Politico's Simon on Clinton: "The (rhymes with rich) is back."
Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon began his November 16 column by asserting, "The (rhymes with rich) is back." Simon began his column with that phrase just two days after his colleague, Politico chief political writer Mike Allen, responded to a question about referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as a "bitch" by saying, "All right. But what Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that?" Allen made his comment on the November 14 edition of CNN's American Morning while discussing a recent campaign event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, during which a questioner asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), "How do we beat the bitch?" -- presumably referring to Clinton. McCain called the question an "excellent" one, later adding, "I respect Senator Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat [sic] Party."
In his column, Simon asserted: "In a Democratic debate here Thursday night, Hillary Clinton was not the passive, parsing, punching bag that she was at the last debate in Philadelphia two weeks ago," adding, "She gave as good as she got. And those who tried to kick her stubbed their toes."
Simon's phrase, "The (rhymes with rich) is back," recalled the song "The Bitch is Back," by Elton John and Bernie Taupin from John's 1974 album, Caribou. In it, John sings, "I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch/ Oh the bitch is back/ Stone cold sober as a matter of fact," and continues, "I can bitch, I can bitch/ 'Cause I'm better than you/ It's the way that I move, the things that I do." The phrase also recalled Barbara Bush, wife of former President George H.W. Bush, who, in 1984, called then-Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro "that $4 million -- I can't say it, but it rhymes with 'rich.' "
Additionally, as Talking Points Memo Media reporter-blogger Greg Sargent noted, a November 16 New York Times article by Katharine Q. Seelye wrote that the McCain campaign "episode may remind voters that many people have strong feelings about Mrs. Clinton and make them question whether they want to live with animosity and polarization." Seelye also wrote that the episode is "a reminder that many voters view Mrs. Clinton as divisive." From the article:
Senator John McCain of Arizona has sent out a fund-raising appeal based on an episode this week in which a voter referred to Senator Hillary Clinton using a slur.
[...]
In Mr. McCain's case, his fund-raising letter voiced his supposed outrage at CNN after one of its reporters, Rick Sanchez, suggested that he should have admonished the voter after she asked him, "How do we beat the bitch?" referring to Mrs. Clinton.
[...]
Mr. McCain's attack on CNN also serves to keep the episode involving the hostile question alive and as a reminder that many voters view Mrs. Clinton as divisive. Mr. McCain used the moment to portray himself as the victim of liberal news media -- a common fund-raising tactic by Republicans -- and to suggest that he can go toe to toe with Mrs. Clinton.
[...]
The Clinton campaign has not responded to the slur, which occurred in Hilton Head, S.C., at a McCain campaign event. But Clinton allies have suggested in the past that sexism-based attacks can actually help Mrs. Clinton by inspiring sympathy among women. They may even win over some voters who understand that campaigns are brutal but who appreciate a candidate who can "handle it," as former President Bill Clinton recently said of his wife.
At the same time, the episode may remind voters that many people have strong feelings about Mrs. Clinton and make them question whether they want to live with animosity and polarization.
From Simon's November 16 column:
The (rhymes with rich) is back.
In a Democratic debate here Thursday night, Hillary Clinton was not the passive, parsing, punching bag that she was at the last debate in Philadelphia two weeks ago.
She gave as good as she got. And those who tried to kick her stubbed their toes.
From John and Taupin's 1974 song "The Bitch is Back":
I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch
Oh the bitch is back
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact
I can bitch, I can bitch
'Cause I'm better than you
It's the way that I move
The things that I do
From the November 14 edition of CNN's American Morning:
CHETRY: All right, so then on the flip side, let's go over to the GOPs for a second, and maybe being too candid can be the problem in this case. This was a campaign event of John McCain's in South Carolina on Monday. And let's just listen to what happened.
[begin video clip]
FEMALE QUESTIONER: How do we beat the bitch?
[laughter]
McCAIN: May I give the translation?
[laughter]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Leave it alone.
McCAIN: The way that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: John, I thought she was talking about my ex-wife.
[laughter]
McCAIN: But that's an excellent question. ... I respect Senator Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat [sic] Party.
[end video clip]
CHETRY: All right, Mike, does that hurt McCain?
ALLEN: Oh, give me a break. Of course not. First of all, I think it's kind of funny. You watch that tape, it's clear to him who she was referring to. He could have said, whoever were you talking about? Which might have been the deftest way to handle it.
CHETRY: But he said that's an excellent question.
ALLEN: All right. But what Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that? And what people like about McCain is his straight talk, his candor, and if he had folded or buckled under that question, that would have looked ridiculous. There's no question about, as he said, the respect that the two of them have -- this is something actually your viewers would not know -- Senator McCain and Senator Clinton actually do have a genuine friendship in part because of their overseas travels from the Armed Services committee, so they do not attack each other. But Kiran, this was just a funny moment on the campaign trail.
CHETRY: Well, it's only funny unless you're offended by somebody calling a woman the b-word. And I'm sure there are many who are. So it'll -- I mean, yes or no before I let you go: Should Hillary address this or just leave it alone?
