CNN Attn: Jeff Greenfield

[yy4me]

Sent this morning in response to commentary heard yesterday on "the Situation Room".

"Your comments yesterday(12/11) on The Situation Room regarding Barak Obama were tasteless and un-called for. Your generalization was hasty and ill considered. You have painted him in a way that is negative in its leanings and is just unfair. There are far more important and informative messages to convey other than whether a man wears a tie and how his name sounds. I am concerned that this is the beginning of another media paint job. Please stick to more important aspects of the person about whom you write or speak. Thank You. P."

[qanda]

1. What did he say?

[yy4me]

2. He compared the necktie-less attire of Obama to the President

of Iran and went on to comment on the fact that Obama has a middle Eastern sounding name. The general tone of the editorial was that people will be comparing Obama to Irans' President and to Hussein.
It was totally uncalled for in my opinion. More in yesterdays post in GD titled "Obama sounds too much like Osama"

[BeyondGeography]

4. That's outrageous, when's the last time Junior gave a speech with a tie?

On the campaign trail, I defy anyone to come up with a picture of * wearing a tie. Greenfield is just baiting the anti-Arab, anti-black crowd, of which he is obviously a member.

[Atman]

5. It wasn't about the tie. That is WAY oversimplifying the attack

It was about "ALL" the things "WRONG" with Obama that will turn off Americans, starting with having a name that sounds just like "OSAMA," to sharing the name Hussein with Saddam. I was so amazed at those two stupid points alone I wasn't even ready for his closer...Obama's sense of style. Greenfield went so far as to make the barely tongue-in-cheek click assertion that he thought Obama and Iran Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad share the same fashion consultant, showing side by side pictures of Mahmoud and Obama both wearing blazers over tie-less white dress shirts.

OMG! How can we vote for an Osama-rhyming, no-tie wearing "Hussein" for President! EEK! Be afraid America!

Be afraid of jackasses like Jeff Greenfield. After all, he wears suits and ties. Just like Nixon did!

.

[trogdor]

17. Same kind of bullshit that was said on Imus this AM.

The guy who does President Clinton was talking all kinds of smack about Obama/Osama this morning. Kept it up for several minutes. I changed the channel on his ass.

[Atman]

3. I was stunned at Greenfield's comments. The smear is on.

I'm not even an Obama supporter. I think two years in the Senate does not a president make. Inexperience was my chief complaint about George Bush, too, before I realized he was simply bat-shit crazy. Obama may not be crazy, but he has even less governing experience than Bush did (although, arguably, being governor of Texas isn't really "governing" due to Texas' legislative structure). But Obama has a very slim record of accomplishments indicating his worthiness to lead the world in such a tumultuous time.

All that having been said (perhaps the subject of its own thread), I think the intent of this disgraceful segment was indeed to plant seeds of doubt and racism, and to offer up reasons for the ignorant to start hating the man. Greenfield should be ashamed...before he cashes his check from the Clintons.

.

[gumby]

6. This was Greenfield's attempt at satire.

Being the putz that he is, Greenfield failed miserably.

He was 'making fun' of the press coverage of Gore and Bush. Greenfield even threw in the press canard of "comfortable in his own skin."

Greenfield should stick to eating crow.

[underpants]

7. I remeber when Greenfeld actually had insightful comments

I believe he began as a "media reporter" but what we see now is a Greenfield who clearly is just filling time for the network. He was horrible on election night ('06) and he lost all credibility.

[PennyK]

8. You think it was a joke?

I read about it, didn't watch it, and I also wrote him a nasty comment. Guess I will go back and watch the vid. Regardless, it is the sort of thing that less enlightened viewers will take seriously...although this sort of comment is way beyond the pale.

[KoKo]

14. Josh Marshall has comments about what Greenfield said and link to

the piece:

Josh says:
Let me add a bit about this weird, really weird, Greenfield riff on Barack Obama.



http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011511.php

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. He probably got his background info from Ed Rogers

Rogers was the first GOP slime that I heard going on the attack at Obama by using (with great, gleeful emphasis) his middle name in final comment on Hardball.

It's really kind of funny to hear them attack because they got NUTHIN'! They're so desperate for dirt and all they have is to go after his name? :rofl:

The next round is going to be seeing "Obama" spelled "O-bomb-a". I saw that one on a cartoon the other day.

