Codepink tells electrical workers to "kiss Hillary's ass"

[cali]

Here's the story from the Hill:



Code Pink dogs Clinton on 2008 trail


An anti-war group, Code Pink, is hounding Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) at almost every stop she makes on the campaign trail, hitting her again yesterday as she joined other candidates in seeking a union endorsement.

Standing in front of the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency, the group made its presence known, inviting a sea of union members from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to “go back downstairs and kiss Hillary’s a--.”

While the group of laborers, enjoying cigarettes between speakers at the Communications Workers of America (CWA) forum, looked on with bemused interest, the protesters sang songs and waved signs advising Clinton not to “buy Bush’s war.”

Although they rarely show up at an event in large numbers, the pink-clad protesters do make their presence known with persistence and intensity.

<snip>

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/code-pink-dogs-clinton-on-2008-trail-2007-03-27.html

I actually think this helps Hillary more than it hurts her, but aside from that, it's incredibly insulting to the electical workers.

[Fierce]

1. It is.

Especially when they're called laborers.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. Oh brother, can this please be attributed to something besides a blog? Even AOL is fine.

:shrug: MKJ

[cali]

7. The Hill is NOT a blog.

Here's the info about it:

Who we are
The Hill is known among those who influence policy as a "must read" in print and online. It signals the important issues of the moment. In an environment filled with political agendas, The Hill stands alone in delivering solid, non-partisan and objective reporting on the business of Washington, covering the inner-workings of Congress, as well as the nexus between politics and business. The Hill serves to connect the players, define the issues and influence the way Washington's decision makers view the debate.

Founded in 1994, the newspaper features strong investigative reporting and frequently breaks stories that are widely cited in national publications. The newspaper also profiles lawmakers and aides, offers features describing the sociology and politics of the Hill, book and restaurant reviews and a weekly column about the Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

The Hill has a print circulation of above 21,000, more than any other Capitol Hill publication. It is aimed at the 100 senators, 435 House members, 40,000 aides and tens of thousands in the influence industry whose work affects the lives of all Americans. The newspaper is a subsidiary of News Communications Inc., a publicly owned company.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

11. The original title of the article is great: "Code Pink dogs Clinton on 2008 trail"

The title of your OP phrased it differently.

I concede your point on the blog, but I must argue that your OP title skews the actual story.

MKJ

[cali]

16. Oh please.

The story includes the bit about their telling the electrical workers to go kiss Hillary's ass. My OP focuses on that because I thought that was an idiotic thing for them to do, but there's nothing remotely dishonest about it. If you're offended, perhaps codepink shouldn't have engaged in such a rhetorical flourish.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

18. Hey, I LIKE rhetorical flourishes :-)

:yourock: :-) MKJ

[Colobo]

3. They are helping Hillary

but their lack of intelligence doesn't help them see it.

[live love laugh]

4. Funny that they are stalking Hillary though she voted years ago on the war...

while they have not treated anybody else that way. They seem to be under the influence. I'll leave the specifics regarding said influence to the imagination.

[cali]

9. She certainly did not. She voted for the IWR

and to this day refuses to say it was a mistake.

[Kelly Rupert]

5. Codepink needs to start attacking Republicans.

Right now, they're about two steps away from functionally being the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

[Colobo]

8. Yeah, but much less effective

[Tom Joad]

No, actually your statement is very false.

They have been hounding republicans. They protested Bush, Rumsfeld and all the rest.

What you are doing is attacking people and a movement you know very little about.
Functionally ... unhelpful... to put it as politely as possible.

If you think, as many Democrats do, that the occupation should continue, fine, but please do not distort the work of those that oppose this policy.

[Kelly Rupert]

14. No, my statement is entirely true.

Every minute Codepink spends attacking a Democrat is a minute they might as well bill the Republicans for. Not because it'll have any effect on the general populace, mind you; most Americans place them next to Cindy Sheehan in the "whackjob" category. No, Codepink is a danger because it turns the stupider wings of our party against us.

That "strategy" nearly defeated the House Iraq bill, and I will guarantee you that had the vote failed, the next spending bill--the one that would have passed--would have been far more to the liking of the Republicans.

