Echoing Rove, Williams claimed Obama ad "makes himself out to be born in Kansas"
SUMMARY: On Fox News Sunday, Juan Williams asserted of a recent campaign ad from Sen. Barack Obama: "He makes himself out to be born in Kansas, Kansas values. He's in Hawaii." However, as Media Matters for America has noted, in the ad, Obama does not "make[] himself out to be born in Kansas"; rather, he makes clear he was "raised" by his mother and grandparents, who "grew up" in Kansas. Karl Rove made a similar claim in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
On the July 6 edition of Fox News Sunday, NPR news analyst Juan Williams asserted of a recent campaign ad from Sen. Barack Obama: "He makes himself out to be born in Kansas, Kansas values. He's in Hawaii." However, as Media Matters for America has noted, in the ad, Obama does not "make[] himself out to be born in Kansas"; rather, he makes clear he was "raised" by his mother and grandparents, who "grew up" in Kansas. Obama stated: "I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn't have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up" [emphasis added].
Williams statement echoes Fox News contributor Karl Rove's assertion in a July 3 Wall Street Journal op-ed that Obama's "bio ad says he was raised with 'values straight from the Kansas heartland,' though he grew up in Hawaii."
From Obama's ad, "The Country I Love":
OBAMA: I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn't have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated. It's what guided me as I worked my way up, taking jobs and loans to make it through college.
From the July 6 edition of Fox News Sunday:
WILLIAM KRISTOL (The Weekly Standard editor): I mean, the good news, as you -- you suggest that well, it's closer than people thought it would be, and it is closer than it might be, and that shows Obama's weakness. The great myth of this campaign for months has been Barack Obama is a strong presidential candidate. He's an impressive politician. He's an impressive man in many ways. But the fact is Hillary Clinton beat him week after week in the late Democratic primaries when she was outspent, when the media had anointed Obama as the inevitable nominee, and he was pretty much the inevitable nominee, and Democratic voters -- Democratic voters -- were still resistant to anointing him. And now some Democrats and a lot of independents are resistant to him in the general election. He is too liberal. He should not win. No one with his profile has won the presidency, period.
Clinton won as a new Democrat. Carter won as a moderately conservative Democrat. All the liberal Democratic senators who have been nominated have lost, especially if you're only a one-term Democratic senator who's consistently voted with the liberal part of the party. Now, he's trying -- he learned -- the great irony of Obama is he beat Hillary Clinton, but he learned a lot from Bill Clinton. And he has spent the last month in a Clintonian way trying to move to the center. But still, people have the sense that, "Gee, he's awfully liberal and awfully untested." So it is winnable for McCain. McCain can beat Obama. But the McCain campaign as currently constituted, I think, cannot beat the Obama campaign. The McCain campaign is not as good as McCain the candidate.
WILLIAMS: Well, what you're seeing, though, is -- I mean, is Senator Obama speaking just to the concern you have, which is not only changing positions, refining, however you want to put it, but also running ads that put him more towards the middle. Now, some of these ads include things that are of question. He says that he was for welfare reform when he wasn't for welfare reform. He makes himself out to be born in Kansas, Kansas values. He's in Hawaii. This kind of thing -- I think people are going to get uneasy when they look at his record in the Senate -- very liberal.
This is one of those things that MMfA is grasping at, attempting to take all credibility out of what is being discussed. The ad doesn't say he was born in Kansas, but absolutely makes no mention of Hawaii (or Indonesia for that matter) and certainly leads the viewer to believe he's from the heartland. In that regard, the ad is well done.
I found this to be ironic: Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses.
Mr. Obama, I believe you're a good man and have lived by those tenants through your life, but your politics take all self-reliance and personal accountability out of the equation for the americans you would govern.
but your politics take all self-reliance and personal accountability out of the equation for the americans you would govern.
Huh? You can't just leave that floating out there without some evidence to support you"theory".
