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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / First Day With The New Tongue?

First Day With The New Tongue?

by John Cole|  April 5, 20082:13 pm| 37 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008

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Ashcroft has a slip of the tongue:

Ashcroft was talking about the patriot act, which he wrote, when he referred to Senator Barack Obama.. as Osama. He quickly apologized for the error. People interviewed after the speech say they felt he skirted most of the issues brought up.

That sure looks like an innocent mistake to me, the kind I make all the time. I know I have written Osama when I meant Obama and vice versa, and fortunately caught the mistake before posting. He looked mortified the minute he said it, looked like he was really uncomfortable, and then apologized. It would be really unfair to try to use this against Ashcroft.

Somewhat related, I am in the PA ad market, and I am seeing a ton of Obama commercials. The one that I have seen the most includes a line about Obama organizing in conjunction with Christian churches, so it is safe to assume his campaign is still dealing dealing with the Muslim issue (and most likely still will be in his second term, should he win).

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37Comments

  1. 1.

    Roket

    April 5, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    New Rule: Every time a paid public speaker makes a slip of the tongue, whether intentional or not, their fee shall be reduced by $5,000. That would put an end to it. After all, if they’re getting paid, that means they’re professionals.

  2. 2.

    zack

    April 5, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    I take this as just a slip of tongue too. After all, Obama supporter Ted Kennedy made the same slip. I agree. It would be unfair to use this against Ashcroft. And yes, despite Wright he’s still dealing with the “Muslim” meme. Ed Kilgore:

    The percentage of Americans believing Obama’s a Muslim ranges from 14% among Republicans, to 10% among Democrats, to 8% among independents. At the risk of repeating one of those misleading triple-loaded poll findings, 23% of white Democrats with an unfavorable opinion of Obama think he’s a Muslim.

    So he’s got to deal with the “Muslim issue,” the “patriotism issue,” the “race issue,” and, of course, the all-important “bowling issue.”

    Which one will be the most lethal to him?

    Wait a minute. Did anyone else notice that none of those are actual “issues?” They are smears and distortions that he must react to. Not one of them is an actual policy position or stance on a real political issue that he’s taken.

    Real issues – the ones that actually affect people’s lives – are simply not relevant in political campaigns anymore. Has anyone mentioned that John McCain is a war hero yet?

  3. 3.

    cbear

    April 5, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    It would be really unfair to try to use this against Ashcroft.

    Especially if you’re a calico cat and value your life.

  4. 4.

    jake

    April 5, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    It would be really unfair ^unnecessary to try to use this against Ashcroft.

    Fixed. The only reason he doesn’t get the title of Worst A.G. Evar is because he was followed by A.G. Gonezo.

    And from TPM:

    The Washington Post reports this morning that when Yoo issued his now-infamous March 14, 2003 memo to the Pentagon, neither Attorney General John Ashcroft, nor his deputy Larry Thompson “were aware.”

    Ashcroft was too busy making sure the statue of of Blind Justice wasn’t flashing a nipple.

  5. 5.

    Tom in Texas

    April 5, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    I was honestly happy to see John Ashcroft go. Man was I wrong. Whether or not I agree with his policies, it’s clear the man respected the Constitution enough to step down rather than watch the DoJ sink to its current state.

  6. 6.

    cbear

    April 5, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    That sure looks like an innocent mistake to me, the kind I make all the time. I know I have written Osama when I meant Obama and vice versa

    I know what you mean—every time I go to write a comment regarding AShcroft, I accidentally write ASshole.
    Funny how that happens…I hope nobody takes offense.

  7. 7.

    Tim F.

    April 5, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    To be fair to John Ashcroft, it’s possible that he still doesn’t know who Osama bin Laden is.

  8. 8.

    Cris

    April 5, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    I know I have typed “Ocampa” when I meant Obama. Can the candidate afford to be associated in the public’s mind with the least-loved of all the Star Trek series?

  9. 9.

    Rush Limbaugh

    April 5, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    Does anyone know whom Ashcroft was speaking to? I was kind of surprised (but pleased) by the negative reaction.

    23% of white Democrats with an unfavorable opinion of Obama think he’s a Muslim.

    Ah, religion, the great unifier, the bringer-together of people, the force of love and understanding.

  10. 10.

    tBone

    April 5, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    Does anyone know whom Ashcroft was speaking to?

    It was at a college, I believe. The damn dirty liberal faculty was obviously successful in brainwashing the students there.

    I think it was an innocent mistake on Ashcroft’s part too, and he was obviously shaken by the reaction. Still, I think anyone associated with the Bush administration deserves to squirm in public a little. I’ll take my schadenfreude where I can get it.

  11. 11.

    Susan Kitchens

    April 5, 2008 at 3:15 pm

    Aaah, the Freudian slip. Where you say one thing but mean your mother, er, Osama, um, Obama..ahem… another.

