Addendum: I've bumped this post because the story is changing. While yesterday the story was all about Hamsher and the blackface photoshop of Joe Lieberman, it now appears the story is one of lies and denials. See the updates at the end of this post.
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Every time I call the Leftie Dems racist, sexist or bigotted antisemites, I get an email full of trash and all kinds of nastiness comes my way ... proof, BTW, that I was right. Well today, we have this lovely GAG, compliments of that online hack rag, Huffington Post:
Via Gateway Pundit and Curiousier and Curiouser:
There's more than one way to drive the moderates out of the Democratic Party!
The party that paints Republican Michael Steele as Sambo, now has moderate Joe Lieberman in blackface!
As posted at The Huffington Post (Via Little Green Footballs)
Hat Tip to Mossley & The False God
Nice... really nice! Reaching out to Middle America, democrats think that a few racist jokes will do the job.
These people are tasteless, classless, and disgusting and so very childish. I don't feel at all sorry for Lamont either. Anyone dumb enough to get in bed with these hateful people (the Nutroots) deserves what he gets. He should have known before he cuddled up to the Kiddie Korps.
UPDATE by Little Green Footballs at 8/2/06 1:46:30 pm:
The picture has now been removed from Hamsher’s post, with no explanation or apology.
Too late ... you can't hide in the blogosphere.
Coziness with bloggers like Hamsher (and several million of his own dollars) helped propel Lamont from nowhere into a tight race for the Democratic nomination U.S Senator, but that coziness comes with a price. When one of their biggest boosters has a Kos-style "Screw 'Em" moment like this, they have little choice but to distance themselves; potentially alienating their biggest boosters...
With six days left until the primary can Lamont won't be able to ignore the racist overtones in Hamsher's picture, especially if the story of the smear gains traction in the mainstream press. Given the nation-wide interest in the race this kind of story is exactly what Lamont doesn't need, and a looks like a gift for Lieberman.
UPDATE II:
Just One Minute in a comprehensive post (go read it all) on the subject calls it "Beyond the Pale" and brings us this from:
Lamont's campaign manager said this:
Lamont's campaign manager Tom Swan condemned this, calling it very offensive and said he requested that it be removed. He also said that while blogger Jane Hamsher is a supporter, she is not on the campaign pay-roll.
And the ever on-the-point Anchoress says it best (And before you jump on over there to read it all, let me say that the more of The Anchoress I read, the more I like her. She is ill right now, so if you stop by, wish her well and remember her in your prayers:
Ok, so, basically the left has lost its mind, now, right?
I mean…this is how they treat their friends?.
You must know what I’m talking about, right? The Lieberman-in-blackface nonsense that had been posted over at Huffpo, until it was taken down.
Joe Lieberman, former Veep candidate, former “conscience of the senate,” has the temerity - the unmitigated gall - to stick by his own opinions and principals instead of simply “falling in line,” as Hillary once demanded (“you don’t have to fall in love, just fall in line…”). He refuses to kowtow to the unhinged section of the left. He refuses to dance around the war and his vote okaying it, as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and all the rest of them, who - if you want to use black stereotypes - have become veritable Bojangles on the issue.
And for that - for daring not to be owned by anyone on that “plantation” Hillary loves to talk about - he’s being treated abominably…by people who will proclaim (with straight faces) that they are “tolerant” and “open-minded” and that they believe “people are entitled to their opinions.”
Well…that’s what liberalism was when I was being raised as a liberal, by liberals. Liberalism these days seems to be about doing what you’re told to do, saying what you’re told to say and falling in line…or paying very dearly if you do not.
I’m just astonished. And sickened.
Yes, they've lost their minds.
UPDATE III:
Joe Lieberman minces no words and calls for Hamsher's banishment. Lamont is either a liar or a fool when he says he's doesn't pay any attention to the blogs. Lamont campaign nixes banning Hamsher. Hamsher refuses to take a call. What a mess! This is what happens when you let immature "Kiddies" run the show and wallow around in the "fever swamps."
A snippet via the WaPo [emphasis mine]:
Lieberman Assails Lamont Over Supporter's Blog Post
By Dan BalzWashington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 3, 2006; Page A09BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Aug. 2
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Lieberman responded indignantly after the photo posting was revealed. "This is one of the most disgusting and hurtful images that has been used in American history, it's deeply offensive to people of all colors, and it has absolutely no place in the political arena today," he said in a statement issued by his campaign.
Lieberman called on Lamont to ban Hamsher from traveling with the campaign, refuse to take any money raised by Hamsher and remove any links to her postings on his Web site.
Lamont brushed past reporters Wednesday night in Bridgeport, saying: "I don't know anything about the blogs. I'm not responsible for those. I have no comment on them."
Lamont spokeswoman Liz Dupont-Diehl tried to distance the campaign from the photo and said campaign manager Tom Swan had called Hamsher and asked that the picture be taken off the blog. "This was not the campaign's doing," she said. "We find it offensive and inappropriate. We asked that it be taken down, and it was."
But Dupont-Diehl said the campaign will not bow to the Lieberman campaign's demand that Lamont cut any ties with Hamsher. "She's not part of the campaign staff," Dupont-Diehl said. "She's an independent blogger covering the race."