As for claiming they need to "start attacking Republicans," well, I am sorry you were unable to understand rhetorical flourish.

[Tom Joad]

22. Hillary needs to say she wants troops out... and the war to end...

Code Pink can't help Hillary, only Hillary can do that.


http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/15/clinton.troops/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- If elected president, Sen. Hillary Clinton said, she would likely keep some U.S. forces in Iraq in a supporting role after 2009 because America has "a remaining military as well as a political mission" that requires a presence there.

______________

This war and occupation is a crime against humanity, for Hillary to say this is inexcusable.

[Kelly Rupert]

26. You know what Codepink tells Hillary?

"Don't bother with the anti-war crowd, we're a pack of delusional nutters who'll never be satisfied. Seriously, don't bother. Unless you're Dennis Kucinich, we'll hate you. Just appeal to the center."

[ElizabethDC]

31. Hillary has said many times that she will end the war

Here's what she said yesterday:

“He decided to wage it. He went in on a preemptive campaign. He mismanaged it,” Clinton said in an interview. “The Democrats are not responsible for this war. This is George Bush’s war, and it’s his responsibility to end it before he leaves office. That’s what we’re trying to do in the Congress, working together to put the pressure on him to set some deadlines on him. But if he doesn’t end it, as president I will,” Clinton said.

more at: http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/03/27/news/local/doc46082abec8426229619704.txt

It's true that she, like Obama and other Democrats, has said that we may have a continuing military presence there (which, obviously, not everyone agrees with), but not a continuation of the war.

[mmonk]

17. Good luck with that.

People seem to think they should only hound republicans (which they have ever since this started) but shouldn't hound democrats in power who have supported some of the aims concerning Iraq and the region or haven't stood in bush's way when they could.

[Kelly Rupert]

19. Attempting to block the only bill

that has any chance of ending this war? Trying to pressure a few Democratic representatives into voting alongside the Republicans? Lemme put this in terms you'll be familiar with: they're doing Rove's work for him.

[mmonk]

29. When the democrats stop this war, I'll give them credit.

Though the right to protest may irritate, it is the right of anybody to do so.

[Kelly Rupert]

30. When the Democrats stop this war, it will be despite Codepink, not because of them.

Simply because someone has the right to do something does not mean it is a good idea.

[mmonk]

36. They are hanging around Hillary because she has been

all over the board concerning this war, but not really indicating a particular desire to end it. She hasn't been clear or forceful. That is why antiwar groups single her out for protest. The people or any group of people, reserve the right to protest. One thing for sure, if nobody protests or voices their displeasure, politicians are inclined to stay on the same course.

[Kelly Rupert]

38. Again, having "the right" to protest does not mean it is a good idea.

This nonsense marginalizes the anti-war camp. I mean, if that's your goal, great, but...

[mmonk]

48. It's been my observation that good protestors protest

your opposition's party and bad protesters protest your own party.

[The Magistrate]

79. Exactly, Mr. Monk

And yet you say it like there were something wrong with the taxonomy you describe so accurately. There is nothing wrong with it at all.

"Reward friends; punish enemies."

[SlowDownFast]

87. That is a most simple truth

that some cannot wrap their minds around.

[karlrschneider]

45. And there it is. Notoriety is more important than long term results to some.

...

[ElizabethDC]

21. Just because one doesn't support the tactics of CodePink

doesn't mean that they believe that the occupation should continue. It's not an either/or thing.

[The Magistrate]

75. The Statement Is True, Mr. Joad

They formerly attacked Republicans, and now have commenced attacking Democrats.

In doing so, they undo a good deal of the benefit they may formerly have contrived, and place themselves firmly in the enemy camp, as mere splinterist wreckers.

You have on more than one occassion trotted out this nonesense about Democrats being a war party, but you have yet to suggest any practical and feasible steps that could bring the occupatuion of Iraq to an end any quicker than the Congress has now proposed in legislation passed with narrow majorities, legislation that enjoys the support of roughly three fifths of the voting public of the country. When invited to make some concrete proposal, you simply produce a squid's ink of platitudes and invocations of saintly figures from the past, none of which amount to any form of policy proposal....

"I'm your huckleberry...."

