Swift blasts Obama over 'pig' comment
Jane Swift went quickly to work this evening as a leader of a brand new "truth squad" defending GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, excoriating Barack Obama for a comment he made while campaigning in Virginia today.
Obama told voters that they shouldn't believe John McCain and Palin's talk about reforming Washington. "You can put lipstick on a pig," Obama said. "It's still a pig."
"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink," Obama added. "We've had enough of the same old thing."
Republicans took offense, saying that was a personal attack on Palin, who during the GOP convention speech last week, asked delegates if they knew the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull. Pointing to her mouth, she exclaimed, "Lipstick."
Swift told reporters on a conference call that Obama's comment was "disgraceful" and that "he owes Governor Palin an apology."
Challenged about how she could be sure that Obama was referring to Palin, Swift replied, "She's the only one of the four presidential or vice presidential candidates who wears lipstick."
Swift also said Obama's remark was different than McCain comparing Mitt Romney to a pig during their free-for-all before the New Hampshire primary. "Never get into a wrestling match with a pig. You both get dirty -- and the pig likes it," McCain said then.
Swift said Obama's comment was gender-specific.
The Obama campaign, however, pointed out that McCain used the same phrase while criticizing Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan, saying it was the same as the one she pushed as first lady. "I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," he said of her proposal.
The former Massachusetts governor said it's only the latest in a series of offensive comments from Obama and his supporters. She said that after going up against Hillary Clinton in the primaries, Obama's campaign "would have figured out how to respectfully" debate a female candidate.
"This is just the same old low road," Swift said.
Republicans also blasted Obama for describing Palin in Michigan on Monday as a "mother, governor, moose shooter."
The McCain campaign issued a statement today from Walter Morse, co-chairman of New Hampshire Sportsmen for McCain: "What Barack Obama dismisses as a 'moose shooter' we in New Hampshire call a 'sportsman' or a 'moose hunter.' Senator Obama has demonstrated once again that he doesn't understand rural America -- and after suggesting that many of us 'cling' to religion and guns, he also doesn't seem interested in learning. Although the sportsmen's community knows Barack Obama is no friend, this comment reinforces the critical need for hunters and anglers to mobilize behind our allies John McCain and Sarah Palin."
Heh. Swift. Hahaha.
Loser.
Sorry. She is a Moose-shooter. What's wrong with calling it that? Moose shooting? Why, it's better than "Death Tax".
So Rethugs can re-brand things but Democrats cant? Moose shooting, hunting, whatever, it is what it is. Maybe if they went out and used bows and arrows the hunters/shooters would have a point. But, they use guns, which you shoot.
By all log and reason what he said is perfectly fine. Palin the Moose-Shooter.
November 02, 2004
"You can put lipstick on a pig"
"As we say in Wyoming, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," quipped Vice President Dick Cheney in a stump speech yesterday, with reference to John Kerry's claims he would be a credible war president. It's part of the VP's daily refresher course in the presidential wannabe's all-talk-no-action lack of decisiveness [the Girlie-Man Syndrome]. Kerry makes it all too easy, as the Guardian reports on an earlier speech
I am shocked that even Obama would do this. A new low for him, he destroyed Ms Clinton with his sexist campaign and is now doing the same to Ms. Palin
I'm afraid reactions like this are going to make Sarah Palin seem too fragile to play in the big leagues. I'm sure she's heard tougher words from hockey moms. Everybody keeps jumping in to protect her, give her some credit for being able to hold her own.
How do we know? McCain could a cross-dresser for all we know....Palin is the one who described herself as a "pitbull with lipstick" Obama owes her no aplogy. By the way the descriptors mother, governor, moosehunter are part of the bio she presented to American voters. What is the problem?....................
Sounds like a No Hitter in the end of the 6th with two strikes and two balls.
Obama shows that he is the pig, of the male chauvinist variety! (sorry, I know I spelled chavenist wrong.)
If you can't take the heat, get some better lipstick.
My goodness, do the Republicans have any other word in their vocabulary than 'sexism?'
How about this one: 'Don't try to teach a pig to fly; you'll only frustrate yourself and annoy the pig."
Uh, oh, now I've shown my true colors: I'm a 'pigist.'
OBAMA IS NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME!!!
What was he THINKING...oh, he wasn't!!!
MALE CHAUVINIST PIG! I AM AN ANGRY HOCKEY MOM!!!
God, is Obama FUNNY !
High Five ! !
-Borat
As a life long Democrat have to say that I have been totally embarrassed by our party. And today I 'opened my eyes', and thought about it.
As a Woman, I am so angry that I have wasted so many years working for this party, supporting the candidates, attending rallies, placing signs, sending checks. Our Party has proved once and for all that it is nothing but a Good Old Boy's elite club.
Please, hear me out about why I felt this way.
First, I really do not understand why we, as Democrats, would hire and pay entire groups of people to attend the Republican Convention to shout obscenity's, hold up banners containing misinformation and attempt to totally disrupt and dishonor the opposing candidates acceptance speech over, and over, and over again. What was the purpose?
Sadly, I have got to say that I almost never see this occur in our Democratic acceptance speeches by attacking Republicans. In fact, I remember Mr McCain actually having a commercial that said "job well done" during our own convention. However, for years now, I have seen this disruption and dishonor by bad mannered fellow Democrats occur during the Republican speeches, and they are hired to do so. This really truly portrays our party in a very bad light.
Everything that Joe Biden spurts out is either misinformation, disinformation, or sexist anger! How dare he say a "Woman's place should be in the home", and "Palin is obviously sacrificing her family values by running for Vice President. Biden is Washington elitist through and through. Change? Now that's a joke, Biden is as far from change as it is humanly possible to get. Just another Dick Chaney.
To tell the truth, it is very embarrassing for both me, our family, and our many Democratic friends.
