Obama Can't Stand The Heat

That was the gist of Senator Clinton's remarks at a campaign rally yesterday:

"I know some of my opponent's supporters and my opponent are complaining about the hard questions," Clinton, a former first lady, told a rally.

"Well, having been in the White House for eight years and seeing what happens in terms of the pressures and the stresses on a president, that was nothing," she said.

Referencing a famous quote from folksy former Democratic President Harry Truman, Clinton said: "I'm with Harry Truman on this. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

For me, this is the final straw. Until now, I was willing to say that I would vote for whichever Democrat won the nomination, but not any more. If Hillary Clinton somehow manages to get the nomination I will not vote for her. I would sooner stay home or write in someone else's name than vote for someone so brazenly dishonest.

It isn't that her remarks yesterday are any worse than any of her previous untruths. If anything, this was more a half-truth than a bald-faced lie -- spinning Obama's legitimate complaints that so much time was dedicated to trivialities as some kind of whiny petulance about the press being mean to him. For the record, here is what Senator Obama said:

On Thursday, Obama complained that substantive issues like Iraq, health care and jobs did not come up until the second half of the debate. "Last night I think we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people," he said in Raleigh, North Carolina.

"That's just how Washington is. They like stirring up controversy and they like playing gotcha games, getting us to attack each other, and I have to say, Sen. Clinton looked in her element."

No, it isn't this specific attack on Obama that I have a problem with. If it were the only example of mistruth coming from Clinton I would just let it slide. But it's just the latest in a constant barrage of dubious assertions. At this point you have to question her ability to even distinguish the truth any more, given how often she avoids it.

After enduring seven years with a bad liar in the White House, the last thing we need is another liar taking his place. One way or another, I won't be voting for Hillary come November.

•  She won't win the nomination.

  Keep pushing for Obama, and the date of her concession speech shall surely approacheth.

  by haruki on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:45:24 AM PDT

  •  She sure is throwing out a lot of straws! nt

    by MAORCA on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:47:00 AM PDT

•  Let Hillary be. It's time to move on.

  by dsinha on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:45:38 AM PDT

  •  tell Hillary, and the MSM, that it's time

    to move on.  WAAAAAYYY past time.

    by GreenMtnState on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:47:06 AM PDT

  •  Censure Clinton And Move On

    It's a concept she used to be comfortable with.

    by Warren Terra on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:54:34 AM PDT

•  Hooray for yet another

  "I won't vote for Hillary" diary.

  Jeebus, people, get over it. She won't be the nominee so you can quitcher bitchin.

  by BoiseBlue on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:45:55 AM PDT

  •  and if it SOMEHOW happened...

    allowing McNuts to become president falls into "cut off your nose to spite your face" territory.

    I can't even express my disgust and anger with Hillary, but I feel pretty confident in saying that our country will be MUCH better off with her as president than we would with McSame. No contest.

    by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:17:36 AM PDT

    •  At this point...

      how can you tell.  She's nothing close to a Democratic candidate.  

      by Lava20 on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:58:34 AM PDT

      •  oh, come on

        you're confusing tactics (and character) with policy.

        Read Obama's and HRC's position papers on ANYTHING - they're virtually identical, whether it's healthcare or Iraq (NOW, not before the war started - we can't go back in time, unfortunately) or choice or jobs or pretty much anything.

        You have every right to be disgusted by HRC's behavior during this campaign cycle. But that doesn't change the fact that, in terms of policy and what direction this country would take, she most definitely is NOT a Republican.

        Think, please.

        by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 12:35:06 PM PDT

        •  Whatev.

          Cluster bombs.

          end message.

          by Lava20 on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 01:00:24 PM PDT

•  Forgive Me for Being Obtuse

  But exactly what did she say that was even half "untrue"??

  There's no "there" there.

  by The Baculum King on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:46:11 AM PDT

  •  How about...

    the suggestion that he was whining about "hard questions" when in fact his complaint was that they weren't about real issues?

    by John H on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:48:32 AM PDT

    •  Jesus Christ on a Soda Cracker

      THAT caused this much of a conniption fit??

      Methinks you ain't cut out to participate in politics.

