LBJ Strikes Again
A lot of people (Obama, above all) compare Obama to JFK.
A lot of people (again, Obama leading the pack) compare Obama to Abraham Lincoln.
Some people compare Obama to FDR.
Me, I’m amused most of all to see what a close scholar of LBJ Obama is.
Obama stood chatting with Democrats on his side of the aisle, and McCain stood on the Republican side of the aisle.
So Obama crossed over into enemy territory.
He walked over to where McCain was chatting with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. And he stretched out his arm and offered his hand to McCain.
McCain shook it, but with a “go away” look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama.
Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: “Good to see you.”
It’s not that I’m a huge fan of this kind of physical gamemanship. But boy do I think it gets under McCain’s skin.
And given that we’re one more McCain meltdown away from winning this election, I confess to being amused in this particular case.
Shorter McSame: “Waaaa! Where are my Handi-wipes?”
Has anyone else had the impression that JM’s vision might be failing him a bit? Not making eye contact, getting lost on stage, staring fixedly in Jim Lehrer’s direction, etc.
I think there’s something wrong with the left side of his face. It’s probably something as simple as facial tics, but those can be exacerbated by stress, which makes them an obvious “tell”. The wandering around on stage today could have been secondary to the fact that he started having tics on camera, panicked, and tried to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. I don’t think he was confused. I think he was running for the door and just forgot which way to go.
marcy, i mentioned this in an earlier thread, but i think it had died.
all these things feed into our understanding of the depth of mccain’s contempt for obama.
however, no one that i’m aware of has bothered to mention the open hostility mccain showed obama in 2006.
to reprise my previous point:
go here and here for stories about that sandlot nonsense, and then here for the actual letters in question. mccain’s letter literally drips contempt. i mean, oozes.
and then, on top of this is the moment this spring, after obama clinched the nomination, when lieberman was talking trash about him, and obama essentially took him to the woodshed and called him out, in ‘private’ but in a public place.
i don’t think any of these incidents explain why mccain has such contempt for obama any more than any other story, but it sure helps to fill out the picture more fully. bottom line: mccain holds obama in contempt for any number of mysterious reasons, but that contempt has been around for years now.
your stiff handshake story notwithstanding, the exchanges i describe here expose so much contempt, it really borders on disgust, which truly begs the racism question.
A lot of this is gamesmanship, but I think a lot of it is also the fact that Obama tends to be very respectful of other people, and while McCain is acting like a grumpy old man, he’s still a grumpy old man who sat in a POW cell for his country several decades ago, and I think Obama respects that.
mccain missed out on his celebrity fundraiser tonight in l.a. for the vote. the revised press release says that “Cindy McCain and Todd Palin will be the featured speakers” instead.
if the First Dude is really speaking, there had better be cameras there to capture the moment.
I really don’t have anything in particular about McCain’s view on race, but I do know that the US Navy that McCain served in was extremely racist. Another trait in that Navy was you had to be very respectful to superiors and I am sure McCain feels he is very much superior to Obama.
I have seen nothing over the years to suggest that McCain is, deep down, a racist in any manner. The MLK thing here was all politics and personal political posturing. The only thing McCain gives a tinker’s damn about in the world is John McCain; always been like that.
I think Ishmael is right, this was a psychological disruption and power play by Obama, and the physical appraoch of the handshake was the topper. would have just killed McCain; he must have been seething inside.
As to the LBJ comparison, quite apt; also very Teddy Kennedy like.
“I have seen nothing over the years to suggest that McCain is, deep down, a racist in any manner. The MLK thing here was all politics and personal political posturing. The only thing McCain gives a tinker’s damn about in the world is John McCain; always been like that.
I think Ishmael is right, this was a psychological disruption and power play by Obama, and the physical appraoch of the handshake was the topper. would have just killed McCain; he must have been seething inside.”
On McCain’s Paternal Side, his Great Great Grandfather, who fought for the confederacy, was one of the large scale slaveholders in Mississippi. Apparently part of the family held on to the old plantation house and some of the land well into the 20th Century, and when McCain was a little kid, he spent summers on the Plantation — that would be late 30’s and early 40’s, where he certainly would have been exposed to a deeply embedded racist culture.