Obama, (a once shining star), has even changed, he talks down to everyone. Either his personality has changed, or his true nature is coming out. He's coming across as really arrogant, elitest, and snobby. He talks about being on food stamps while living in Hawaii, but the when I searched it online the Punahu school he attended is the absolute most expensive private elitist school in the State. Something about the food stamps story and the exclusive private elite school really does not make sense to me. And to tell the truth, the statements like, "I am the one the World has been waiting for"....are kind of scary.
Also, the obvious Media slant, spin, and one sided focus towards our Party, and, 'against the republican party' has become so transparent that this too, (is insulting to me), on an ethical and moral basis. ( CNN, TIME magazine). Call me crazy, but I do not feel comfortable in having to 'cheat to win'. Seriously.... Is it just me?,... or does it feel that our once very proud Democratic Party seems to be losing it's sense of honor and values?
I hate to say it, but it makes me feel 'embarrassed to be a Democrat'. I am certainly finding it increasingly difficult to have to explain to my children that although this is unacceptable behavior, it IS the Party WE support?
Who is responsible for these dishonorable attacks, all this misinformation (like the stem cell research), personal attacks on women with children working, Do they not understand that this makes our party look like we have lost our values, of not our minds.? Don't preach to me about Family Values, then lie, deceive, vilify Woman with children for having a career, slander and attack a Woman who knowingly brought a disabled child into this world, AND SAY SHE DOES NOT HAVE COMPASSION FOR OTHER MOTHERS IN THE SAME SITUATION. How dare you Joe Biden! How dare you use a disabled child as an attack weapon! You should be ashamed! Obviously, you and Senator Obama have somewhere along the line lost your compassion, empathy, moral values and ethics. I never thought that we could have a Vice President as bad as Chaney in terms of values, but Mr. Biden, with your comments in the last week, I believe you just surpassed Mr.Chaney.
I have to say that from everything I've read, heard, and researched on Palin, she is one hell of a Woman, "a real person," and not a (slick elitist spin master like yourself). For me she is like "breath of fresh air in American Politics!". And you know what? After reading what she did to the good old boy politicians in Alaska (like yourself), I can't wait to see her clean up the Washington bunch. She will go in their like a tornado and shake up the system. And I believe that John McCain, who has never bought into the good old boy Washington cocktail set, will back her 100%.
Sadly Mr Biden, to win at all costs using unethical behavior to do so, I have to ask the question: Is this really a win for the American people? I don't think so! You know, we should have seen this coming during the Monica Lewinsky situation, where she was just a sex object in the Good Old Boys club.
Am I alone, or are there other Mothers out there in America who finds this behavior of our Party disturbing? What do you tell your young kids?, ... When everyone in society condones cheating, lying, stealing, societies totally collapse....remember that was the reason of the fall of the Roman Empire.
Seeing the attacks the Democratic Party did to Hillary Clinton, and seeing the attacks the Democratic Party has done to Palin really truly opened my eyes!
And I'm sure that Women all over America and the World are witnessing the same thing with amazement! As of today, I no longer will support a party of Women haters, good old boys, and cheaters.
I instead am switching my time, money and energies to getting involved with the Republican party. Yes, it's true that we have quite a bit of differences in opinions and causes,.... but by getting involved, but I know that as a Woman, my voice will be heard, and I will work to change that party for the better.
I know that if I stay with the Democratic party I am just seen as a worthless Woman in a skirt, to be seen and not heard, who is not part of the Elite Boys Club, and their Greek columns and mass California type extravaganza of a convention (which reminded me of the 1938 Olympic spectacle that Adolf Hitler produced to wow the world with.
Women of America....you are wasting your time if your working for the Boy's Club Democratic party! OPEN YOUR EYES! Today I did!
And I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE DECISION!!
As for Sara Palin, YOU GO GIRL!
Sincerely,
S. Chambers
It's patently obvious he was talking about a pig. Not Sarah Palin. This isn't the Muppets....
Jane Swift is a pig. Ohh, that felt goood
Nothing new: Obama used the same figural language that McCain used, but Palin's Pigs are whining about being victims. Same old GOP look-you-in-the-eye-and-lie.
Oh for goodness sakes. How little does the Palin/McCain campaign have in actual substance to be grasping at straws like this? And why doesn't the Globe treat this with the ridicule, if not contempt, it deserves?
Well McCain Pig remark is directed at a man, so in Politics all is fair, you want to ware the pants then ware them and stop crying foul.
To go after Obama for saying Pig, and Not McCain just cause he referencend a pig, well if Palin wants to be treated as anyone running for office, then all I can assume that the writer of this article is Racist.
Which seems more accurate, being it is OK for white males to go after white males, or white women, (Hillary) any comment you want, but for a black man to make light of a white woman's comments well then a apology is needed.
unfortunately, I perceive this as an extremely bad choice of words that will only cause damage to Obama and his campaign. It would seem that such and eloquent speaker would have come to the same conclusion. He is not stupid; and so that makes me wonder....
Palynn Effect started showing wearing polls show !!! oops!!! McCane back down low!!!!
Nothing new: Obama used the same figural language that McCain used, but Palin's Pigs are whining about being victims. Same old GOP look-you-in-the-eye-and-lie.
Mr. Obama has proven over and over again that he is a sexist ... pig.
What a bunch of idiots. Try and lie your way into the White House and then get upset by a couple of comments that do not mean a "hill of beans". I do not support him, but I hope Obama trounces some Republican cry baby butt.
SO RIDICULOUS. Tell Jane Smith to settle down. First of all, if it were meant to refer to Palin, then ask everyone who loves Miss Piggy if Henson saw her as a negative figure? Second, it probably had nothing to do with Palin because those of who were only listening, not falling in love thought the whole Hockey Moms and bull dogs joke, really gratutous. How dies being a moose hunter or hockey mom relate to the job or to her vision of the country. Third, lighten up. Regardless of who says what and how they say it, be in formal or wisecrakery or whatever, leave them alone to say it.
you can put Obama in a Christian church and he still has Muslim roots too!
The pot calling the kettle black; typical repug tactics.
And I don't believe all hunters, sportsmen, and persons of faith are hypocritical, self-righteous blinded bigoted republicans.
