Liberal Hypocrisy Alert!!
Recent flashback takes us to 9/5/11 when Teamster head James Hoffa declared war with the Tea Party, while warming the stage for President Barack Obama in Detroit, Michigan. As a Labor Day special, he pledged the support of the Unions to Obama, promising that “one thing about working people is, we like a good fight,” and that they “are ready to march” against the Tea Party, which he feels has taken up a charge against workers. Calling the Detroit crowd into battle, he cried, "Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back!"On 9/6/11 ABC News' Jake Tapper grilled White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about Hoffa's violent rhetoric and whether a candidate is responsible for rhetoric that "surrogates" or people that introduce candidates say.
Here is the discussion:
TAPPER: And lastly, Jay, in January, President Obama said after the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, “At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of the of those who think differently than we do, it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” Did he mean that?
CARNEY: Of course he did.
TAPPER: How does the comments — how do the comments by the Teamster’s president fit in with that?
CARNEY: Well, first of all, those weren’t comments by the president. Secondly, as I think has been recorded –
TAPPER: They were comments by a union leader at an event that President Obama spoke at.
CARNEY: I understand that there is a ritual in Washington that, you know, somebody says something and you link the associations and then everybody who has an association with him or her is somehow — has to avow or disavow it. The president wasn’t there — I mean, he wasn’t on the stage. He didn’t speak for another 20 minutes. He didn’t hear it. I really don’t have any comment beyond that, Jake.
TAPPER: OK, well, some of us covered the campaign and recall a time when somebody made some harsh comments about then-Senator Obama while — during the introduction of a McCain rally. And the Obama campaign was offended and expected an apology, and Senator McCain came out and did so.
CARNEY: The — Mr. Hoffa speaks for himself. He speaks for the labor movement — AFL-CIO. The president speaks for himself. I speak for the president. You know, what the president was glad to do yesterday was have the opportunity to present his views on the importance of working Americans and on the importance of taking measures to help working Americans, to create jobs and grow the economy.
TAPPER: So the precedent — so the precedent you’re setting right now for the 2012 election is that Republican candidates are the ones that we need to pay attention to, and those who introduce them at rallies, their surrogates — we don’t have to pay attention to anything that they say.
CARNEY: Jake, I really — I think I’ve said what I can say about that.
TAPPER: Is that the standard now?
CARNEY: You can report it as you –
TAPPER: I’d rather — I’d rather not have to do this Washington kabuki every time something happens. But if that’s — if that’s the standard — if that’s the standard, then –
CARNEY: The standard is we should focus on the actions we can take to grow the economy and create jobs instead of focusing on kabuki theater.
The Hoffa Standard was born. Candidates and politicians are not responsible for what others say on the same stage they appear on and candidates do not have to avow or disavow what those "surrogates" say in any way and being asked to do so is "kabuki theater."
Jumping forward to Friday, 10/7/11, I saw multiple stories surround some controversial comments made by a Teas pastor by the name of Robert Jeffress before introducing Republican presidential candidate Governor Rick Perry, where Jeffress referred to Mitt Romney’s religion, calling the Mormon Church a cult and stating that Mr. Romney “is not a Christian.”
Asked later whether he believed Mormonism is a cult, Perry said, "No."
Jeffress told TPM following the speech that Rick Perry welcomed his endorsement in person, but he made it clear that he doesn’t know if Perry endorses his view on Mormonism which.
“I did not talk about my Mormon views [with Perry], and I’m no insinuating that the governor shares those at all — he may not share them at all,” Jeffress told TPM.
According to the White House and liberals Hoffa Standard, those comments are owned by Jeffress alone, right?Surprise surprise, all of a sudden, because the Perry campaign approved of Jeffress to introduce Perry as Obama's White House approved Hoffa, liberals claim that Perry "wanted this kind of introduction from the pastor."
Prairie Weather:
This is political raw meat in contemporary America. All eyes turn to Rick Perry. The question arises whether he wanted this kind of introduction from the pastor. Kind of looks as though he did.
Daily Kos:
That's a little bit of hairsplitting, however. Maybe Perry didn't specifically choose Jeffress, but he approved Jeffress. And, of course, after the introduction, he heartily thanked Jeffress. In short, yes, the Rick Perry did play the Mormon card. He could have said no, but he didn't. And judging by the way he thanked Jeffress, he's pretty happy about the way things are turning out.
I could be wrong but I do not remember The Hill referring to Hoffa as Obama's "surrogate" yet their headline calls Jeffress a "surrogate" for Perry.
Rick Perry was warmly received by attendees at the Value Voters Summit Friday while his newest campaign surrogate attacked Mitt Romney's religion.
SodaHead and NewsAmericaDaily also jump on The Hill's headline and repeat the "surrogate" headlines.
Those are just quick examples, but they make the point.
In the minds of liberals the Hoffa Standard only applies to Barack Obama or Democratic politicians.
Liberal hypocrisy on display.
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