What you have to ask in situations such as this is not so much that this is an inheritance, but did he ever intentionally expose himself to something that was strongly contra those formative cultural influences? I really don’t see anything in his history suggesting a realization those social and cultural forms were wrong. McCain’s youth — High School and the Naval Academy in the 50’s were spent in a quasi-upper class military culture that still had not jumped into integration in a positive way — in fact he spent the times of big changes — the mid 60’s, on ship or in the POW camp. When he returned mid-70’s, the changes were well underway without him.
I am not putting a Klan robe on him — what I am suggesting is he never has been forced to question deeply embedded racial attitudes that are all mixed up with family notions of Honor and Destiny and all the rest. What Obama presents him with, all in one package, is “the change” — a multi-racial family of origin, the son of a white woman who married both an African and an Asian, (a gender flip if you will if McCain absorbed any of the “southern white woman on a pedestal” stuff). McCain is hardly the introspective type — I have my doubts that he has ever really studied all that happened while he was removed from the dynamics changes in America in the late 60’s and early 70’s — and this campaign is such that he is daily confronted with the reality that he missed some very important changes.
Earlier in the campaign, McCain claimed he had some sort of relationship with John Lewis as his mode of understanding. But Lewis then spoke up and said he had never had a conversation with McCain about any of this material. In fact, he couldn’t even remember a conversation at all. Why did he suddenly find the need to pull in Lewis’s name? Agreed, the Republican Party is not exactly filled with African American leaders — but certainly he could have had a friendship over the years where he might have explored things.
You think Ted is coaching Obama from the side lines?
mccain can feel superior to obama all he wants.. that is what gets people into trouble – they think and feel they are superior to others.. bottom line we are all equal, no matter what worldly status symbols one cares to flaunt..
I certainly agree.
Apparently, Obama was twisting many arms to make this bill pass, and not just “phoning it in”. It cannot have been a coincidence that he went over to greet (confront?) McCain when he was with Lieberman, of all people. To continue the LBJ metaphon, Obama was showing these guys that he is now Master of the Senate – and if it sends McCain into paroxysms of rage, to the point where he tells Obama to go fuck himself a la Cheney, so much the better!
;-)))))
Indeed.
Obama ‘moved McCain’s cheese’, and McCain — a creature of institutions that value seniority — must be totally flummoxed by all the confusion of New Rules that he didn’t get a hand in making.
I sure hope that you are calling this one accurately.
As someone once said, “Bring it on!” (ahem…)
Who is LBJ’s interlocutor?
Obama’s speech in the Senate today about the recovery bill was excellent. MS-NBC carried it live. I did not see McCain’s speech in the Senate.
McCain didn’t give a speech in the Senate today. It been so long since he was there that he probably forgot the protocols.
Yes, it does. Obama’s pushing him a little bit at a time, gently but steadily closer to the edge. This is gonna be good.
That is a great picture. LBJ was in your face when he wanted something. In fact he was in your face pretty much all the time.
It helps that he towers over McCain, and looks healthy. And has a nice voice.
I don’t give a rats ass what McSame thinks about Obama! My experience is Obama not caring about US!
The photo above is one of four from 1957 with LBJ giving “the treatment” to 90 year old RI Senator T.F. Green (then in his fourth term as US Senator and chair of the senate foreign relations committee, after serving 2 terms as RI governor in the 1930s – the current Providence airport is named after him).
http://www.afterimagegallery.com/nytjohnson.htm
One should see all four images to get the full effect of LBJ.
Wow. You’re not kidding; that series of four is awesome. Thanks for that info and link.
Check out that link folks.
How cool is that? Caught in the very act!
Obama wasn’t going to Drain the Swamp of Corruption that is the Senate in One Vote.
He’s run a nearly Pitch Perfect Campaign, so far.
He announced – in advance – that he was going to be Voting for the Bailout Bill – that was Never in Doubt.
This Senate Vote, imvho, is the Last Great Push of the K-Street Lobbyists – who had their Wall Street Clients’ shivs pushed up close to their own backs as they Stampeded the Senate – pulled all the strings – and it was over in Less Than 15 Minutes.