It's just that in spite of what the repugs try to portray themselves as, that's what it appears like.
Yes! Alright, after all she's the one who called herself a pitbull and a barracuda!
Alright Obama!
I could not agree with Swift more.
Neither the crowd at the speech nor anyone reading this article could have any doubt, given the specific references to Governor Palin by name sandwiched between the "pig" and stinking fish remarks, and the prominence of Palin's pit-bull-lipstick joke, that Obama was referring to Palin.
Need I remind you that Obama also referred to Hillary's "periodic" emotionality and serially calls women "sweetie"?
Obama is a sexist pig.
Ah yes, the typical Republican garbage of spewing forth as many hateful comments as they can, then acting like they other side is disgusting for returning in kind.
Sarah Palin is a pig. She's anti-education, anti-environment, anti-women, and doesn't appear to be that great a mother either. She's an attack dog that is all bark and no bite. She's exhibited no real wit, no real intelligence, and no real qualifications for being President. She was put on the ticket as a sad play for the base.
Funny. . . how Palin can dish it out but she needs to learn take it! Check all the facts before you begin to discredit people. Republican need a big FACT CHECK!
Oh boy...don't you just love the way the Democrats and the liberal media are SCRAMBLING around trying whatever they can to stem the rising tide of popularity for the first "genuine" person/politician to hit our radar screen in many years. You'd think the media would know that negative advertising works! Take a soap ad and some suburban housewife cooing about how her wash is whiter - we hated the ad but we bought the soap!
Keep slamming this new breath of fresh air in Washington politics and Mrs. Palin might just become our next Pres. I guess the other viewpoint would be that there is nothing to say about Biden and that's why they - the liberal media - are not saying it!
Once again we are going to witness how the Democrats blew their election chances...some think it's sad. I think it's funny!
Stupid. No apology needed. Obama was clearly referring to McCain trying to pass himself off as "change."
That Jane Swift, I'm glad she helicoptered in to comment. We've missed her light touch in the political debate.
But, on more substantial issues, I wonder what she thinks of Gov.Palin's poor track record of cutting fat in government?
It's no wonder to me Mr. Obama is anti-hunters and anti-religion. He wants America to be soft and unprepared for the massive give-away he has in mind for your tax dollars in order to 'equalize the standard of living' for the poor in this country. He no more understands the work ethic or hearts of small town America than a rock. He's never had to work for anything, never had to worry about feeding his kids or managing on a budget. How could he possibly understand folks who have to choose between paying the rent on time or feeding their family? And what's worse is he has NO IDEA THAT HE'S OUT OF TOUCH.
We have to work for a living but Barack wants to GIVE the same money we had to work for to folks just because they're poor. Well I'm poor too, but I expect to have to get up and work for my living.! What a crock!! He's a poster board mock-up mouthpiece for some rich facist financiers in Chicago. They OWN him lock, stock and barrel.
He's not qualified and he will be the ruin of America. If you want to no longer live free, then blow off getting out to vote. If you want to STAY FREE, vote McCain/Palin in November.
Holy cow are people sensitive. Moose Shooter is insensitive after half of her biography being pushed is how much she likes moose and shooting moose?
Grow up people.
And the pig comment...must be a slow news day. I think "What's the difference between Sarah Palin and George Bush?....Lipstick. Would be a better line.
This is so ridiculous...It is a figure of speech...PLEASE talk about important issues, not manufactured outrage...(that goes for the media as well as campaign spokespeople)
It is time Obama kept his word and stopped the sexist attacks on Palin. He sounds sexist and hateful!
Where are the issues in this piece. Where is the truth? I don't know who Jane Smith is but I do know that this is Karl Rove style politics. We do not want or deserve this. Americans want answers and solutions. People are losing their jobs and their homes. People can't afford gas and groceries. Professional people have lost their jobs because big business and large corporations have sent the jobs to China. Thousands of American soldiers have died in Iraq. We are now disgraced in the world because of torture and illegal invasion and occupation. Enough of these silly issues about lipstick and hunting. Americans are not so stupid as the RNC thinks we are. It is time for all of us to stand up to this nonsense and face reality like grownups.
How pathetic we've all become...
Obviously the Obama campaign is not 'reaching across the aisles are they? Where is the "change" Mr. Obama? The democrats have been doing what you are doing for the past 8 years and that is why Congress has a lower approval rating than the President has.
Watch carefully folks, Obama about to make a grand blunder that he cannot receover from.
Give me a break! Now Senator Obama has to apology for using an idiom.
This is absurd.
Gotta love the hypocritical Republicans, once again, its okay for them to be dismissive or cut down someone accomplishments, but as soon as that same tactic is used on them.. well then its 'wrong', time for the party of whiners to be able to take what they give.
does anyone really care what jane swift thinks? Sensitive topic?
Where's the sport in shooting an unarmed moose. Call it sportsman, call it hunting, but at the end of the day, they go out into the woods and shoot unarmed animals. Lets make it sporting - lets put the moose and the "sportsman" in a cage together and let them go at it hand-to-hand er hoof. That would be sporting.
Political intelligence.... now there's a non-sequitur. Kind of like military intelligence?
Why does anyone think that candidates for political office deserve respect??
It is time Obama kept his word and stopped the sexist attacks on Palin. He sounds sexist and hateful!
I simply don't care who called who a pig. I care about taxes, I care about taking care of our troops, I care about U.S. business not being taxed to the point of not being competitive with foreign companies. I care that someone has the fortitude to really change that overt corruption of Washington. I care about rampant spending that does me no good at all. I care that Americans were lead to believe they could buy houses without the income to justify the purchase. Finally I care that we have squandered our energy reserves by locking up supplies. I care that we finance terror and could choose to finance ourselves with energy independence.
Moose Shooter = Moose Murder
The GOP is trying to manipulate the media and I'm glad they are not falling for it.
What a bunch of clowns. Let's admit that Sarah Palin's whining voice does sound like a squealing pig. It's soooo annoying.. It's like she's constantly complaining. Oink Oink!
