Stranger Fruit

Meet Kirstie Hartle, registered Democrat, Clinton supporter, and “a Republican all the way now”:

She said she doesn’t like Obama’s name and thinks he has a questionable background. She also said she thought Obama was deceitful when he broke from his church after it hurt his campaign, and she doesn’t trust him to handle the Iraq war.

"It sounds to me like a Middle Eastern type of name and whether or not he’s born here in the United States, he doesn’t seem like, to me, somebody who is trustworthy … You can’t trust anybody these days, so who’s to say he’s not a terrorist and we just don’t realize it yet?" (emphasis mine; source)

Jesus H Christ, lady! Are you really that dumb? Please tell me you aren’t. Please.

This has to be the reductio ad absurdum of Clinton support.

Comments

#1 eddie
June 26, 2008

I thought a lot of Hillary’s ‘supporters’ were McCain staff.
#2 qetzal
June 26, 2008

A guy on NPR this morning said essentially the same thing. This was during an interview of a number of self-professed Democrats that were unsure about voting for Obama. This one guy made a point of calling him “Osama, I mean, Obama” and noted that it’s a difference of “only one letter!” (Quotes may not be exact, but they’re very close.)

I was stupefied.
#3 Orac
June 26, 2008

I heard that interview too on the way to work this morning. He said something along the lines of “Osama, Obama, it’s just one letter.” He then went on to mention that Obama’s middle name is Hussein, as though that tells us anything about how good or bad of a man or President he might be.

The stupid burned so bad I thought the inside of my car was going to melt.
#4 The Ridger
June 26, 2008

Any Clinton supporter who’s now “a Republican all the way” is lying about being a Clinton supporter – or only was one because they thought Clinton would energize the GOP base to come out and defeat her. Nobody who really agreed with Clinton’s positions could possibly be “a Republican all the way

As Sidor says in “The Elusive Avengers” “Your little Cossack is a spy!”
#5 John McKay
June 26, 2008

You can’t trust anybody these days, so who’s to say he’s not a terrorist and we just don’t realize it yet?

That sounds like an opening to bring up the old Rovian rumors that McCain is a Manchurian candidate brainwashed by the Commies in North Viet Nam. Who’s to say he’s not a Communist mole and we just don’t realize it yet?
#6 Becca
June 26, 2008

but but but the unibombers middle name is John? Doesn’t that mean McCain is a terrorist too?!!!!
And their even from the same country!
#7 Julie Stahlhut
June 26, 2008

Are we sure this “Clinton supporter” isn’t like one of those concern trolls who posts blog comments like “I’d like to believe in evolution, BUT ….” ?

The alternative is that she really is a Clinton supporter in the sense of having planned to vote for her, but never had the slightest idea of where Clinton (or Obama or McCain or any other candidate, for that matter) stands on any issues of substance.
#8 Sean
June 26, 2008

There’s a similar kind of stupid on display starting at about the one minute and 45 second mark in this segment from “The Daily Show.”
#9 tguy
June 26, 2008

Well whose to say Ms. Hartle isn’t a terrorist and is just trying to deflect suspicion on Obama. You can never tell these days.
#10 Zeno
June 27, 2008

I’ve visited some of the websites of supposedly die-hard Hillary supporters who are plumping for McCain now. While they have the expected sidebar links to Sen. Clinton’s campaign site, lots of them also connect to things like gop.com. Is this the sort of thing that you’d expect from a rabid Clinton supporter who has flounced off in a huff to join the McCain forces? I doubt it. I think a whole lot of these sites are GOP ploys staffed by reliable “Democrats for [fill in Republican candidate]“, people who retain their Democratic party registrations only so that they can shill for the GOP as members of a fifth column.

I supported Hillary during the primaries and there’s no way I’m going over to the Republican side. Obama is my candidate now.
#11 Ian
June 27, 2008

“You can’t trust anybody these days, so who’s to say he’s not a terrorist and we just don’t realize it yet?”

