Okay, a simple YES/NO poll re: the Pink person at the Plame Hearing

[karlrschneider]

I will try to make this as 'fair and balanced' as I can.

Here is the question: Did "Midge" help (nationally) the anti/end the war cause?

Edit: added "Neither"

Should have thought to include it. Thanks to those who pointed it out.

[Buzz Clik]

1. This assumes that I had my dead ass plastered in front of the tube.

I didn't.

Pink, green, yellow, or blue. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about other than the ten gazillion threads here.

[karlrschneider]

2. Shhhh, it's a big secret!

:D

[northofdenali]

3. karl, I think a 3rd should be "neither helped nor hurt"

it just wasn't that big a deal to me or many others I've spoken with who saw the "incident".

[Kingshakabobo]

4. That would be my vote. Neither helped nor hurt. n/t

[karlrschneider]

7. You're right, I should have included it. Poll has been edited, thanks.

:-)

[AuntPatsy]

13. BIngo, can't see what all the fuss is about?

[pwb]

5. really stood out among all the empty suits

i liked it. they reminded me of the 60's when people had balls.

[MethuenProgressive]

6. She was clever enough to stand during the 'sound bites' so she'd

get on the nightly news. I honor her gumption, but don't think anyone's opinion would be swayed one way of the other by her display.

[karlrschneider]

8. Not to hijack my own poll but I personally think we should be doing things

that DO sway opinions - to 'our' side, obviously. We can't do what needs doing without that happening, look at the
vote the other day in the Senate, we couldn't even get a simple majority let alone the 60 we needed.

[MethuenProgressive]

15. Of course we *should*, I'm just saying I don't think she did...

And you typed "hijack"! Agent Mike has you on his watch list now :D

[karlrschneider]

21. Well, you typed it too! See ya in Gitmo!

:D

[northofdenali]

49. ROFL! Can I join you two there? It was 18 below last night -

I could use a little sun!! :pals:

[pinto]

9. To be honest, I was focused on Mrs. Wilson's statements.

She was articulate, to the point, and circumspect in some ways. Her training seemed to show. Given the circumstances, I thought she did real well, for herself, her chosen career and the country.

[mudesi]

10. Why blame Midge for anything?

All she did was sit there and wear a shirt that said "Impeach" on it. She had every right to do so and she did nothing wrong.

But because she's a transgendered person and because she was wearing clothes that most people don't wear, the corporate media focuses on her, and everybody falls for it, including progressives and Democrats.

It's sad to see how the right wing media machine manipulates fellow liberals with such obvious divide and conquer tactics. Had she not been transgendered and had she not been wearing pink, who here would even care?

She did not do anything to harm the anti-war movement. The media's focus on the BULLSHIT is what's harming the anti-war movement. (Which, if I recall, is now at a 70% approval rating. But you wouldn't know that by tuning into CNN).

To be perfectly honest, I didn't even NOTICE her when the hearings were happening. I think everyone here needs to ask him or her self whether they even noticed her or whether they only know about her because of the News Network Distraction Machine that brought her up afterwards.

[mondo joe]

12. Because she was distracting from what should have been a somber, focused

moment.

She gives the enemy another tool.

Stupid. Just stupid.

[JanusAscending]

55. Yeah, just "stupid" enough to get

recognition from the News media. She was interviewed on CNN today, and had a chance to explain what they are trying to do. Yes, they are upset with the Democrats! Just as we are, for not using the power that was given to them in the'06 election.

[rec_report]

56. *Exactly.* And, I favor dynamic actions/protests --and I'm not even

saying every aspect of protest against this regime needs to be non-violent.
But the clown costumes in the hearing (and on protests) are inane and insane.
Similarly, on the protest trail, why do demonstrators have to dress up as the Statue of Liberty and play drums? How ridiculous is that?
Pull the plug on/destroy a Diebold 'voting' machine, but do it in a suit and a tie. :)
--Polar Bear

[liberalnurse]

72. Absolutely!

Midge was serving Midge at the expense of a NOC Valerie Plame Wilson, a patriotic hero. The Wilson has endured much suffering and deserved our full attention without clowns.

