm not running in one of these contests, and you had better be damn glad you aren't either.

You have to be super human to live up to the standards that these meat hounds are setting for the candidates.

Just take a step back America, and decide what is important and what is just more media bullshit to fill those empty hours of tube-time.

[McCamy Taylor]

31. AS usual MSM mischaracterized his remark. The headline is always "Edwards ATTACKS Hillary"

or "Edwards tosses LIVE GRENADES at Hillary" or "Edwards plants CAR BOMBS on Hillary". However, what Edwards really did was question whether change comes from the top down or from the bottom up.

What we will not see is a serious round table discussion in which a bunch of MSM pundits talk about how Edwards campaign has been attempting to get people involved in the political/charitable process---rebuilding NOLA, distributing canned goods since over a year ago. He started the "One America" idea that Obama has appropriated. He is the original "people should govern themselves" candidate.

That is what saying that MLK and his followers brought about the civil rights movement means. It does not mean that he is attributing it to a Black father figure instead of a White father figure. He is saying that people make their will known and politicians follow the people's lead.

But the MSM pundits will not discuss this. Instead, the MSM will print headlines that they can use to attack Hillary, because they hate Hillary almost as much as they hate Edwards (sorry to all you people who think that HIllary is the anointed one).

The corporate media loves McCain and Romney and Guilliani. They love Thompson and any Republican except Paul and Huckabee. They do not love any of the Democrats, because Democrats mean national health, lowered oil profits and a bunch of other things they do not want to consider.

[creeksneakers2]

39. Why did Edwards use the words "fairy tale?"

[still_one]

45. I guess if Edwards doesn't make it, I imagine his delegates won't go to Clinton

Who knows what will happen when it gets to the convention, but I personally believe that delegates Obam and Edwards accumulate will not be negotiated in Hillary's direction

So unless she gets enough delegates to take the nomination before the Convention, if it goes to the convention undecided, odds are that she won't be the nominee

[loveangelc]

46. I think you're right.

:bounce: :smoke: :party:

[madrchsod]

47. johnson and king ....an alliance

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/johnson_lyndon.htm
King Encyclopedia

"In 1954, Johnson became the second youngest man ever to be named Senate majority leader. From this position of power, Johnson used his political leverage to engineer passage of the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts."


Though Martin Luther King, Jr., called Johnson’s 1964 election “one of America’s finest hours,” and believed that Johnson had an “amazing understanding of the depth and dimension of the problem of racial injustice,” King’s outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War damaged his relationship with Johnson and brought an end to -->an alliance<--- that had enabled major civil rights reforms in America" (King, 4 November 1964; King, 6 March 1965).

another opinion on the relationship between johnson and king

http://www.law.virginia.edu/home2002/html/news/2005_spr/kotz.htm
Civil Rights Movement Turned on Collaboration Between LBJ and MLK, Kotz Says

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Lyndon_Baines_Johnson.htm
::Lyndon Johnson::

[NoodleyAppendage]

49. Sounds like someone is angling for a VP position with Obama.

If Edwards drops and lends his support to or jumps on the ticket with Obama, then Clinton just may not win the nomination. This would be very good news.

J

[Voltaire99]

55. Nail those right wing Clintons, John!

They have revealed themselves to be moral rubbish, and not for the first time.

Consider what happened to Marian Wright Edelman after she and her husband refused to back Billy Boy's ghastly welfare "reform." Let Alexander Cockburn describe it:

"If any one person gave Hillary her start in liberal Democratic politics, it was Marian Wright Edelman who took Hillary with her when she started the Children's Defense Fund. The two were inseparable for the next twenty-five years. In her autobiography, published in 2003, Hillary lists the 400 people who have most influenced her. Marion Wright Edelman doesn't make the cut. Neither to forget nor to forgive. Peter Edelman was one of three Clinton appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services who quit when Clinton signed the Welfare reform bill, which was about as far from any "defense" of children as one could possibly imagine."

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11142007.html

[Maribelle]

56. Perhaps Edwards could explain where he pulled "starts with Washington politicians" from?

For this truly shows that Edwards does not want to quell or settle the argument, but he would rather simply jump on the disinformation stage.

I once thought Edwards was better than this.

[watrwefitinfor]

57. Kicking & Rec n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

58. Good for him!

This one is completely manufactured by the Clintons, and when it blew up in their faces, they went on the attack again.

Will they never learn?

[Kurovski]

62. K&R. (nt)