Braisted is reporting that Hobbs is on his way out at the TNGOP and I have to say that it’s wrong for Hobbs to take the fall for this.
See, firing Hobbs makes it seem like the TNGOP was wandering along, innocent as can be, and they accidently tried to smear Obama as a covert Muslim, just because the didn’t quite get the importance of this issue, and now the person who’s the problem has been let go and everything’s fine and dandy again.
As Olbermann suggested, it lets them try to just claim stupidity.
But people have long memories and nothing on the internet is exactly lost and those of us sitting her in Tennessee (and one in San Francisco) remember why Hobbs lost his job at Belmont.
Hobbs has always been an anti-Muslim bigot. He was an anti-Muslim bigot when the TNGOP hired him and he’s an anti-Muslim bigot now that he’s trying to “help” his cause by making voters think that Obama is some kind of secret Muslim*.
The TNGOP knew when they hired Hobbs that, when it comes to Muslims, dude is a dumbass. He drew a cartoon of Muhommad holding a bomb with the caption “Muhommad blows” under it**.
And that’s who the TNGOP puts in charge of crafting their “Maybe Obama’s a Muslim” message?
It’s like leaving a heroin addict alone in the methodone clinic.
It’s so monumentally stupid to expect any good to come of that that I cannot believe the talk is of Hobbs losing his job and not talk of anyone who hired him in the first place having to stand in front of the State Capitol wearing a sign that just says “Sorry.”
No, I’m sorry. Getting rid of Hobbs does little to fix whatever problem brought him there in the first place.
If the TNGOP is serious about appealing to voters based on issues, not innuendo, then they need to clean house, not just dump Hobbs.
————–
*I suppose I should make clear that this is my opinion, based on evidence, and not a fact.
**As a gut check, imagine how you’d feel if someone in the TNDemocratic party made a cartoon captioned “Jesus sucks.” Or, say, this picture.
Tiny Cat Pants 
Yup.
Hell, keep him. I started saying that yesterday at KnoxViews as this broke.
Let them wallow in their own crapulence.
Remember all that foofaw about Hobbs being “Hobbs the Communicator” and “Hobbs the Private Citizen?” That was during his first week on the job.
http://www.news2wkrn.com/vv/2007/11/20/the-letterhead-of-bill-hobbs/
See comment #34. I was only half right, though. He was acting in an official capacity when he gave the party the red ass.
I agree, B.
His behavior is a symptom of a larger problem.
**And yeah, I’m still peeved on the long term effects of this. After watching Olbermann tonight, I just cringed. Do the TNGOP really want our state in the spotlight like this?**
I can imagine Tuesday before this caught legs everyone at their offices chest butting each other and giving each other high fives for a “job well done.”
I’m with Andy, let them wallow. And make Robin Smith accountable too. She’s the one that made the call, I’m assuming, to ignore the big boys and to make this hire in the first place.
And not removing the press release slyly until they got called it on a second time was …
Keep him, I say.
Personnel changes are often made just before a general election as the party’s nominee tries to place people they can trust. Hobbs may have been on his way out already.
Smith is another matter . . .
Your point is well taken, but, what else can they do?
Draft Abramson!
Roger Abramson?! I love Roger, but I’m not really imagining him with a job that might sometimes involve him having to appear on TV. I could be wrong, though.
Mack, I’m with ‘Coma. Get rid of Smith, too. Maybe that’s not important to Republicans, but from the outside, just getting rid of Hobbs would signal to me almost no real change–after all Hobbs isn’t some lone wolf. And Hobbs wasn’t the one running around making jabs at Obama’s dead parents nor assuring GOP bigwigs the press release was down when it wasn’t.
No, i get it, but in a top-down structure, the lowest man usually is sacrificed.
It was Smith that ignored Lamar Alexander. Do you really ignore Lamar Alexander in a national story like this? ( mean I do but I’m not the head of the TNGOP.)
Mack, yeah, I know. Doesn’t make it right, though, and that’s why I’m arguing against it.
Damn, I can’t write complete sentences this week. I meant to write it doesn’t mean I do…
These steroids are pissing me off. Going to have ‘roid rage at work.
As for the lowest man usually being sacrificed, I agree with B on this one, Mack.
In politics, there is usually the sacrificial goat that gets canned, but it was ALL of the TNGOP office that perpetuated this. The one thing is that, and I keep going back to this, Smith is the one who most likely made the final call. And the bigwigs in the party know this.
Hell, Karl Rove advised them not to do this.
For me, it has nothing to do with Israel, Hussien, or any of the other things they brought up in the political gutterball they were playing.
It has two long-term ramifications:
1. The little guys did some sort of arrogant coup in their smear job which national RNC folks were appalled by and they continued it for 23 hours after saying they wouldn’t because apparently they feel the American public is stupid.
2. Hobbs (and this is him because of his personal blog) didn’t back down and continued the old “I’m right because I said I’m right and it’s the truth because it’s on the internet.” Amazing. He keeps making it about Obama’s middle name to a large degree which isn’t the core of this. The core is spreading intolerance over small things that might getting into the cranium of undecided voters creating a smidgen of fear over racial stereotyping.
Arrogance is at the heart of this beast. And a case of the burning stupids, but I digress. They got the message out to folks who aren’t paying attention and believe all this hype. But they also put a microscope on themselves.
I wonder how this is going to play out in the long run.
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