[PennyK]

10. OK, I went back and watched

It DOES appear that Greenfield was joking...but I still think he shouldn't have done it.

[gratuitous]

11. Well, we all know how understanding CNN is

I mean, when a politician botches a joke, they're right there with tea and sympathy, right, Mr. Kerry?

I think Elmore Whippet deserves whatever crap he's about to take for this ill-considered commentary.

[gumby]

15. Yeah, it was a BAD joke.

However, this may be a good sign. After the press relentlessly attacked Kerry and (especially) Gore about appearance and clothing, Greenfield is now signaling that this type of 'reporting' is to be mocked. He also mocked the right-wing bull about Obama's name.

So, even though his attempt at humor fell flat, it's better to make fun of this kind of 'political dialog' than to repeat it as if it's "news."

[KoKo]

16. A joke comparing a possible Dem Candidate to "Axis of Evil" or terrorists?

Greenfield isn't paid by the Comedy Channel as a humorist but paid to expess "political opinion" for CNN.

What he said struck me as dreadful...more of the Republican smear tactics looking to stir up trouble.

[ecstatic]

18. Well he did a piss poor job because as someone who was casually listening

and not watching intently at the screen for his facial expressions, I thought he was serious! I thought to myself, news has reached an all time low. LOL. The comparison was tasteless and I can see people running with it, satire or not.

[beaconess]

12. Here's the transcript:

He started off ok - sounded as if he was praising Obama, but then he pulled out the knife:

"The senator was in New Hampshire over the weekend, sporting what's getting to be the classic Obama look. Call it business casual, a jacket, a collared shirt, but no tie.

"It is a look the senator seems to favor. And why not? It is dressy enough to suggest seriousness of purpose, but without the stuffiness of a tie, much less a suit. There is a comfort level here that reflects one of Obama's strongest political assets, a sense that he is comfortable in his own skin, that he knows who he is.

"If you want a striking contrast, check out Senator John Kerry as he campaigned back in 2004. He often appeared without a tie, but clad in a blazer, the kind of casual look you see at country clubs and lawn parties in the Hamptons and other toned (ph) locations.

"When President Bush wanted in casual mode, he skipped the jacket entirely. Third-generation Skull and Bones at Yale? Don't be silly. Nobody here but us Texas ranchers.

"You can think of Bush's apparel as a kind of homage to Ronald Reagan. He may have spent much of his life in Hollywood, but the brush-cutting ranch hand was the image his followers loved, just as the Kennedy sea ferry look provided a striking contrast with, say, Richard Nixon, who apparently couldn't even set out on a beach walk without that "I wish I had spent more time at the office" look.

"But, in the case of Obama, he may be walking around with a sartorial time bomb. Ask yourself, is there any other major public figure who dresses the way he does? Why, yes. It is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, unlike most of his predecessors, seems to have skipped through enough copies of "GQ" to find the jacket-and-no-tie look agreeable.

And maybe that's not the comparison a possible presidential contender really wants to evoke."

[yy4me]

19. In your copy of the transcript, I don't see the reference to the

Middle Eastern sounding names. Was the transcript edited? (not implying by you, just a question)

[beaconess]

20. Sorry - here's the rest

I only cut and pasted his voiceover in the video. Here's what he said immediately following in the wrapup:

"Now, it is one thing to have a last name that sounds like Osama and a middle name, Hussein, that is probably less than helpful. But an outfit that reminds people of a charter member of the axis of evil, why, this could leave his presidential hopes hanging by a thread. Or is that threads?"

My sense is that this part was tongue in cheek. But the comments in the video were less so - why even comment about his attire, much less compare it to how the President of Iran dresses? I could see if Obama showed up in a hatta or a turban or flowing robes. But since Obama was simply dressed like countless other American men dress every day (including, I bet, some in the press corps following him around), what was the point?

[beaconess]

13. Hey, Jeff - it's called "business casual"

Jeff, you probably don't get out much. But out here in the real world, we call that "business casual." And just because Bush thinks that walking around in his shirt sleeves makes him look like a "normal Amerikun," most normal American men I know - especially professional men - frequently wear dress shirt, no tie and a nice jacket.