Obama couldn’t change that Culture tonight, but he did show that He Can Lead His Caucus to an Honest Bi-Partisan Effort to Cross the Goal Line for a Bill to Solve a Common Problem. It’s an Ugly Bill, but We – US – needed a Score.
So, he’s a Leader – and We’re All Bruised With Frustration, once again – but the germ of working together to Solve Big Problems – even if Our Solutions, at first, are clumsy, inefficient and inelegant – is in that Vote.
That’s not a bad gain, iyam, and We can always change from the Bailout Hold-up to a Real Rescue Architecture – with a Fledgling Bi-Partisan Concensus – beginning this January.
But, for now, it’s time for Us to stick our pads back in our jerseys, and Huddle for the Debate!
I hope that you are right. How much of this bill is locked in and can’t be modified by amendment? How much damage can be done by January by Paulson? What aspects of this can be pared and rescinded, or simply limited by the next Treasury Secretary? That’s why I was hoping that the funds would be released in tranches.
Obama did leave us this glimmer of “Hope”…
We need to elect as many progressives to hold his feet to the fire on this.
That is a very nice piece of rhetoric, canny use of images and associations.
And yes, McCain does remind me a bit of Nikita, except Nikita looked kind of jolly to me much of the time.
Appreciate the gallery link, have to think a while about Providence and the LBJ’s reputation as the storm riding Brazos kid, maybe more later about that. I think Biden has that measure of effectiveness for the ticket, though. The chemistry, however, ticketwise is distinctly modern. Must be the new level of kultcha achieved in post nuke times.
OT- Viva La United Mine Workers of America!
FU NRA!
Isn’t that superb.
Though I guess Mineworkers would have a pretty good idea about which organization had a bigger role in saving their lives on a regular basis.
Also note: Biden appeared at the regional Mineworkers meeting a few weeks back in VA–some of these guys were almost certainly there.
At times during the debate, if you actually watch the debate without the soporific voice of McCain, his body language almost resembled another well-known political figure.
Nikki Nikita
“Gwen Ifill! We will bury you!”
Oh, that’s good.
Khrushchev’s name is related to the words for “cartilage” and “dry wood for kindling.” Those things remind me of McCain, too.
cinnamon – the way I see it, the Goopers have already ‘Gamed’ the System.
What Barrack and Joe are doing is ‘Gaming the Game’ to Win the Election.
It’s going to ‘look’ odd sometimes – like this Bailout Bill – but Obama, in particular, seems to have enough skill that he can Demonstrate True Leadership even inside the Kabuki Play that is the Senate.
I’m with you in the hope that the money is parcelled out using a minimum risk/maximum control methodology – but there’s just no telling how much Wall Street owns the Senate through the Lobbyists.
This is, after all, the same crowd of Lobbyists that Bullied the FISA deal through this same Senate for the Telecoms.
So, on the way to the White House, it’s unavoidable that Obama and Biden will have to cut through some tough neighborhoods – and just get through them – without stopping to fix them, for now, imvho.
Kevin Drum, channelling Brad Delong, makes a pretty interesting observation on the heart of the bailout bill:
I’d like to give credit to whomever it was who said it, but I can’t find again where I read it…but all this does indeed make it sound like they were right: “This plan is so bad, we’d probably be better off if Paulson really had planned to steal all the money.”
never underestimate the value of a good dick measuring contest
LBJ versus Obama would be a lot more fun to watch than mcsame versus Obama though
Phillies, Dodgers, YEAH
trash talk
trash talk
trash talk
(hint)
Manny’s dinger, Downtown with Bay
“Mike Lowell said, ‘Geez, did you see the pitch he hit?’ ” said Bay. “Obviously, he’s one of the best postseason players of all time. Regardless of where he’s at, we enjoy watching him.”
The A’s ran into a buzzsaw, ya think the Sox will prevail?
McCain on Energy Conservation Video 30 secs.
Hey! I just heard BRAD of BRADBLOG (filling in for Mike Malloy this week) will feature a STAR-STUDDED panel to discuss what we all just witnessed (Post-debate) tomorrow!
Check local listings for Mike Malloy in your area! I think he is also streamed online, because..