[scarletwoman]

14. Her being transgendered has NOTHING to do with anyone's opinion. (nt)

[mudesi]

20. Please

If she wasn't transgendered, do you think this would have gotten any airplay? That is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about.

But let's keep on blaming Midge for being a distraction instead of focusing on the fact that it's the news networks that are using her as a distraction.

[mondo joe]

23. Anyone clowning around in the frame trying to be as distracting as possible

would get the same attention.

Midge made herself ammunition for the right.

Stupid, stupid choice.

[karlrschneider]

24. Well, if she wasn't smart enough to see the likely dustup, she's no asset

to our cause.

[mondo joe]

25. Indeed. Conviction + stupidity = damage.

Absent thoughtfulness, conviction is useless - except to the other side.

[karlrschneider]

27. Instant gratification isn't limited to wingnuts...as we see.

For some people, a moment of transcendent fame is more important than a long term goal.

[mondo joe]

32. One has to wonder what Pink Tutu thought she would acheive.

Did she think the committee would issue Articles of Impeachment?

That droves of Americans would rise up to join her?

That mugging in a pink tiara would make this inquiry be taken more seriously?

[karlrschneider]

35. I think she's a nutball. Nothing more complicated than that.

...

[WolverineDG]

61. She has a name

Her name is Midge.

dg

[mondo joe]

68. She's Pink Tutu to me.

When she conducts herself with some respect she'll get some.

[proud2BlibKansan]

82. And what have you done to oppose the war?

I am trying very hard to muster up some respect for you and several other DUers. Maybe if you post pictures of yourself and the rally you attended this weekend to protest this horrible war I can develop a level of respect for you.

[mondo joe]

93. Your respect is meaningless to me, so don't bother.

And what I've done is not material to whether what Tutu has done is helpful or not. In fact, doing nothing would be more beneficial than doing a dumb-ass stunt.

Thanks.

[proud2BlibKansan]

97. HER NAME IS MIDGE

MIDGE POTTS

. And she is NOT the dumb-ass in this conversation.

[scarletwoman]

28. It was her ACTIONS that caught people's attention.

Her gender status would be moot if she hadn't been there in the first place.

It was Valarie's day, a day we've been waiting for for YEARS. It was a tactically stupid move to show up and act up at a hearing that was actually HELPING our side.

Midge was there PURPOSELY to get attention -- why else the pink tiara and all the bobbing up and down and mugging for the camera? Well, she got attention.

Don't blame the media sharks for having a feeding frenzy when you're the one who threw the bloody chum in the water in the first place.

sw

[karlrschneider]

30. Well said...in a nutshell, as it were.

;-)

[scarletwoman]

33. Thanks. As an oldtime lefty, it just kills me to see how tactically & strategically stupid so many

of today's lefties seem to be.

I blame the Reagan years. (and the BushI years and the Clinton years, of course...)

sw

[mudesi]

39. And THAT is where we disagree

<<Don't blame the media sharks for having a feeding frenzy when you're the one who threw the bloody chum in the water in the first place.>>

I completely understand where you and others are coming from when you hold a disdain for what Midge did. It was an important day and how dare she ruin it with her distractions and dammit, she should've known better!

But I choose to direct my ire to the sharks instead of the bloody chum. I get where you're all coming from, but why are there no threads screaming about the real culprits of this so called "distraction"?

Like I said before (I think in another thread), the real elephant in the room here is a corporately controlled media that will focus on anything other than the real scandal, that will exploit the fact that she was dressed in pink and that she's a transgendered person so they don't have to talk about the administrations role in outing a CIA agent.

[scarletwoman]

42. But anyone who's paid attention KNOWS by now that this is how the media behaves.

We KNOW how the media will react to shiny objects and distractions -- exactly how they are reacting. It's completely predictable.