      How about Obama lying about being on food stamps with his Mother?? Exactly when did that happen, since he lived in Indonesia or with his Grandparents until he finished High School??

      by The Baculum King on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:52:26 AM PDT

      •  I don't know if Obama was living on food stamps

        with his Mother, but he did live with her for a period of time, and it was in Hawaii, not in Indonesia. Either I am misreading Obama's history or you are. At the point in time when Obama lived with his Mom in the U.S. she was in school, a student, and it is believable that she applied for food stamps for assistance. Unless you know this for a fact, I think it is not productive to call him a liar on this issue alone.

        by Vera Lofaro on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:00:06 AM PDT

        •  FYI,

          the food stamps thing had redstate, freerepublic and the like all abuzz. It's funny how there's complete synergy between the wingnuts and the odious pro-hillary blogs. I'm not accusing Baculum King of being a wingnut or a No Quarter loon by any means, but it seems apparent that wherever he read it was linking to a wingnut blog.

          by Johnny Gentle Famous Crooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:04:05 AM PDT

          •  That's where you have to

            go these days if you want to work up a froth over Obama.

            by nolalily on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:04:46 AM PDT

          •  And those blogs are the final word

            about Obama, and his history? I would like to see some research on Hillary and her history, or McCain, and his drinking, womanizing, and the Keating Five. Do we really know anything more about Hillary and McCain than we know about Obama? It is just the perception that we do, because Obama is new on the national political stage. How much history of Hillary and McCain has been buried?

            by Vera Lofaro on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:06:59 AM PDT

        •  she was on food stamps

          when she was in college and raising Barack. i believe it was in hawaii.

          by loper2008 on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:23:18 AM PDT

          •  That is what I thought I read too.

            by Vera Lofaro on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:02:34 AM PDT

      •  Linky please. n/t

        by nolalily on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:04:10 AM PDT

        •  Not Gonna Link to It

          I drafted a Diary on it while pissed about the endless "lying" attacks on Clinton, but deleted it rather than post it.

          A simple Google search will get you plenty.

          by The Baculum King on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:10:12 AM PDT

          •  So far...

            The only places I'm seeing this are freeper sites. If it turns out to be a lie, then the media should dig into it and ask him about it.  That's different than the "hard questions" he had to face in the debate about comments his preacher made, or his relationship to William Ayers...

            by John H on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:23:01 AM PDT

  •  Huh!

    you are forgiven.

    by notquitedelilah on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:49:17 AM PDT

  •  Excuse me

    "I know some of my opponent's supporters and my opponent are complaining about the hard questions," Clinton, a former first lady, told a rally.

    When did Obama complain about "hard questions"? He complained about stupid questions. If the diarist is wrong, it's because he called this a half-truth, rather than a lie.

    by jhecht on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:50:10 AM PDT

    •  The whole debate disproves the old adage.,,

      "There's no such thing as a stupid question."

      by irate on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:52:02 AM PDT

    •  I gave her partial credit

      He was at least complaining about the questions. But as you say, they weren't exactly hard questions, just stupid ones...

      by John H on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:52:48 AM PDT

•  I feel bad for me

  In some dimension that is a me that will have to witness Hillary stealing the nomination. Thank god I live in the dimension where that won't happen.

  by TekJansen on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:47:23 AM PDT

•  A Party Person for 56 years

  I have always been with those who say we must come together.  I know about the Supreme Court and what will happen under McCain.   But there are times when there is a greater moral principal.  And Obama's quest to take us to the top of the mountain must mean something.  If that dream is destroyed or delayed, then there must someone held accountable.  And for me, that person will be Senator Clinton and the tactics she has used or failed to damn.    

  by doberg on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:49:02 AM PDT

•  If Hillary wins, I'll vote against McCain!

  by irate on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:49:07 AM PDT

  •  Where's the "against McCain" option on the ballot

    Just wondering...

    by Forsythe on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:55:41 AM PDT

    •  The name with the (D) behind it

      And yes, I'll vote against McCain as well.

      by Pacific NW Mark on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:58:10 AM PDT

    •  if Hillary were to win which she won't

      I would vote for the green party candidate, a woman, by the way.

      by loper2008 on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:24:52 AM PDT

      •  ah...

        a vote for McBush. Nice.

        by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:22:21 AM PDT

•  Though to be honest....

  ....I was never willing to cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton.

