Washington Post’s Saslow Trivializes Obscene, Sexist Treatment of Hillary Clinton

One of the reasons I left the Democratic Party last summer was the culture of misogyny that revealed itself in the unholy alliance of the party’s leaders and the media during a primary that culminated in a convention rigged to anoint Barack Obama as nominee for the presidency.

Even Howard Dean has since acknowledged the abusive treatment endured by first Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary and later Sarah Palin in the general election.

And yet – and yet – just this morning I turn to the Washington Post and read Eli Saslow’s saccharine paean to Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau who recently exposed his own depravity and that of his buddies in a photo first published on Facebook. The photo shows Favreau groping the cardboard former first lady’s breast while a buddy pours beer down her throat.

Here’s how Saslow cleverly dismisses the young Favreau’s behavior:

‘“Now, he {Favreau} has transformed into what one friend called a ‘Washington political force’ -- a minor celebrity with a down payment on a Dupont Circle condo, whose silly Facebook photos with a Hillary Rodham Clinton cutout created what passes for controversy in Obama's so far drama-free transition.”’

Saslow’s noxious attempt to brush Favreau’s misconduct aside doesn’t change the seriousness of the issue that continues to hang over the 2008 presidential election. Civilized, informed Americans are well aware that our nation sets the example on human rights for the rest of the world.

When America’s rampant misogyny, illustrated by a photo of punk Favreau’s disrespectful treatment of our newly named secretary of state, is rocketed around the worldwide Web, we are effectively condoning the abusive treatment of women in other cultures exemplified recently by a news report featuring a 13-year-old Somali girl. The child was brutally raped by three men on her way to visit her grandmother. She turned to the authorities for help and was instead charged with adultery and publicly stoned to death.

The good news regarding Saslow’s typically fawning coverage of anything related to the Obama team is that a good many readers took the time to protest. Below is nikital’s comment that has already been recommended by 10 readers:

nikita1 wrote:
“What the reporter described as an awkward pose was actually Favreau acting out events that often precipitate date rape. His hands is groping her breast. Another is around her neck. And the other man in the photo is pouring beer down her throat. Readers should substitute U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's face with one of their daughter, wife, sister, or mother. The Washington Post has done a great disservice to its readers by assisting in the effort to rehabilitate the image of a person who is not fit to serve in the White House.
12/18/2008 8:53:52 AM
Recommended (10)”

Another Washington Post reader, jandrejacques, also has no patience for Favreau’s obscene behavior and again several readers approve the comment:

“Favreau should be fired for that photo. It gives substance to a belief to anybody who has been watching that the Obamas are elitists and see several minority groups as inferior, and it will be a worm in the Obama structure that will consume it. More importantly, it gives any foreign entity that SoS-elect Clinton must deal with, reason to wonder if the Obama regime are truly respectful and supportive of Clinton. He has to be fired. Of course, 'zipperhead' Obama hasn't got a clue.
12/18/2008 8:33:24 AM
Recommended (10)”

Obama Gets the Picture: It Takes Experience to Make Change Happen

Update: The rumor of Hillary Clinton’s possible appointment as Secretary of State is still out there; her meeting with Obama to discuss her role in his administration has been confirmed.

Politico’s Ben Smith and Carrie Budoff Brown report this morning the Obama transition looks increasingly like the former Clinton Administration:

“Thirty-one of the 47 people so far named to transition or staff posts have ties to the Clinton Administration, including all but one of the members of his 12-person Transition Advisory Board and both of his White House staff choices.

“Most of those appointees weren't West Wing heavy-hitters, but lower-profile policy hands such as former Deputy Secretary of Defense John White and former State Department official Wendy Sherman. They include former deputies to National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Defense Secretary William Perry, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and some currently work at consultancies run by those Clinton administration principals.

“Others are old Obama allies who also have Clinton ties, like Michael Froman, a transition adviser who was Obama's classmate at Harvard Law School and served as Robert Rubin's chief of staff at the Clinton Treasury Department, and Christopher Edley, who taught Obama at Harvard and also served Clinton, and who is married to a former Clinton deputy chief of staff.

‘“This is a good way to try to be helpful without giving up my new life at Berkeley,’ said Edley, who is now dean of the law school at the University of California at Berkeley, in an email.

“The highest-ranking member of the group with deep ties to both Clinton and Obama is Emanuel, a Chicagoan who is very close to Obama and his chief strategist, David Axelrod.

“Though the transition is still young, former Clintonites say they feel a change in the atmosphere.

“‘It's heartening to see that that was just primary rhetoric,’ said a former Clinton aide of Obama's criticism of Clinton's administration.”’

One might also ask if Obama’s praise of the Reagan Administration was just campaign rhetoric.