[SlowDownFast]

83. The Magistrate speaks.......I listen.

Sir M knows.

Reason and fact incarnate.

:thumbsup:

Translated:

I thought I smelled rattyness emanating from CP, as my past flaming concerning Plame and Pelosi have shown....I was about to give the benefit, concerning Hillary...

No more.

"Splinterist wreckers"...

That's the word I was looking for. 'Nuff said.

CodePink can now kiss my Pink Arse.

[Kelly Rupert]

84. It's my new favorite phrase. n/t

[PassingFair]

6. BEMUSED INTEREST

"While the group of laborers, enjoying cigarettes between speakers at the Communications Workers of America (CWA) forum, looked on with bemused interest, the protesters sang songs and waved signs advising Clinton not to “buy Bush’s war.”"

Yes, it sounds as though the electrical workers were HORRIFIED!!!!1!

[cali]

12. Yeah, they viewed codepink as a bunch

of crackpots. And that helps how? And I didn't claim they were horrified. I said I think it's insulting. See the difference?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted sub-thread

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[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

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[Kelly Rupert]

35. Do you know what the word "bemused" means? n/t

[PassingFair]

39. Yes, it's how I feel when reading Cali's posts

...and now yours.

I don't feel INSULTED or Put-upon in any way, however, nor
do I deign to speak for other posters or readers.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted sub-thread

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[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

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[The Magistrate]

10. You Are Likely Right, Ma'am

People, and actions, like this, are not very popular with the voting public. The largest single bloc of voters in the country today comprises people who once supported the war, and now have grown disenchanted with it. Such people were the key to the Democratic victory last autumn. They will be pleased to see that voting for a Democrat does not align them with people they still see as anti-patriotic.

[Radical Activist]

13. They protest Obama too?

I guess they don't care about having credibility. Obama has even met their demand for proposing a timetable for withdrawal of the troops.

[cali]

20. Yep.

They protest all the leading dem presidential candidates, and of course, they protest Nancy Pelosi.

[Kelly Rupert]

23. Codepink? Credibility?

Good one!

[karlrschneider]

15. Odd how that bunch of crazies only targets Democrats.

:eyes:

[LWolf]

27. That's bullshit.

Examples:

[Kelly Rupert]

28. Yeah, but as soon as the Dems are in power,

it's a one-way ticket to Rovetown.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kelly Rupert]

33. Heh. Codepink doesn't need any help making itself look useless n/t

[cali]

42. Codepink does an excellent job

swiftboating itself, or don't you think it's an insult to tell people to go kiss someone's ass?

[PassingFair]

52. Why don't those ladies stay home!

Not like they didn't get their asses kicked at the Republican Convention for us or anything.

http://www.codepink4peace.org/img/original/Jodie!small.jpg

They're just so damned inconvenient when they're holding Dem feet to the fire.

[Kelly Rupert]

55. They're not "holding Dem feet to the fire."

Nobody feels threatened by them. They're just...well, like you said, inconvenient. They're hard to take seriously.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted sub-thread

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[Jcrowley]

69. Yep

No context.

That piece is as shallow and uninformative as you can get.

Fails the sniff test of high school journalism.

[karlrschneider]

43. And that last picture is prima facie evidence of why most people think they are nuts.

Don't blame ME for the clear fact that they come across as shreiking idiots to an awful lot of people. Their hearts are absolutely in the right place but their heads are up their asses. With friends like that...you know the rest.

[PassingFair]

47. What's wrong with the last picture?

Really?

Clue me in.

[karlrschneider]

50. Let's just say it isn't an image that will endear the Progressive agenda to

most of the nation. Do I really need to expound further?

[PassingFair]

54. Yes.

Here is a protester in Amsterdam.


Should he STFU too?

[Kelly Rupert]

57. I don't really care if he does or if he doesn't.

I mean, he's not helping anything, but because he's over there and not here, he's not hurting anything either. He's just blowing off some steam, really.

[karlrschneider]

63. Well, my goodness...how could I be so stupid as not to be instantly convinced by that

paragon of rationality? And to think, all these years I've been listening to people who look like humans. I'm a horrible person.

