January 19, 2010

Interestingly, nothing big happened yesterday in the Coakley/Brown race.

I was expecting some shocking, hard-to-deflect shot at Brown. The lack of any dirt to throw is evidenced by the bizarrely lame use of a remark about a curling iron that Scott Brown may either have heard or not:
A video is circulating in which Republican ScottBrown seemingly smiles at a violent, sexist taunt directed at his Democratic challenger Martha Coakley at a rally.

"Shove a curling up HER butt," shouted one attendee off-camera. Brown, holding a bullhorn, seemed to smile and nod in acknowledgement.
Didn't Jerry Seinfeld teach us not to nod and smile at things we haven't heard?
(Kramer's girlfriend starts to mumble out some words, but Kramer's the only one who seems to hear her. Jerry and Elaine both bend forward, trying to hear what she's saying)

ELAINE: What's that?

JERRY: Excuse me?

(She 'talks' some more. Jerry and Elaine still can't hear her. They give up - leaning back in their seats)

JERRY: Yeah.. yeah.

ELAINE: Yep. Yeah..

KRAMER: You know that, uh, Leslie (Points to her) is in the clothing business? She's a designer.

ELAINE: (Interested) Oh?

KRAMER: In fact, she's come up with a new one that is going to be the big new look in mens fashions.. It's a, a puffy shirt. (Leslie mumbles to Kramer) Well, yeah,

it - it's all puffy. Like the pirates used to wear.

ELAINE: Oh, a puffy shirt.

JERRY: Puffy.

KRAMER: Yeah, see, I think people want to look like pirates. You know, it's the right time for it.. to be all puffy, and devil-may-care..

(Leslie starts 'talking', Kramer laughs. Jerry and Elaine have no clue what she's saying. They lean closer)

KRAMER: (Still laughing) That's true.. (Gets up) I'll be right back. (Walks off laughing. Jerry and Elaine are left with the low-talker. A moment passes)

ELAINE: Uh, oh! (Remembers something they could talk about) Jerry's going to be on the "Today" show on Friday.

JERRY: Yeah, that's right!

ELAINE: Yep.. yep. Um, he's promoting a benefit for Goodwill, you know, they, uh, they clothe the poor, and the homeless..

JERRY: (Points at Elaine) And the indigent.

ELAINE: And the indigent, yeah.. I, I do volunteer work for them. I set the whole thing up, and I got Jerry to do it.

(Leslie starts talking. Of course, Jerry and Elaine can't hear her voice)

JERRY: Sure.

ELAINE: Ohh, yeah. Yeah.. yep.

(Leslie talks some more)

JERRY: Uh-huh.

ELAINE: Yep.

JERRY: Yep..

ELAINE: Mmm
That's where Jerry agreed to wear the embarrassing and humiliating puffy shirt on television.



You think you're maintaining your friendly image, but you're nodding at the wrong thing.

Now, there's some hope for the Democrats. Maybe, if Scott Brown goes to the Senate, they can get him to vote for things by not letting him hear what the vote is about, and he'll just nod and smile. Actually, they kind of already do that amongst themselves. They are always voting for things they haven't heard/read... like that 2,000-page health care bill. If they do pass it and we find out what it is, it may be a lot worse than wearing the puffy shirt on TV.

Speaking of not hearing things, the Coakley pushers have specialized in tone-deafness. Obama dissing trucks and so forth. The effort to pin the curling iron remark on Brown is another example of this tone-deafness, because once you bring it up, you bring up what it refers to: a real case where a man raped a baby girl with a curling iron:
The shouter's threat is in reference to a sexual abuse case, covered at length in the Boston Globe, involving a curling iron that critics say Coakley, as attorney general, did not aggressively prosecute.
Here's that article from the Boston Globe:
In October 2005, a Somerville police officer living in Melrose raped his 23-month-old niece with a hot object, most likely a curling iron.

Keith Winfield, then 31, told police he was alone with the toddler that day and made additional statements that would ultimately be used to convict him.

But in the aftermath of the crime, a Middlesex County grand jury overseen by Martha Coakley, then the district attorney, investigated without taking action.

It was only after the toddler’s mother filed applications for criminal complaints that Coakley won grand jury indictments charging rape and assault and battery.

