LEBANON, Va - Democrat Barack Obama enjoys poking fun at his Republican opponents and their claims to being “agents of change.”
But Obama’s comments at a town-hall meeting in southwestern Virginia may have been misinte
rpreted by the audience.
“You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig,” he said as the crowd cheered and yelled and eventually got to their feet.
“You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It’s still gonna stink.”
“We’ve had enough of the same old thing.”
The audience, which had a particularly strong reaction whenever Obama mentioned Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, appeared to enjoy the “lipstick” comment the most.
When Palin gave her acceptance speech at the Republican convention in St. Paul she joked about being a hockey mom, saying the only difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom was lipstick.
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
Photo credit: Reuters/Rebecca Cook. Obama greets audience during campaign stop in Flint, Michigan, Sept. 8, 2008.
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Obama has no more resources against J. Mccain. So he tries to paint the Alaska Governer black in mentioning the word lipstick related to a pig. That is a blow below the belt. SHAME ON YOU OBAMA. Your defeat is near so you go lipsticking the pigs after November!
- Posted by donsemIt’s a metaphor you bunch of stupid idiots…
Man, you americans are DUMB!!!
- Posted by sbloveTo kmekr:
I suppose you will be writing a call to John McCain for being the first to start using negative ads, lies, and distortions of Obama’s record and platform soon, right? It was McCain who after first promising a clean, “friendly” campaign, started slinging mud at Obama, thus abandoning his “maverick” reputation and adopting Karl Rove’s style of campaigning. Do you expect Obama to just sit there and let the lies come at him without fighting back? I don’t. I suppose this just goes to prove the received wisdom that the Republicans can dish it out but can’t take it when it comes back at them.
And by the way, the reference to lipstick on a pig was NOT directed at Palin, but at McCain and his deceptive policies — policies that are indistinguishable from Mr. 29% George Bush’s policies. Of course, true to Republican form, they distort the truth and try to make it appear that Obama was attacking Palin in order to try to gain political advantage. Just as they keep hawking the now widely refuted “Thanks, but no thanks” line about the bridge to nowhere. Even the Wall Street Journal, no bastion of liberalism there, has proven that Palin was for the bridge until it was killed in Congress, then she tacked into the prevailing winds and decided she was against it. But as to her fiscally responsible character, more bunkum. She did not return the millions of dollars of pork barrel money that had been allocated for the bridge to nowhere; she just diverted it to other projects.
So next time you want to make claims that McCain is the saint and Obama the demon, why don’t you check the facts first and realize that it has been the McCain-Palin team who have been consistently lying, and brazenly so, in the face of vast media reporting that shows the truth behind the lies they keep telling.
We have had a lying president and vice-president for the past 8 years. We certainly don’t need another one. VOTE for REAL CHANGE! Vote Obama-Biden!
- Posted by MarvCYou know what? Here are some more very common sayings that maybe some of you will understand… Others, you can pretend they are attacks on Sarah Palin in fact, I’ll put your “translation” in as well (mind you I don’t think the transaltions are true… just something you probably think the sayings mean):
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks- Sarah Palin is a dog.
A picture says a thousand words- So since she’s pretty she’s unfit to run.
A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link- So you’re calling her a wuss?
All roads lead to Rome- So she’s going to ditch us for Italy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy- So she’s boring.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away- So she needs to go on a diet.
Here are some good ones though:
Beauty is only skin deep.
Appearances are deceptive.
Bad news travels fast.
Birds of a feather flck together.
Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched.
Enjoy!
- Posted by NickiIt’s nice to see that Mr. Obama’s supporters know what he is thinking and what he meant by that very subversive comment. Whether he was injecting a subliminal slur or is just to dense to realize how offensive to women and elder voters his comment was, it swung my vote. As a woman, I cannot vote for someone supporting the oldest prejudice in the world, nor can I vote for someone who doesn’t think before he speaks.
Now a confirmed McCain/Palin supporter.
- Posted by JacksmumWow. I can’t believe that Barry stooped that low. I am SHOCKED. I am OFFENDED. See… here’s the problem… everyone knew Gov. Sarah Palin’s comment. It was widely televised and replayed over and over again. And we all know that everything Barry says is scripted or thought out beforehand. He doesn’t do well with “off-the-cuff” speeches. So, if he truly didn’t mean it as an attack against Gov. Sarah Palin, then he does not have the sensitivity and intelligence that it takes to be President. Anyone would see that the comment could be misconstrued as sexist. Personally, I think Barry knew EXACTLY what he was doing and that it indeed was an attack against Palin. I am APPALLED and DISGUSTED!
