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Ear to the Ground

Clinton Camp Denies ‘Screw ’Em’ Comment

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Posted on Apr 17, 2008

Still railing against Barack Obama’s “elitist” comments, Hillary Clinton has found some of her own alleged words about the working class coming back to haunt her. The candidate’s campaign has denied that she said the following about blue-collar voters, as reported by the Huffington Post: “Screw ’em. ... You don’t owe them a thing, Bill. They’re doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.”

Author Benjamin Barber relates the scene, which he says he witnessed at a 1995 retreat. MSNBC reports that Barber, himself a Clinton supporter who has contributed to the current campaign, stands by the report but it offers some caveats.

Huffington Post:

In January 1995, as the Clintons were licking their wounds from the 1994 congressional elections, a debate emerged at a retreat at Camp David. Should the administration make overtures to working class white southerners who had all but forsaken the Democratic Party? The then-first lady took a less than inclusive approach.

“Screw ’em,” she told her husband. “You don’t owe them a thing, Bill. They’re doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.”

The statement—which author Benjamin Barber witnessed and wrote about in his book, “The Truth of Power: Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House”—was prompted by another speaker raising the difficulties of reaching “Reagan Democrats.” It stands in stark contrast to the attitude the New York Democrat has recently taken on the campaign trail, in which she has presented herself as the one candidate who understands the working-class needs.

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MSNBC First Read:

In the spin room after last night’s debate, NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones reports, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said Clinton was quoted inaccurately and that she did not say it. Wolfson reiterated that on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “It ain’t so. It ain’t so,” he said. “This is not something that occurred.” Wolfson dismissed it as a sign of the “situation” that the Obama campaign is in. “It did not happen,” he said again.

First Read, however, spoke with Barber, who confirmed the “screw-em” remark but wanted to add some context. ...

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By Peggy McGilligan, April 21 at 11:21 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Show Me A Liar, And I Will Show

“Screw ‘em,” Hillary Clinton told her husband. “You don’t owe [Southern working class whites] a thing, Bill. They’re doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.”

The January 1995 Hillary Clinton “screw ‘em” admonition, is a more than apt representation of character. Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther, and goes much deeper than anyone realizes. Particularly telling, is the fact that Leon Panetta was present during Hillary’s “write them off: screw them” remark. While Hillary sees herself as the “champion of the oppressed,” there’s always a kind of “good guy versus bad guy mentality.” But Hillary has treated and continues to treat all working class Americans as a species apart, and screw them she did: http://theseedsof9-11.com

Ps. Say goodbye to the small blond man with breasts, boys.

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By Conservative Yankee, April 20 at 5:41 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Mr. Giacobbe I have always been respectful of your position. I disagree with it, but it is yours brought about (no doubt) by your personal experience and the way you view the world.

You say you have worked for fortune 500 companies. so have I, But my work has not been as “consultant” it has been in their warehouses, sweeping out their showrooms, and washing their windows and parking lots. 

My “conservativism” is somewhat different than that of people working in the Citi-Group offices, or the Southern religious variety. No less conservative however.

I base my opinion that Hillary will be a “war president” on her actions, rather than her meaningless words. Clinton’s vote for a congressional resolution that declared Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a Terrorist organization is one indication. Her vote to give Bush authority to invade Iraq is another. Her posturing toward another incestuous relationship with Israel also a good indicator.

So while you may hold any opinion you wish ...including your thoughts on my screen name, I respectfully retain the right, and responsibility to disagree.

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By Outraged, April 18 at 6:40 pm #
(869 comments total)

Re: Robert Giacobbe

Your question:  “Are you guys sure you’re on the same team?”

I won’t speak for everyone but I for one do not think we are on the same team (assuming you’re talking Clinton & Obama).  It seems to me that Clinton is a democrat in name only.  Hopefully that answers your question.  I feel Clinton or McCain in the WH would be a travesty and further exacerbate an already serious situation.

Your quote:  “You can already see the lines of attack against Obama which I think is springing straight from all this inter-fighting: he’s a Marxist, he’s unpatriotic, he’s a closeted whitey-hater, he’s an elitist, etc.”

Yes, I agree.  These lines are being drawn by the Clinton AND the McCain campaigns.  So it is reasonable to conclude Clinton isn’t “fighting” on the democrat side. I don’t agree that it’s from all the “in-fighting”. I think it is straight from the GOP playbook and this fact has NOT gone unnoticed. The very smears you highlight, “he’s a Marxist, he’s unpatriotic, he’s a closeted whitey-hater, he’s an elitist, etc” dictate this.

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By Tony Wicher, April 21 at 8:39 pm #
(781 comments total)

Hillary and the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

Yeah, and all this crap about Obama being a Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-American, etc. - where is it coming from? From the same bunch of right-wing scum it always has, and Clinton, who was once attacked by these same right-wing scum, now is glad to join together with them to bring down Obama. Can you possibly imagine, Clinton was touting her meeting with right-wing scumbag Richard Mellon Scaife as an example of “bringing people together” even better than Obama!

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By Tony Wicher, April 19 at 8:11 am #
(781 comments total)

Clinton is Republican lite

Republican lite is better than Republican heavy, so I will still vote for Clinton against McCain. But not if I can help it by getting Obama nominatied.

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By Outraged, April 18 at 3:20 pm #
(869 comments total)

A special message to HRC.  Screw you.

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By Margaret Currey, April 18 at 2:08 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Remarks made

Clinton may have said that remark, but that is not as important as the “bitter” remark that is being played in Western Pennsylvania.

