Hillary channels Annie Oakley?
Obama sneered in response to Hillary’s claim to fond memories of being taught to shoot by her father at her grandfather’s cottage (near Scranton, PA, no less!), and of duck-hunting:
Shame on her….She, how she values the second amendment, she’s talking like she is Annie Oakley.
Well, not quite. Hillary did try to finesse such a charge by explicitly saying, “I am not a hunter.” But that didn’t deter Obama, who knows that the mental picture of Hillary in camo in a duck blind somehow is a bit hard to conjure up.
The real Annie Oakley probably would have been only too happy to have sporadic duck-hunting memories about her father, but he died when she was six. Her early life was a hard one, including a stint in the local poor farm and “near slavery” as a servant to a local family who abused her.
But Annie was a survivor as well as one of eight children; she became a hunter early on to help her own family:
Annie began hunting at age nine to support her siblings and her widowed mother. She sold the hunting game to locals for money, and her skill eventually paid off the mortgage on her mother’s house.
And yet, and yet—Annie and Hillary do have at least a few things in common. They were each married to a man in the same field as they. The early years of both unions featured the husband’s greater fame and the wife as helpmate, and then the roles reversed in the later years of the marriage. Annie also had some feminist leanings; she was an early promoter of women’s rights, most particularly allowing women the opportunity to serve the military in combat.
This is Annie performing her famous mirror trick, undaunted by what appears to be a formidable corset:
And here she is up close, followed by a photo of hubby Frank Butler:
Am I losing my mind, or is there a faint resemblance to the other famous pair?
I’m no fan of Hillary; that’s for sure! But watching Obama mock her was very hard to take.. it was a continuation of the arrogance and condescention he displayed in the original comment; with a good dash of meaness thrown in. I could easily see him making the same comments about anyone else who happen to have some memories of learning to shoot with their father.. myself included. Just sub in “Wild Bill” for “Annie” and there you go.
I get the sense that if left on his own (no script) this guy will self-destruct in just a matter of time.
I don’t know what famous pair you have in mind. Annie reminds me a bit of Sean Young. Her husband looks like Wilford Brimley.
Hillary reminds me of my mom lecturing me about staying out too late or not cleaning up my room. Bill reminds me of my drunk uncle.
Mike M: I agree that Obama does not do himself any favors when he engages in that sort of mockery. The tone isn’t funny; it’s arrogant.
Bugs: Well, I did say a faint resemblance.
I detest Hillary Clinton. She’s a criminal as far as I’m concerned; however I too found Obama’s comments to be so low and crass.
Definately not what I want to see in my President.
Obama has revealed his true self. All that crap talk about a new kind of politics was just that .. crap talk.
I prayed that this would happen because I noticed how brittle Obama was when he got into a row with the former PM of Australia almost two years. I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up his false front under the onslaught of the ruthless Clintons.
I’m sick of our politicians calling each other names… for making it impossible to discuss differences .
What is trying to do comparing her to Annie Okley .. what a disrespectful arrogant ass.
Obama:
Oh Hillary was taught by dad’s shotgun, they say,
That’s why I’ve the front runner’s slot.
I’m out on the hustings, I raise money all day,
And then count the millions I got.
I’m quick on the trigger
With my Kennedy vigor
Among Left Dems, I’m number one.
And Clinton will learn,
As the voters her spurn,
Oh you can’t get Dem votes with a gun!
Nah. She’s a lot cuter than She Who Will Not Be Named. And if she managed to pay off her ma’s mortgage as a hunter, she is indeed a prodigious hunter.
I R A Darth Aggie: Well, mortagages were considerably smaller then.
Mike M: (and neo)
I came here to make a comment, and lo, you basically took the words right out of my mouth (or, uh, off my keyboard).
When I heard Obama’s remarks about Annie Oakley, my first response was “hey– I LIKED Annie Oakley! Leave her out of this!” But more significantly, in addition to his words, Obama’s TONE was replete with sarcasm and that same condescending manner — and that is what jumped out at me. Also, if you watched it on tape or video, he exhibited somewhat odd body language — that oft extolled so-comfortable-in-his-skin was absent. I’ve noticed, several times now, that the meticulously crafted demeanor falls away. When his audience laughed at his words, he sort of giggled and then repeated his taunting…somewhat like the awkward kid in class who realizes he’s all of a sudden “made a funny.” The remarks displayed a cavalier mean-spiritedness, which came all too easily….at least, for the noble, away-with-the-old-nasty-politics candidate we’re all supposed to believe Obama is.
VinceP:
I, too, have ALWAYS been a Hillary-detester, and in the last few months, I’ve found — uncomfortably — that I’m sort of rooting for her… against Obama. Maybe (I hope) it’s just the softie in me that roots for the underdog. I DO know that as soon as she’s successful, for instance after Texas and Ohio, the minute she opens her mouth, it’s that ol’ fingernails scratching on chalkboard shudder all over again. (And what a relief! I know I am still sane!)
cSimon: i’ve felt sorry for her a few times but then I try to focus on what a sociopath her and her husband are. that shes a congential liar. what she did to the travel office staff.
I aslo feel a twinge of pity from time to time. Then I slap myself out of it
Her once mighty an insufferable ego brought low, and by an upstart!
It is funny to me to see how the same people who thought everything conservatives said about the Clintons as mere “Rovian” attack techniques come alive for themselves to see. And then attribute the same techniques to how Hillary is attacking Obama.
Not one ounce of recognition that the fantasy “Rovian” attack techniques are quite evidentiary a figment of their imaginations.
Vince P:
“Travelgate” was only one (relatively) small thing among countless others during her (ahem) “35 years” of service…(sorry, I just cannot tell the lie — i.e. include the word “public” before service). I was amazed when I found myself pulling for her in some of the primaries. Like “what can I be thinking?!!! I dislike her (to put it mildly), don’t trust her, believe she is a cold, calculating, self-absorbed megalomaniac whose machinations are designed for one sole purpose: to advance her personal agenda (get the picture?) Tears in New Hampshire – ehh, maybe that’s when I started feeling sorry for her a little (I, along with many, was startled to glimpse her humanity; but hey– she was still Hillary Clinton). I quietly delighted in the early trouncing she took from Obama early on. When it dawned on me that I had somehow advanced to actually pulling for her (strictly w/in the Demo race, and specifically against Obama) I was sort of shocked. Never imagined it possible. But more and more, this guy (Obama) is creeping me out. And more and more, I wonder if all his followers (fans?) are hearing the same stuff I am. This does not compute!
I can only pity Hillary in my more philosophical moments. Same as I can pity an asshole when I consider that nobody really wants to be an asshole, that there’s probably a sad story behind their becoming an asshole, and that assholes are usually lonely, unhappy people. Thoughts like this can help me tolerate the asshole – but that doesn’t mean I want to hang out with them. Or vote for them.
I thought Annie Oakley looked like this:
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/annie-oakley.htm
Meanwhile, I am a lifelong Democrat who intends to vote for McCain this November. I keep looking for a reason not to, but this latest flap isn’t one.
Bugs
I thought about Sean Young too when I saw Annie’s photo. Man did I have the hots for her in Bladerunner!! I do not even want to mention She Who Will Be Obeyed.