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Hillary on Working Class Whites in 1995: Screw 'em

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/16/hillary-clinton-on-workin_n_97017.html

Enjoy.

If you liked this post (link, really), please click recommend....


Comments (47)

Congratulations on being the sixth person to post this topic without bothering to see that it's already here! Excellent research!

well, we as readers/bloggers have to make sure this story gets the attention it deserves because greg sargent won't post it. His boss, harold ickes, won't let him.

I'd like to know why Greg hasn't commented on the HuffingtonPost article yet since it brings another contextual analysis to the "bittergate" situation regarding Hillary Clinton.

You're right. I didn't look, and had I, I wouldn't have posted this.

Apologies to all for the redundancy.

I did successfully post it on Hillary Clinton's website.

Their jaws are down near their tube socks.

Do you have a link for me?

Go to www.hillaryclinton.com, register and start blogging. They have become a lot more restrictive for some strange reason. (smile)

So you cannot cut an paste full articles. You have to leave the link. But the truth, in any form, is damaging on that website.

Oooh cool. I need to post this one.
Brand new vid from the Jed Report. These guys are great with Hillary footage. I wonder what Hillary.com will think about it
Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exsmFDYyK4U

Actually I posted that video there too.

One really interesting section from that HuffPost article:

""Hillary Clinton has a very strong customer view: the citizen is the customer and the government the vender," said Boyte. "You can see it in Mark Penn's frame. In fact, last Christmas she had an ad of herself writing checks to different groups.""

Wow!!!

Ah, bother, CT Voter. Based simply on the fact that you recommended the link, I checked it out, expecting something good ("If CT Voter, who's tastes and judgement I respect so highly liked it..."). Instead it was just a piece of fluffy criticism based on nothing more than hearsay. I am underwhelmed.

Wow.

Hearsay? If the book author was present at the time, witnessed the interaction, and heard the quote then it's just a form of hearsay?

Actually, there are two sources for the article.

Does that seem an unfair characterization? To my mind, "Sam Stein says that Benjamin Barber says that Hillary Clinton said..." is hearsay.

In any event, I am not more inclined to believe Benjamin Barber when he claims that he heard Clinton say "screw 'em" than I am to believe that David Gergen heard Clinton oppose NAFTA. If someone has a tape of the conversation, or a memo from the First Lady's office or some such documented proof of the claim, that strikes me as meaningful. If we begin accepting these sorts of one-journalist-claims type of stories as actual evidence of a politician's track-record, however, then we will soon find ourselves up to our elbows in nonsense.

There is another source that corrobates Barber.

Harry Boyte, the director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Democracy and Citizenship who was at the retreat, told The Huffington Post: "[Hillary Clinton] sees herself as the champion of the oppressed, but there is always a kind of good guy versus bad guy mentality. The comment before that was that 'the Reagan Democrats are our enemies and they weren't on our side,' and she was agreeing with that comment. She said we should write them off: screw them."

And the Clinton campaign just responded:

A spokesperson for Clinton said the quote was taken out of context and did not reflect her true political philosophy. "This quote differs from the recollection of others who were in the room at the time this comment was allegedly made," said Jay Carson. "To be clear, that's not how she felt then and it's not how she feels now, and the proof is in how she has lived her life, the work she has done and the policies she has pushed and pursued over the last 35 years."

Fluff, do you have a link for the response?

(And if you mind that I shorten your name to Fluff, let me know).

Call me Fluff if you want :-) It's in the same Huffington Post article linked above by CT voter.

There non-denial denial is interesting.

Reads like the same boilerplate from the Clinton camp, where it points out that other stories at the time indicate that there was a danger of sniper fire and after all, Benjamin Barber is just a Sinbad?

Ugh.. meant to type "Their..." not "There...' (brain in vapor lock mode)

Yes.

In the updated piece (the original said that the Clinton campaign, when reached for a comment, didn't have one), Carson goes on to say this:

Asked to produce a witness who would say that Clinton had been misquoted, Carson wrote: "So, you've got two guys we've barely heard of remembering a verbatim quote from 13 years ago?... Sounds totally and completely reliable."But they're not remembering, today. At least one of them wrote the book 6 years ago...