Marcy and Digby will be on the panel! and, other people I didn’t hear because it was after he said MARCY AND DIGBY were going to be on!
Last I checked it was going to be dday who subs at Digby’s. I forget who the third is.
Some other crazy Californian.
Humm… I’m confused. Malloy is on live in CO from 7-10 p.m. What time is the debate? Seems like the show might be over before the debate ends?? Am I losing it?
Could it be that McCain is just a really sore loser?
If he felt he were winning without a contest, wouldn’t he be patting Obama on the back?
To this I would add that Obama’s political surprises tend to visit a rude shock upon his opponents: they have learned the game inside out, and they know that this guy has no chance, and then he beats them hollow. Defeat is hard enough to process; but the possibility that one was never in the game to begin with, and never knew it… well, that’s completely unbearable.
Can anyone think of a Democrat, let alone a Republican, who, upon losing to Obama, has expressed an honest and open admiration for his skills? If so, I’d like to know who that gracious loser might be.
Let’s hope Obama doesn’t channel LBJ too much. This is from comments last night on Glenn Greenwald’s thread:
Okay, I sit here with a hot cup of coffee, hoping to get my daily dose of cogent, well thought and researched news and all I get is…male member measuring contest?
What a man “does” with “it” is of greater import…and how…
Waving it to reporters? Nada, on the cogent scale. Guess LBJ still held on to the concept of giving “testimony” by swearing on his…well you know…man parts…
And furthermore, a man (President at that) from Texas with a “substantial” organ? The story HAS to be a lie. That’s why LBJ intimidated others with his height…It’s all he had…
I do agree, let’s hope Obama does not channel LBJ too much…
Sorry to ruin your coffee time. That attitude of comparison is indeed a large part of the political problem. Let’s hope that era is far behind us, but I fear it’s not as far gone as we would like.
McCain is a most unworthy opponent in my humble estimation. It’s clearly a case of no one of substance in the GOP wanting to touch the office with a ten-foot pole.
OT – AP says that 75% of Americans think Palin is Not Qualified to be VP.
She’s not doing a good job of Faking It, folks.
She should auger-in tonight, and then me and freepatriot are hitting The Road to 67!
I had to sleep on this one before I could respond. My initial reaction to this was that Obama’s not like LBJ at all, but upon further reflection I think I see the connection: Two successful poker players who understand how to disrupt their opponents’ mental processes by acting ‘outside the game.’ LBJ did it with studied crudeness. Obama does it with smooth style. When LBJ was asked why he was spreading rumors about his opponent being a pig f**ker when he knew that wasn’t true, he replied that he just wanted to hear him deny it.
Obama, on the other hand, understands the meaning of this proverb:
Think about the image of someone reacting to burning coals being dropped on their head. Doesn’t that seem like McCain recently, flailing uselessly in all directions. This handshake and all those “Senator McCain is right” statements in the debate are part of a strategy to bring out the unhinged McCain.
This is why I loved Obama’s repeated “John is right” during the debate.
That’s all I was raised with as a strategy with enemies, “heap burning coals…”
WO, once again, you grab the “essential” truth. Thank you.
He’s not all sweetness and light. He did pin Lieberman to the wall that time.
Brendan – do you have a link where it says he did that? I’m curious – all I’ve been able to find is where he ‘had a chat’ with him.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/198727.php
yeah, but there was a context that completely justified obama’s getting in his face. see my post at 57.
Does Obama force his political advisors to talk with him while he’s on the toilet?
Thanks ew.
digg
Naive question from alien: if the unthinkable happened and Obama/Biden were defeated, would they both still be senators? (I promise you that this question comes from a Biden groupie — I’m not trying to cause trouble, just watching the flanks.)
Yes. Biden is actually running for his Senate seat and VP. He will win the Senate election. If Obama/Biden win the presidential election, he would resign his Senate seat and the outgoing Dem governor of Delaware will appoint his successor.
Obama is not up for reelection and thus would retain his Senate seat.
The Washington Post version of this exchange (in the absurdly inaccurately headlined “Obama, McCain Stand United in Pressing Hard for Rescue“) differs slightly, with Obama crossing over and saying “Good to see you.”