[PassingFair]

65. We'll try to have all protesters look like Kyle Sampson for you in the future. n/t

Now you can relate.

[karlrschneider]

70. You really don't even come close to 'getting' it, do you?

It's not what *I* think...it's what resonates, positively or negatively, with the hugh (sic) bunch of citizens who just MIGHT see it our way if our way is presented with a modicum of apparent respectability. They may be idiots, but it sure as fuck would be nice if they were OUR idiots. :eyes:

Not to say we don't already have our share...

[Name removed]

72. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kelly Rupert]

73. Not all press is good press, you realize n/t

[karlrschneider]

88. I'm still waiting for one verifiable report of any ambivalent person being brought over to our side

by their antics. I've asked this for months. Nobody seems to know of any. It's crystal clear that they've alienated more than a few of our OWN people, if you are laboring under the impression they've 'converted' any fence-sitters, you're living in a rose-colored dream world. They are NOT on our side, ultimately.

[Kelly Rupert]

89. How could anyone *not*?

I mean, like those guys? They were naked. And they had bicycles. I really don't see how anyone could walk away from that without reconsidering their opinions on Mideast geopolitics.

[karlrschneider]

92. We've been doing it all wrong!

Nothing could possibly be more influential than naked bicycles! How did we miss that?

I need a drink now. ;-)

[PassingFair]

91. Look at these unwashed assholes...

They'll NEVER bring change.

[mondo joe]

95. I care less what people wear than I do how assholish they are.

And conflating Pelosi and Clinton with Bush is major assholishness.

[LWolf]

97. I don't blame you for the fact

that an awful lot of people are blind, or narrow-minded, or egotistical, or greedy, or arrogant, or have any of the human flaws that lead to thinking that resisting or protesting corruption and WRONG is somehow embarrassing, or who think that using the color pink is somehow embarrassing, or who place their fashion sense before good judgement or ethics, or who are just too intellectually limited to appreciate a pun.

I hope you don't blame Code Pink for speaking and acting their conscience, regardless of whether or not there are people who might view them from the limited lenses above.

[johncoby2]

24. Code Pink should do something more productive.

Like work for Guiliani or McCain.

Or even Nader. Or Brownback.

[Canuckistanian]

41. Make your point with issues, not ridicule

I doubt the Electrical Workers were much impressed with that display.

Offer to sponsor speakers or speak directly to them in conventions. Or an appeal to Union leaders through
thoughtful correspondence.

Being "anti-Hillary" can only get you so far. Sooner or later, you have to offer an viable alternative.

This achieves nothing.

[cali]

44. Exactly, and the really incomprehensibly

stupid thing about this little display is that they were ridiculing and insulting the electrical workers. I mean how dumb is that?

[mmonk]

46. Are they endorsing her?

[Canuckistanian]

49. You know, I held my opinion of CP during the Plame hearings

There were some impassioned pleas for understanding of what CP was all about.

And I generally agreed that there was a place for "unconventional" protest.

But this is political suicide for a public that considers Al Gore a "controversial figure".

The wing nuts will have a field day with this. Now, and far into the future.

[mmonk]

51. I think the general public is sophisticated enough

to know how things work. As far as the wingnuts go, we aren't going to get any of their votes anyway.

[Canuckistanian]

53. I'm not concerned about the wingnuts

The moderates, or "swing voters", unfortunately, DO pay attention to these sorts of events.

[karlrschneider]

56. The General Public is sophisticated?

Maybe in Liechtenstein....
:eyes:

Clue: Not everyone who votes for Republicans is a wingnut...or another kind of nut. Some are just uninformed,
conditioned, persuaded or ignorant. All those deficiencies can be reversed but not bloody likely by a gang of
loudmouthed exhibitionists dressed and acting like clowns.

[mmonk]

59. They understand protesters pretty much.

How will they hang them on the democratic party? People are making way too much over this.

[karlrschneider]

67. A lot of people are actually very shallow and will form opinions from minutia.

The evening after the Plame hearings, I talked with several local folks down at the lakeside store, which is a sort of 'gathering spot'. This is a very 'red' area and many folks around here have begun to lose their adoration of Chimp but a bunch of them only took one thing away from that hearing: the panjandrums of that idiot pink woman. I'm not saying it hurt our progressive cause a lot, but it sure as hell didn't help.