She called it "an isolated, nonrepresentative incident" and added: "Ned has been committed to affirmative action and equality. He's been more active in achieving those goals than many people."
Lieberman spokesman Dan Gerstein scoffed at the Lamont campaign's effort to separate the candidate from Hamsher and her posting.
While noting that Hamsher is not a paid staffer, Gerstein argued that she has been an integral part of the Lamont operation. "She's been an active part of their campaign," he said. "She travels with him, she's raised money for them and has become the primary mouthpiece for him in the blogosphere."
Hamsher did not return a message left on her cellphone.
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UPDATE IV:
Tom Maguire in a new posting on the WaPo article I noted earlier:
If you would prefer something visual that is not too abysmal, here is Jane putting those Hollywood skills to work by directing Ned in a commercial. Gee, did she introduce herself and mention what she was doing for the campaign, or just start ordering him around?
Look, Lamont knows darn well who Jane Hamsher is, and has been working with her closely. One wonders whether the press will give him a pass on that little fib.
I would say that his take answers my question above, Lamont is a liar.
If Hamsher had any class herself, she'd quit the campaign I mean she would recuse herself or banish herself from the campaign or whatever a political blogger who travels with the campaign and acts as their electronic press/PR office does.
Michelle Malkin is all over this story as you might expect. She actually has a great, laughable, but great quote at the end of her post on this topic from one of the lefty bloggers:
I'll give an unhappy blogger at the liberal TPMCafe site the last word for now:
Jane? We have enough problems getting Lamont elected, could you please shut up? You've done enough. Really you have.
If this post gets much longer, I'll have to bump it. More from Michelle, via Flopping Aces:
Of course Michelle Malkin wouldn't let this lie stand:
"I don't know anything about the blogs?"
This is a still from Lamont's first TV campaign ad. The guy sitting next to him is the biggest left-wing blogger in the blogosphere, Markos "Screw Them" Moulitsas.
Lamont has his own blog…
…with a nutroots blogroll that features Kos, Hamsher, and every other major left-wing blogger on the scene:
Lamont's blogger blogged from the YearlyKos convention, where he pumped up attendees with "Nedrenaline." (And you thought "Joementum" was bad.)
And if all that doesn't convince you that the man is lying when he says he doesn't know anything about blogs, try this:
Lamont has his own blog...
I didn't think there would ever be a time in my life where I wanted to use my Great Aunt's favorite put down, but it seems completely right in this case ... "Lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas."
Sister Toldjah thinks Lamont has had a "Stroker Ace" moment ... don't know what that is ... you'll have to go read about it ...
Thanks to lefty bloggers like Kos and Hamsher, Lamont saw his popularity rise considerably. Now, it may be the cause of his downfall, perhaps by being (as I noted in my earlier post on Hamsher) his Wellstone-memorial-turned-political-rally moment. On a more national note, ST reader and friend Les wrote in response to Hamsher’s stunt:
This is the Blue political cult’s Gettysburg moment. If they are defeated in CT, it is as far as they will ever advance.
I think he’s right. Or more to the point, I hope he’s right. Hamsher’s stunt was bad enough, but Lamont’s Stroker Ace “I know nothing, I am only the messenger” lie moment only makes it worse for him.
This has been your Southern-fried recap of the latest on l’affaire de Hamsher.
Related:
Decision '08: "In an open letter to Arianna Huffington that has gone unanswered (but see below), I suggested she sever her tries with Hamsher. Joe Lieberman is demanding the same of Ned Lamont:"
But that’s all happening on the Left, so not only is it completely okay, but it’s not going to get any real critical examination from the MSM.
UPDATE: Hamsher has “apologized”. Let me give you the quick summary:
I’m sorry that some of you wusses might have been offended, but it’s all Joe Lieberman’s fault. He’s the racist a-hole, not me. Besides, portraying someone in blackface isn’t racist anyhow.
Republicans are liars.
Vote for Lamont.
Take it for what it’s worth.
Although condemming the picture, Liberty and Justice blog takes a softer attitude toward Hamsher:
As for me; the image Jane used is quite simply not done. It is not classy, it is insulting, it is derogatory.
That being said, the 'cut all ties' with Hamsher is a little bit overdone in my opinion. We all make mistakes, Jane did it this time. So be it.
I do not ever wonder why Michelle Malkin calls the left, and especially the left academia, "unhinged", especially when they make comments like this, in this instance referring to the Hamsher incident
Why do liberal people who are really smart sometimes do things that defy common sense, throwing red meat to the wild-eyed right-wing hyenas?
I thought liberals like to portray themselves as pillars of "tolerance and racial equality", umh what happened? As for me? Who am I to talk...I mean really. However, since when has being in a position to talk on any given subject, or restraining oneself from being the proverbial pot calling the kettle black, to coin a phrase, been a prerequisite for blog spatting? Certainly not with Hamsher, who is used to f-ing and blinding language, and photographs of the black minstrel show, title and all. (h/t my friend Good Lt over @ Jawa)
Top 9 potentially mitigating defenses for the “blackfacing” of Joe Lieberman A little humor from Jeff.
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