Read more.

Women Win: Lawrence Summers Off the Short List

At Politico, Lisa Lerer and Victoria McGrane report:

“Intense backlash from women’s groups may have pushed former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers off the short-list to lead Treasury for President-elect Barack Obama, according to widespread reports circulating in Democratic circles.

“The women’s opposition to a possible Summers’ appointment was the explanation some Democratic sources are hearing for why the Obama transition team has crossed Summers off their list. The Obama team doesn’t want to kick off its administration with a controversy nor go head-to-head with an important constituency when there are other qualified candidates, political operatives speculate.

“Reports that Summers is no longer in the running are widespread, but not everyone agrees that his problems with women have sealed his fate.

“Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization of Women, said there are other reasons to oppose Summers, citing his involvement in Clinton-era policies that many say contributed to the current economic woes.

‘“There are a lot of reasons that people oppose Larry Summers,’ she said. NOW has not lobbied the Obama transition to scuttle Summers, she said, but instead put forward names of qualified women for the slot.”’

Read more.

Dubya and Obama: Unaware of the Difference Between Campaigning and Governing

One of my concerns in the upcoming Obama Administration has been that Obama and his closest advisors will make the same mistake made by George W. Bush and Karl Rove. I’m referring to the confusion between campaigning and governing - apparently Dubya never learned the difference.

How many times did you come across the claim in the blogosphere during the final months of the general election that Obama was qualified to be president because he ran a good campaign?

Posting this morning at the Washington Post on the Obama-Biden transition, Garance Franke-Ruta writes:

“The Obama-Biden transition office this morning issued an unusual -- and unusually campaign-like -- statement pushing back against an Associated Press report on its transition efforts.

‘“The A.P. had reported that ‘a senior administration official said former Secretary of State Warren Christopher would advise Obama on his State Department transition’ -- a description meaning that a Bush administration figure, rather than an Obama-Biden transition one, was the source.

‘“Obama-Biden Presidential Transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, who was quoted in the original A.P. story, said in the additional statement: ‘Secretary Christopher is deeply respected in the United States and throughout the international community. However, he is not playing a role in the transition process.

‘“There's a lot of disinformation out there. We're working hard to put the agency review teams together and expect they'll be announced this week and inside the agencies by the end of the week.’

‘“The original story also suggested that former senator Sam Nunn would have a prominent formal role in the process, describing him ‘as the leader of Obama's defense transition,’ attributing that to anonymous sources.

‘“Said Cutter in the push-back statement: ‘Senator Sam Nunn will play an informal senior advisor role throughout the defense transition process. His expertise and the respect he has earned will be invaluable to ensure a smooth transition.”’

I posted in late January on the commonalities of Bush and Obama, and it would seem that not knowing the difference between campaigning and governing will loom large. Does this mean that Americans are doomed to suffer four more years of Bush during the Obama Administration?

Reality Strikes: Obama Lowers Expectations; Puts Hope on Hold

Early on in his campaign, Barack Obama accused his detractors of wanting to “boil all of the hope out of him.” The audacity of hope guy wasn’t about to let that happen. Now that he’s won the election, Obama is pulling the same kind of trick he pulled shortly after receiving the Democratic nomination when he made a quick right turn and lunged for the center, reneging on almost every pledge he’d made to his wild-eyed left-wing supporters. But I don’t recall that he tried, as they say, to “lower their expectations.”

Quelling a brief rebellion by thousands of his Facebook friends, Obama continued to easily turn his political rallies into revival meetings with his adoring fans chanting “Yes, we can.”

The sudden transition from the candidate to the president-elect has had a sobering effect on Obama. Now, instead of “Yes, we can,” the One is saying, “Well, look, maybe later on we can.”

The change has been so dramatic the AP’s Nedra Pickler and Beth Fouhy this evening are accusing Obama of having put hope on hold.

“In two appearances since he was elected, Obama has emphasized the monumental challenges the country faces and warned against expectations that he will bring a quick fix. The change he promised on the campaign trail will come, he told an eager nation, but it will take some time.”

‘“We are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime,’ Obama said at a news conference Friday.

“Obama faces war and recession, and an ambitious list of campaign promises like tax cuts, expanded health care and a new approach to energy. No president can do it all at once, and politically Obama needs the country to be patient so it isn't disappointed when he doesn't deliver monumental change overnight.

‘“It is not going to be quick, and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in,’ he said.”’

I can’t speak for the millions who voted for Obama on his promise of hope and change, but I’ve said all along that I don’t need a charismatic politician to give me hope; my hope is rooted in my faith. And neither Obama, nor ten like him, has the power to put it on hold.