No theory needed. Obama's ideas would expand federal government in our daily lives, from welfare/SS/Medicare/Medicaid to universal healthcare to speech to taxes to (possibly) controlling our energy sourcing and consumption.
yeah, universal healthcare is bad. Healthcare is a privilege for the those that can afford it. Ever think that Medicaid costs the taxpayers more than what UH would? If all the "uninsured" had preventative health check-ups we might actually save this country a bundle of money instead of treating after the fact. Plus, why are we the only western industrialized nation without universal healthcare? What have those other countries figured out that we haven't yet? Maybe that somebody's health shouldn't have a profit motive attached to it! And, some have the gall to call our country a Christian country when we don't give a hoot about those less fortunate. How hypocritical.
BTW: I'm an atheist and think everybody, rich or poor, should have equal access to medical care. If you can afford "private" care, so be it, but the poor shouldn't be left to suffer because of it.
Demntx, it's not the federal government's job. If you don't like the rule of law, tough, go find another country where the rule of law matches your values or get on your horse and amend the constitution.
Nobody said it wasn't a nice thing to give healthcare to people.
You just said the constitution forbids national health care.
You're done here. Better change your name.
The Constitution provides guidelines for what the federal government MAY do. It was written that was so that the national gov. didn't become the tyrannical body that was just broken away from.
So, per the Constitution, any power not given to the federal gov by the Constitution is up to states or individuals, not the other way around.
Glad I could help!
The Constitution provides guidelines for what the federal government MAY do.
The Preamble of the US Constitution. Emphasis is mine:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
I believe that health care falls inder the "general Welfare" provision. It's also one of the "blessings of Liberty".
The Constitution provides guidelines for what the federal government MAY do.
No, it doesn't. It says what Government may not do. Nowhere near the same thing.
Well thank god I'm protected from the tyranny of having my health care paid for. Thank god it's in the benevolent hands of private insurers and private employers, that have my interests at heart, as opposed to their own profit margins.
You know what? People like you deserve to get cancer and lose their job in the same week. Then we'll see how you feel about the health care system we have in place now. (Or have this kind of nonsense happen to you: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119551952474798582.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone) Yeah. PLEASE protect me from the tyranny of Federally financed health care. Your side's ignorance when it comes to health care is ASTOUNDING. (And frankly: DANGEROUS - Your stupidity is actually killing people.)
You people who think that the government can somehow never do any good at all have no place in government. The problem is your lot keep getting elected and your party's own incompetence go on to prove your theory. (But you're right about one thing - sure as hell wouldn't want the REPUBLICANS managing my health care: If my arm was cut off, I'd be lucky to get a Band-Aid for those cheap bastards.)
"So, per the Constitution, any power not given to the federal gov by the Constitution is up to states or individuals, not the other way around."
Okay, let's assume this is the case. Universal healthcare could very well be left up to the states, per the Goldwater conservative principles. All the Federal government would have to do is mandate that each state provide coverage for anyone, provide funds to do so, and let the states experiment. Some states would find a good way to do it, and some states wouldn't be so lucky and their policies would fail, but it would be a grand experiment and would give us a myriad of options to ensure everyone has healthcare.
And, some have the gall to call our country a Christian country when we don't give a hoot about those less fortunate. How hypocritical.
I know you say your atheist, but Amen!!
Furthermore, I'm sick and tired of the word liberal being flung around like cancer. I don't care what any Republican, conservative, right-wing hack says, CONSERVATIVES have jacked up this country and other countries for the past 8 years. How dare you play the "he's very liberal" card as if that's a bad thing, when your conservative way of interpreting our constitution and diplomacy has us in the quagmire called the Iraq War. How dare you say "he's very liberal" when your CONSERVATIVE w
And, some have the gall to call our country a Christian country when we don't give a hoot about those less fortunate. How hypocritical.
I know you say your atheist, but Amen!!