Obama has gone too far. I know he was trying to slam McCain and Palin since he he is behind in the polls. Oh yes, he'll cover up the lipstick comment about Palin; but, I'm sure a lot of women know what he was really saying. This will come back to bit him in the END. Maybe a little buckshot in the END. Obama's true colors are coming out. By the way, why is he attacking Palin? He's running for president not vice-president.
I for one, plan to send the Obama camp a tube of lipstick.
Are you kidding me? McCain-Palin tell lie after lie:
She was against the bridge to nowhere - except she wasn't and she took the money.
She states she is against earmarks yet she hired lobbists to get 20 million dollars for her town of 6000
The lies they tell about Obama are so rediculous only the uniformed yell and cheer. There is no plan but more of the same 8 years of Bush policies. Policies that have resulted in:
A war that benefits the defense industry and big oil but has cost us 5000 plus US dead, 100,000 US wounded. Highest suicide rate among ex-soldiers ever. Credibility in the world at an all time low.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac billion dollar (may go to trillion dollar) bailout which will put us further in debt and raise taxes no matter who is in office. The difference being McCain will tax you and I, and Obama says he'll tax the wealthy..
US Auto Makers are on the verge of bankruptcy and have applied to the US Government for 40 Billion Dollars in "loans"...
US Airline Industry is on the verge of collapse. United and US Airways may go bankrupt before the end of the year (reported in USA Today)
US infrastructure (bridges, roads, dams, etc) is on the verge of collapse (American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed in the next five years alone just to maintain the adequacy of existing infrastructure.) This is just for maintenance, we need to build more to handle the traffic and floods.
Highest foreclosure rate since the great depression (foreclosure statistics released today show that 11% of all American homeowners are in foreclosure..)
These are facts not the drivel that comes out of the McCain Palin campaign. Yet a mature person is "offended" by a saying? Are pigs against her religion?
Wow. What is wrong with you people?
The phrase "lipstick on a pig" is a well-known idiom meaning a lost cause or a futile gesture.
Does the ASPCA get their knickers in a bunch when Wall Street refers to the "dead cat bounce"? Again, people, another idiom.
If you are a "life-long" Democrat that is offended by this remark, or by Obama in general, then you, my friend, are not a life-long Democrat.
There was nothing sexist is what Obama said. Where was the reference to anything related to a woman or women? What is paraphrased was an adage. It was not sexist. What is more bothersome is Palin's blatant lies. She was against the bridge to nowhere? Look at the record, she was for it before she was against it. She sold the plane on Ebay? Nope, it was not sold on Ebay. She's a total phony and McCain should be ashamed for picking someone so weak and inexperienced. This country needs change, not four more years of the same broken promises and failed policies. Vote for progress, vote for Obama/Biden.
This article is pointless, but the pig comment was definitely hilarious.
There is nothing I hate most than a victim mentality. This is politics, not the Maury Povich show.
Who is Jane Swift anyways? one of Sarah Palin's girlfriends on her period?
Obama’s people will probably do the same things to Sarah Palin that they did to Hillary Clinton for basically the same reasons. The difference between the two women is that Hillary consistently played the misogyny victim and Sarah consistently plays the pitbull with lipstick. Hillary was the victim of “Piling on”, and “The all boys club” and was seen crying in New Hampshire. Of course her husband cheated on her and she was also the victim of the “Vast right wing conspiracy”. Sarah rolls with it and gives it back to her opponents. Sarah Palin = Strong Leader, Hillary Clinton = Sniveling Victim.
Obama is really scared of Palin, thats why his team is spending so much money to discredit her. I dont think it is going to work, She is to strong in the public eye.
This is extremely insulting. . .
Obama is fighting fire with fire.
Palin is the female George W Bush. They have a lot in common. Extreme religion, demand loyalty, time away from the office, corrupt, unethical, lies a lot. I'm sure she would do just as a good a job as Bush did during his terms.
No, I am not being sexist. I like Hillary.
No, I am not "the Liberal Media." There is no liberal media.
Obama is done, he knows it, we all know it. He's scared and he's sounding more like it every day!!! Bye Bye Bama!!!
Can we do the same thing?
How about ...A zebra with lipstick is still a zebra!! LOL
Or does he have something against pork which would be virtually impossible being a politician.
Seeing as how Muslims don't like pigs it would seem apt for him to use it in a denegrating attack on a Christian.
Obama is not too bright. Since the liberal Democrat media are too frightened to carry him on their shoulders due to declining audience/readership, Obama sounds stupid, or at best, ignorant. Perhaps Reverend Wright should council him on sesitivity.
Has no one else heard this expression before? Seriously? It's been around forever.
This outcry reminds me of the first season of "the Apprentice" when someone said that Omarosa was the pot calling the kettle black... and Omarosa fired back with an accusation of racism.
Maybe not the best choice of expressions, but common, common expressions.
It's a sad day indeed when a simple idiom - long a part of the English language - falls prey to such silly political correctness.
It's an expression, folks. Not a political statement. Lighten up, Swift, or you'll have to start avoiding idioms like the plague. Oops, sorry, clichés are probably on the short list as well.
Funny, that in the country where we recoil from the thought of censorship, everyone should be so quick to censure.
Moose Shooter or Moose Hunter = Moose Murder
No matter what you call it the Moose always gets the short end of the stick. The GOP is trying to manipulate the media and I'm glad no one is falling for it.
The fact that the republicans are hiding Palin from the National media is comical. Turns out Sarah Barracuda has a record that goes against her claims of being a simple hockey mom and a Washington outsider.
Looks like the Hockey mom hired a Washington lobbyist and bilked 27 million dollars of tax payer money to Alaskan road projects. Let me guess what her defense will be....every hockey mom bilks the Government out of 27 million.
Oh...then there is trooper-gate. Seems the governor lied about using the power of her office in an effort to get her former brother in law fired. A bipartisan Alaskan government committee voted 14-0 to go forward with an independent investigation once tapes surfaced that clearly showed the governors lackies asking why the state trooper had not been fired. They also have evidence that his records were pulled and things made public in an attempt to smear the trooper.