Even then, nearly 10 months after the crime, Coakley’s office recommended that Winfield be released on personal recognizance, with no cash bail. He remained free until December 2007, when Coakley’s successor as district attorney won a conviction and two life terms.
So what's worse: 1. Brown nodding and smiling at something that he possibly heard (which he'd be an idiot to smile at, so only people who already oppose him will infer that he'd heard), or 2. the way Coakley handled the Winfield case?

But it was the last day of the campaign, and something was needed. Falling, you grab onto what you can, and that was it. That was, at best, desperate and pathetic. At worst, it was a tone-deaf reminder of the Coakley's laxity in case of the guilty Keith Winfield case... and, once we are there, we may think once more of her perverse aggressiveness toward the innocent Amiraults.

Ah, but that last desperate day is over. The voting is on, and the time for dredging up dirt is thankfully over.

59 comments:

Anonymous said...

So "nothing happened" in the race yesterday, and you wrote a long blog post about... oh... wait... Seinfeld... I get it. Duh!

Beta Conservative said...

The recounting of the events surrounding the curling iron case are much worse for Coakley than the implication that a candidate smiled on the campagn trail.

This is one more blunder by someone who is too stupid to represent anyone.

garage mahal said...

It's the Democrats fault for the "stick a curling up her butt" remark. Shameless.

Beta Conservative said...

I doubt it's the Republicans circulating the video and making this an issue.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Just on the off chance that Brown does win this thing tomorrow, I think Obama should be sending some FEMA folks and supplies to Massachusetttts in anticipation of the seismic disturbance that will be Kennedy's rolling his grave.

Peter V. Bella said...

Why wasn't she questioned over the past few weeks over her record- or lack of one. Aside from the notorious cases, she has ignored corrupt politicians in her state. She has refused to bring indictments or just dragged her feet on cases.

I would think that her record of achievement or lack of would be more important than what she says she may or may not do in the future.

What politician can we beat up tomorrow?

Automatic_Wing said...

It's the Democrats fault for the "stick a curling up her butt" remark. Shameless.

Not so much the Democrats fault, it's just that this meme just takes the conversation in a direction the Democrats really don't want to go. Or shouldn't, anyway.

Hoosier Daddy said...

If this is the best that the Democrats can come up with they're in more piss poor shape than I imagined possible.

Automatic_Wing said...

Why? She already explained why in the post. Because making a big deal out of the curling iron remark inevitably leads to a discussion of what it refers to: Coakley not aggressively prosecuting a real case where a man raped a baby girl with a curling iron.

Why would Coakley want to bring that up?

AllenS said...

Brown wants to drive a pickup truck up Marcia's butt!

X said...

garage has been trying to make this the issue for 2 days, thinking everyone only knows one side of the reference. sorry dude, it reminds people of coakley's mishandling of the case in the same way van hollen reminded everyone that ted killed mary jo and walked away with the approval of democrats.

AllenS said...

Probably a brown UPS truck!

X said...

remember the time homer simpson said "everyone's stupid but me"?

Arturius said...

If this is the best that the Democrats can come up with they're in more piss poor shape than I imagined possible.

If you take a subjective look at both political parties, neither one is in very good shape with the electorate at the moment. The Republican party has put up their far share of 'piss poor' candidates in what should have been shoe in elections (Scozzafava is a perfect example; McCain is another).

Coakley was simply a horrendous candidate who ran a horrendous campaign. She evidently believed that being a Democrat was all the skin she was required to have in the game and to their credit, the Mass electorate appears to be demanding a little more substance. Should be a good learning lesson for other aspiring politicians.

former law student said...

Why wasn't she questioned over the past few weeks over her record


The only dirt that has come to the public's attention is old dirt, from before she was elected to statewide office in 2006. That old DA dirt did not preclude her election as AG, so why should it preclude her election to the Senate.

More interesting to me is the possibilities that open up if Brown wins. With six years in the state Senate, his political record would be identical to Obama's. And he's been running as a populist, a regular guy driving a regular pickup. He's surely (evidenced by the Cosmo photospread) as good looking as Palin. He's got an attractive family, but without the Palin babymama drama. Surely he'd be well positioned to run for the Presidency in 2012 -- an Obama/Palin hybrid.

campy said...

the seismic disturbance that will be Kennedy's rolling his grave.