ALLEN: This question? I think she should leave it alone because others will address it for her. People who are upset about it will have seen this clip, and Senator McCain will pay that price.
CHETRY: All right, it was great to have you on the show this morning. Mike Allen, chief political correspondent for Politico. Thanks.
ALLEN: Likewise, have a good week Kiran.
CHETRY: You too.
To add further insult, McCain shows he's of the belief that the Democratic Party isn't deserving to determine their own name. Oh, but he'll still respect the nominee. What a jack***.
I'm just wondering when the republican party is going to oficially change their name to the brownshirt party. Didn't McCain write a book about his internment in Vietnam? I think it was called "mein struggle".
Snoopy, my sweet little dawg, You are so good with the German. Thanks for the laugh. You got any good German poems for McCain and his "biotch" scandal? I will recite it out loud with an "Ahnold" accent.
How about this one?
Two fishermen were sitting on the docks in San Francisco when they see a plane ditch in the bay. One fisherman gets in his boat and rows out to the plane to see if there were any survivors.
Upon returning to the dock, the fisherman steps out of the boat and proclaims to the second that "they were republicans".
The second fisherman says "but weren't there any survivors?" to which the first one replies "Well, one guy said he was, but you know how them republicans lie."
Tummy rub for Snoop. Indeed, all of them republicans do lie ;-)
I wouldn't have thought somebody could laugh too much, clap too much, and at the same time be a b!tch.
The right is trying to get all the fields covered. If Hillary is too even-tempered and nice, she's "passive", "weak", not 'man' enough for the job, and needs a "comeback". If she's agressive, then she's a you-know-what.
I don't doubt that she expected this and is steeled for it -and maybe worse- from the haters and mudslingers. (Her comment about the glass ceiling last night showed her resolve.( And I don't doubt that they know it. But it isn't Hillary, personally, that the haters are after, it's the potential Hillary voter.
If the Hillary haters plant this b!tchy theme in enough heads, if they repeat it enough, if it becomes a common synonym for Hillary (if it isn't already (refer back to the McCain/supporter incident), then maybe just maybe, they say, they'll put the doubt in the voter. Everyone's saying she's a b!tch, after all.
I wonder how often we'll hear clips of Elton John's from the Limbaughs, Becks, Hannitys as the intro to some of their good ol' Hillary-bashing. Or has that started already?
Ignoring or criticizing the b*tch comments will only go so far if the MSM picks it up as "conventional wisdom." Will women voting Repub yet again vote against themselves?
Heck! *I* think she should RUN WITH IT. Get permission to use the song and adopt it as a campaign slogan. It's a gift handed to her on a plate...no reason she should refuse to take it!
I agree Hillary should take the name and run with it!
Where did HRC go?
McCain should look in the mirror. He's been George Bush's b*tch for the last 4 years.
If someone uses your children against you in a race-baiting smear, and four years later you campaign for them, you are officially their b*tch in perpetuity.
again, the same old assumption that it's only hillary that will bring about divisiveness. everyone forget what happened to gore and kerry, the smear campaigns against them? a guy with five medals gets attacked as a fake and a liar? and it's pretty rich that mccain is portraying himself in a fundraising letter as the victim here. the sensible thing would have been to say we really don't need that kind of language. he might have actually made himself look good. instead he lacks the common sense to realize he comes off like a snickering idiot.
And using the word "B**tch" is not an attack on her because she is a women? the smear games continue. Would they call Edwards a B*itch? No .
Actually, they might. They already called Edwards gay, calling him a b!tch would just reinforce the stereotype with the troglodytes.
Yeah, Rush calls him 'Breck Girl' but I think Rush has a secret crush on him.
Actually, I think maybe Limbaugh has a hankerin' for them Caribbean boy-whores.
Snoopy you are right, I almost forgot about the smear that Coulter casted on John Edwards.
By my count, MMFA is 9 for 11 today in their items today. Even though some journalists cropped Obama quotes from last night to make it look like he didn't answer the question, MMFA is wrong for not realizing Obama (whom I like a lot) flip-flopped on driver's licenses for illegals (first saying "no no no" then saying "Yes").
Here, MM is oversensitive and wrong to suggest Roger Simon/Politico was serious with the "Rhymes with Rich is back" sentence that started his article on the CNN debate. By any reasonable and objective standard, that sentence was TONGUE-IN-CHEEK, not to be taken literally. Heck, the article title that MM didn't mention was called "Diamonds and Pearls for Hillary" (meaning, she shined in the debate, by my translation)
Afer all, none of the first 20 registered comments on the Simon article I read in full complained about his language in reference to Hillary. So why should MMFA? I know Politico gets rightly called to the carpet for a lot of things (i.e. the Mike Allen reference in this post) but this was a good article and I saw nothing terribly wrong with it.
---"that sentence was TONGUE-IN-CHEEK, not to be taken literally"---
So--as long as your tongue is in your cheek when you (for all intents and purposes) refer to Hillary Clinton as a b!tch, it's just funny. Or something.
Maybe next time, they can run a pic of Simon with, literally, his tongue-in-cheek, to make sure everybody gets the funny joke.