Whatever.

I guess I am so frustrated with the ridiculous reaction to the "bitter" comments that I'm probably making more of this than I would normally.

I so want this damn primary season to be over.


psssst, Greg

We already are.

The reason I didn't think it was hearsay (and I have no legal training, so I'm using this term in a casual sense) was that the author of the Huff Post was quoting directly from the book--

If Sam whoever of Huff Post said "I heard that so and so heard Clinton say this", yes, hearsay. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs here, but the quote "screw 'em" came from someone who was there when she said it.

And the Clinton campaign doesn't deny that the words were said, either.

Actually CT Voter-it could be admitted not for its truth, but as a state of mind exceptio. That is Hillary's state of mind. It shows that she has disdain for the working class folks.

First, hearsay only applies in a court of law, primarily criminal law. Second, it's only hearsay if you use the report of the statement to prove the content of the statement. So, if Barber were to testify in a court of law that that Reagan Democrats deserved to be screwed because he heard Hillary say that they should be, that would be hearsay. But if he were to testify that Hillary is hypocritical because of that statement, it would be admissible (assuming that her hypocrisy were pertinent to the case). At least insofar as I understand it.

But then again, we're not in a court of law, there were three witnesses, and no one has denied it. So it seems relatively reliable.

That said, while it's fun to see Clinton caught out, I don't think that any of this gotcha stuff is good for the party.

You are right Genghis. As I posted above, it could come in as a state of mind exception! (sorry for the sp in exception)

I just assumed that exceptio was some Latin jurisprudence terminology.

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thanks for posting this

So that brings to total three people aside from Barber who confrim she said it who were there.

And we have Jake Tapper at ABC who wrote about it on his blog back in October 2007 I might add, and Sally Bedell Smith's book For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years also talks about her having said it at the meeting also published last fall.

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hahahaha......funny thing is this story has already been circulated by ABC news previously in this election cycle... desperate attempt by huffingtonpost i would say...
politico has an interesting bit of story about huffingtonpost's attempt
http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/

This is definitely an old story--but now it's back to being a current one, thanks to the Clinton campaign stomping all over the "bitter" remarks.

This wouldn't have seen the light of day a second time, without "Bittergate".

Talk about irony.

You seem very concerned, Greg.

Actually, I was underwhelmed by the re-emergence of this story too at first, mainly because there's no hard proof she said it. People print all kinds of stuff in books.

But now that I've read the Clinton camp's response, I have to admit I'm a little more intrigued. By claiming this was taken out of context they're basically admitting she said it, which makes me think they're worried about additional corroboration.

I still wouldn't bet the farm on this getting play, but I guess we'll see. I do agree the current context could potentially give this new life.

I still wouldn't bet the farm on this getting play, but I guess we'll see.

With all due respect... why the HELL not?

For starters, can you imagine if Obama had said this? Monsters Inc would be bombarding the airwaves with it 24/7. The MSM would pick up the drumbeat and Obama would be finished.

Secondly, if it doesn't get play during the primary, you can be quite damn sure that, if she somehow claws her way to the nod, McCain will absolutely throttle her with this, and with Limbaugh, Mathews, et al swinging right along.

Anyone who doesn't see that Hillary is damaged goods and completely unelectable is absolutely naive or insane. Screw these hand-wringing chirpings I keep reading about how important civility is. Rubbish. It is the duty of every true Democrat to terminate Hillary's deluded, nitemare candidacy as quickly as possible.

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THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR HILLARY!!!

Well played my friend... well played.

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So, where's the proof? Where's the audio tape? We got to hear Obama's "bitter" and "cling" remarks on audio tape. Where's the proof Hillary said this? If no tape, then it just sounds like more Obama San Francisco remarks damage control.

Otto;
The proof of its truth will be in whether Hillary goes after the authors for defamation. If it is a lie, by virtue of its use during a campaign it would probably meet the "malice" standard which is what is required for libel against a public figure.

