Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: Hillary Haters and the Roosevelts

[pnwmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/hilla...

Even some Democrats who agree with Hillary Clinton on every issue and consider her an effective, inspiring leader, fret that the blind, irrational hatred, that burdened her husband during his presidency and that continues to dog his wife, might impair her delectability. "She is too polarizing" they say, parroting the verdict of television's Sunday morning gas bags.

It's worth recalling the historical parallels with an earlier presidential couple. "No other word than hatred will do," observed a May 1936, Harper's Magazine feature "They Hate Roosevelt" by Marquis W. Childs. "The phenomenon to which I refer goes beyond objection to policies or programs. It is a consuming personal hatred of President Roosevelt and, to an almost equal degree, of Mrs. Roosevelt."

SNIP

Hillary's supporters should be heartened by the fact that intense hatred is often accompanied by equally strong support. Roosevelt won four landslide victories against his opponents and crafted the architecture for the most humane, successful, generous features of modern American government.

They can also take comfort in Hillary's proven ability to transform intense hatred into loyal support. I recently toured upstate New York's traditionally Republican counties which she has transformed through leadership and political acumen, into rock solid Hillary Clinton strongholds.

With a playful wink she told me, "One of my favorite pins in my political pin collection is "I Don't Like Eleanor Either." It reminds her that it's not just the president who is targeted by the haters. But "about anybody who cares about and stands up and fights for the changes that our country needs to have."

[AX10]

1. kick

[Lucinda]

2. correct link - OP link didnt work for me

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/hillary-haters-and-the-ro_b_76573.html

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Wha? " Impair her....... whhhaaaa???!!" nt

>>>Even some Democrats who agree with Hillary Clinton on every issue and consider her an effective, inspiring leader, fret that the blind, irrational hatred, that burdened her husband during his presidency and that continues to dog his wife, might impair her delectability>>>>

[ClarkUSA]

4. bwahahaha!

RFK, Jr. must be have been hard up when he wrote this piece of sycophantic garbage. Fortunately, his mom Ethel has more sense than
to endorse Hillary. She knows the real heir to Bobby when she sees him:

"I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did," Ethel Kennedy said, comparing her late husband's quest for social justice to Obama's.
"He has the passion in his heart. He's not selling you. It's just him." Ethel Kennedy invited Obama to deliver the keynote address at a ceremony
commemorating the 80th birthday of Robert F. Kennedy. She said she had carefully followed the career of the Illinois senator, whom she referred
to as "our next president."

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/theobamablog/CcB7/group_list

[Tellurian]

6. Barack and heir to Bobby Kennedy? In your dreams!

So far Obama has claimed to be the heir of Abe Lincoln, MLK, JFK, RFK and he hasn't done a ding dang thing to earn any distinction whatsoever except smile broadly and say, "he's the one."!

[ClarkUSA]

10. That's what Ethel, RFK's widow thinks... I think I trust her over you

Love those new Iowa and NH polls, don't you?

[maddiejoan]

12. I think NH and Iowa

look just fine.

[ClarkUSA]

17. rofl

Sure you do.

[maddiejoan]

23. Laugh all you want.

I think they are fine.

:shrug:

I'm certainly not worried about them.

[maddiejoan]

30. Don't forget

The biblical Joshua.

That's my fave!

[Tellurian]

40. Might as well throw David in there too..

we have a year to go.. We don't want Obama to run out of heroes, now do we?

[maddiejoan]

7. I'm more inclined to trust RFK jr

Then Ethel on matters of politics.

[Tellurian]

9. My thoughts exactly..

at first glance the country was ready for another Kennedyesqe champion. Under cursory scrutiny, Obama melts in the sunlight, like a "snowman" caught out of place in the Tropics..

[ClarkUSA]

13. Hillary is the only one melting under the Obama spotlight

Love those new Iowa and NH polls, don't you? ;)

[Tellurian]

20. If thats all you've got..print it out

and frame it as 'high point' memorabilia of BO's 08' campaign.

[ClarkUSA]

25. We'll talk again on Jan. 4

Can't wait. :smoke:

[Beacool]

45. Nope, let's all talk when it really counts:

February 6. I personally don't give a damn who they pick in IA, didn't even care when Hillary was ahead.

[Fredda Weinberg]

22. Why does Obama's rise have to come at anyone's expense? He started from 0

and hasn't stumbled worse than HRC ... on the same issue, of course ... it's turning into an interesting race and without the professional writers - honest entertainment.

This is a great opportunity. I won't waste it on negative emotions. Hurray for our side!

[ClarkUSA]

11. I'm more inclined to believe RFK's widow about her belief that Obama walks in RFK's footsteps

After all she should know more than anyone, right?

