Tom Buffenbarger, Prophet, Machinist Union President, AFLCIO On Olbermann

[Dinger]

Telling it like it will be (back in 2008).
"Hope? Change? Yes We Can? Give me a break! I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won’t last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter."

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I gotta say it, a few of us knew it

but he is a good poet.

[Dinger]

2. True That (nt)

[Uzybone]

3. sounds like it came from Limbaughs mouth

look at all the pejoratives against liberals.

[patrice]

4. +1

[dkf]

5. Yep. Rush 2.

[whathehell]

8. That took me by surprise and I didn't like it either but...

He was talking to a group of factory workers and what he said BEFORE that...was dead on.

On edit...As one who has a foot in both worlds, I may be less likely to be offended at his characterization, e.g. I'm from a blue collar pro-union family, that, through the efforts of New Deal Democrats, went to college and then became one of those "latte sipping, birkenstock wearing" types...I get where both groups are coming from:P

[styersc]

14. Ditto.

It used to be that the Democratic Party was a quiet, yet occassionally uneasy, coalition party where the different "worlds" recognized a common intertest in success. Time will tell if the coalition can be sustained.

I watched the interview and saw the speech. It made me wonder when, and if Obama will ever show up.

[whathehell]

15. Interesting point...

So you're another "blue collar turned white" as it were?

As for Obama showing up...I think he left the building.

[Dr.Phool]

25. Elvis has left the building.

[ProSense]

6. This guy

<...>

Buffenbarger called Obama a “thespian,” and he sarcastically referred to the junior senator from Illinois as a “wunderkind.” He compared Obama to “Janus, the two-faced Roman god of ancient times.” And he pleaded with the crowd to boo Obama’s labor record.

Early in his speech, Buffenbarger asked, “So now we have a decision to make. Will we rely on the Harvard Law Review editor? The silver-tongued orator from Kansas, Hawaii and Illinois? The man in love with the microphone?”

Taking off the gloves, he said, “Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois State Senate. He took a walk more than a 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves. All the right combinations. All the right footwork. But he never steps into the ring.”

But it was Obama supporters for whom Buffenbarger saved his most vitriolic contempt, and he proved that the Democratic Party's coalition is nothing if not fragile. Channeling Howard Beale from the movie "Network," he yelled into the microphone, "Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter."

link

Still haven't gotten over the primary, huh?

[Peregrine Took]

10. As a native Chicagoan and one who follows politics - I never heard of

Obama.

I finally saw him at a Teamster rally right before he decided to run for the Senate and obviously he wanted exposure. He gave a long, boring speech about something or other. When I went home I looked him up on the internet and his website said he was a bright young light in the DLC but later it was deleted.

No one ever heard of him in Illinois and I lived on the south side,too, near the district he represented.

[Capn Sunshine]

17. BINGO

I never thought I'd see the day Olberman had a PUMA on his show. That speech was in the context of a Hillary rally.

[muntrv]

7. I have not met a repuke who drives a Prius or wears Birkenstock.

[tridim]

9. Buffenbarger sounds like an idiot.

Then and now.

[Peregrine Took]

11. Sounds like a genius to me. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

12. +1000 Prescient.

I would like to see a video of all the horrible t hings that Obama supporters said about Hillary....
It was fight..and accusations were being made on both sides.

Hillary DID have more of a history of being a fighter against the repukes.
Pretty hard to picture her being so conciliatory to them.

[ProSense]

13. Not possible,

considering his point was a gross underestimation of what actually happened.

[Dr.Phool]

16. He knew what he was talking about back then.

I didn't like Hillary at all back then.

Guess I was wrong.

[ProSense]

18. "latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear

...him speak"

Guy is a major-league asshole.

[laughingliberal]

19. K & R nt

[provis99]

20. aren't these the twerps who rioted in NY against the hippies in the '60s?

Who needs the cops to get out of control when you have flag-waving union thugs to do the same thing?

[Catherina]

21. Hurrah for the "flag-waving union thugs" n/t

[Dr.Phool]

24. Flag-waving union thugs?

A lot of us old hippies grew up and became "union thugs". We've actually been in the fights to change the course of our nation, as opposed to "Yuppie Republican Lite" DLCers, who never stood for anything but conspicuous consumption, with a drive to join the ruling class.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. No, the Machinists' Union has always been very much on the left edge of labor

You're thinking perhaps of the Teamsters.

[MadBadger]

22. The fact that you even included the Latte drinking part says a lot about you

And its not very good.

[DrToast]

23. Did Obama not get elected?

The guy was obviously wrong.

[Dr.Phool]

26. Or he was right, and WE were wrong.

There's always that possibility.

[Johnny Morales]

27. amazing how many who do NOT like the speech don't refute anything he said

instead they stick to insulting him, calling him names.

Even more telling are the handful who did so did NOT watch the video, before responding to a snip here and there with shallow pointless personal insults.

[ProSense]

28. Here

refuted

Welcome to DU.

[rug]

30. I dunno. He has a point.

http://www.artofobama.com/2009/01/03/coffee-stencil/

He did attract an inordinate amount of fawning.

[jenmito]

31. Keith should be ASHAMED of himself having Barfaburger on his show. n/t

[jenmito]

32. I'd like to ask Keith and Barfaburger if they forget when Obama did THIS:

Remember these headlines?:

Obama Goes To GOP Lions' Den -- And Mauls The Lions
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/obama-goes-to-the-gop-lio_n_442331.html

President Obama takes on House Republicans
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/white-house/president-obama-takes-on-house.html

Obama Does Question Time With The House GOP (VIDEO)
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/obama-does-question-time-with-the-house-gop.php

President Obama Takes Questions at GOP House Issues Conference
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/president-obama-takes-questions-gop-house-issues-conference