  I swore off voting for Clintons when Bill signed welfare "reform" into law in 1996, and I've never looked back.

  by GreenSooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:52:03 AM PDT

•  Is it too early to start...

  talking about replacing HRC with a more progressive candidate for her NY Senate Seat?

  by BlueStateWatchdog on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:52:33 AM PDT

•  Oh No! She's quoting Truman now.

  What's next?

  by LRT on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:58:43 AM PDT

•  I Will Write-In OBAMA n/t

  by bincbom on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:59:15 AM PDT

  •  That's what I'm thinking, too

    but it will never come to that.

    by winsock on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:13:00 AM PDT

•  I would hold my nose and vote for her....

  If by some sleight of hand Sen. Clinton win's the Dem nomination, I will hold my nose and vote for her.

  I do not believe that this will come to pass.  Sen. Obama all but has the nomination sewn up.  If by some chance he does not win, then I will hold my nose and vote for Sen. Clinton.  The stakes in our country are just too high to allow Sen. McSame, a mentally ill Senator for whom, as a vet, I would like to vote, but cannot, to win the Presidency.

  A McCain win would be disastrous for our country and for the world.

  Vote for whichever Dem wins our party's nomination.  Pray that it is Sen. Obama.

  by El Tomaso on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 09:59:21 AM PDT

•  If you're not voting Dem, got off this site.

  I don't give a shit how mean Clinton is, how wretched and repugnant her campaign tactics are, or how unfairly Obama was treated.

  This is a site for electing Democrats. Period. I'm so freaking tired of the whiny "I'm gonna vote for McCain!" threats on both sides. If you're actually considering voting for McCain, or not voting at all and enabling McCain, you shouldn't be here.

  And no, sorry, just because she's using republican tactics in this election and someone posted a diary that she's a neocon doesn't make her worse than John fucking McCain!

  by Johnny Gentle Famous Crooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:00:57 AM PDT

  •  Where did I say I would vote for McCain?

    I didn't because I won't.

    But I won't vote for Hillary either.

    by John H on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:02:35 AM PDT

    •  Re-read my comment.

      If you're actually considering voting for McCain, or not voting at all and enabling McCain, you shouldn't be here.

      I am so freaking tired of this. The hillary-supporting drama queens make the McCain threats constantly, and we don't seem to be any better.

      I used to really like Hillary, now I can barely stand her. But I'm still voting for the person with the "D" after their name on the ballot. That's what this site is for, and there's just too damn much at stake to flirt with another 4 years of republican rule!

      by Johnny Gentle Famous Crooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:07:04 AM PDT

      •  I can't do it

        If she is the nominee I will write in someone else's name.

        And you can stop with the calls for to leave -- I am committed to getting Democrats elected just as much as the next person here. But I take a stand against Hillary the way I did against Joe Lieberman in 2006...

        by John H on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:09:29 AM PDT

        •  No, not really.

          You may be committed to getting Democrats elected, but apparently not for president. Supporting Darcy Burner or Scott Kleeb or whomever is great, but let's not pretend that's anywhere near an election for president of the United States.

          I'm not sure what you mean about a stand against Lieberman, considering there was a REAL Democratic alternative in both the primary and general election there. Voting for the better Democrat is not the same as voting for the republican (or allowing the republican to win).

          And my comments are directed at everyone on this thread, or on this site, who made the same remarks. To all of them, I say don't whine about FISA, the Supreme Court, climate change, torture, Iraq or anything else if you're also pledging that you won't vote for the Democratic nominee. You lose that right. And you can explain to your grandkids someday that the country may well be completely fucked up, but it's a fair price to pay because Hillary ran a really mean campaign way back when.

          by Johnny Gentle Famous Crooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:17:29 AM PDT

        •  What you just said doesn't make any sense

          If she is the nominee I will write in someone else's name.

          I am committed to getting Democrats elected just as much as the next person here.

          Those are completely contradictory statements. The first one indicates that you have no idea what the second one means.

          by somtam on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:28:12 AM PDT

          •  you're confusing two different people n/t

            by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:24:57 AM PDT

            •  No, John H said both of those...

              and somtam was responding to his comment.

              Unless you thought somtam was responding to me. The offset for the nested comments isn't very large, so sometimes it does get confusing to figure out who's responding to whom.

              by Johnny Gentle Famous Crooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 12:02:23 PM PDT

              •  my bad...