  12. 12.

    p.lukasiak

    April 5, 2008 at 3:31 pm

    That sure looks like an innocent mistake to me

    as Susie avers, there is a difference between an “innocent” mistake, and a “Freudian” one. One suspects that in private, people like Ashcroft are perfectly comfortable with calling the candidate “Osama Obama” (or at least hearing him called that), and what we saw here was the public manifestation of the kind of stuff that “respectible” Republicans only say in private.

  13. 13.

    cbear

    April 5, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    Whether or not I agree with his policies, it’s clear the man respected the Constitution enough to step down rather than watch the DoJ sink to its current state.

    Respect the Constitution?????
    All due respect Tom, but you gotta be fucking kidding me.

    Respecting the Constitution means abiding by the oath you took upon assuming office:

    “I (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same….

    John “Oil Me up” Ashcroft was the Attorney General of the United States of America for 4 years—-4 goddamn years in which the Bush administration was dismantling the very Constitution he swore to support and defend.

    Oh yeah, everybody got the warm and fuzzies when it came out in May of 2007 that he had refused to sign off on ONE blatantly illegal program, in early 2004 .

    Jeez, I must have missed the part where he courageously came out and revealed the treasonous plot to his fellow citizens and resigned his office….since, you know, he didn’t leave until February of 2005.
    Here’s a couple of choice excerpts from his resignation letter:
    “Nothing in my life compares to the high honor of serving America as Attorney General in your administration.}

    The rule of law has been strengthened and upheld in the courts.}

    I am grateful to you for the profound honor of serving under your clear, principled leadership.

    May God continue to bless, guide, and direct you and your family as you lead America forward in freedom.}”

    Yeah, he’s a real patriot.

    Fuck him, and fuck every other lowlife, scum-sucking, gutter rat that has aided and abetted the treasonous monkeys in this administartion in their quest to trash the very document that has sustained our country for 220 years.

    He was, and is, nothing more than another dishonest, dishonorable, gooper asshole… who in a just society, would be shunned by decent people everywhere.

  14. 14.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    April 5, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    Respect the Constitution?????
    All due respect Tom, but you gotta be fucking kidding me.

    He respected it a lot more than his successor, that’s for sure.

  15. 15.

    TenguPhule

    April 5, 2008 at 3:51 pm

    He respected it a lot more than his successor, that’s for sure.

    That’s not hard. A dead seagull respected the Constitution more then Gonzo.

  16. 16.

    jake

    April 5, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Does anyone know whom Ashcroft was speaking to? I was kind of surprised (but pleased) by the negative reaction.

    He was at Skidmore.

    Whether or not I agree with his policies, it’s clear the man respected the Constitution enough to step down rather than watch the DoJ sink to its current state.

    … Never mind, cbear beat me to it.

  17. 17.

    ThymeZone

    April 5, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    I know I have written Osama when I meant Obama and vice versa,

    Um, can’t tell if this is tongue in cheek, or not. I have never made this mistake, any more than I have written Coke when I meant Cole.

    Ashcroft is a complete fucking asshole, a stupid little man who has the distinction of being the only sitting US Senator ever to lose a bid for reelection to a dead man.

    and ….

    One suspects that in private, people

    Really great that folks, having no information, can just make some up and pull it out their asses. Thanks, Paul.

  18. 18.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    April 5, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    That sure looks like an innocent mistake to me, the kind I make all the time.

    Me too. I regularly catch myself accidentally typing Obama bin Barack. *blush*

  19. 19.

    Incertus

    April 5, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    so it is safe to assume his campaign is still dealing dealing with the Muslim issue (and most likely still will be in his second term, should he win).

    Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage will see to that, since she will be satisfied with nothing less than the nuking of anyone whose name rhymes with Hussein or who thinks that Islam is anything other than the avowed enemy of whatever she’s blathering about at the time.

  20. 20.

    jake

    April 5, 2008 at 4:17 pm

    Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage will see to that, since she will be satisfied with nothing less than the nuking of anyone whose name rhymes with Hussein or who thinks that Islam is anything other than the avowed enemy of whatever she’s blathering about at the time.

    Yep. Just please God don’t let her pick up those pom-poms again.

    The horror. The horror!

  21. 21.

    Incertus

    April 5, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    Look at it this way, Jake. If she’s cheering, she’s not typing, and either way she’s opening herself up to mockery. It’s a win-win.

  22. 22.

    Asti

    April 5, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Well, perhaps if rightwingers wouldn’t use the “Osama” joke line so much, it wouldn’t have become such a habit in the first place. While Ashcroft may have flubbed, I wish I had a nickle for everytime a rightwinger did this exact thing on purpose.

  23. 23.

    Zuzu

    April 5, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    It’s totally his fault for having such a hard-to-pronounce name.

    SwiftKids – Barack Obama

  24. 24.

    Richard

    April 5, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    I admit it is pretty pathetic when you miss John Ashcroft as the “good” Attorney General from the Bush Administration.

