The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 

Dubious quote of the day: Halperin on Edwards on Obama

Sirius Radio just sent out a press release with some excerpts from last night's Barbara Live, featuring world-famous journalist Barbara Walters. My assumption is that Sirius is proud of the dialog that took place between Walters, her cohost Bill Geddie, and Mark Halperin, Time's senior political analyst, who joined Walters and Geddie to discuss the presidential campaign. But should you really be proud of this?

HALPERIN [discussing John Edwards' potential endorsement of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama]: I can tell you, he's really skeptical of her ability to be the kind of president he wants. But, he kinda thinks Obama is...he thinks Obama is kind of a pussy...He has real questions about Obama's toughness, his readiness for the office.


There you have it!

Here are my questions:

1. Suppose Edwards told Halperin he questions Obama's toughness, but didn't actually use the word "pussy." Should Halperin  really introduce it to describe Edwards' point of view?

2. Suppose instead that Edwards actually used that phrase himself--that he told Halperin or someone he knows that Obama is "kind of a pussy." In repeating the phrase for a broader audience, might Halperin be doing Edwards' pre-Clinton-endorsement dirty work for him?

3. I know satellite radio is freewheeling and everything, but does Time really want its staffers using the word "pussy" in their guest appearances?

4. Coming on the heels of the pimped-out-Chelsea debacle, is this some sort of Machiavellian effort by Halperin/Sirius/Walters to increase their visibility?

  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article

20 Comments

  • will said:

    If nothing else, this episode would explain why Baba Wawa thinks Shuster's comment about Chelsea Clinton is no big deal.

    February 12, 2008 10:41 PM
  • Dan Kennedy said:

    Assuming Edwards really called Obama a "pussy" ... I don't recall Edwards thinking it was a great thing when Ann Coulter called him a "fag."

    February 13, 2008 1:28 PM
  • Joe Keohane said:

    Maybe I'm being old-fashioned, but I'm not sure anyone who spends $400 on haircuts can rightly call anyone else a pussy.

    February 13, 2008 3:25 PM
  • Aging Cynic said:

    Not to worry. This will all blow over in a day or two. After all, it's not like he's a Republican or something.

    February 13, 2008 3:58 PM
  • Joe Keohane said:

    Right, if he was he'd probably just shoot someone in the face and call it a day.

    February 13, 2008 4:54 PM
  • Mizz Givens said:

    I am absolutely stunned that Edwards would use the term "pussy" when referencing Barack Obama. I wonder if he considered himself a pussy when he stood by with his hands in his pockets while John Kerry waffled and ruined his chances of getting into the white house four years ago? Or perhaps Edwards considered his pussiness when, during many of the Democratic debates this year, he couldn't get a word in edgewise? Or, could it be that he thought himself a pussy when he dropped his candidacy for president?

    Edwards's comment shows that when he is up against those who are truly powerful, he resorts to baseline, childish insults. I, for one, am glad I don't have his presidency to look forward to.

    February 13, 2008 5:32 PM
  • Rick in Duxbury said:

    Every time Edwards appeared on the screen, I saw Jim Sokolove or Racehorse Haynes. Good riddance.(Joe, thanks for making my point).

    February 13, 2008 6:36 PM
  • Tom said:

    Halperin did NOT say that Edwards is the one to use the word "pussy." Halperin was being kind of a pussy not saying who actually used the word. I am pretty sure, no I am convinced, that Edwards did not call Obama a pussy.

    February 13, 2008 7:43 PM
  • rn said:

    But in his recent apology Halperin says, "I was conveying other people’s words." This seems to imply that he was quoting Edwards.

    My question: Was pussy your word or his, Mark?

    If Edwards actually called Obama a pussy, that's news. If Mark Halperin did, that's only news to a select bunch of pussies called reporters.

    February 13, 2008 7:54 PM
  • T.Y. Ulipani said:

    At the very least it's tacky - whether it was Edwards' word or Halperin's. How I wish our culture wasn't so crass. It's embarrassing to live here sometimes.

    Good points all.

    February 13, 2008 8:52 PM
  • Dan Kennedy said:

    Halperin did not "seem to imply" that he was quoting Edwards. He said he was quoting Edwards, period. Now let's see if Edwards disputes it.

    February 13, 2008 10:31 PM
  • ChuckD said:

    oh, stop being such a pu--y.

    February 14, 2008 3:25 AM
  • darcy_lane said:

    Oh for pete's sake, butch up.

    For the record, Obama DOES come off as kind of a pussy. Hillary has more balls than Obama does, and probably a higher testosterone level.

    February 14, 2008 7:49 PM
  • marcki al canuckstani said:

    I've never understood why people use that so-american word "pussy", when CUNT has always been available. And when all you have to do is open your eyes to see how many CUNTS there are in america today.

