I’ll admit I wanted Christine O’Donnell to win her race for Senate. I did. I still wish a conservative had won in Delaware but my goodness, Christine O’Donnell just said something so crass, ugly, and just plain ol’ weird that I’m kinda’ seeing what weirded so many people out about her.
According to The Hill:
Christine O’Donnell on Tuesday compared the “tragedy” of extending unemployment benefits to Pearl Harbor and the death of Elizabeth Edwards.
“Today marks a lot of tragedy,” O’Donnell, who lost her recent bid for a Delaware Senate seat despite strong backing from the Tea Party, said Tuesday night during an appearance in Virginia.
“Tragedy comes in threes,” O’Donnell said. “Pearl Harbor, Elizabeth Edwards’s passing and Barack Obama’s announcement of extending the tax cuts, which is good, but also extending the unemployment benefits.”
Comparing Pearl Harbor to extending unemployment benefits? Really.
And Elizabeth Edwards had literally just died. Her family is still grieving.
Maybe the time to make her a metaphor for political gain is a little while away. Maybe a long while away.
I can’t help but think that if O’Donnell won, she would’ve quickly become the most sought after senator for quotes on anything in the hopes of embarrassing conservatives. And they would’ve gotten it, if this quote is indicative of anything.
I’ve seen this kind of thing happen in politics where you lose all perspective, where every policy decision seems so do or die important. It’s the kind of view that makes some secretly happy when unemployment numbers go up because it might do damage to the party in power or when some want a war to go badly for their own political gain. I’m not saying O’Donnell is guilty of these things but it’s indicative of the mindset that has lost perspective.
And let’s face it, comparing Pearl Harbor to unemployment benefits is a bit wacko. And using the death of Elizabeth Edwards to make a political point is just ugly and frankly creeps me out a bit.
December 9, 2010 at 3:25 am
"And let's face it, comparing Pearl Harbor to unemployment benefits is a bit wacko."
And, I wanted her to win also. She really needs to work on her speech skills.
December 9, 2010 at 3:30 am
This is EXACTLY why we need to repudiate the likes of O'Donnell and Palin.
O'Donnell's rejection of evolution and now this are ridiculous. We need to vote in educated and well-informed candidates. Neither O'Donnell nor Palin (the 08 interviews she gave…) impress me in this regard. They have both made numerous gaffs when speaking; these gaffs make them easy targets of mockery.
December 9, 2010 at 3:41 am
O'Donnell, well, that is crazy. But I like Palin. And her gaffe's haven't been half as bad as Obama's but nobody seems to report on those. I mean really,Obama gaffes all over the place.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/02/04/obama_mispronounces_corpsman_at_prayer_breakfast.html
December 9, 2010 at 3:44 am
Whoa Anon. Hold up. Do you realize how much executive experience Palin has? A whole lot. Do you realize what makes Palin likeable? She is real and that includes her gaffes, which really are far fewer than gaffe-machine Biden's gaffes but the NSM gives him a pass cause he's a democrat. Palin identifies with mainstreet, and vise versa and believe she will kick BO's butt any day of the week. She's got more cojones than he ever did.
December 9, 2010 at 3:53 am
Please do not compare Palin to O'Donnell. It doesn't speak very well of someone to base their judgment of Palin on interviews even she admitted went badly. Palin has clearly demonstrated an ability to think through the issues in a way that O'Donnell has not.
December 9, 2010 at 4:07 am
yuck- this is why I am disliking politics more and more
December 9, 2010 at 2:13 pm
all sorts of people don't win Senate seats. Usually there is a reason.
December 9, 2010 at 3:04 pm
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December 9, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Karl Rove, you annoying little bastard, you were right.
Palin was as shocked as the rest of us when O'Donnell went full-tilt goofballs, so leave her alone.
December 9, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Rule #1
You don't get to attack anonymously. Put your name and re-post it and then I will tell you how stupid you are.
December 9, 2010 at 6:58 pm
O'Donnell did not repudiate evolution. O'Donnell said that the matter belonged to the individual school districts.
Pearl Harbor was an act of war
Elizabeth Edwards death is an act of God.
Extending unemployment benefits is survival as both Czar Nicholas II and the "Let them eat cake" queen let their people starve in the streets.
December 9, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Mary,
Not to quibble, but there was no "let them eat cake queen." That is a longstanding and untrue slur against a very devout Catholic queen, Marie Antoinette. Not true; Marie Antoinette never said it, and never lived like she did. I do wish people would quit repeating this slur against her.
– Cathy
December 9, 2010 at 7:55 pm
There was a Democratic Representative not too long ago who expressed the fear that Guam might capsize if too many troops were stationed there. My point is that stupidity isn't unique to any political party, nor are the stupid automatically excluded from winning elections.
And the Lord must LOVE stupid people, He's made so many of them!
December 9, 2010 at 8:13 pm
For those who just want to remember vividly that moment Subvet referred to where Congressman Hank Jhnson fretted that Guam would tip over, here's the link. I love this video so much I would wallpaper my room with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM1QtyZvn04&feature=related
December 9, 2010 at 9:13 pm
@Matthew and @Subvet
That video is both sad and hilarious at the same time. We need to remind the dems of this whenever they accuse certain GOP members of stupidity.
December 9, 2010 at 11:10 pm
"O'Donnell did not repudiate evolution."
Ah but she did. On the Bill Maher show (yuck!), she asked if evolution were true then why didn't we see it happening today. That is a SERIOUS misinterpretation of what evolution even is! Now if she has repudiated what she said then I take back what I said.
Patrick, I hope you weren't calling me stupid. Seeing as how there is another anonymous here that you deleted is that the person you were referring to?
As for Palin, my main dilemmas with her are not her as a person. Frankly I think the media did some despicable things to her. But the the fact that she did not understand such things as what the Bush Doctrine was amongst other things rather shocks me. Again, maybe they are just gaffs. Obama and Biden make gaffs as well, I recognize that.
December 10, 2010 at 12:49 am
It was the anonymous who was deleted that Patrick was referring to. We have a much quicker hook with anonymi than with people who have names.
December 11, 2010 at 4:50 pm
For those want to know the full context of what O'Donnell said, go to her Facebook page. We do ourselves and others a disservice when we rely on the elite media for our news, especially when they have it out for a particular person. While it appears she could have made her point better, the article does not accurately reflect what she indeed said . . . http://tinyurl.com/26redqj