Saturday, May 24, 2008

When in doubt- check the primary source

My favorite History Proff never assigned a text book. He wanted us to look at primary sources of where history comes from instead. I learned a lot of stuff in his classes, which he started at the beginning of the quarter by showing the movie Roshomon. The primary source thing is the most important.

So while everyone is screaming about Hillary making assassination remarks about Obama with her RFK comment, I think it's time we took a look at the primary source, in context.



Huhm, that doesn't sound like a veiled threat to me. Doesn't sound like she's hoping for an Obama assassination so she can step in. Nope- sounds like she is describing the historical context of other primaries that went on until June.

But wait, maybe I'm just a bit too biased towards my own candidate. Let's take a look at what RFK's son said about Hillary's comment. I mean if anyone was sensitive to veiled assassination threats, it would be a Kennedy, right?

It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband’s 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.”


Wait- she's made this statement before? How can that be? Is the media sleeping on the job and let her get an assassination dog whistle out there without calling her on it?

Perhaps it's because she made the statement in March, when Obama thought he had the race sewn up, before Pennsylvania. Before West Virginia and Kentucky and a super close race in Indiana.

Perhaps this uproar over nothing is merely yet another cog in the WWTSBQ machine. Obama didn't need to use fake assassination threats in March, but things are a bit more desperate now.(And for the love of Pete, with either a black man or a woman who is going to end up being the Dem nominee, there are enough REAL threats to their lives and safety without making them up).

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