- Posted by KellyOkay people, seriously. He wasn’t calling Sarah palin a pig. He is saying that you can cover something up with pretty things and its still going to be the same thing. Putting a mask on doesn’t make it different, it’s just covered up.
The fact that the comment uses the word lipstick just like her little pitbull joke is just a coincidence. Seriosuly, have you never heard the expression about putting lipstick on a pig?? I know I have well before this year.
Gosh people, use common sense!
- Posted by NickiGood line on Obama’s part.
- Posted by anonymousWhat’s stopping Palin from having another baby while VP if she makes it? Is she going to attend state funerals
leaking amnionic fluid? Bizarre woman.
Dear flood,
” “lipstick on a pig” comment. Anyone from the south knows exactly how that is used.”
I don’t believe you. I’ve lived in the US for 38 years, and I’ve never heard that comment - much less applied to a human.
Would you like it if someone called you a pig?
I would be offended, and it is an offensive comment to call someone a pig.
- Posted by JayI will have to agree with Joe above. It is amazing that the ultra right trash have finally gotten an ISP. Yet,
with the enlightenment the internet can bring, there is still this blind, gun-, religion crazy mania!
Listen, I am from a red state! I love my gun. I love my choice to choose a religion. I don’t force my ideas on anyone else, and don’t let anybodies beliefs get forced on me, if I heard it before.
Let’s call a spade a spade and admit it. This country’s ignorance is killing it. Put down the TV remote and read about what is right. Hell, read both fox news and then a liberal news site. Then read a site without a bias. Don’t you dare watch that crap, because as unbelievable as it may seem, the old TV makes zombies idea seems pretty real when a majority of americans still believe the crap they have on Fox.
Afterwards if you are still as pig-headed as before, fine. Contrary to creationism, Darwinism is fairly well proven. And should you not choose to change, then we who have been smart enough to pull our heads out of our asses will live on, and you thick-skulled neanderthals will die out.
- Posted by J Boogsok, I see the republicans on here are becoming very aggressive. For a start he wasnt referring to Palin with his lipstick on a pig comment. Why can’t you rep’s see that?
- Posted by ooookkkkkcrazy.
This is Obama’s true self. He’s the type that is only nice when things go his way.
As soon as he sees his numbers in the polls drop, he gets rattled. And this is another verbal example of the huge resentment he holds not only for this country but its people.
- Posted by LinnNot a single one of the hatemongerers posting above or elsewhere was ever planning to vote for a future anyway.
- Posted by Dr. DaveSo here’s our choice: Obama and a future, or McSame and descent into 3rd world status as we become a debtor nation beholden to China and others.
Everyone is missing the point. Obama was saying that Palin is the lipstick and McCain is the pig - Palin is the newspaper and McCain is the fish. So infact he complimented Palin and insulted McCain. It is a very accurate analogy that clearly illustrates the trick republicans are trying to pull on the America people to get their pig elected. That pig being John McCain. But lipstick smears and wears off quickly. It needs to be re-applied, which is why McCain keeps Palin so close on the campaign trail. Without Palin to make McCain look good everyone will see him for what he really is.
Also not enough attention is being paid to the fact that Palin is an unknown quantity who is turning out to be quite deceptive, vindictive and extreme and alot of her attraction to voters come down to her looks, compared to Obama and McCain. So even if the analogy is applied to her it is very accurate and highlights how her looks are bing used to manipulate voters. She looks good but she is a pig of a politician. The lip-stick on a pig analogy is also an accurate discription of McCains lies about being an agent of change and a maverick.
All three interpretations of the lipstick/pig analogy clearly describes how the America people are being deceived by the McCain Palin ticket. A vote for Palin and McCain truly is a vote for lipstick on a pig, whichever way you look at it. After two weeks of republican hype and hoopla Obama has very accurately described the republican ticket in a way that everyone can easily understand.
- Posted by TrutheriserThis is hilarious. You know what they say if the shoe fits etc…GO OBAMA!Show them what you made of
- Posted by Omargive ‘em hell Barry!! they’ve been giving it to the little man too long! #350,000.00 for a suit of clothes…geez!
- Posted by leeAh yes the old “you can dish it out but you can’t take it” is so fitting for these republicans. Not to mention how their brains can’t get the old “lipstick on a pig” comment. Anyone from the south knows exactly how that is used. This is the problem with half of America. Ignorance.
- Posted by floodI think Obama will find it is easier to put lipstick on a pig than it is to take it back off! I sure would not want to give offense to all the hockey/soccer moms that are going to hear of his comment! Kip
- Posted by kip taylorLooks like republicans have finally discovered internet posting. congratulations on your blind uninformed internet hate.
- Posted by joeThanks Barry for aiding in my decision in whom to vote for……NOBAMA–NO WAY!!!
- Posted by GateKeeper