For some reason my first sense was that this was a dig from Obama.
ok. i’m going to try this one more time, in a little more detail.
in the course of all this discussion of mccain’s contempt of obama, is there some reason i am the only one mentioning the long history, not of mccain’s contempt, but of his contempt specifically for obama?
recall in 2006 that mccain was pushing for lobby reform (seems quaint now, hunh?) as the new dem leadership was. it seems obama sent him a letter explaining his decision to go with the dem version, and mccain responded with the most unbelievably nasty letter; you really have to read it to believe it. it made the news, and did not make mccain look very good. and you can imagine how appalled he was that obama poured salt in the wound by actually leaking/publishing that letter. it was just all very nasty. obama has published both these letters on his website, as well as his response to mccain.
and note that, in his letter, obama refers to mccain as ‘john’ while mccain refers to obama as ’senator obama’.
this exchange exposes a lot about mccain, a lot that sets the tone for his debate manner, and a lot about his psychology. i think sara is correct in noting mccain’s experiences on a mississippi plantation in his youth; i spent many years there as a youngster, and i can tell you that NO white person was NOT racist, as even the kind ones still held a patronizing attitude (atticus finch notwithstanding). i also think formerfed is correct in assuming mccain’s military experience exacerbated these leanings toward inferiors in general.
mccain’s letter reveals all this and renders predictable his treatment of obama. i think we’re losing out on a critical piece of this puzzle if we ignore that event from 2006, which apparently shaped the relationship between these two.
now, add this the scene from last spring just after obama had clinched the nomination and lieberman came out and trashed him for being anti-israel. remember? on the senate floor (again, obama is exceedingly clever here; he knows exactly how to stage a moment), he dragged lieberman by the hand to a ‘private’ corner where he ‘publicly’ chastised the pathetic little whiner.
given that lieberman is mccain’s sidekick, ya gotta know this just fueled the flame. but all within appropriate frames, and all very polite and respectful on obama’s part. and public. i’m impressed, both with the smoothing out of lbj’s hamfisted style, and with the keen applications of poker skills. this latter was apparently put into successful play for that fateful bailout meeting with the president that left mccain and the entire republican regime looking like the idiots they are. according to this report, after the rebel republicans (sounds like an oxymoron, i know) threatened the mix, but just before the meeting, the dems ducked into the roosevelt room briefly, and apparently devised a game plan. in the meeting with the prez, nancy gave over leadership to obama, who did not initially say much, but then when the rebels started their whining, he wanted to know what mccain thought of the option they were presenting. he kept pressing mccain about it, and mccain did not say a word, and then left in a huff without the bipartisan photo op the whole thing was staged to set up.
damn straight, obama is playing this guy like a fiddle.
there is much shakespearean drama going on behind the scenes here, folks. what a thrill to see it in vitro.
Your retrospective on what looks to be a long-running feud (at least on McCain’s side) may be all of a piece with the current campaign. Obama has been an up-and-comer since he was elected to the Senate, and talked about as a possible presidential candidate at least since his 2004 speech at the convention (as one of his constituents, I can say he has clearly been running for president since he first hit the Senate). McCain has known for a long time that 2008 will be his last chance to realize his lifelong goal of assuming his rightful place as king of the world. Seeing the whippersnapper Obama stealing one of his trademark issues, and knowing that Obama had presidential aspirations as well, probably started McCain’s years-long seethe, now culminating like a recurrent nightmare come to life in which, unbelievably, he’s losing the presidency to that snot-nosed kid. It’s gotta hurt, and the long tenure of the nightmare will likely make the final explosion, when it comes, thermonuclear.
He also needs an outlet for the rage — the impotent rage — against Bush and Rove he’s had to humiliatingly stifle for all these years.
And he probably thinks of Obama more as a pickaninny than a “whippersnapper”.
appreciate it, mamayanga. to my mind, it provides the critical context for understanding the dynamics of their relationship.
like i said, the bard would be able to only watch in amazement…..
Obama reaching out gets under McCain’s skin. McCain’s response (not looking at him) reveals a great deal
Have you noticed Lieberman has been standing right behind Palin at several events?
