Keith Obermann, as a nightly feature, does his 'Worst Person' feature every night on his show. I hope that Brad Blakeman shows up on that list tonight. Per an NBC interview and repoted by the Huffington Post, Blakeman had the audacity to compare Sarah Palin's frivilous spending of $150K on clothes to Barack Obama taking his campaign plane to Hawaii to visit his dying grandmother - the same one basically raised him.
Look, it's bad enough to even make that argument. But the anger and hateful way Blakeman made his point absolutely shows to me that many Republicans are calious and do not care about anyone but themselves. When I heard some of the Liberal blogs talk about the GOP lightening up on the attack ads while Obama was in Hawaii, I laughed. I didn't think they would, especially being behind. But I never in a million years would have expected them to attack Obama on taking the plane.
Here are my thoughts on this, and I am not in the campaign, so I don't know true details:
- Obama (and McCain) have been campaigning day and night for months. Either party shouldn't make a big deal about making life easier on themselves, as long as it isn't illegal or abusive. I think going to see a dying parent counts.
- Obama is using privately generated funds. So, I don't believe there is an issue there. I am sure his supporters have much less ire about this than GOP supporters paying for clothes.
- He isn't going alone. I am quite sure that he has a group going with him (advisers) - including Secret Service. In fact, it's probably dangerous for him to take a commercial flight.
Yes, there is a point about the environment. But I didn't hear this being an issue when the candidates went to the dinner in NYC a couple of weeks ago. If he wanted to be like the GOP he'd make going to Hawaii a campaign stop (I know that is crazy since it is 100% for the Dems).
It is just another example of how Republicans only care about themselves. There were no kind words for Obama just hate filled speech. McCain and his reps can continue to do what they do on every issue tell the people one thing and act in the total and absolute other way. I hope the Palins didn't use a charter flight for going back to see her son off or for their deposition tomorrow.