Sounds like Governor Palin took a crash course in cronyism from none other than Tom (the hammer) Delay. Does this sound like a woman who will carry on the Bush Cheney Cronyism for another 4 years?
OK, how about lipstick on a pitbull --- is that better?
Sarah Palin, hey hey hey,
How many lies have you told today?
It's clear that our media does this country a great disservice when it reproduces such unimportant campaign developments in the light of the truly scary economic conditions our country is experiencing. That our media thrives on these kinds of political distractions will be our ruin. We can do better; we deserve better.
Wait, this is a joke right. If she can't stand the heat, then she needs to get out of the kitchen. There goes another sexist comment. :)
Idiot Creationist Lipstick wearing pig.
Anyone who thinks the bible is a history book is a moron.
Like all of the morons who would fall on a sword for Palin without even knowing what she stands for.
She must be a good christian because short of murder and adultery I guess lying and misinformation are not commandments.
She is a lying hypocrite
Obama made a reference to a pig, he never mentioned Sarah Palin. If Jane Swift hears the word pig and thinks of Sarah Palin that is her issue, not Obama's.
don't fall for silly politics. 'lipstick on a pig' is a very common saying in America. it's not about gender, it's not about Palin. politicians try to create emotion to fire you up. if you get fired up about that comment, you're being manipulated.
get an education, learn to think for yourself, be discriminating.
Obama is really a nasty man. Perhaps Democrat women need to give the Republicans another look.
It's a sad day indeed when a simple idiom - long a part of the English language - falls prey to such silly political correctness.
It's an expression, folks. Not a political statement. Lighten up, Swift, or you'll have to start avoiding idioms like the plague. Oops, sorry, clichés are probably on the short list as well.
Funny, that in the country where we recoil from the thought of censorship, everyone should be so quick to censor.
Keep it up Obama.....and you liberal nuts! You're going to hand deliver McCain and Palin to Washington D.C., and rightly so, since they are the only candidates who have actually had real jobs with executive experience! Let's see how many other coalitions you can tick off!
Republicans by reacting to this have just claimed the mantle of a "Pig" or maybe republican pork - the bridge to nowhere in Alaska. Apparently, the guilty party agrees they are pigs. Poor Barbie !!!
Wow. It's on old saying. Cheney used it. McCain used it himself in reference to Hillary. Obama did nothing wrong to do the same.
But Swift knows that people in this country are stupid, and they will latch on to one person's opinion without critically analyzing it, especially if racism or sexism can be implied.
All of you who buy into this type of nonsense and make decisions based on it should be summarily beaten, IMO.
Come on now, folks. Have you NEVER heard this expression before? Do you HONESTLY think that this was any reference to Palin's gender? Honestly?
At the end. this article is useless. Just more noise to filter a voter has to filter out. Exaggerating something small and making it a big issue. Who care if Sara Palin looks like a pig.
Angry hockey mom's everywhere...DEAL WIT IT! This isn't a race for captain of the hockey team, it's the presidential election. If Palin can't handle it and the republicans are gonna cry sexism every time he throws a jab, than she is CERTAINLY not qualified to be vice president of this country. Will she respond the same when she is poked at by a terrorist?
Ask yourself this, America. Would John McCain had even chosen Mrs Palin as a running mate if Mr Obama had chose Mrs. Clinton? A must say, a good move by republicans to pick up voters.
Wow-
A short article about Republicans being sensetive about a very old phrase...
***"As we say in Wyoming, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," quipped Vice President Dick Cheney in a stump speech yesterday, with reference to John Kerry's claims he would be a credible war president.***
...leads someone like "S. Chambers" who claims to be a former Democrat goes blathering on repeating lies and misinformation about Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin. A misquote here, a lie there- TYPICAL REPUBLICAN TACTICS.
An please explain to me how the G.O.P. isn't an old boys club? PALIN WASN'T IN THE NOMINATION PROCESS, SO SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO ENDURE "SEXISM" FROM HER OWN PARTY. THE REPUBLICANS RAN ALL OLD WHITE DUDES. THAT IS LITERALLY AN "OLD BOYS CLUB."
Sheesh.
Who is Jane Swift? She is always a bitter loser.
Why are you IDIOTS talking about a" breath of fresh air"? Can't you SEE that Palin IS GEORGE BUSH in a skirt & McCain isWAR-LOVING CHENEY? Just 2 RECYCLED RePUBlican (emphasis on PUB) dangerous, smiling, ignorant "pious hypocrites" who talk to their God & wish to smilingly take over your life. Remember, McCain will most likely reinstate the DRAFT. Get ready. Leon Trotsky said: "you may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you " . Think & vote for OBAMA. Your future just MIGHT depend on it.
P.S. Bullwinkle is throwing up & running for his life.
Oh my God! Are people who are calling this a sexist remark really that STUPID? "Lipstick on a pig" is an expression. Obama wasn't name-calling. With so many people having trouble grasping this, it's no wonder George W was elected twice and a woman who has spent her entire life in Alaska and had a passport for only two years has a real shot at winning the vice presidency. Oh boy.
Here's one I like better, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Or - In a pig's ear.
If the lady calls herself a pit bull, it sounds really stupid for griping about sexism to ensue when people respond with other animals.
Sounds like some folks missed taking literature in high school and these responses went way over their head. Nobody was calling her a pig, they were hinting at making somebody into something they aren't.
It's so bad when you have to explain things to the young ones.
Up until a month ago, I could have sworn the Republicans were the party telling women, minorities, and gays to stop playing the victim and to lighten up any time a person makes a joke or comment that may be perceived as offensive, even if the intent is unascertainable. Funny how things have changed so quickly.
Give me a freaking break!! I see nothing wrong with what Obama said. It's okay for the Republicans to say one thing, but as soon as the Democrats says it, it's a problem!! This was a part of their strategy - to call sexism on EVERYTHING to cover up for all the lies and shortcomings of their campaign and new celebrity. Cry me a freaking river Republicans!!