His grave is in Virginia.

Unknown said...

"So what's worse: 1. Brown nodding and smiling at something that he possibly heard (which he'd be an idiot to smile at, so only people who already oppose him will infer that he'd heard), or 2. the way Coakley handled the Winfield case?"

What's worse, a supposition based on nothing or an actual, despicable fact? Is that really a question?

Hoosier Daddy said...

the seismic disturbance that will be Kennedy's rolling his grave.

His grave is in Virginia.


Wow what a faux pas on my part. Good thing I'm not running for Senator.

Anonymous said...

Campy,

I think you meant "Virgenia."

Regards,

The Coakley Campaign

AllenS said...

Hoosier Daddy for senator of Indeana!

Unknown said...

"Why wasn't she questioned over the past few weeks over her record- or lack of one."

Peter, when your opponent is making herself look like a fool so effectively on her own, you don't interrupt. :)

Did anyone notice her fist pump at the end of her speech right before Obama's? It was pathetic!

Henry said...

Has Brown bothered to go negative on Coakley? This is what I noticed while watching a few minutes of the post-game show of Sunday's Vikings-Cowboys football:

Anti-Brown Coakley Ad
Positive Brown Ad

[network programming]

Anti-Brown Coakley Ad
Positive Brown Ad

[network programming]

Positive Brown Ad
Positive Brown Ad
Positive Brown Ad

This was on a Fox affiliate, which Brown may be targeting more heavily than Coakley, but the pairing of negative/postive was interesting.

X said...

garage, any word on the dow? i'm not near the radio or tv and can't get any info.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Hoosier Daddy for senator of Indeana!

And I can promise you my fellow Hoosiers that I will at least be buried in my home state.

Unknown said...

Henry,
Brown pledged to avoid negative ads.

This is his riskiest, but I think most effective. How the Dems have fallen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iddquwGpXM0

kimsch said...

ah, but Hoosier, he's buried at Arlington next to his brothers. Hubby and I could both be buried there if we wished...

wv nosiess = Gladys Kravitz

traditionalguy said...

The revelation in Coakley's campaign is of a time honored political slander of the less than human others. The north thinks that the south and west are hooligans attacking decent people, so that becomes the other that a pick-up truck driving, country slicker like Brown with his KKK like buddies at violent mob rallies has to be the image seen of him in order to defeat him. This works everytime, UNLESS the Evil Other is actually a normal man/woman like us with an impeccable record that is already well known. That is its achillees heel in Democrat+Media mind control system for the electorate.

Unknown said...

Ann said...

Speaking of not hearing things, the Coakley pushers have specialized in tone-deafness. Obama dissing trucks and so forth.

Someone mentioned this elsewhere and attributed it to the fact that the Haavahd Hates America crowd (I do love the phrase "Coakley pushers", however) views all pickup trucks with suspicion (it is, after all, where the religion clingers cling to their guns). The icing on the cake is the fact that Brown drives a GM truck.

campy said...

the seismic disturbance that will be Kennedy's rolling his grave.

His grave is in Virginia.


Not in his beloved Baaston or Maatha's Vineyard, where he didn't want any of those wind farms ruining his view or Hyannispawt, where all the good Catholic Kennedy men took their mistresses and one night stands?

That sounds so - hypocritical.

Titus said...

What is the thrill of putting a curling iron up someone's butt?

I don't understand.

Boots on The Ground here reporting for Althouseblogspot.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I'm going to miss Boots on the Ground.

former law student said...

That sounds so - hypocritical.

Hey if I were eligible to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, I'd go for it. Although I guess New Albany is very nice too.

Fred4Pres said...

This one is for Team Coakley.

Titus said...

I am too Lem. It has been a honor to take on this most important role for Althouseblogspot.

Signed,

Boots on The Ground.

Alex said...

Let's not talk any more about Martha Coakley's bunghole please.

Joe said...

I watched the first half of the Seinfeld series and then got bored with it. Recently, though, I've noticed that even seeing a snippet of it on TV or reading someone's quotes gives me a very strong negative visceral reaction. I now loathe that show. Don't know why.

(There are other TV shows I came to loathe, but none with such a delayed reaction.)

garage mahal said...