                I thought the above comment was somtam's, the below comment yours. d'oh.

                by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 12:36:56 PM PDT

                •  mai pen rai

                  no problem   :-)

                  by somtam on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 06:13:45 PM PDT

  •  Clinton is not beneficial to the Democratic Party

    She is not building up the party, she is tearing it apart.  Clinton can claim to be a Democrat, but I've seen too many examples in this election cycle that disprove her claim, IMO.

    So I'm voting Dem, but not voting Clinton because in my view, Clinton does not represent what the Democratic Party should stand for.  And even more emphatically if she manages to steal the nomination from the rightful winner.

    by winsock on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:23:13 AM PDT

    •  Hey, you know what else will hurt our party?

      Losing the White House!

      But seriously, Clinton may be acting like a total ass these days, but she still has a firmly liberal voting record. Remember that the president doesn't write legislation, our majority Congress does, and it would be nice if we could actually get some our bills signed one of these days.

      As for her Supreme Court and federal court appointees, I don't think her mockery of an election campaign means she's less likely to appoint solidly pro-choice/pro-worker judges.

      by Johnny Gentle Famous Crooner on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 12:05:14 PM PDT

      •  I'll admit

        I feel pretty conflicted over the question of voting for HRC in the fall, though it's purely hypothetical.  I see both sides of the argument.  I'd never vote for McCain, but I honestly don't know what I'd do if push comes to shove.  Thankfully, I doubt we'll need to make such a decision.

        by winsock on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 01:00:02 PM PDT

•  Hillary is displaying

  porcine-like characteristics.

  by Gator1980 on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:01:12 AM PDT

•  I voted for Obama, but PLEASE

  don't stay home if Hillary is nominated.

  I'm against her because I don't like her record on the war...but I'd much rather have her appoint future Supreme Court Justices than McCain.

  And I'm not talking about abortion. I'm talking about balance of power, unalienable rights and survival of our freedom.

  This is no joke. We have secret prisons, we torture people, we denigrate and deny habeas corpus, we operate a massive unregulated spy ring...McCain will continue and grow all of these.

  For all her flaw, Hillary would not. She would stop them.

  So, yeah, she sometimes says annoying things, and she has a poor record on the war...but the alternative is pretty much the end of the Republic.

  by Rayk on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:04:24 AM PDT

•  I will not vote for Hillary, and if

  that means we get McCain as our President, then so be it. For the past 8 years we have had worse, much worse, and we survived, barely, but survived none the less. I refuse to vote for Hillary because the Clinton attitude is where else will we go, we will vote Democratic or else. I refuse to encourage that attitude. It is either Obama or no one. Sorry, but I must take a stand this time.

  by Vera Lofaro on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:04:51 AM PDT

  •  Busy railroad track no place to take stand.n/t

    by Abra Crabcakeya on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:07:58 AM PDT

  •  on behalf of the rest of working Americans...

    I thank you ahead of time for helping to destroy what's left of this country.

    to say we've "survived" the last 7 1/2 years is like saying the bus is still 10 yards away from plunging off the cliff. Yeah, we're not dead yet, but we're hurtling towards the edge and we need someone to take their foot off the gas and hit the brake, please.

    I'm utterly disgusted by Hillary, and there's no way she gets the nomination. But if she somehow does, she will at least work at undoing some of the damage that's been done. If McSame is president, we're going over the cliff.

    So yeah, thanks a bunch.

    by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:31:27 AM PDT

    •  If Hillary gets the nomination, I will be

      100% convinced, I owe nothing at all to the Democratic party. They will no longer be the party of the people, but the party of the "elite". I will not be guilted into voting Democratic. There is always Nader, and if voting for him gives McCain the Presidency, then the Democrats have no one to blame but the party itself. I too am a "working American", but I am also a thinking American, and I think if Hillary gets the nomination, we have all been screwed by the Democratic party. The nominee will not be the choice of the people, but not a choice at all. I am tired of being told we have a choice, when in reality we don't. I am not buying into that any longer, and I know I am not alone in this way of thinking, brave, and you may think stupid, but not alone.

      by Vera Lofaro on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 01:49:41 PM PDT

      •  this isn't a game

        if you really care about this country, you swallow your pride, hold your nose, and vote "lesser of two evils."