[Kelly Rupert]

68. Ah, so the defense has gone to

"Well, they won't hurt the Democratic party and the anti-war cause all that much." I mean, I understand their hearts are in the right place, but really...

[mmonk]

80. I'll make a deal with you. Don't put words in my mouth and I

won't put any in yours. I'm leaving this thread now, so I guess you can go have a circular argument with someone else.

[Kelly Rupert]

61. Hammer on the nail, my friend n/t

[karlrschneider]

74. I just try to be reasonable. Have these people bugged Lieberman?

Maybe they have but I haven't heard anything about it if so. Sometimes I wonder if they're Inverse Parlockians.
:eyes:

[Kelly Rupert]

78. No idea, actually.

But speaking of Parlock, well--I would wager that he and Codepink share at least one donor. If I were a right-winger, I'd pour a quarter of my budget into funding Nader, Codepink, and the like.

[karlrschneider]

81. What used to be called paranoia is now reasonable suspicion.

If there's -anything- we should have learned by now, it's that the RW will actually do the unthinkable.
:mad:

[Kelly Rupert]

82. Still, I wouldn't blame Codepink of doing it on purpose.

I think they're misguided, not treasonous.

[karlrschneider]

85. Oh, I absolutely agree. I was kidding about the Parlock thing.

Their hearts are in the right place but they have their heads up their butts. They ain't helping.

[Kelly Rupert]

58. Were that true, we wouldn't have two terms of Bush n/t

[Jcrowley]

60. Transparent hit piece n/t

[cali]

71. transparent cop out response.

If you think this is a hit piece, you don't have a clue as to what a hit piece is.

Do you doubt the veracity of the piece? Hell, did you even read the whole piece? And not that I expect an answer to this- no one else on this thread seems to be able to deal with it- Do you think that telling someone to kiss someone else's ass, is an insult?

[SlowDownFast]

64. Dunno. CodePink has been pissing me off, but

I can't say that messing with Hillary could be all that bad.

Fucking with Pelosi, is another thing.

[Kelly Rupert]

66. By the time you're lumping Pelosi and Obama in with Bush, you're just 'round the bend. n/t

[SlowDownFast]

77. Agreed.

[tnlefty]

76. I've been a supporter or labor for my adult life, I even married a

union guy. But the local electrical union's support over the years of Zach Wamp, who stated in his first bid for the US House that he would support "big business everytime", and their support of Corker in the past election has me more than a little upset, angry, you name it.

When unions support those who would cut their throats down the road it makes it difficult to continue to be an enthusiastic supporter.

The local here is IBEW 846 and 175 and perhaps they need a jolt upside the head!!!

[unkachuck]

86. we must be....

....ever vigilant against the corporatist shill posing as a liberal/progressive trying to distract, corrupt or otherwise command our support, all the while working for the corporate elite....

....I view Code Pink, this fine group of super-patriotic Americans, as one of our first defenses in flushing-out the carpetbaggers, scalawags, liars and scoundrels from our nomination process....

....fascist, corporate America must be stopped before they destroy us all....I'm sure the good brothers of the CWA fully understand....

[SlowDownFast]

90. CodePink keeps this shit up...

I start "lobbying" - as a certain proud2b likes to use so 'liberally' - AGAINST CodePink - LIBERALLY.

;-)

I got nothing against pink or pink tiaras or pink tu-tu's...

JUST STOP ATTACKING OUR OWN!

[Jcrowley]

93. What did the workers say?

No comments? Any on the scene reports from other sources?

[PassingFair]

94. Sources say: Insulted!

:evilgrin:

:sarcasm:

[Oldtimeralso]

96. I've got a problem with this report

As far as i know the CWA Communication Workers of America is a totally different union than the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and even rivals in some areas of representation. Were these workers IBEW members spying on the CWA? Maybe we should have Gonzo investigate. busting a union would make shrub and KKKarl's day.

[shance]

98. You're so obvious Cali.

All you do is divide, attack those doing good and distract with hit pieces like this - and you are allowed to divide and distract.

Guess the question is why DU allows it?