[Tellurian]

14. Yes, and you're also inclined to recommend Republican journalists as reliable sources..

everyone is on to you here..

[ClarkUSA]

19. Another falsehood from HillaryIs44's biggest fan? Any proof?

*crickets*

[Tellurian]

27. Hint...who does Edsall work for?

[ClarkUSA]

29. Answer: He's HuffPo's political editor and a professor at the top journalism school in the U.S.

:eyes:

[Tellurian]

31. Arianna Huffington is NOT a democrat..

[ClarkUSA]

37. She is an independent. Another red herring by HillaryIs44's biggest fan at DU.

You're a pathetic dissembler of the truth -- boy, you really remind me of someone....

[Tellurian]

38. Since when does an Independant run interference for the Bush/Cheney White House?

Try again spinner!

[ClarkUSA]

41. Do you write you own stuff? Because you're Hillaryous!

:eyes:

[maddiejoan]

15. Why? Does she know Obama better than I do?

I doubt it.

I'm not even sure Obama knows who the hell Obama is.

[ClarkUSA]

24. I'm sure she knows him and RFK better than you do.

Your ad hominem attacks on RFK's widow and Obama are pathetic but totally unsurprising in a Clinton worshipper.

Boy, Hillary is sinking like a rock in every single poll! And Obama is rising to the top in Iowa and NH. Gotta love it.

So keep attacking Obama, dear, for all the good it will do.

[maddiejoan]

28. I made no ad hominem attack on Ethel

Unless you consider that saying I value RFK Jr's political opinion more than Ethel's an ad hominem.

As far as Obama --yes I forgot. One must never criticize Obama.

It is Blasphemy.

[ClarkUSA]

34. Saying she didn't know what she was talking about when she spoke glowingly of Obama's link to RFK...

is a BS attack, yes. Hubris will get all of Hillaryworld yet.

[maddiejoan]

35. Don't put words in my mouth.

You don't have the intelligence for it.

[ClarkUSA]

39. Backing off? Good, then we agree Ethel Kennedy was right when she said Obama is like RFK

Glad we got that cleared up.;)

[maddiejoan]

42. I'll agree that Ethel thinks she's sees RFK

But only because that's what Obama wants her to see.

Hell --he's hoodwinked lots of folks into seeing what they want.

You too it seems.

He's like Professor Harold Hill in the Music Man.
His campaign song should be "76 trombones"

[Beacool]

44. Sycophantic garbage???

Hmmmm, that sounds more like the rantings of the fans of the guy who prattles the "audacity of hope" and other empty platitudes.

[cali]

53. Ethel Kennedy is no RFK Jr.

that's all I'll say about that.

[Munch]

5. Forgive me....

but I don't put Bill and Hillary into the same class with Franklin and Eleanor.

But -- who knows -- maybe historians 50 years from now will see something I have missed.

[Tellurian]

8. Workable link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/hillary-haters-and-the-ro_b_76573.html

[pnwmom]

18. Thank you. I don't know why my link didn't work, it was just a copy and paste.

But before that, I couldn't post because of some message about a cookie -- so I just reposted and everything seemed to be fine. I wonder if that's when my link degraded.

[Tellurian]

36. sometimes the entire link won't copy..

correctly from a cut and paste.. you have to go back to the original. Also, it was probably in your catche and why it originally worked for you.. The same thing happened to me at one time... Thats how I know. No-Prob!

[ClarkUSA]

26. Why is RFK, Jr. commenting on Hillary's "delectability"?

Was he drunk or high when he wrote this? Or just plain stupid?

[cali]

54. and you accuse someone else of using ad hominem attacks?

Could you sink any lower?

[David Zephyr]

16. The big flaw in the analogy is that Hillary is not running to be First Lady again.

The proposition that Hillary is Eleanor all over again is silly on the surface and pathetic on the deep.

Hillary already had the position of Eleanor's as First Lady. But Hillary is not running for that office and Eleanor never did.

Bad analogy.

[pnwmom]

21. The point of the article is that people who polarize attract strong energy

to both sides of the equation. Dems who have strong support always have a lot of Rethugs who resent them for it.

So the fact that Eleanor didn't run for President doesn't affect this point.

[David Zephyr]

32. Did RFK tell you that this was his "point" or are you his psychic medium?

Using the parallel of two Democratic Party first ladies was his "point".

But since you are now RFK's medium here at the DU, can I suggest that you purchase a new deck of Tarot cards?

I got his "point" and so did everyone. It was a very poor analogy.

[pnwmom]

49. I read the whole article, and that is the conclusion I drew.

You are entitled to your own opinion, based on whatever you chose to read.

