Thomas Lindaman brings up Game Change, in which John Heliemann and Mark Halperin report:
"[A]s Hillary bungled Caroline, Bill's handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee."
Naturally, this is second-hand information that can't be confirmed, since Ted is... well, dead. Not to mention the fact that throughout the Clinton/Obama campaign, Bill Clinton was always focusing on Obama being a junior senator that lacked experience and didn't go through the usual blood, sweat, and tears.
It seems fairly obvious that Clinton was referring to a junior senator being a lackey, not a "black guy shining my shoes." Especially given how Bill Clinton never showed even an inkling of being a racist through his actions. Since you right-wingers obviously think Ted Kennedy is telling the truth on this: Do you also think Ted Kennedy was telling the truth when he said that he was only driving Mary Jo Kopechne home that night, sober, and he tried hard to save her life? Ted seems to be trustworthy when you want to believe him, untrustworthy when you don't. Apparently today the newest member of the Dead Kennedys is, in fact, trustworthy.
That, of course, is not racist.
Lindaman then compares the Harry Reid/Clinton statements with Trent Lott. As for Trent Lott, Richard Greene said it best:
You see, it all boils down to this:
1. Clinton was right (if he said his statement at all): A few years earlier a junior senator would be fetching coffee to people like him.
2. Reid was right: America still isn't ready for a dark-skinned thickly ethnic-speaking nubian Black President.
3. Lott was wrong: The world would not have been better off if they had elected Thurmond in 1948, when he was a flaming racist. But go ahead, tell us how the world would've been better with a blatant racist in charge.
The Democrats are right, the Republicans are wrong (again).