And to S. Chambers above, sorry you feel that way but obviously the Republicans have got you where they want you!!
Can't Palin speak for herself?
If she can't take the heat, she should get out of the kitchen
I've heard worse talk in a school playground.
This is so stupid. Political trash talk
both sides do it
Didn't anyone listen to her speech? She was hauling more trash than my garbage-man.
Why it is on these blogs the liberals are always nasty. On every blog people are trying to speak their opinion but out of those who support Obama there is nothing but hatefulness and spite. You can have honest disagreement based on issues and opinions but without fail, the Obama supporters start spewing hate and vile and resort to name calling. That is why the crowd was so delighted when THEY assumed he was talking about Sarah Palin. What happened to honor and decorum? The Obama supporters are totally loosing all sense of decency and showing themselves not ready for Prime Time. Keep it up. You have nobody to blame but yourselves in November because there are enough decent people left in this nation to defeat you.
Oh for the love of G!! I am sooooo sick of women pulling the "gender card" out at every turn. Isn't that kind of 70's? Oh right, it matches someones hair and make up- I was a hockey mom, a soccer mom, a back stage mom, I raised 2 kids by my self after their dad decided he wasn't ready for kids. I was a brownie troop leader and a cub scout den mother. I have a college degree and worked two jobs to support us at times. Do I relate to Sarah Palin...Hell no!!! She is as far removed from ANYTHING I want to represent my gender as I can think. She disgraces the rest of us who worked hard to be accepted for our abilities. Sarah choses to take the "Belch and Scratch with the boys" approach to cutting thru the "Good old boy system". Stop whining, Obahma is being discriminated against because of his race, his name, his age and everything else. Stop McSame and Falin!!!
Oh, Pleezee, give me a break. There we go again. Using the gender card tactic to try and intimated Obama. Sara Palain on her own accord brought up the bull dog and lipstick. It seems its okay for others to use the phrase, but as long as it’s not Obama RIGHT? That’s down right wrong it’s called double standard. I myself am a women and I’m sick and tired of hearing the gender card used over and over again. I’m sick and tired of hearing the name calling. Instead I want to hear what McCain and Palin are going to do about getting America’s economy back on track. We’ve had ENOUGH of the Name calling.
Lastly judging from all the favorable coverage Sara Palin is getting from the media, it seems to me she’s over shadow McCain. Each day that goes by McCain appears more like the VP nominee and instead she appear more, and more like the Republican Presidential nominee. Which out of the two of them is the Republican presidential nominee????
You don't call a moose hunter a "moose shooter" for the same reason you don't call someone that is pro choice a "baby killer". It is what it is, but doesn't go over good when a candidate says it.
Jane Swift?!?! JANE FREAKIN' SWIFT?!?!?!
I *almost* forgot she was once the governor of this state... thanks for reminding me!!!
You oversensitive buffoons need to grow a pair. Really. You're starting to sound like a bunch of PC liberal pansies. "Lipstick on a pig" is a well-known, and, frankly, underutilized expression. For example:
Given the current state of our nation's economy and and struggling foreign policy, electing McCain/Palin in Nov. would be like *putting lipstick on a pig*.
There, see how well that works?
Nice zinger Barry, but the reality is that you've now stooped to running against the other side's VP. But you can't help yourslelf, because your male Muslim pride has been hurt by a woman, no less.
Obviously the "pig" is the TALK of reforming washington, not an individual.
Reading anything different into it is insincere at best. The saying is probably as old as pigs, lipstick and politics.
Holy PIG, I thought republicans had skin fatter than a rhino!!!!
I guess Republicans don't understand the concept of a metaphor. It's probably too "cosmopolitan" of a concept for them to get. Who the hell cares if Sarah Palin is a pit bull or a pig or a moose? All I care about is the fact that she's a psycho religious nutcase who fires librarians and wants us all to learn about how God created the world 6,000 years ago. Calling her a pig would be too much of a compliment since at least pigs just mind their own business and don't try to impose their outdated views on school children.
It would be different if Biden hadn't said "There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick"
The dems new code word for palin is lipstick. I wouldn't vote for obama now if my life depended on it. He is the racist sexist pig.
Why it is on these blogs the liberals are always nasty. On every blog people are trying to speak their opinion but out of those who support Obama there is nothing but hatefulness and spite. You can have honest disagreement based on issues and opinions but without fail, the Obama supporters start spewing hate and vile and resort to name calling. That is why the crowd was so delighted when THEY assumed he was talking about Sarah Palin. What happened to honor and decorum? The Obama supporters are totally loosing all sense of decency and showing themselves not ready for Prime Time. Keep it up. You have nobody to blame but yourselves in November because there are still enough decent people left in this nation to defeat you.
S. Chambers - really? Did you cut and paste all of that from a Fox news story?
Absurd!
Is anyword anyone says related to the female gender automatically going to be associated with S. Palin? I prefer to think he was talking about our pigs. We never put lipstick on them because they wouldn't like it - and, like the man said, they'll still be pigs.
I hope it is not because you don't appreciate pigs. They are strong, fierce, intelligent and social creatures. No, neither of your candidates compare to a pig.
As for your other complaint, I think it was your campaign staff who introduced Palin as a ( hockey) mom first and seemingly foremost as well as gov of the state that has received the greatest amount of money in earmarks per capita. The convention delegates took to talking about her ability to dress a moose. How about this catchy phrase: "Palin: just another name for a bridge to nowhere good"?All this vitriol rises from your endless wave of sound bites and refusal to facilitate an honest discussion of the issues. You are letting us down. This election actually means something to us. What you are doing is not a service to our country. You are not a pig.
As for your final point, I think everyone is agreed that hunting is a fine, noble hobby. Many people have done it throughout the ages in order to survive. Kudos to those who can kill what they eat (I eat nothing that I could not kill).
Let's just refrain from hunting the humans.
OMG
Obama attacked back!
After ALL the SMEARS and RIGHT WING ATTACKS, and HES the BAD GUY!
