The Command Post - 2004 US Presidential Election - Heinz-Kerry Tells Reporter to "Shove It"

July 26, 2004

Kerry | Heinz-Kerry Tells Reporter to "Shove It"

After giving a speech to the Pennsylvania Democratic National Convention delegation about the importance of civility in politics, Theresa Heinz-Kerry told a reporter to “shove it.” (video)

The exchange occured when a reporter questioned Heinz-Kerry regarding a statement in her speech to the Pennsylvania delegation. Heinz-Kerry told the delegation “We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics… .” When Colin McNickle, the editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, asked Heinz-Kerry about what she meant by “un-American,” she denied having used the word, and walked away from the reporter. Later, she cut back to the reporter, asked him which newspaper he was with, accused him of putting words in her mouth, and told him to “shove it.”

Two weeks ago, Heinz-Kerry accused President Bush of being “phased by complexity” and said “We need … [a] president who likes to read. A president who loves history.” In May, she accused Vice President Cheney of being “unpatriotic.”

Posted by hideandseek at July 26, 2004 09:08 AM | TrackBack

Comments

She sould have called him a “major league ass*ole”, and then to go “f*ck off”.

I like this woman.

Posted by: Vince at July 26, 2004 10:42 AM

Amen on THK’s “shove it.”

Great post, Vince, on past comments by Dubya and Cheney. One dissent: the guy from the Pittsburgh paper (whom THK probably knows) was “minor league” compared to Adam Clymer of the NYTimes who was Dubya’s target in 2000. We know this because Cheney’s response to Bush was “Big Time.”

THK would have probably liked to use the Cheney F-line on the Senate Floor to Sen. Leahy… but she is a lady.

Posted by: Blue Dog Rising at July 26, 2004 11:19 AM

Once Cheney liberated public political dialogue from civility and respect, what did anyone expect?

But yeah — she’s her own person, certainly.

Posted by: Don at July 26, 2004 11:20 AM

You’re ignoring the fact that THK was so angry denying she had said something that she had, in fact, said. Watch the video, and you see her give her statement quite a pause for thought before actually speaking it.

Posted by: yellowking at July 26, 2004 11:23 AM

So? Folks in the public eye do that all the time.

It’s sorta fun to see someone who isn’t completely scripted.

Posted by: Don at July 26, 2004 11:52 AM

You’re right Don, it’s clearly all Cheney’s fault! Cheney’s remark made John Kerry curse out a secret service agent, and call Republicans crooked liars. Sure, Kerry did those things weeks before Cheney told Leahy to f-off, but you can’t underestimate Cheney’s power. No law of physics can stop him.

So, when Theresa Kerry calls for civility in politics and 5 minutes later tells a reporter to shove it, you know that’s just Dick Cheney’s magic mind beams forcing her to be a total hypocrit.

Posted by: redwell at July 26, 2004 11:55 AM

Quote-“”My prayers for you, for me, for the country, for the world, are that we keep this at a high level, with dignity, with respect and with a great idealism and courage that took our forefathers to build this great nation.” -Teresa Heinz-Kerry

“OUR” forefathers?

I guess she must have had a mouse in her pocket!!!

Posted by: ET at July 26, 2004 12:01 PM

RW: Nothing is “all” Cheney’s fault. Clearly the style of public discourse has been changing for decades. But yagodda admit — Cheney’s public remarks cleared the path for more of the same from others.

In Politics, it’s common enough to call for civility, even while acting uncivil sometimes. There’s a duality in most folks, but most times it isn’t much seen. But every now and then, the most publicly sanctimonious find themselves hoist on their own public petard when they are found to be somewhat less Perfect than their handlers would prefer.

There should be no particular problem with that. It’s just part of the Human Condition, overall. It isn’t even all that important, unless someone wants to try to make a mountain out of that particular molehill.

Examples of that sort of public entertainment are numerous, and mostly without much impact. From Gary Hart to the horniest televangelists, that sort of thing is clear enough to most folks. And hardly worth bothering with.

Teresa is her own person. She owes nothing at all to the noozemeeja. No one is electing her to anything. And if she wants to tell some reporter to Shove It, I should think that most folks posting hereon would find that entirely laudable. Except, of course, when they prefer not to, and get themselves all het up over it.

ET: If Teresa wants to say traditional phrases in her public statements, why shouldn’t she? Most Americans who use the phrase can’t claim to have relatives amongst the Founding (fore)Fathers anyway.

Find a different straw to clutch. That one doesn’t have sufficient buoyancy to float your outrage.

Posted by: Don at July 26, 2004 12:16 PM

senator kerry pointed out in an interview today that his wife did not, in fact, say ‘unamerican’ before she did say ‘unamerican’.

Posted by: wafflestomper at July 26, 2004 12:24 PM

well let’s see UN PA , UN AMERICAN uh i did not say that, your putting words in my mouth . NOT HIPOCRIT BEACCHH

Posted by: curtain at July 26, 2004 12:32 PM

“Find a different straw to clutch. That one doesn’t have sufficient buoyancy to float your outrage.”-Don

Not to worry. The “Queen of Flooze” is a veritable Bailing Machine.

Posted by: ET at July 26, 2004 12:57 PM

THK blew this one, sorry Vince, sorry Don, sorry newcomer troll.

She just didn’t handle it well and all the apologies in the world won’t change it. Every conservative radio talk show host in America is gonna play this over and over and rightly so.

There is a huge difference between the THK situation and Cheney’s. First, THK was trying to brow beat a reporter who was simply trying to confirm the statements she’d already made. I agree that reporters can be a pain and many Americans simply don’t care for the press. So THK might have said something many of us would like to say, but we’re not married to somebody running for president. Can you imagine Laura saying this? Or Barbara Bush for that matter?

Cheney was telling off a real weasel. Leahy is a despicable person and he wants it both ways. He wants to utter mean baseless scurrilous things about people and yet still be their “friends” So Cheney, IN PRIVATE, told Leahy off. It was not a public statement made directly to the press, but rather a private comment between two individuals that was reported on LATER by Leahy’s staff.

So no, you can’t blame this on Cheney, as much as vince et all would like to.

Posted by: skip at July 26, 2004 01:18 PM

THK wasn’t responding to anything similar to the nasty things Leahy spewed. A reporter asked her about a remark she made in a public speech not five minutes beforehand.

She denies she said it, when she did, and then accuses him of putting words in her mouth.

Then storms over and tells him to shove it, when the speech she JUST GAVE just castigated that kind of behaviour.

Obviously someone is putting words in her mouth, and she doesn’t find them particularly moving or memorable.

Posted by: SarahW at July 26, 2004 01:35 PM

Yeah SaraW, I think you’ve got it right. THK made a fool of herself, and I like that it’s getting a lot of play

Posted by: skip at July 26, 2004 02:28 PM

I see we get lot’s of Counter-clockwise spin on this… I say it’s a lotta gas about - a lotta gas.

She has no more self-control than the other half of her DomesticRelationship. But HEY! It’s alright if THK demands civility and then goes BallisticallyHypocritical - What more can we expect from Someone whose Spouse is Nothing to Nobody, errr, I mean, Anybody.

This is just the first of many MeltDowns.

AFA the PoliticalWars? Dueling Pistols and Canes are no longer acceptable in or out of the Chambers. They once were. Now, it’s just words.

And you’re correct, Don. It ain’t Tiddlywinks.

Posted by: Cap'n DOC at July 26, 2004 02:53 PM