A state already with RomneyCare might deny the rest of the country ObamaCare. How ironic. Bet Vegas didn't even think of the odds on that one.

Anonymous said...

A state already with RomneyCare might deny the rest of the country ObamaCare. How ironic.

GM, you suffer from lack of imagination. That we have RomneyCare is precisely why we're eager to kill ObamaCare. We already have a less onerous version of it. It's more expensive, and it sucks. We're trying to spare the rest of you.

You're welcome.

flenser said...

I'm pretty sure that that was David Axelrod saying "She needs a curling iron up her butt to get her to wake up and CAMPAIGN!'

flenser said...

A state already with RomneyCare might deny the rest of the country ObamaCare.



Maybe they're speaking from experience.

garage mahal said...

That we have RomneyCare is precisely why we're eager to kill ObamaCare.

But we also know from conservatives that 80% of the country is perfectly happy with their current health care plan. So Mass is the other 20% of the country?

howzerdo said...

I'm not in MA but our local TV news covers western MA. They've been interviewing people on the street in Pittsfield, Lee, etc., and basically their sentiment is the same as what rocketeer67 has shared.

Anonymous said...

So Mass is the other 20% of the country?

Yes.

Now are you starting to get it? Because if you're not, I need to tell you that it's going to be a very, very rough year for you.

Hoosier Daddy said...

You could tell garage the sky is blue and he'd call you a liar and then email Axelrod for the party position on the correct hue.

hombre said...

But we also know from conservatives that 80% of the country is perfectly happy with their current health care plan. So Mass is the other 20% of the country?

What's wrong with (the logic of) this question?

hombre said...

Of course, it may look like MA has 20% of the population after the Dems finish "getting out the vote" for Coakley from the graveyards.

Synova said...

"A state already with RomneyCare might deny the rest of the country ObamaCare. How ironic. Bet Vegas didn't even think of the odds on that one."

I don't think you understand irony.

Only, I know you *do* because you're smarter than that.

What's up lately garage?

Unknown said...

garage,
Why should MA pay for our health insurance, and extra for Nebraska and LA, when they have to pay for their own universal health care?

Balfegor said...

That we have RomneyCare is precisely why we're eager to kill ObamaCare. We already have a less onerous version of it.

Less onerous? I thought the mandate penalized the uninsured significantly more harshly (with less amelioration for the poor) in Massachussetts than is contemplated in the current bills. That's one reason it's been vastly more successful at forcing people to buy health insurance than the Senate or House bills are expected to be.

Synova said...

Heh.

Big Hollywood has a clip up of Jon Stewart talking about the Coakley/Brown race.

He's getting good lately.

former law student said...

A sudden thought: If the results are close, Coakley can always pull a Norm Coleman and keep Brown from being sworn in till August.

Anonymous said...

I thought the mandate penalized the uninsured significantly more harshly (with less amelioration for the poor) in Massachussetts than is contemplated in the current bills.

As originally passed, yes. But after Patrick came into office, the "amelioration for the poor" was boosted just a wee bit. And by wee bit, I mean a lot.

AllenS said...

If Marcia Coakley loses, then we'll have one less person to laugh at. Go Marcia! You go too, Massachusettes!

AllenS said...

Where in the hell has Biden been? Man, I miss that guy.

sane_voter said...

I'd like to shove a curling iron up Keith Olbermann's bunghole after seeing his outrageous diatribe against Brown last night. Does CHI make a nice hot one?

garage mahal said...

Glad you're not our boots on the ground for Althouse, "sane_voter"!

former law student said...

Investigating Scott Brown's claim that he would be forced to retire from the Mass Natl Guard at age 50, I found out that his JAG predecessor, Lt. Col. Karen MacNutt, retired at age 58. So I don't know why 50 is mandatory for that job. Further, 98% of NG officers who require two-year extensions receive them.

Ms. MacNutt writes a column for Women and Guns.

AllenS said...

fls--

Do they have the same MOS?

Hoosier Daddy said...

A sudden thought: If the results are close, Coakley can always pull a Norm Coleman and keep Brown from being sworn in till August.

Or Coakley could just have a staffer push him down the stairs.

Ralph L said...

So, fls, you think Brown is making that up? Why would he?