Get over yourselves.
The McCain/Palin ticket is one uuuuugly pig with the lascivious lipstick of a small town hooker.
This ain't 2004 and Obama ain't Kerry.
Smears will be answered with truth.
Sorry ladies, can't have it both ways, can't say certain questions are sexist, things like "how can she juggle being a mother of 5, one of which being a downs child, and be VP or potentially president?" as you wouldn't ask him that if Palin was a man. But, you can't then turn around and say this had to be targeting her gender and get offended, that is just as sexist. You can't see "don't treat her like a woman" then turn around and say "that comment is offensive because she is a woman".
Sorry, politics is dirty, she is dirty, she's throwing plenty of cheap shots and lying about Obama's record. She can expect some dirt in return.
Oh Jane Swift. No one cares about you anymore. Go away.
And in response to #45....I think PALIN sounds sexist and hateful. As Mayor she made rape victims pay for their own rape kits! And she is so anti-choice, she would make a rape victim give birth to a child conceived during rape, even if the rapist was a relative!
Where was your outrage when McCain used that line on Hillary Clinton?
well, let's....after only 1 week of one-way press coverage.....I guess Palin can't go in front of the press by herself without Carl Rove holding her little hand...boo hoo.
As a libertarian, I can't stand McCain or Obama's policies, but this is brilliant politics for the dumb female vote that always vacillates between parties every election. These Oprah watchers are already on high sexist alert from the Hillary days, and now the McCain camp is just tweaking them further. "Did you women hear how he called another woman a pig..you just can't vote for this jerk!"
Sadly, the ditzy female "independent" will fall for this. Add the cuckholded metrossexual vote to that as well. By the time women figure out Obama was referring to POLICY not women, the election will be over...and once again our government will be elected the least educated 15% who have no firm political philosophy one way or the other but just believe everything the TV tells them.
Ah yes, Jane Swift....that rising star....oops, until Mitt Romney said "I wanna be governor" and she stood aside.
The McCain/Palin campaign can dish it out, and look for insults everywhere. They've been bashing Obama left, right and sideways, but if he uses a fairly common phrase, it's sexist? PLEASE. Sarah Palin, no stranger to taking pork barrel earmarks, including spending some of the money intended for the "Bridge to Nowhere", calling Barack Obama out on securing earmarks for Illinois? Clearly sexist? Yeah, right. This from Jane Swift who used staff members to take care of her child and run her errands, no doubt she played the "poor overworked mom" card then, but now.....
Republicans constantly show themselves to be hypocrites--teen pregnancy, earmarks, you name it. Even mocking Obama for suggesting bringing a matter to the UN Security Council even though McCain suggested the same thing!
The Republicans have a right to try to change the subject from the real issues if they can get away with it. This is politics as usual. It worked twice for George Bush. The only problem with doing this is that we will then have to select our next President based on who made the best "pig" reference. Has the American voter's intelligence sunk so low that we are now going for this kind of stuff. Is our educational system so broken that the majority of people can no longer think beyond these pathetic attempts to change the subject. Wake up America. A large number of you find it difficult to vote for a man for President who is black. That I can understand, but don't try to fool me or yourself into believing that you refuse to vote for him because he made a "pig" reference that you misunderstood.
If Gov.Palin does become VP ( heaven forbid).and must meet with the leader of Iran.China or North Korea,will Jane Swift tell these Leaders to only say NICE Things to VP Palin and not to raise their voices?
She accepted the position of playing with the BIG BOYS and sometimes it may get a little rough. She states that she is tough. After all,she hunts Moose.
If Gov.Palin wants to get the respect of the American People, she has to earn it. She can not continue to hide behind the campaign leaders and continue to allow them to talk on her behalf. She can not continue to repeat the same lines from the Acceptance scripted speech.
She wants evryone to believe that she is TOUGH but she has yet to speak her own thoughts.
She can not continue to say "I said NO THANKS for the Bridge to NO Where "when there is documented proof that she first agreed to it. She needs to explain herself or people will begin thinking that she only stated that she accepted it during her campaign in order to be elected. She didn't want to "buck the system for fear of not being elected".
She has yet to be specific and talk about ONE issue that is on the mines of all Americans.
I guess that there will be no "straight talk" from Gov.Palin only poeple saying that everyone (especially the media) must be nice and not say anything that may offend the "Hockey MOM"
Wouldn't it be great if everyone just cared about the issues? I will vote for Obama and Biden not because I like them better than McCain and Palin. I will vote for them because I have two young children and I could never look them in the eye and tell them I did everything I could to give them a better future if I didn't. I will make calls for John Kerry and Barrack Obama because my kids deserve a better government than the mess that we have now and there is no way that McCain and Palin, who are using the exact same people as Bush did to win his two elections, will change the course this country is on.
Oh for the love of G!! I am sooooo sick of women pulling the "gender card" out at every turn. Isn't that kind of 70's? Oh right, it matches someones hair and make up- I was a hockey mom, a soccer mom, a back stage mom, I raised 2 kids by my self after their dad decided he wasn't ready for kids. I was a brownie troop leader and a cub scout den mother. I have a college degree and worked two jobs to support us at times. Do I relate to Sarah Palin...Hell no!!! She is as far removed from ANYTHING I want to represent my gender as I can think. She disgraces the rest of us who worked hard to be accepted for our abilities. Sarah choses to take the "Belch and Scratch with the boys" approach to cutting thru the "Good old boy system". Stop whining, Obahma is being discriminated against because of his race, his name, his age and everything else. Stop McSame and Falin!!!
Women who think that putting Palin on the McCain ticket was a sign that the guys who run the Republican party respect women are either very naive or very stupid. Palin is nothing but a prop and she's too arrogant to admit it to herself. She needs to remember how the good ole boys (Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.) undermined Condi Rice at every turn. And Condi is so vastly superior to Palin in terms of experience and intellect it's not funny. And let's not forget how they set up Colin Powell (who has yet to endorse his party's ticket ) with the whole "weapons of mass destruction" evidence fiasco. Hmmmm. If these bozos win the election, Palin will be told "nice work, hon', now you just sit over there in the corner and look pretty." WHAT A JOKE!