Maybe then he can also run a sidebar explaining why it's really hilarious. You know--for the more oversensitive ones who lack Simon's great sense of humor.
What's also quite funny is how frequently right-wingers feel compelled to try to explain what Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, Beck, and -in this instance- Simon, REALLY was thinking, or what they REALLY meant to say.
And how it was all just a joke, you see.
By the way, want some laughs? Then you and the males in the 20 non-offended Politco group should try this over the weekend:
Look your your wife, girlfriend, sister, mother, and female strangers straight in the eye and say (with tongue in cheek, natch):
"You're a rhymes-with-rich!".
Do it several times.
If they don't laugh, tell them they're just being oversensitive.
uh no, chucko, the "diamonds and pearls" comment was a question asked of hillary by an audience member, not some comment about hillary shining. and it's in the media matters column that woman wanted to ask a more substantial question, and cnn insisted she ask that one.
HEY THE BITCH IS BACK...AND SHE GONNA KICK SOME PRIVILEGED ASS AROUND WASHINGTON I HOPE!
HILLARY...IF YOU CAN SEE THIS...RAISE THERI G*D D*MNED TAXES! Pull a Roosevelt on them all!!!!!
Actually when I used to go to Republican precinct meetings several years back, it was part of the Republican plan to misstate the name of the DemocratIC party. Imagine being so stupid that you will not even read a name correctly. I guess they thought THEIR misspelling denigrated the Democrats when in fact, all it did is make them look like they were all lousy readers or Childish, uuummmm probably both!!!!!
MARI2J, The Rush guy likes to emphasis RAT when he leaves off the IC....I have personally decided to take the IC out of Republan just to balance the wacko world of the RIGHTNUTS. They all think it is cute and funny. Soemthing like the guy above wrote, tongue-in-cheek.
What really gets the goat of the RIGHTNUTS is that they believe they are losing their masculinity to HRC or any other woman for that matter. But who determined that they had any masculinity. They sit around the tables and these JERKS in the CIRCLE critize anyone who disagrees with them. But now their HATE HILLARY campaign is in the open. No longer can they hide behind their skirts. Fear has gotten the best of them.
I would challenge any of them to debate Mrs. Clinton in an open forum on ANY, yes, ANY issue. They have been using the HATE BUSH CARD for so many years to cover the ass of this President and have expose their HATRED for HRC in the same manner.
Too bad that jealous has taken hold of the Republan Party which is being led around by their collective noses by these CystJockeys. Such a shame. I look forward to the days that the Democratic Party and the Republican party can get together and each party can state to the world....IC what wrong is and IC it can be fixed.
Maybe that is what this country needs. Noone owns her. people like that tend to be hated to the point of namecalling.
Roger Simon again demonstrates that he is a first-rate (rhymes with gashole). I raise this reluctantly with a sincere apology, and only then to underline this episode as yet another reminder that many Politico readers view Roger Simon as a moronic & divisive (rhymes with gashole).
Just so you know: The Hilton Head Island newspaper has identified the woman who asked the question:
... The question had a cadence and a sharp alliteration that sliced through the yadda-yadda-yadda about Social Security and health care that dominated Sen. John McCain's campaign stop on Hilton Head Island on Monday.
With news cameras rolling, Wexford resident Linda Burke, prim in a neck scarf and pulled-back hair, leaned forward out of the crowd and asked plainly and emphatically: "How do we beat the bitch?"
That word, henceforth called the "B-Bomb," referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner who stirs up vituperative feelings deep in the gut of many Republicans.
(skip)
For Burke, however, national exposure isn't her only experience amplifying her feelings about the former first lady.
When Clinton moved to New York and ran for Senate, appearing in a parade outside Burke's former home on 68th Street and 5th Avenue in New York City, she stuck a megaphone out her window and yelled "GO HOME!."
"I'm terrified of her," Burke said in an interview after Monday's event. For the record, she's still undecided, but leaning toward Rudy Giuliani.
The wingnuts are SO AFRAID of Hillary !!!
I just have to remember that every bit of their hate speech, from the slightest insult to the worst epithet, from misstatements of facts to implications that she's a murderer, are because THEY FEAR HER and they are totally unable to come up with any viable plan of action.
Their plan of action is Mr. 9/11. Now there is a real plan of action. Calling a woman a b*itch, another fine strategy. Acting like a**holes, can't call it a plan, it comes naturally for these bums. This is becoming too funny. The BOYS who want to control the election are being beaten by a woman...You get her Rush..you to Sean, you wimp.
Ronald Regan was polarizing. Why did he get a pass? Republicans think Democrats ought to care what Republicans care about? All Republicans think about is winning, and they hate Hillary because of that. Enough of this other crap already
Simon is well known to be a GOP stooge. The fact is no matter what he says, he can't change the fact that Hillary Clinton whupped up on everybody during the Vegas debate, and is still smacking around Rudy Giuliani in the national polls. It really is funny seeing cowards like Simon, Matthews and others, continue to do their best to derail Hillary....and failing miserably all along the way.