Wash. Post's Milbank distorted Clinton quote, while claiming "[i]t was very nearly a case of Too Much Information"
SUMMARY: Describing it as "nearly a case of Too Much
Information," Dana Milbank wrote that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "divulged
some startling news: She was dispatching across Iowa 'people who have known me, who
can talk about what I do when the lights are off.' As luck would have it, Bill
Clinton was campaigning with his wife in the Hy-Vee, and he was asked what he
and the senator do in their, um, downtime." But Milbank left off the
rest of Clinton's sentence, which makes clear that she was not
insinuating what Milbank suggested.
In his December 19 "Washington Sketch" column, Washington Post national political reporter Dana Milbank cropped a statement Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) made campaigning in Iowa the previous day, writing:
It was very nearly a case of Too Much Information.
Sen. Hillary Clinton was campaigning in a Hy-Vee grocery here [Des Moines, Iowa] Tuesday, on day two of her effort to display warmth and fuzziness, when she divulged some startling news: She was dispatching across Iowa "people who have known me, who can talk about what I do when the lights are off."
As luck would have it, Bill Clinton was campaigning with his wife in the Hy-Vee, and he was asked what he and the senator do in their, um, downtime.
"Sometimes we're just sleeping," the former president answered, "because we're so tired."
Those crazy kids. But then, the effort to humanize Hillary was bound to encounter some hitches.
In fact, Clinton did not refer merely to "what I do when the lights are off," but rather to: "what I do when the lights are off and the cameras are gone," giving examples, neither of which included what Milbank was insinuating. Following is her full statement, as aired on the December 18 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:
CLINTON: It's not easy for me to talk about myself. I'd rather talk about Magic [Johnson]. But I think that by having people who have known me and who can talk about, you know, what I do when the lights are off and the cameras are gone, what I do when I meet some mom who has a sick child and I do everything in my power to try to help or a family stranded because of Katrina, and the failure of our government to help, maybe that'll give a little bit of insight that will kind of round out who I am as a person.
As Media Matters for America noted, in his December 14 Post piece, "Attacks Add," Milbank asserted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "is no Boy Scout" and that "the achievements Obama has to tout are thin." To support his claim, Milbank noted Obama's speech to the Democratic National Committee on November 30, in which Obama said he "expanded health care in Illinois by bringing Democrats and Republicans together, by taking on the insurance industry." Milbank then wrote: "Actually, his signature legislation as a state senator, the Health Care Justice Act, merely set up a panel to craft a plan." In fact, while Obama did sponsor the Health Care Justice Act in 2004, he also sponsored a 2003 bill that expanded KidCare and FamilyCare, health insurance programs for low-income families in Illinois. According to enrollment statistics provided by the Kaiser Foundation, the two programs expanded enrollment by more than 150,000 following the bill's passage.
Take two disparate question responses, truncate them and present them completely out of context to insinuate that a married couple might be having (dirty, vile) sex! Perish the thought, think of the children!
Reels the mind.
Dana Milbank used to be a good reporter before the Washington Post editors told him to be funny in a "Washington Sketch" column.
He's not funny. He used to be informative, but now he isn't informative, either.
They should take away his column and make him a regular reporter, again.
Way to whip up some controversy!
Wow twice this week , threads about Millbank. I guess Keith is off? and Millbank is a regular on KO that KO can ignore these. Will he ever name Millbank WPITW? Doubt it.
Aarrrrr... Thar she blows, Sueeld! - the bloody monstrous, tenuous connection to Keith OLbermann!.Lower the boats! All hands on deck ! Man the harpoons!
What a hateful thing that you've done, HBL... smearing poor Sueeld with Olbermann references! We don't do personal attacks here, buster. You might as well suggest that she posts the same damned thing over and over and over and over again. You think she's repetitious, we get it. You're just against people who hold different opinions than you... even if it is the same opinion every freakin' time.
And did I mention that it was hateful of you? ;o)
Why is it that whenever I read one of Sue's posts I picture a lone figure at the end of a cliff screaming "OLBERRRRRMAAAAAAN!!!!"?
You're right, Mescal, I'm a hater who can't stand different opinions.And I think T-Hones image is very hateful too. Worse than my Capt. Ahab.
I'll bet Ahab had a bunch of haters on his ship who were too biased and closed-minded to enjoy chasing that white whale around the ocean.Haters!
"To the last I grapple with thee, Keith Olberman; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."
I think it's time for you know who to "give up the spear".
Apologies to Herman Melville for my paraphrasing.
Dana Milbank is a supposed “professional journalist”? Unless the only class he ever took was creative writing, how could he possibly have ever graduated from college? This writing is not only unethical, it is sick. This guy is creepy.
Only a true perv would take a totally benign statement by Hillary and by chopping a common figure of speech, twist it into something having sexual overtones – Then add yet another quote from her husband and try to make it fit his sick mindset.
I’ve often thought this, but kept it to myself - thinking I might be imagining it or prejudiced – but this one screams for me to ask, “Why is it that conservatives seem to be so hung up with what goes on in someone else’s bedroom?”
“Why is it that conservatives seem to be so hung up with what goes on in someone else’s bedroom?”
PJ,
I guess you're assuming Milbank is a right-winger?
It seems to me it's the MEDIA in general that gets all hot & bothered by sex scandals. I don't think they care what party is involved. They love dirt.
Now just a personal observation: I think sex scandals involving Democrats are usually more entertaining. Why? Because by & large Democratic politicians tend to be, IMO, more... dashing & better-looking. From JFK to Gary Hart to Bill Clinton to the one now brewing about John Edwards, well you get my drift...I mean I can't even imagine how Rudy or Fred Thompson attract women, let alone get them into bed ;-)
IMO, the more scandalous the sex, the more entertaining the story. Therefore, most Democratic sex scandals are relatively blase to me. It's always extramarital affairs, and very rarely are they anything but heterosexual. Where's the public sex, multiple gay lovers, and pedophilia* on the Democratic side? All we get are the "he got a hummer in the White House."Boooorrriiinnnggg.
*note: I abhor pedophilia, as I'm sure all of you do too. However, I can't change what's already happened, so no rants about how I'm condoning it or anything.
Here's your pedophilia...
http://www.armchairsubversive.org/
(It's not Democratic though...) ;)
Oh geez, NiceguyEddie! – You realize what you’ve just done?
Now we’re going to be hearing Savage, O’Reiiley, and Beck telling the world that there's “Here’s your pedophilia” links on MMFA! LMAO
"I mean I can't even imagine how Rudy or Fred Thompson attract women, let alone get them into bed ;-)"
[link to farm2.static.flickr.com]
[link to www.prosebeforehos.com]
Never underestimate the power of the undead.
Wicked! Positively . . . wicked!
Okay, I recognized Giuliani, but who was that in the picture on the right?
The media hates sex scandals if it's Republicans doing them.
I know exactly what you mean. It seems as if it's like, "Well, they are Republicans, and conservatives, and they're the party of values. I'm sure it was just a small mistake and that they regret."
Actually, I think what this does is prove that Milbank isn't a right-winger. If he was, surely he'd believe that Bill and Hillary kept the lights on. How else would the camera capture her in her leather dominatrix outfit, after all?
Dana Milbank was trying to be funny.
The "Washington Sketch" column is an unfunny attempt at humor.
Milbank should return to regular reporting instead of writing a humor column.
this is clearly wrong by milbank. it's not that he failed to include a subsequent sentence that might have made a difference. he chopped a sentence in half and put a period on it. no excuse for this.
It is indeed a case of too much information - for Milbank to handle...