And given that it's completely predictable, it HAS to be taken into account in your planning. It is one of the facts on the ground. Merely recognizing that it's a bad thing doesn't change that it is what it is.

Sharks will act like sharks. If you don't want them to circle around a "distraction" then don't provide the distraction in the first place.

Midge did not serve our cause at ALL. Just as you said, the corporate media "will exploit the fact that she was dressed in pink and that she's a transgendered person so they don't have to talk about the administrations role in outing a CIA agent." Which was completely predicable.

We would have been far better served if they DIDN'T have something else to talk about except the actual content of the hearings. But thanks to Midge, they were given an easy out.

sw

[karlrschneider]

44. So your solution to the sharks is to feed them MORE chum?

Sorry, but you're living in a world where reality is imaginary. Idealism can give one a bit of a temporary rush but it ain't worth shit in the real universe. The "librul media" does what it does and there's not a fucking thing you or I can do about it except work to force them EVENTUALLY to return to journalism. Throwing them tasty morsels they can feast on and pass along to the millions of goons who watch them ain't gonna do it.

[Old and In the Way]

74. Brilliant deduction, Lyn!

Most of us haven't realized that the MSM would use Pink Person to avoid focus on what Plame had to say. Thanks for sharing this important aspect of how the Republican corporate media frames our politics!

I can't wait to read what other important observations you have to share!

[sandnsea]

34. She annoyed me the INSTANT I saw her

and I had no idea she was transgendered at the time. In fact, she looks a bit like my son-in-law's mother, who is truly nuts. Whether it would have gotten actual air play otherwise, I don't know. But I don't think most DUer's opinion of her disruption is due to her sexual orientation.

[karlrschneider]

37. Put on your asbestos underwear! You'll catch hell for using "orientation"

You see, that isn't allowed - it isn't politically correct. You have to say "IDENTITY". I have some opinions about this whole 'transgendered' business but I wouldn't dare post them here.

[bicentennial_baby]

40. Oh, I'd *love* to hear them....

"this whole 'transgendered' business"

Please do tell...

:wtf:

[karlrschneider]

41. Check your inbox

...

[sandnsea]

43. Then they'll catch hell

for being politically incorrect for disrespecting my mentalpause.

So nya nya to them. :)

[kiahzero]

91. I didn't notice she was transgendered until it was pointed out to me.

I did, however, think she was being an idiot.

[karlrschneider]

19. That's exactly the point. Whatever you think of the corp. media (which I hate too)

they are what they are and the vast majority of voters rely on them to formulate their opinions. We DUers are a tiny minority, unfortunately. The last thing we need is for some idiot to give the freepers another target to point out and say "look at that leftwing asshole." Nobody around here that I've noticed gives a shit whether this person has 3 penises or 5 vaginas...that's totally beside the point. The ultimate FACT is "her" performance is what actually GOT the media's attention and that detracted from the important testimony from Mrs. Wilson. I can't believe anyone was so stupid as to not foresee that.

[Laurab]

54. Ok, I had no idea she was transgendered

until I saw your post - I answered "neither", but whether she was transgendered or not, my answer would have been the same.

[NoPasaran]

59. Exactly

This is the first I'd heard that she was transgendered.

When I saw her on Friday I thought she was an idiot. I still do.

[solara]

11. I was watching on my comp so the picture was small... I saw the pink person

and assumed she was with Code Pink, but until I read the threads here I didn't know there was writing on her shirt. I just thought she was a Code Pink person who couldn't sit still.

:hi:



INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT INCARCERATE :patriot:

[npincus]

16. one word: distraction

no offense to anyone.

[rasputin1952]

17. I believe that the message on her blouse was fine...

but the tiara made her look a tad "odd" and, IMO, made her look like a bit of a "kook".

It should be noted though, this is my opinion only.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. was Midge "Code Pink" ?

also, I didn't know who it was, just saw the bright fuscha
colored t-shirt.