[cali]

56. you consider it a poor analogy

I think it has some validity. It's a matter of opinion.

[emilyg]

33. K&R

[saracat]

43. .

[Beacool]

46. I gather that you don't think much of Hillary

but there are only 3 First Ladies of note in the 20th century: Eleanor, Jackie and Hillary. Each is unique to her time. I happen to think that Hillary is quite a remarkable woman.

[saracat]

47. But they are not comparable.I do not support Hillary but she has some good qualities but she is not

comparable in any way to Eleanor. Eleanpr was altuistic, caring and a very great lady.

[Beacool]

48. True, but I think that Hillary also has those qualities.

They are different ladies and lived in different times, but I think that if they had met they would have felt mutual respect and admiration for each other.

Jackie felt that way about Hillary. She told Schlesinger that she found Hillary to be "so intelligent, so pretty, so warm and so cozy". Hillary in turn, admired Jackie and asked her advice on raising children in the White House.

[DFW]

51. The few times I have met and spoken with her

I did not exactly find Hillary "pretty" or "cozy," but I did
find her to be warm and intelligent. I also found Obama to
be pretty much the same when I met him. I'd give them equal
marks in those categories, which is probably why they are so
close on the polls of those states (IA and NH)where close personal
appearances are so much more prevalent than in the bigger states,
where it is impractical to hold one-on-ones with large numbers
of voters.

[pnwmom]

50. I think many people would say exactly the same about HRC,

even if you do not.

[saracat]

60. I assure you the Roosevelts themselves see no comparison.AS they say, they "knew" Eleanor

and Hillary is NO Eleanor.

[pnwmom]

62. Duh. Why would they want to see their relatives supplanted in their specialness?

Of course, in their eyes, no one could ever compare to them in any way -- even in how polarizing they were.

[cyclezealot]

52. the key sentence is

stand up for change the country needs to have. Wrong. Dead wrong. Those folks in Norhtern New York must be brain dead.

[Perry Logan]

55. It's not much remembered now, but the Right hated and smeared John F. Kennedy too.

The Right are allergic to charisma.

[beachmom]

57. What total bunk!!!! Those who hated the Roosevelts did so for a

compelling reason: they never had to pay taxes before and because of Roosevelt, they now had to, and watch their money go to the "scum" who, you know, did all the work. The Roosevelt haters have a name: conservatives. And they have been working to dismantle the New Deal ever since.

Hillary is hated because of her lack of character -- she lies, she smears people with lies, and you honestly don't know what her inner core beliefs are, as everything comes across as thoroughly focus grouped by the time it comes off her lips. Bill got away with similar characteristics for a couple of reasons: his incredible charm and his biographical story. She has neither.

RFK wants that Senate seat in NY. And he came out against Cape Winds for NIMBY reasons contrary to his usually stellar environmental record. What I am saying is he is not perfect. I still like him, nevertheless, in spite of these flaws.

[sniffa]

58. Hillary = Elanor?

:rofl:

[mod mom]

59. My comment posted @ Huff Po: IT'S NOT THE PERSON IT'S THE CORPORATISM!

I don't hate Hillary but I am strongly opposed to her stances on Free trade, wars (think IWR and Kyl Liebermann) and her ties in supporting CORPORATISM. I am offended by the repeated accusations that we who are strongly opposed to her policies are labeled as "haters".

With all due respect Bobby, I believe the DLC's role of silence in past stolen elections (they deny Gore won and instead blame his "loss" on adopting a populist stance and as DLCer Al From has said, "emphasizing that he would "fight for the people and not the powerful" . As for the '04, Clinton ally James Carville "tipped Bush off to the Kerry strategy" when he was thinking of fighting for those Ohio votes (in Bob Woodwards book and google TPM). Mark Penn, Wolfson, and Will Marshall (who signed PNAC) are all top strategists. ENOUGH OF CORPORATISM! As much as I respect you, Bobby, my desire for REAL CHANGE comes first. It's not the person but who she represents.
I am a lifetime Dem who worked full time volunteering for Kerry/Edwards in '04 (I supported Howard Dean in the primary) in Franklin Co Ohio. After what I witnessed I closed my business and worked on election fraud investigation-concentrating on Lucas County OH. I am an activist, but I WILL NOT VOTE FOR HRC-instead I will write in a Democratic candidate. I will NOT be part of the corporatism that is ruining this country!

[Baby Snooks]

61. "I knew Eleanor Roosevelt..."

I'm waiting for someone to repeat that famous comment by Lloyd Bentsen and state "I knew Eleanor Roosevelt and you, dear Hillary, are no Eleanor Roosevelt."

I will vote for Hillary if need be. While holding my nose.