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Hillary: "God bless us" [the rich]
From Slate:
On today’s “state of the race” conference call, a
reporter asked about an exchange between Hillary Clinton and Bill
O’Reilly on yesterday’s show in which Clinton uttered the words, “Rich
people—God bless us.”Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson denied that’s what she said: “She said ‘God blessed us.’ B-L-E-S-S-E-D.”
That may be what she meant. But it’s definitely not what she said. I just watched the video again with headphones and cranked the volume way up. Not a trace of plosive after the sibilant.
Here’s the full context, as described by the Huffington Post:
Watch the video yourself (at about 1:55):[O’Reilly said,] “I'm not middle class, I'm a rich guy.” Clinton responded (in an awkward moment), “Rich people, God bless us. We deserve all the opportunities to make sure our country and our blessings continue until the next generation.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9X_nnEJmHM
So is Wolfson lying? Is Hillary trying to cover up a gaffe? You know, saying "god bless the rich" sounds a lot like god isn't blessing the poor. Does that play in these tough economic times?
Comments (8)
They were talking about taxing the rich and what she clearly meant was 'god bless the rich they deserve an oportunity to pay taxes'. I detest Hillary but this is BS. There are plenty of good reasons to vote for Obama or against her but this is not part of it. This is as irrelevent and out of context as Obama's 'bitter' coments.
May 2, 2008 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
"bitter" … "cling"
Let's not go there again.
May 2, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
"They were talking about taxing the rich and what she clearly meant was 'god bless the rich they deserve an oportunity to pay taxes'."
Wolfson disagrees. He literally spelled out the word B-L-E-S-S-E-D.
"This is as irrelevent and out of context as Obama's 'bitter' coments."
The point: She's lying. Not irrelevent at all.
Also, there's a double standard. If Obama had said this, you bet the MSM would be hyperventilating right now.
Ditto for the white n****r thing
May 2, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is utter nonsense. It doesn't matter if she said "bless" or "blessed." Her point was she acknowledged life had been financially good for her and O'Reilly. Nothing more, nothing less.
If you need to go to headphones to find something to rip Sen. Clinton with, you need a vacation.
May 2, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
OK, so now you have proved that Wolfson is a fool. This is still the kind of non-issue that Obama is trying to get us to stop pulling. Two wrongs do not make a right. Leave this crap to team McClinton.
May 2, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right, lying to the American people again and again and again, no big deal. What's the harm? You know, just like Bush told us a few lies here and there about torture and Iraq and so on.
May 2, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lying is a big deal. When you find a Clinton lie feel free to call her on it. This is not it though.
May 2, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm the reporter who asked the question, and Wolfson's answer was pure BS that a 5 year old wouldn't buy. I wrote at length about the call here:http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/05/02/hillary-the-decider/
I encourage you to read the whole article, but here's the relevant part:
Of course not, but the statement was clearly a wink to affluent voters, a way of saying, "Sure, I want to help working stiffs, but don't worry, I won't hurt us rich folks too badly."
Which is smart politics, as far as it goes, but tone-deaf on the heels of trying to paint Barack Obama as an elitist, then not being able to pump her own gas while proclaiming that she does have friends who tell her what it's like to get hosed at the pump. It is the kind of quote that the Clinton campaign would have turned into a bumper sticker had Obama said it.
May 2, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
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