If HRC does not go after them, well the . . .

If you were on a jury for a murder trial and 10 reliable witnesses identify the defendant are you going to find them not guilty because there isn't DNA evidence or video tape?

You probably would, wouldn't you?

CALLING ALL FELLOW OBAMA SUPPORTERS:
Last night I came to the conclusion that it will be up to us to counter the Republican 527 adds (Swift Boats) if the Democratic party is not up to the task. These attacks have to come from the party or us-NOT Obama. he has to stay clean while we do this awful dirty work for him. Kerry's swift Boating proved that these attacks cannot be ignored.

I really believe we can make the difference when the Repubs start coming after Obama and Michelle.

But lets start now!
Who knows how to get in touch with anyone associated with a 527 organization. I think if we could run this "Screw Them" piece on video from now until the primary next Tuesday we just might be able to finish Hillary off. If Obama could beat her in Pa this would be over!

I REALLY HOPE SOMEONE CAN RESPOND TO THIS!

I normally detest stooping to this sh*t, but I'm *so tired* of Hillary and her kitchen sink, tired of this increasingly shrill and malicious campaign getting drawn out and wasting our hard-earned cash on Democratic fratricide. This ABC debate just about pushes me over. I would like to KO Hillary asap, so let me know how I can get Screwgate out there.

Me too. But I was so aggravated over the direction of the coverage (and this was before the debate!) that I just thought "If she wants to play this game, let's play this game..."

Screw it, to paraphrase HRC.

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Reality Check:

I think a lot of people are debating if we should be making an issue out of Hillary saying "screw 'em. If you just view those words, in a stand alone manner, then of course they are not worth making much of. However if you view them in context, they have great significance, and reveal what Hillary's Leadership approach has been, and will be.

After the Democrats got slaughtered in 1994, President Clinton talked about how to regrow the party, and about how to find some way to win back White Working Class voters. Bill wanted to rebuild the Democratic Party.

What was Hillary's immediate vindictive snarling response: "Screw 'em". That meant Hillary was then saying Screw the Democratic Party. We are not going to reach out to any groups in order to restore the party.

That is Hillary in a Nutshell. All she boasts about is fighting. All she does is act spiteful and petty. You have seen it on full display on the campaign trail.

That is why what she said is a big deal. It clearly reveals that she is by nature a trench warfare divider. The nation can not afford four more years of that approach.

Here is what she said and the context in which she said it. Read it, and tell me that she was not only saying "Screw 'em' about the voters that we lost, but then also to the notion of restoring a Democratic majority.


In January 1995, as the Clintons were licking their wounds from the 1994 congressional elections, a debate emerged at a retreat at Camp David. Should the administration make overtures to working class white southerners who had all but forsaken the Democratic Party? The then-first lady took a less than inclusive approach.

"Screw 'em," she told her husband. "You don't owe them a thing, Bill. They're doing nothing for you; you don't have to do anything for them."

She's probably saying the same about us Obama supporters. :) We've done nothing for her, so Screw Us. Makes sense why her campaign sends trolls here to insult and jeer at us when the whole point is to get the other side to switch their votes for you. What a waste of campaign money for them.

Mind you, I don't want to hurt Billary, I'd rather we don't go there at all, but strategically, to keep our powder dry for McCain, we NEED to KO Hillary now. Of course the best case scenario is that she fails miserably next Tuesday and "gracefully" bow out, with what little shreds left of their repute intact.

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Guys I urge you to please "look past" these incidents. Hillary has been sleep deprived for a few decades now, and that is certainly understandable.

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Within the context of the situation that's been described, I'd have said 'Screw 'em' also. What would you have said? "Let's dump a bunch of f'ing money into southern states in the 96 election that we'll lose regardless?"

Because of a death in the family I've been offline while traveling for the last week and missed the initial "bitter" deal. Coming in after the fact, my reaction is that it's small beer/thin gruel/etc...a nothingburger that has dominated the coverage for the last week. And the Obama response of "screw 'em"? Good grief.

It's small wonder the Dems are going to lose in November.

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