    And while some 10% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim I’d relax on the issue. One in ten Americans also can’t find the United States on a map. They’re probably more or less the same demographic. I doubt they can find their polling location either.

  25. 25.

    J. Michael Neal

    April 5, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    Fixed. The only reason he doesn’t get the title of Worst A.G. Evar is because he was followed by A.G. Gonezo.

    John Mitchell? Ed Meese? Ashcroft barely makes the top three worst AGs appointed by a Republicn in the last 40 years, even if you exclude Gonzales.

  26. 26.

    Bob In Pacifica

    April 5, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    Sorry, I think it was on purpose and I’m using it against Ashcroft. I’m just not allowed to use it on airplanes.

  27. 27.

    jake

    April 5, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    Look at it this way, Jake. If she’s cheering, she’s not typing, and either way she’s opening herself up to mockery. It’s a win-win.

    I hadn’t looked at it that way. Added bonus: A lot of Wingnut bloogers will suffer wrist injuries after watching the mini-skirted atrocity and they’ll be unable to type. Win-Win-Win.

    John Mitchell? Ed Meese? Ashcroft barely makes the top three worst AGs appointed by a Republicn in the last 40 years, even if you exclude Gonzales.

    Ed Meese: Fat blustering porn obsessed buffoon. Not afraid of a statue’s tits. John Ashcroft: Not fat porn obsessed creep who brought us the PATRIOT Act. Scared to death of inanimate tits.

    I need a scorecard to tell these asshats apart.

    And I never once heard anyone say “Gee, I wish John Ashcroft were still A.G.” after Gonezo had smirked his way through another Congressional hearing. But since people are uncomfortable with attempts to rank the awfulness at the DoJ, I’ll just say members of the Bush Administration exhibit an amazing level of suck and leave it at that.

  28. 28.

    The Other Steve

    April 5, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    Best response to this is to point out that Republican obviously have no idea who the real enemy is.

  29. 29.

    Tax Analyst

    April 5, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    The Other Steve Says:

    Best response to this is to point out that Republican obviously have no idea who the real enemy is.

    Lib’ruls

  30. 30.

    J sub D

    April 5, 2008 at 7:13 pm

    He looked mortified the minute he said it, looked like he was really uncomfortable, and then apologized. It would be really unfair to try to use this against Ashcroft.

    When there are so many legitimate things to give grief to this totalitarian asshole over.

  31. 31.

    Lulu

    April 5, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    You say Osama
    And I say Obama
    You say Yo-Yo Ma
    And I say, Yo Mama!
    Osama, Obama,
    Yo-Yo Ma, Yo Mama,
    Let’s call the whole thing off!

  32. 32.

    John Redworth

    April 5, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    He looked mortified the minute he said it, looked like he was really uncomfortable, and then apologized.

    I agree that he looked mortified but I would bet that this is the little pet name that Johnny calls Obama in private. It would be no different than if I accidently said “Asscroft” and then corrected myself… Or called Cheney the Dark Lord of the Sith…

  33. 33.

    frigg

    April 5, 2008 at 11:57 pm

    It disturbs me to side with Ashcroft, but I gotta.

    His immediate horror/shock reads rather genuine. Dunno if it was the fear of his mis-step, or the fear of a youTube rainshower over his mistake…not for me to say. His utter fast-forward nightmare was rather apparent. It seems like he had flabbergasted his own socks off.

    Folks, quit belly-aching over these blog-friendly non-issues, tell the planet wtf ashcroft actually initiated with the Patriot Act.

    Dude shoulda stuck to covering up bosoms on marble and singing his uplifting tunes; he might be able to avoid the tribunal that way.

  34. 34.

    Pb

    April 6, 2008 at 12:04 am

    Wait, you mean John “Patriot Act II” Ashcroft? The man with the charisma and integrity to lose against a dead guy? Yeah, fuck that guy.

  35. 35.

    me

    April 6, 2008 at 6:27 am

    But how do we know George Bush (either or both) isn’t a Muslim? Sure, he says he’s a Christian, but mightn’t he be covering it up? HW could have secretly converted whilst he was in Indochina. Supposing it doesn’t go EVEN FURTHER BACK.

  36. 36.

    Gentlewoman

    April 6, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Ashcroft is a complete fucking asshole, a stupid little man who has the distinction of being the only sitting US Senator ever to lose a bid for reelection to a dead man.

    Missouri’s Finest Hour. :)

  37. 37.

    Zuzu

    April 6, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    But how do we know George Bush (either or both) isn’t a Muslim? Sure, he says he’s a Christian, but mightn’t he be covering it up? HW could have secretly converted whilst he was in Indochina. Supposing it doesn’t go EVEN FURTHER BACK.

    Yeah, what are the chances of the wingnuts ignoring a picture like this if it was Obama doing the kissin’ and hand-holding?

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