L.B.J. was the dominator
If Biden tries to have a debate strictly on the issues he will lose to Palin who will be debating on topics ripe for public consumption… give ‘em what they want, bread and circus, redmeat: taxes, reform, maverick, Washington Georgetown cocktail crowd, bla bla.
About the debate tonight…
Palin at her best includes the snarky smackdown. She is sure to have some catchy insults delivered with a smile. How does she attack Obama, and how does she attack Biden, or does she attack democrats, Washington, San Fransisco and those well formed memes?
What is Biden’s best strategy for taking advantage of this opportunity? Does he keep the dialogue on track with agreeing and disagreeing with his opponent like Obama did with McCain or can he adopt a style more consistent with his impassioned debate style?
It pisses me off that Biden can not come out swinging because Palin is not his intellectual match. If Biden were debating Hillary Clinton we would witness a debate. Instead Biden has to dance around Palin’s nasty little remarks and her spin because he would be talking down. Palin is going to be able to use her lack of knowledge and intellect as a weapon. This pisses me off.
Pissed off Patricia over at C$L says it best
” Every time Palin opens her mouth, she makes me feel smarter”.
Some are saying best quote of the day. I vote best quote ever.. having to do with Palin
Democracy Now especially good today. Joseph Stiglitz on the bailout/investment/intervention (what ever they are calling the treasury heist today, Robert Fisk on Iraq, Afghanistan
http://www.democracynow.org/
http://www.democracynow.org/
Play it cool, Leen. That’s what Obama did against McCain and won the day.
I’m still wrestling with Biden’s best strategy. I post my questions here because this group is good at figuring out the answer. Thanks for the tip about Stiglitz on DN.
Body language in the pic reminds me of a mongoose facing a cobra. T.F.Green wasn’t in politics (from RI, no less) as long as he was by being a pushover …
Seeing how far Palin has dropped in the polls, I get the feeling her bitter and snarky smackdowns, done in the midst of this financial meltdown isn’t going to work.
America must realize that half of the problem was buying the “Bush would be a great guy to have a beer with” schtick in 2000.
Now Pitbull Palin is trying to tell us all that what we’ve been waiting for is “Joe Sixpack” in the Veeps office?
Sorry Sarah. Your cutesy schtick is fucking tiring.
-G
Thanks WO – don’t know how I missed that one.
That’s an impressive play. He knew those reporters were there. BO has played some basketball – to be any good you better be able to throw an elbow from time to time and block out in the paint – if you can’t they’ll run right over you!
That’s not fair. McCain can’t move his elbows.
New Post Alert
Prosecution Tanks In Toobz Stevens Trial
Obama clearly has a height advantage in in-person encounters with McCain (and Lieberman, for that matter). During the debates when they showed each man’s head on the split screen, McCain’s head was higher than Obama’s. I was wondering whether there had been negotiations about camera angles making McCain appear equal in height.
Obama seems to be redefining what it is to be the alpha male, in the Senate anyway. He certainly lacks LBJ’s vulgarity.
Just have to delurk because I think I know what Palin’s diversionary tactics will be tonight that will totally baffle and stop Joe in his tracks– she will whip out her flute just like in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest and the evening will be over, NO Contest! I just followed a link from this post and there it was in all it’s glory — no racism, policy, insults strategies just music to sooth our savage breasts! what could be better?
In the senate, what could be better, in 1957, might be LBJ shoving the nonagenarian senator Theodore Green aside on the occasion of the Providence Journal’s unattributed editorial suggesting senescence had set in. Part of the dynamic, from ambitious LJohnson’s perspective involved how to plan for Fulbright’s accession to the chairship of the Foreign Affairs committee upon Green’s stepping down from the post. A lot of the tale has to do with Johnson’s intrigues, yet, an interview is available from a principal associate to the committee, Pat Holt. Johnson was in a tangle of liberals, worried about his conservative constituency’s continued support. So the picture seems to add his bluster to the impetus to push age aside, somewhat of a theme in the current electoral cycle, as well. I think the ravenous conservative of LBJ is part of the theme of why NYT approved the set of photos for its archive; folks around in those times recall the regressive initiative which LBJ represented as he climbed thru ranks in congress.