Furthermore, I'm sick and tired of the word liberal being flung around like cancer. I don't care what any Republican, conservative, right-wing hack says, CONSERVATIVES have jacked up this country and other countries for the past 8 years. How dare you play the "he's very liberal" card as if that's a bad thing, when your conservative way of interpreting our constitution and diplomacy has us in the quagmire called the Iraq War. How dare you say "he's very liberal" when your CONSERVATIVE w
ayDon't know what happened, but I'll finish my point.
How dare you say "he's very liberal" when your CONSERVATIVE way of giving tax breaks to big business has our housing market plummeting. Liberals need not be ashamed of the title. Conservatives need to move slightly to the left if they want to fix some of the problems caused by this last regime.
Obama's ideas would expand federal government in our daily lives,
Au contraire, savior faire. By putting a Dem. back in the presidency, we would have a chance to make government work FOR us with competency, instead of against us with shocking and complete ineptitude.
Name one accomplishment by this administration. Just one.
They made everyone forget the incompetency of Jimmy Carter.
You asked.
Actually, Bruce, he asked him to name a single accomplidhment bt THIS administration.
Hw's still waiting for an answer.
Here's a whole list of his "accomplishments":
Top Ten Accomplishments of the Bush Administration
(from a liberal perspective)
A humorous look at the Bush administration's top "accomplishments."
10). Bush has managed to do what even Bill and Hillary could never hope to do: he has destroyed the Republican Party.
9). Rather than soak the rich through tax hikes he simply bankrupted the country so everyone is poor.
8). Dubya’s close identification with private retirement accounts virtually ensures no politician will ever try to privatize Social Security again.
7). G.W.B. is likely to be the last white guy from a backward southern state to make it to the Oval Office for a long time.
6). Bush has managed to turn Clinton fatigue into Clinton nostalgia. Filegate, Pardongate, Travelgate, Monicagate, & Hillarycare. Ah . . . those were the days!
5). Bush’s flight suit photo-op antics makes Michael Dukakis look like Patton in comparison.
4). Hey, it’s only poetic justice for Bush himself to do more than anyone else to overturn Bush vs. Gore in the eyes of History.
3). After three recessions and four wars under two George Bushes we can be damn well sure the country will never elect another George Bush again.
2). Bush’s malapropisms, the so-called Bushisms, represent some of the greatest political humor ever conceived.
1). Bush managed to fuse elements of Elizabethan tragedy and vaudevillian farce. It’s like having Adam Sandler play King Lear. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but I can’t stop watching.
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=5897
I agree. I was wrong about him. I haven't defended him for quite a while.
one thing jimmy carter did do is give us the mileage standards we have had for the last thirty years. but whatever carter did or did not do, he was light years ahead of bush.
William Henry Harrison was light years ahead of Bush. And he caught pneumonia the day of his inaguration and died a month later...
Obama's ideas would expand federal government in our daily lives, from welfare/SS/Medicare/Medicaid to universal healthcare to speech to taxes to (possibly) controlling our energy sourcing and consumption.
Yet you seem to have no problem with the Bush Misadministration's practices of spying on citizens, illegal wiretaps, torture, and a general erosion of personal liberties. Do I sense a disconnect here????
I would respectfully submit for your consideration that:
you are forgetting to mention that Republican administrations over the last few decades _have_ expanded "federal government", as you say, in ways that have enriched the wealthiest sectors of our society. Not to mention, so to speak, that much of the policies helped along by republicants have _milked_ the middle class of a good portion of their assets...just consider the numerous disasters in financial and energy industry institutions that were deliberately foisted on, unsuspecting, average folks.
KRISTOL: No one with his profile has won the presidency, period.
Yea, because elitist, racist Republican creeps like you demonize anyone who is not white bread like you.
Hawai'i, Kansas... at least Mr. Obama was born in the United States, unlike McCain.
I love to read the words of crazy people, people who see thoughts and words in their own imaginations, and are so crazed and daft, they think those words and thoughts have come from outside them, from other people...
