As The Hill's Jonathan Easley reports:
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) clashed Wednesday over a new RNC ad that the DNC says cruelly exploits the Newtown shootings.
The ad, called "The First 100 Days," criticizes Obama on the failure of his legislative agenda, including gun control, so far in Congress. It features a voiceover saying that Obama’s agenda has “already suffered a string of defeats,” and a black and white photo of the president reaching to embrace Nicole Hockley, the distraught mother of a victim in the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse called the ad “disgraceful” in a tweet and “disgusting” in another. ​​
Think Progress' Ian Millhiser:
Earlier today, the Republican National Committee released a one minute video gloating that President Obama has experienced a “string of defeats” during the first 100 days of his second term. Of course, the reason for these “defeats” is that the GOP retains the power to unilaterally block progress in the Senate through filibusters…
What is new, however, is that the RNC’s gloating video features [an] image [of] President Obama consoling Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed during the Newton massacre. Worse, this picture was taken shortly after a coalition of mostly Senate Republicans killed a bill that was intended to prevent more people from dying from gun violence. That’s what the Republican Party is gloating about when it brags that President Obama has experienced a “string of defeats.”
You can watch the Republican National Committee's ad by clicking here. According to The Hill, RNC spokesman Sean Spicer is defending the ad, saying the image of President Barack Obama consoling the mother of a child killed at Newtown, Connecticut came from an ABC video package that the RNC simply appropriated–"I don't think we control ABC," Spicer Tweeted. Clearly the implication is they didn't know who Obama was consoling.
Our response: who else would President Obama have been consoling in the last 100 days?
Folks, the "defeat" Obama suffered when background checks failed in the Senate last month, the "defeat" the RNC is celebrating in this ad featuring the mother of a Newtown victim, is also a defeat for these victims. Clearly the RNC is delighted to have inflicted said "defeat," hence the ad–it's just that their production "mistake," showing a Newtown victim's mother as an example of Obama's "defeats," casts their "victory" in an uncomfortable light.
At least, for the sake of common decency, we hope it does.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: notaskinnycook
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: The realist
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: kwtree
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: SSG_Dan
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Friday Jams Fest
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
This is one of those, "boy…don't we wish" things.
If the American people can be brought to understand that 2014 can be the beginning of the end of the Age of Neo-Feudalism, simply by returning Congress to the Democrats, we might actually start making progress toward a better future.
Like Randy Travis sang…
"If everybody everywhere had a lighter load to bear,
and little bigger piece of the pie.
We'd be livin' us a pretty good life,
and that'd be alright."
Not Randy Travis…Alan Jackson, it was.
Paraphrasing their Prophet "There they go again." It seems the modern Republican Party can always be counted on to go just that much too far. Although in this case they may have actually catapulted over that line one just does not cross. I think this one is going to blow up in their collective face.
Remember the new GOP rule: if you didn't have a gun to shoot back with, you deserve what you get. That's the 2013 version of "you shouldn't have worn that slutty dress." Understand, Newtown mom?
Sickness.
More like a case of hitting the bottom ON PURPOSE. The GOP knows its talk radio listening base. This is a victory lap, and it is intended to be offensive.
Sad to say, I think you are right.
The more I see of this, the more I agree they either deliberately did it or didn't care in the extreme.
I think it comes back to discussing things in an echo chamber. And so they think something this awful will resonate. To give you an idea of how far out there the Republican base is – Poll: 29% Think Armed Rebellion Might Soon Be Necessary
This isn't extremism, it's nutsville.
No David, it may be nutsville in Boulder, but there are those in this country who are agitating for just such a result. Aging boyles said on his show today that native americans lost their country because they "wouldn't fight back." He also cited the Jews of Europe as another group that "would fight back."
And of course, no democrats or liberals "fight back" when right wing talk radio make such asinine statements.
Scary, David, but true. I live in wingnut central, aka Mesa County, and perfectly normal-looking business people, elected
leaders'' and others openly fret about
when will people wake up before we lose everything'' and
we won't have a country left'' if Obama serves out his term. They are truly frightened.
\
Common decency? What a concept. What's frightening, Gertie, is the level of ignorance in this country. Ignorance, coupled with a hysterical fear, and armed to the teeth. Yikes! What a country.
Dear Dead Guvs,
Much as I love you guys, you are wrong in thinking that the Repubs have hit bottom with this. They can (and will) sink much lower.
Agree. Their leadership's instructions that no deals will be allowed because any deal would be a victory for Obama and nothing is more important than screwing Obama no matter what constituents want or how it afffects them leaves plenty of room for more sinking. Our only hope is their utter defeat and relegation to across the board minority status until the present incarnation of the GOP disintegrates.
A party with a leadership that actually puts hatred of the President ahead of the welfare of the entire nation and everybody in it is a party which has become an enemy of the people and of our entire system of government. It couldn't be more blatant.They aren't in DC to govern as the people's representatives but to make governing impossible by thwarting the will of the electorate in order to achieve defeat.
Concur.
I think that worked for 5 years, but the sequester's been bad for them. As reds feel the pinch more and more, the idea of cutting the black President off at the knees takes a back seat to feeding their families.
Any republican reacts to the old "when the guy down the street loses his house, so what? When te redleg loses his house……….time for a change!Meanwhile, the President is seen as sane, while his adversaries just kooks, by indies and Democrats.
The Dem's need 18 seats to take the House. The more the reds screw the country, the more possible it looks.
The American public are the actual defeated entity, despite 90% support for background checks. Shame on the Republican (and 4 Democrat) Senators who voted against the bill. The RNC will do anything to smear Obama, and the RNC cares only about the wealthiest 1% of Americans.
Since someone will say it anyway, let it be me:
The proper name is Democratic Senators. It's this whole noun/adjective thing. They are Democrats (noun), but they're part of the Democratic Party (adjective).
Thank you.
Untill the term "Democrat" whatever is dead and buried, 'republicans" will be referred to as pinkos, redlegs, rethugs, etc.
They deserve absolutely no more respect than they give.
Even less.
There is no bottoming out for Republicans these days. I gave up saying they've hit bottom several years ago, because every time I think they can't do something more offensive, they go and prove me wrong.
There are days I wonder if the current GOP is one great big social experiment designed to see how much the American people are willing to tolerate.
You have to wonder how many people see that ad and relate to the president and the grieving young mother instead of gloating about how Republicans screwed Obama.
I noticed the bullshit righties liike Gropnuts and Flatulence haven't put in an appearance to defend this piece of shit. When you've lost the asshole apologists..