        If you care more about being "right," you vote for an egomaniac like Nader, and watch Roe v. Wade go bye-bye, watch more soldiers die needlessly in Iraq, watch your tax dollars go to oil companies while literally nothing gets done to free us from oil and to overcome global warming... ugh, I could go on and on, but it makes me want to throw up.

        Positive change in our world is almost always incremental. we have a chance with Barack Obama to make a near-quantum leap of change, but in the nearly impossible event that Hillary ends up as our nominee, please, let's at least try to stop making things worse and maybe take some baby steps forward, rather than enter a nearly irreversible course backwards towards disaster.

        I know you're not alone in this way of thinking, but please try to put the good of the country ahead of "doing the right thing." And then work on getting a much better president elected in 2012.

        by snookybeh on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 06:33:53 PM PDT

        •  Two points,

          one, things will not change with Hillary. We will still have soldiers needlessly dying in Iraq. She can not be believed or trusted. I am also afraid, she will bring us to war with Iran just as easily as McCain. She will also pander to the oil producing nations just as the Bush administration has. When her husband was President, look at all the progress he made on the whole global warming issue. She will do nothing, it is not in her best interest.
          Roe v. Wade will never be overturned, the Republicans need it in their arsenal to get votes. The pro-lifers vote Republicans over and over again with hopes they will get Roe overturned, and it is not going to happen. It is too much of a vote getting tool for them. If you are right and it does get overturned, I would like to have that debate about a woman's right to chose. Maybe the time has come to have it codified into law in the form of an amendment to the constitution, so there are no more questions or panic when a conservative judge is nominated to the court.
          I am tired of being used by the Democratic party, being promised one thing and then having them renege on their promises, as they did with their push to get elected in 2006 on the promise of ending this war.
          You are right, this isn't a game. Barack Obama should be the nominee, and not just because I say so, he has won the most states, delegates, and popular votes. All this talk about the possibility of Hillary being the nominee reflects badly on the Democratic party. She should not be the nominee, and just hanging in there as insurance against buyer's remorse is wrong. Do you actually think if the super delegates give the nomination to Hillary, the Democratic party stands any chance at all of winning? I don't. If Hillary gets the nomination the party will fall apart, and well it should. It would mean the party of the people is no longer the party of the people, but the party of the "elite", the elite who are beholden to the Clintons. That is not the party I want any part of.

          by Vera Lofaro on Sun Apr 20, 2008 at 03:08:04 PM PDT

•  Nomination

  She wont win the nomination, McCain has already reached the magic number in the republican primary.

  by realistdem on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:18:38 AM PDT

•  As stupid as not voting for Gore in 2000

  How did that one work out for ya?

  Come on, this is as stupid as the 2000 argument that there was no difference between Bush and Gore. For all of Clinton's dismaying rhetoric (especially in the foreign policy arena), her positions are overall vastly superior to McCain's.  At least on issues of taxation, health care, and education I believe she is at heart a progressive that believes in equalizing opportunity.  

  I will still vote for Clinton if she is the nominee.

  by lmalave on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:29:27 AM PDT

•  "I won't vote for Hillary" zealots

  Are LYING. EVERY LAST ONE of you.
  For better or for worse, that will never
  get proved, because she is not going to
  win the nomination anyway.  But if she
  somehow did, IT WOULD dawn on EVERY
  LAST ONE of you that electing an under-
  handed Machiavellian Democrat BEATS ALL HELL
  out of electing a Republican who will entrench a conservative Supreme Court for decades, and continue a war that Hillary
  would've ended.  YOU WILL have better sense
  than to cut off your nose to spite your face.
  Unless you live in a state that is not in play, or something.

  by ge0rge on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:36:11 AM PDT

•  My vote would be against McPain

  ...but not for Clinton. That stands in stark contrast to the fact that in the primary season as in the general my vote, my time, and my money have and would be for Obama.

  by Vita Brevis on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 10:42:46 AM PDT

  •  Counts the same (if counted). n/t

    by Abra Crabcakeya on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:28:45 AM PDT

•  I'll vote for her. But I won't lie for her

  and she'll get no money from me so that she can lie to other people, either.

  She's been aiming at my grudging, non-particpation vote since she's started.  That's all she wants.  That's all she'll get, plus my help in anybody who wants to challenger her re-election to any seat she wants.

  by Inland on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 11:09:21 AM PDT