About the debate I saw a conflict of interest because George S. was part of the Clinton Administration and even though he is a news commator I believe that he sided with Clinton against Obama.

The questions were silly so it looked to me like a gang up, there were shots of Chelsea and Randell which make it look cozy.

But all and all Obama held his own especially since the deck appeared stacked.

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By Illegal Pedro, April 18 at 9:23 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Live by the sword - die by the

This is only relevant because it is the type of campaign Hillary has tried to turn this into - mincing and spinning every little misspoken or out-of-context phrase and encouraging the media to do the same.

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By Thomas Billis, April 18 at 8:35 am #
(239 comments total)

Screw em Bill

Screw em Bill.I guess this is some of the advice Hillary gave Bill that we are supposed to take as experience.

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By Tony Wicher, April 18 at 8:21 am #
(781 comments total)

The Clintons are sleazy

The Clintons and their whole entourage, are just not honest people. Former Clinton communications czar George Stephanopolous just drips sleaze too. There really is something extra sleazy about them. I voted for them twice, and I used to think this was just right-wing spin, but during this campaign they have proved their outstanding sleaziness to my complete satisfaction.  I think they have also done so to the satisfaction of the rest of the American people. Clinton’s negatives are getting bigger every day. They are huge. I don’t think she can beat McCain. He’s an old warhorse with incipient Alzheimer’s, but at least he looks a little more honest.

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By Greg Bacon, April 18 at 7:02 am #
(114 comments total)

Since Hillary is feeling randy and wants to screw some people, should we all go out and buy a Blue Dress by Monica to wear during this sexual act?

And will Hillary wear a strap-on to really give it to us good and hard?

And how can she leave a protein stain on our newly bought blue dress?

Or will the protein land somewhere else on or in our bodies?

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By MK, April 18 at 4:08 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Skocpol remembers too

Theda Skocpol of Harvard was also there, and records her remembrances at http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/17/what_s he_said/

She didn’t transcribe that particular quote, but her comments are revealing about HRC’s mindset at that meeting.

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By Purple Girl, April 18 at 3:54 am #
(240 comments total)

Baggage we all know about- then the bags

Hillary claims we know all her baggage- as a Duped Bill supporter and HillaBilly defender throughout the ‘90’s I seriously Doubt that. But what I ma more concerned about is all the Baggage she’s Picked Up during her Vacation in the Senate.Lazy, Useless, covert Operative, Cheney protege....(tarret syndrome moment)
This Ol’ Dem will NOT support her is they Hand Her the Nomination. Her Ability to Get Georgie S. as a ‘moderator’ at that last Charade of a ‘Debate’ prove even more to Me we are Looking at another STOLEN ELECTION!

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By Maani, April 18 at 5:57 am #
(1271 comments total)

Re: Baggage we all know about- then the

Purplegirl:

‘Course, what we really have is CFR Obama (and his CFR wife) against Bilderberg Clinton (with her CFR-Bilderberg-Trilateral husband), each with the their heavily weighted CFR-Trilateral-Bilderberg senior advisory staff.

So who, exactly, are we voting for?

Peace.

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By 911 student, April 17 at 9:16 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Consider that we pay all Senators (including Clinton) to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

So when Candidate Clinton makes more of a big deal over Obama words “bitter” and “cling” than she ever has about President Bush’s inadvertent, repeated, voluntary, public 9/11 confession statements, it’s pretty clear that she’s more for herself than she is for the Constitution.

Who thinks that any Senator who’s so miserably failed to stand up for the Constitution against terrorist-in-chief Bush will suddenly put loyalty to the Constitution ahead of all else if promoted to terrorist-in-chief (The War Against Terrorism—TWAT—is bogus!) herself (or himself, for that matter)?

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By P. T., April 17 at 8:20 pm #
(774 comments total)

Sounds Like a Wal-Mart Board Member

Oops!  She was a Wal-Mart board member.

Bill Clinton got off to a terrible start with that working class demographic.  There was the gays-in-the-military dustup.  It especially was a problem because he hadn’t served in the military, and many of them had.

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By Reg Stocking, April 17 at 7:15 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Sister Frigidaire

Awhile back I came across an allegation that an old Rodham family name for Hillary is “Sister Frigidaire.” How true this is, and whether it still applies if true, I cannot say.

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By TDoff, April 17 at 7:07 pm #
(203 comments total)

Lie and deny, lie and deny, lie and deny.

That should qualify you for the presiduncy, Hillary.

And for a column by Robert Scheer,

‘The Woman Who Would Be Bush’

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By jackpine savage, April 17 at 6:31 pm #
(704 comments total)

Yeah sure...

Considering that i read that quote long before Clinton announced her ambition to be President, i’ll have to side with the 60% of Americans who think that she’s a liar.

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By Conservative Yankee, April 18 at 7:34 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

If she said it

Actually if she said “screw ‘em” about Southern working-class workers, it may be the most honest emotion she ever expressed. AND she’s been doing it (screwing them) for years. While in the Rose Law firm, as an advocate for Tyson, and on the Walmart Board.

What does a woman have to do to PROVE beyond any doubt that she is not a fan of US workers… Unless they are illegal!

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By kevin99999, April 17 at 5:59 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Frankly, I don’t pay attention to the trashy tabloid websites like the huffingtonpost.com that has pushed Obama candidacy from day one while censoring those who disagree with its daily dose of garbage. So called liberal websites seem to revel in censorship

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