I haven't a clue where the word or thought of "discredits" appears anywhere in my comment.
Crazy people are fun... it's especially funny how they always get crazier the more they talk: talk never makes them better, it always makes them worse... it's almost as though some strange and imagined use of words was at the root of their illness: and that the more tangled they become in those roots, the worse off they get.
Ah Dem02020...the apostrophized "Hawai'i" makes me miss the islands. Only a local would do that. (And yes, I know it's technically an 'okina').
Obama should embrace his island roots.
I'm not native to the Islands, but I love words, and the proper use of them: and I prefer to spell the word Hawai'i with its correct punctuation, because that apostrophe guides the pronounciation: the word actually has a sort of magic spell to it, when said correctly... when the Eye EE are said distinct and sharp, almost as though the EE were a separate word.
I think anyone who aspires to Represent the entire American People as Mr. Obama does, need not and should not show much preference to the People of any one State, or to any particular Region of the United States: I don't mean it's politically expedient either... I mean that in truth, Mr. Obama should consider all the American People his Fellows and Friends, and his Brothers and Sisters.
He makes himself out to be born in Kansas, Kansas values. He's in Hawaii.
Poor Juan, having a hard time keeping that "foreign Muslim" lie going against the truth. Obama's speaking to the "so called" concern YOU and your right wing nut friends have. He's debunking the rumors that he was raised Muslim, with his Kansas born mother who's also an atheist. The ad shows facts in the face of the right wing nutty e-mails circulating.
You want to go after Obama’s record, fine, but the attempt to paint Obama as some secret Muslim with questionable ties is put to rest for those who have a brain and use it.
Republicans will stoop to ANY level to win and McCain, the 2000 campaign and the nasty rumors about his daughter reflect that fact.
I will keep saying that these pundits are going to ensure a massive blitz for the Democratic Party.
I have noticed that this time around, as opposed to 2000 and 2004. that people are actually verifying rumors and innuendos. The independents got fooled in 2004 and will look at the "NEWS" thrown out by either side. The internet will be used for fact vs. fiction. Mr. Rove will not be able to counteract this. (SEE November 2006)
And for Philib and his sidekick, an innuendo is NOT an Italian suppository. Just in case Rush or Seannie tells you otherwise.
As a conservative, I find other so-called conservatives who act like health care is a burden to be loony. Protecting our lives, rights and property, right? Providing people with the care needed to assist them IS protecting their life.
But that must be the compassionate side of me talking. I think tomorrow I'll go stand in front of some poor people and break my arm just to show that I have the means to get it taken care of and they don't.
Healthcare (education too) is an investment in human capital. If we want the most secure public health possible and most educated workforce, it is imperative to invest in those endeavors. We can't leave it to the invisible hand of the market any longer, that has been tried for more than two decades now and has failed to raise the living standards of Americans.
Hey, I think Ryanisforever is a real, principled conservative. There's something we don't see every day around here. ;0
And I'd bet that if Ryan has "the means" to get that broken arm taken care of, it's more likely he worked his way to that position than those pseudo-conservatives who whine about the oppression and tyranny of the idea of a government that is involved in promoting the general, well-being of its citizens.
Thanks, Ryan, nice to see a self-described conservative who can see the Big Picture.
Summary: On Fox News Sunday, Juan Williams asserted of a recent campaign ad from Sen. Barack Obama: "He makes himself out to be born in Kansas, Kansas values. He's in Hawaii." However, as Media Matters for America has noted, in the ad, Obama does not "make[] himself out to be born in Kansas"; rather, he makes clear he was "raised" by his mother and grandparents, who "grew up" in Kansas. Karl Rove made a similar claim in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Sounds like Juan Williams and KKKarl Rove both have problems grasping complex concepts. Obama made it clear he was raised in Hawaii according to the values his mother and grandmother broought fro Kansas, yet they both think Obama said he grew up in Kansas
I'll bet they both did poorly on the verbal portion of their SATs.....