On that basis, maybe we should be reporting Kirstie Hartle as a terrorist?!
#12 Felstatsu
June 27, 2008

I’d like to believe in evolution, but the evidence is just too strong to leave the level of doubt required to only believe instead of know.

More seriously, it’s sad to see someone so incapable of trusting of other people that they can actually say “You can’t trust anybody these days, so who’s to say he’s not a terrorist and we just don’t realize it yet?” and mean it. On the other hand, the more suspicious side of me agrees with tguy’s post up above. It’s been my experience that people who like to accuse others of things, especially without any good reason to, tend to be the ones actually doing what they’re deflecting onto other people.
#13 PhysioProf
June 27, 2008

The Republicans would never trot out fake-ass “Clinton Supporters” as a ratfuck. Never!
#14 HWS
June 27, 2008

I was glad to see a blog with a response from Ms Hartle of Rome, NY comments on Senator Obama. Lady, its your right to do whatever you want which makes this country so great, but before you ever give a qoute about someone, stop and really think about what you are saying. If we are going to have people this dumb vote for Senator McCain, then this convinces me that Senatot Obama should be the President. Ms Hartle, your right to say what you want, my right to say you are an idiot. Can you even find the “Middle East” on the map?
#15 mikeb302000
June 28, 2008

I agree with the commenter who said if she’s “a Republican all the way” now then she wasn’t a real Democrat before.

Yet, I believe there are many people in middle America who feel distrust for Obama simply based on his appearance. It’s just fear of change. But the number of people who feel that way is far exceeded by Republicans and middle right people who are so fed up that they can and will vote for Obama.
#16 Taylor
June 28, 2008

Sadly, this kind of thinking is incredibly widespread. I’ve heard (from acquaintances, from friends, even from relatives) all of the same old “arguments” about his name, his color, his age, etc. All nonsense, obviously. I’ve also been told that he’s secretly a Muslim, and will turn the country over to Iran once elected (?). I’ve been told that he and his wife are black supremacists planning to enslave the white man, because “that’s what her thesis said!”–even though anyone who’s read even a summary of it knows better. I’ve been told that he has no plans or ideas, and just wants to be the first black President to set a precedent. I’ve been told that if he’s elected, we’ll be attacked by terrorists within 3 months, and he won’t do anything to prevent it.

The level of stupidity that this election has stirred up is quite frankly astonishing. The depressing part is that, at least in my experience, many of the people spreading these idiotic ideas _really are_ Democrats and planned to vote for Clinton, but have apparently decided that McCain(!) was their next best choice. I don’t understand it one bit, and honestly I’ve given up on trying to enlighten them. It isn’t worth the headache anymore. I can’t help it if people have decided to stop thinking–literally, people have told me 6 months in advance of the election that “nothing I hear or read could possibly change my mind.” What are you supposed to do when someone chooses to stop using their brain that way? Makes me sad.
#17 Michael
June 28, 2008

I’ve been told that if he’s elected, we’ll be attacked by terrorists within 3 months, and he won’t do anything to prevent it.

I’ll give them credit for not voting based on labels rather vote on particular positions. Apparently, some in the Hillary camp feel, Obama is weak on terrorism. I heard that Israel will be attacked in a major way if Obama is elected. Obama showed how green he was, when he stated that experts told him a surge in Iraq would never work. This is when the violence was real bad, and Bush was requesting 30,000 additional troops. He also said he would pull out of Iraq, and invade Pakistan for the purpose of looking for Bin Laden. Again, it shows he is green with foreign policy. He was against the war in Iraq, said we had no right to invade so what makes him think we have a right to invade Pakistan? He may have changed his mind on that particular policy and again, it shows he is green.

I’m not surprised with Hillary supporters voting for McCain who is a moderate and much more knowledgeable on military issues, and is not that far away on many economic issues.