@Kees
Don't you call Obama an idiom! I'll teach you some manners!
On that note, how many comment posters here today are sponsored by the propaganda - I mean truth - squad? Don't be shy, astroturfers!
And finally, here's hoping that even the uneducated masses will have heard (and remembered) "lipstick on a pig" as a decidedly un-sexist phrase. I would have stuck with the pitbull comparison. Lipstick on a mangy psychologically unstable dog. Ooh. That has a nice ring.
Couldn't think of a better way to put it. Go Barack! Watch the headlines proclaim that "Obama called Palin a pig" for two weeks. This is a test of veracity and context for the American news media. Let's see how well they do.
Swift says it's a gender-specific comment? Preposterous. She's overblowing, and haven't we had enough of that?
Sarah dear, put on your big girl shoes and deal with it. It's called running for office, it's called putting yourself out there, it's called inviting scrutiny. If you didn't want to deal with it, you should have stayed in safe cozy Alaska, where the entire population is roughly the same size as Boston. Ready for the world? I don't think so.
The GOP shouldn't be such crybabies. If this delicate little woman can't hack playing with the boys, perhaps she should just go home.
Insane. Absolutely insane. And more importantly, why should I give two sh*ts if Obama really had called her a pig? If he can run the country, take us out of this heep of junk the Bush administration has left us with, I want him.
And if Sarah Palin needs to have a f*cking press conference cause someone called her a pig, she's toast in in global negotiations.
Obama pointed out that Jane swift, looks, smells and acts like a slab of bacon?
And stating the obvious is sexist how?
This election is gonna be a hoot! Now "lipstick on a pig" is a "gender specific sexist slur", a mysogynistic slander hurled from the mouth of the Senator from Illinois. The McCain Campaign stamps it's feet and calls for apology!
Rubbish! The comment referred to the past eight years of governance by the Republicans. Bush kept the most basic promise of keeping the homeland free from terror attacks. He did, however, screw up just about everything he touched.
McCain is not Bush, but he IS Republican. These guys have to go. It may be a cynical position, but it is probably best to clean house every eight years or so...on general principle, if nothing else.
It's a damn shame that McCain lost to Bush in 2000. We'd have a whole diferent country now if John had won back then. Different century. Different direction.
Whoever wins should name T. Boone Pickens Energy Czar!
This is amazing. It is a figure of speech. I am convinced they put her on the ticket so they could cry foul everytime someone pointed out how underqualified and far right she is. It really shocks me how many women have jumped on her bandwagon. She is so far from being qualified, from women's best interests, and from progressive social politics it frightens me:
1. No Abortion - ever - at all... even incest and rape cases
2. Welcome Jesus into the classroom.. hope everyone holds that belief system
3. Against any and all gay rights, not just marriage, but benefits
4. She thinks that the war in Iraq is "god's plan"
5. It took her 6 years to get a 4 year degree... in journalism, and now all she does is pepper the media.... um, hello, kettle you're black
6. Her church thinks you can "pray away the gay"
7. Her sole achievements have been blown way out of proportion.... including her "killing" the bridge to nowhere, which she originally supported.
8. In a year and a half, she managed to find herself in an ethics investigation
It's not McCain that worries me, he is far more moderate than he is letting on. But if he wins, and then something happens to him, I fear for this country.
CurtMerzFan:
In the last 7 and a half years of a Republican administration the American people have lost freedoms that it may take decades to regain.. The executive supremacy that Bush, Rove, Cheney and yes, McCain rammed down our throats goes against the most fundamental precepts of our founding fathers.
Just because you're "poor", doesn't mean you have to be ignorant. You and all the rest of your yokel buddies--voting for someone that you can "relate" to or have a beer with. You clowns are the biggest threat to your own freedoms but you can't see it because you're blinded by ignorance and fear. You will vote against your own self interest and not even realize you've been duped.
One would THINK if Palin is harden enough to be Vice-President and maybe, should need be, President she would be on Fox News---The woman would not stand a chance with Bill O'Reilly.CASE CLOSED.60 days in the lime-light on a leash,then 4 years in the remodeled "Cheney Bunker".GOP FIRST,,America SECOND!!!!!!!
"then all I can assume that the writer of this article is Racist."
Posted by Diane Haggerty September 9, 08 07:58 PM
----------------------
and here we go again with ... if you don't like Obama...you must be racist.
Diane, have you been missing the part where Obama says he is above the politics of insults?
I am going to write in Ron Paul...not Obama...does that make me racist?
S. Chambers, the majority of what you just said is not, in fact, true. Obama did grow up on food stamps and was only able to attend the private school when he went to live with his grandparents later on in life. Joe Biden never, ever said "a woman's place is in the home", and I have no idea why you now profess the Republican party as the party of women. This is the party, remember, that opposes abortion rights (Palin wants to make it illegal in all cases!), refuses to accept that there is discrimination in the work place and unequal pay, and who attempted to push back against title IX. I will admit that there has been plenty of sexist stuff flying around, particularly during the primary, but look at what the Republicans were saying then! They were all about sexism when it came to Hillary, and now they claim the dems are doing it? Nonsense.
Both sides can agree that Obama is an intelligent man. Smart enough to know what is implied by this comment. The real issue is judgement... with his numbers sliding, and the need to appeal to female voters, using this phrase today was horrible timing. As a democrat going into this election season, I've already decided to vote for McCain... I don't want Obama representing me at the negotiating table.
Same old Republican nonsense - trying to demonize their opponents.
Anyone who looks at the last 8 years of disaster for the United States brought to you by the Republicans could tell you who the real demons are. But the Republicans don't want you to think about the last 8 years of Republican rule so they attempt to demonize the Democratic candidates and paint their candidates as the 'clean heros'. They try to turn it into a petty high school student council race - about crap insults and 'personality' contests.
John McCain voted with George Bush 90% of the time. Palin is a prop in lipstick.