I thought she was a code pinker, and I just loved it each
time she stood up.

Her shirt said:

Impeach
BUSH
Now

SO maybe I was under an incorrect impression.

I got my daughter to look and she kept saying -
Mom, thats a man.

But overall, I got a big kick out of seeing someone pull
of this stunt.

Shows that GOP doesn't control everything any more.

Love these investigations, and Valerie Plame did a GREAT job.

Nothing took away from that.

[Cameron27]

22. I don't think she hurt the anti-war cause,

because the war itself is turning people against it.

But let's ask Valerie Plame how she feels about having her testimony shared with someone wearing a pink tiera, making silly pantomimes behind her back, and darting back and forth to stay in the same camera frame. Joe must be thrilled too.

[kevinbgoode]

26. She's a Republican.

She ran for Congress in Missouri in the primary against Blunt, I think. . .

[karlrschneider]

29. I've tried, but I just can't get "Parlock" out of my mind.

:eyes:

[Arkansas Granny]

31. I had to choose neither. To be quite honest, I saw the pink shirt

in the background, but it did not distract me from hearing what Ms. Plame had to say. I did not even realize that she was transgender until I read it here.

[mntleo2]

36. I Could give A Rat's Ass

...if the Code Pink lady was there or not. Maybe there was a cockroach in the room while Plame was testifying, should this have ANY reflection on what she had to say? Who gives a crap who was in the room? What does that have to do with anything?

This is simply another "Quick, look, over there!!!!" reason to discredit what Plame had to say ~ and a very desperate one to boot. Anybody who even wants to debate this on the Left is (again) allowing the Right to make them run like a bunch of ninnies "over there" and allow what is REALLY happening to be ignored.


DON'T LET THEM DO IT, SHUT THE HELL UP, IGNORE IT, OR LAUGH AT IT, IT SHOULD BE A DEAD ISSUE!!!!!!

Cat In Seattle

[karlrschneider]

38. Have a little respect. The cockroach's name is Toensing.

...

[IChing]

45. I think these continued discussions are a distraction to the anti-war effort.

At least they are doing something
rather than complaining on a message board
about how someone is doing something.

[The Count]

46. YES! Impeachment & Plame - 2 things that go together. Good visual!

[mzmolly]

47. I feel there is no perfect way to be an agent for change.

My answer is yes she helped. We're discussing impeachment as are others in a round about way. There is no rule book on how to agitate with perfection. And, doing so "quietly" does not get attention.

However, as I've stated previously, I do/did have mixed feelings so I fully respect varied opinion on this issue.

That said, to Midge I'd personally like to say - thanks!

[Warren Stupidity]

48. Of course she helped.

The media is forced to talk about code pink about anti war protestors about impeachment. Even if they have to ridicule this woman, it has upset their game plan.

It is theater. It is TV theater. You have to wear a damn clown suit or you don't get coverage.

[philly_bob]

50. Hurt antiwar, helped impeachment: is that an option? /nt

[NoPasaran]

60. For the life of me

I don't see how dressing like a clown and bobbing up and down like an unruly child helps the cause of impeachment.

If the impeachment cause got any help at all, it was from Valerie Plame's testimony.

[philly_bob]

77. Because it puts Impeachment back on the table /nt

Antiwar is down to serious, life and death, nuts and bolts real-world bargaining.

Impeachment is still back at the thinking-the-unthinkable stage, where you expect the fringe to push it first, then the radicals, then the moderates, and finally the center.

[mondo joe]

78. Bobbing around in a pink tutu put impeachmdent on the table?

Oh good grief.

[jazzjunkysue]

51. Anything that takes away from the presidential image helps.

I think everyone's overreacting. Die-hard Bushies need to see every bit of defiance then can. They're folowers. We have to give them examples to follow.

[NYCGirl]

53. If Code Pink wanted to pull that during a die-hard Bushie's speech, that would've

been welcomed. During Mrs. Wilson's amazing story, not so much.