    February 19, 2008 6:47 PM
  • ann said:

    Oh for crying out loud.  You are all nuts!

    This sort of "pussy" is as in "pussy cat"....good grief, people!

    February 19, 2008 7:01 PM
  • Powkat said:

    Not to mention that it is a phrase that equates a man considered less than 'manly' with female genetalia, and consequently assumes that women are a lesser species and reducable to their body parts.

    February 19, 2008 7:56 PM
  • Batocchio said:

    I've never been a big fan of Halperin, but this is astounding.  Your questions are exactly right, and I'd certainly like some answers.  

    February 19, 2008 8:26 PM
  • Blue said:

    In reference to the last three posters, Marcki and Ann, I don't know how the British use the word "cunt" but in America pussy and cunt have two different meanings.

    Pussy is a man who is like a vagina, wet, squishy, less than manly. You don't call a woman a pussy because she's supposed to be this way. It's redundant. A pussy is a man who would rather negotiate after his house was bombed than actually get mad and do something violent when his home has been violated. Neville Chamberland is the premier pussy. He sucked up to Hitler. If you don't know who he is look it up. John Kerry was a tough guy, but by the time he ran against George Bush he was a pussy, or a weenie. A pussy and a weenie are the two sides of the same coin. A weenie is a limp dick. Can't get hard, can't satisfy a woman, can't get it done, no testosterone. Obama looks like a pussy, especially when his wife makes fun of him in public. Any politician who can't control his wife is a pussy and looks like he would run scared when push comes to shove.

    A cunt is an uberbitch. She is tough, mean, manly, and doesn't take shit from anyone. She is not womanly. In America, a man is never a cunt, only a woman is. A cunt is a woman with balls. A pussy is a man without balls. Hillary is a cunt. She is a cunt for making a big deal about the "pimping Chelsea" thing. MSNBC are pussies for backing down.

    As to PowKat, we reduce men to genetalia too. George W. is a dick. A dick is a brainless ball of testosterone, usually mean, always thoughtless, and willing to go into any hole, i.e. confrontation, to get satisfaction. Dick Cheney, as he was so aptly named, is also a dick.

    February 19, 2008 8:55 PM
  • Jack Coleman said:

    Anatomically speaking, Hillary is much more of a pussy than Obama

    February 19, 2008 9:59 PM
  • haaaley said:

    "Pussy" is the wrong word.  "Scrotum" would have been more accurate.  A pussy is a strong, lifegiving complex of muscles that can do amazing things and withstand a lot of punishment. We should all *strive* to be pussies. If someone is instead failing to take action just because he's afraid, he should be labelled a scrotum -- a highly sensitive part of the human body that does little to protect and retreats at any sign of trouble.

    February 20, 2008 4:06 PM

Leave a Comment

Login | Not a member yet? Click here to Join
Follow the Boston Phoenix
twitter facebook myspace youtube rss
All Blogs
more by Adam Reilly
Collateral damage? | November 13, 2009
Holy terror? | November 13, 2009
Difference of opinion | November 06, 2009
The importance of being Ernie | October 16, 2009
Latter day taint | October 09, 2009

 See all articles by: Adam Reilly

ADVERTISEMENT
Latest Comments
Is your doctor a greedy scumbag, or just a good Massachusetts liberal? - Suppressed Medical Records (File 5100-13465/001) St. Catharines, Ontario - Privacy Commissioner of Canada...

By mar on 11-20-2009 in Phlog

Tisei, Gay, By The Way - With this, it seems that Tisei is indeed the chosen one for LG. There is already a great Democratic candidate...

By Boston Bertie on 11-20-2009 in Talking Politics

DJ Hero: Enter to Win a Free Copy! - please please my mom cant by it so i was just wondering if you could if you can thanks a big

By james on 11-19-2009 in Laser Orgy

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: exclusive Cave In DVD preview - Good thing there's been screaming in their music long before their "last couple recordings."...

By Zach on 11-19-2009 in On The Download

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: exclusive Cave In DVD preview - I'm happy that one of the bands that got me into hardcore and alternative music is still playing and...

By Gabriel on 11-19-2009 in On The Download

Latest Comments from Media Log
Most Viewed
Unbelievably Exclusive Interviews with Edan and Ricky Powell
HOMEWORK: Assignment #2: D-Tension
REVIEW: Dominique Eade Quartet + Lake Street Dive at Scullers on October 21
Juliana Hatfield announces new album, sings about Evan Dando, appoints a new Phoenix music editor
Rock & Shock 2009: Misfits + Type O Negative at the Palladium
Photos: YouTube goes "U2ube" for its first-ever live concert broadcast #u2webcast
The pains of being The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Most Viewed from Media Log
Search Blogs
 
Media Log Archives
Friday, November 20, 2009  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
thePhoenix.com
Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group