[Bluebear]

52. P.S., is "Midge" not her real name?

Why the " " ?

[lala_rawraw]

57. I think it was a distraction

And made anti-war folks look like lunatics. There is a time and place for everything and when a protest becomes more important than the actual hearing, when all of the news networks invite the person protesting to discuss their "views," they take attention and time away from something much more serious. The nation has waited for years to hear Mrs. Wilson speak and tell her story. She had a right to do so without being one-upped by someone who wants to make a point that would be best made by Mrs. Wilson's own words. There is a time and place for everything. This was not the time or place for such antics. I support the brave women of code pink, and have from day one. I think this was a bad move.

[Gin]

58. I watched it...thought it was a guy in drag....couldn't read the T-shirt

thought it was stupid and served no purpose. I think PINK is a worthwhile organization............this looked like a parody of PINK...not the real thing.

[scarletwoman]

70. My very first thought was to wonder if this was an agent provocatuer.

As in; someone from the "other side" showing up to embarrass the anti-war/impeach bush movement with that ridiculous get-up and all that mugging for the camera.

I couldn't understand why anyone from "our" side would be so disrespectful as to purposely create a distraction during the PLAME hearing, for gawdsakes! You would think that someone sincerely interested in seeing bush impeached would recognize that Valarie Plame's testimony under oath was a watershed event in the enumeration of impeachable crimes of the bush administration -- an event we've been waiting for for almost FOUR YEARS!

"She (Plame) had a right to do so without being one-upped by someone who wants to make a point that would be best made by Mrs. Wilson's own words."

Exactly!

sw

[lala_rawraw]

99. i had no idea what to think, but I was not pleased because

I wanted to hear what was being said and the distraction was causing me to miss things.

[KittyWampus]

62. The Plame Hearing Was Too Important For An Attention Getting Stunt By Someone Desperate F/ Attention

This juvenile demonstration wasn't about being 'anti-war'
It wasn't about Code Pink's mission
It wasn't about anything other than one person's need to get attention.

[liberalnurse]

73. You are so very right.

My heart aches for the NOC Valerie Plame and the Wilson Family. Pink Midge was a clown act demonstrating unprecedented disrespect of the Third Kind. Shameful. :cry:

[mondo joe]

76. Agreed. What's next? Pink protest tutus at military funerals?

Sometimes it seems the political continuum is circular, and there's some blurring where the ends meet. :-(

[gardenista]

86. Well said.

[kdpeters]

63. Neither. She's not our monkey, and she already has a Mom.

If we think something will help the anti-war cause, we should do it.
If we think it won't, we shouldn't.

And if someone want's to throw a red herring out there about Code Pink or someone else's actions, or comments, or any irrelevant trivial nonsense, call bullshit. Force the important issues and refuse to be sidetracked. We can't go turning on each other.

[mondo joe]

64. IMO, Pink Tutu turned on US by not respecting the Plame testimony.

She is as subject to criticism as anyone else.

[kdpeters]

66. Oh, cut the crap

Are you kidding me with this nonsense? Framing her as a traitor disrespectful to Ms. Plame during her testimony? Mary, please! How about a sense of proportion here?

This trivial BS is also as subject to criticism as anyone. She broke no laws. She didn't interrupt. I can't believe how big of an issue this has become or what is even objectionable about it at all.

[mondo joe]

67. Valerie Plame deserved better than for her testimony to be co-opted for a stunt, and so

did we.

No one said Pink Tutu broke any laws, so cut your own crap.

[kdpeters]

69. So stuff happens. Let it go and get over it already

Just get over it.

I'm going to love that footage of that testimony for the rest of my life. It was great.

And what I pick up having watched Ms. Plame during her testimony, I just don't believe she's this pretentious to get all pissy about what 'she deserved' there. I saw that woman. She was serving her country much more that she was serving herself.

Do you think she's this upset? If so, how do you figure?
If not, then why does it have a rock in your craw if she's not obsessing one what SHE deserves from her testimoney?

[mondo joe]

71. Her testimony isn't just hers - it's part of the public record, and an important

event.

If you don't like that people count Pink Tutu as an idiot, just get over it.

[frogcycle]

88. roger that

[pacalo]

65. There's a time & place for clowns, & that important hearing wasn't it.

The first public appearance made by Valerie Plame & there's a fidgety, mimicking clown in a loud pink costume with a pink crown on her head in the back of the room who's more interested in taking the spotlight. It was very distracting, to say the least, from such an historical event.

I respect Code Pink's purpose, but that person who was more interested in claiming the spotlight was flat-out ridiculous.

[Old and In the Way]

75. Exactly. How would the Midge supporters have felt if Bozo the Clown was in

attendance with a "Impeach Bush" T-Shirt? I was reading the FreeRepublic thread because I wanted to read the reaction of the Bush Kool-aid drinkers to Plame's testimony. Guess what? More than 50% of the comments were focused on Midge! Perfect! They get to gloss over the Plame testimony and use Midge as the Leftist punching bag.

It's not us that have to be convinced about this administration's criminality...it's the Kool-Aid drinkers over at FR who need to be convinced. Midge provided them with an excuse to deflect the focus from the hearing content and onto her theatrics.

[ellisonz]

79. "Damning"

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

80. Rude, badly dressed, disrupters of government.

Chicago 1968



Chicago 1968



Bonus Army 1932



Paris 1968



Boston 1773

[proud2BlibKansan]

83. Wish I could nominate your post!!

:)

[BlooInBloo]

81. No option for I Heart Valerie Plame? bah

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

84. I'm Perplexed By The Neither Option. It Is Logically Unsound.

Neither cannot exist in the realm of such a yes no question. If she helped, it is yes. If she didn't, it is no. There can be no neither. This wasn't phrased as a did she help or did she hurt question. It was a yes she helped or no she didn't help. How could there possibly be a neither and how did 44 people arrive at that answer?

[frogcycle]

87. well that's neither here nor there

by and large
so to speak

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

89. There Is No There. There Was Only A Here. It Logically Can Only Be Yes Or No.

You didn't answer the question, you just simply missed the logic of it.

[frogcycle]

92. I guess I didn't make myself clear

I agree with you 100%

it's nonsense

I was just having fun mocking nonsensical sayings, using one with "neither" in it to be absurd.

My grandfather used to offer four choices of answer to a question:

yes
no
maybe
housetop

It was funny from the sheer absurdity.

This whole thread is absurd and I am sick of all the angst on this board and just getting silly.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

94. Ahhhhh, Gotcha. My Bad.

In your example though maybe would've been ok. I guess the part that perplexed me was not just the neither option but the fact that more than 40 people chose it even though it was completely nonsensical.

Way I see it, is the same as if you were in an italian restaurant and the server came over and politely asked "would you like some grated cheese on your pasta, yes or no?" and then the patron answered "Neither". I'd expect the server to look at them as if they were nuts, ya know? That's all.

Sorry bout reading your reply wrong though. Definitely my bad. :)

[frogcycle]

95. Another gem from my grandfather:

Q: What's the difference between a duck?
A: Only one of his legs is alike.

I suspect that of the 40 people roughly 30 did not read the question and thought it was "help or hurt" making "neither" a rational option,

and then ten knew it was stupid and picked it on purpose
THEY are my kind of people!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

85. Definitely Didn't Help It, Not Sure If It Hurt It, But Either Way Was Still The Act Of An Idiot.

[upi402]

90. christ. is this still an issue? she showed up for drill

she got off her ass and DID SOMETHING!!!

HERAY!

[Orrex]

96. I'm just glad that I wasn't at the hearing

It would have been so embarrassing to be seen on national tv wearing the same outfit as someone else in the room.

[proud2BlibKansan]

98. LOL me too

In fact, I wore my pink IMPEACH t-shirt yesterday in honor of Midge.