[ahem] Personally, I shall never in all my life forget the howling persecution that we endured from the O-bot smear machine and the Clintonazi long-knifers. They have tried to marginalize us, but ho! now we will band together and marginalize them.
Yes, as Dodd is our witness, it will be “unity” on our terms.
UPDATE: Judging by the comments, I need to explain that this is satire.
Don’t get me wrong. In my opinion — and as a Clinton supporter, I followed the exchanges extremely closely while they were happening— Bill Clinton has every right to be angry about the way Hillary was treated by the Obama campaign. I don’t think his anger is productive, mind you; and I think he is undermining Hillary’s chances. But if Hillary values her political career, she needs to give Bill a time out.
Hillary, as a mature woman, knows the best way to prove someone wrong is just to prove them wrong. You don’t get there by sulking in your tent or complaining; you get there by rising above the slurs and gossip, as Clinton-supporter and lifelong civil rights activist Maya Angelou advised Hillary to do in this poem. Bill used to know how to rise above the fray. Why isn’t he doing it now? I can understand why he would be wounded by the racism charges. To accuse someone of being a racist — a vile thing for a person to be — is, by definition, to accuse them of vileness. It is a grave insult. It seems to be principally these allegations that are fueling Bill Clinton’s outrage and wounded feelings. Most of us would feel the same.
Even so, he needs move on —for his own and Hillary’s sakes.
For a change, I will refrain from expressing my personal opinion on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the District of Columbia’s ban on hand guns, and I will especially refrain from “characterizing“–glorifying or demonizing– the Supreme Court justices for the way they voted.
On the latter–and as an aside–it has been fascinating to observe the diverging reactions by some to the flurry of decisions rendered by the Court in recent days–some of them on very emotional issues, such as on the death penalty for child rapists, on habeas corpus for enemy combatants, and on gun control. I am referring to the cable and radio talk show hosts and other pundits who one day applaud the Court’s decision as the next best thing since sliced bread, and sanctify the judges, and the next day deplore the decision and vilify the judges as tyrants or “vermin-wearing-black-robes” –sometimes referring to the very same swing judge or judges.
But back to the D.C “gun control” decision. As we know, on Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use and overturned the District‘s 32-year old ban on handguns, the strictest gun control law in our country ( And, again, the Court was either glorified or vilified). What struck me about this effort seeking to give D.C. residents the right to keep and bear arms is how little, if any, has been said or written about an even more important right: the right to vote.
Now, I am well aware that the landmark Supreme Court decision, one that ostensibly applies the Second Amendment to residents of the District of Columbia, will have a tremendous effect on gun control laws far beyond the District. It would be nice, however, if the same people, organizations (such as the NRA) and politicians (such as Dick Cheney) who have worked so hard to give District residents the right to keep and bear arms, would work just as zealously to give these same Americans a far more fundamental right: the right to elect a voting representative in Congress..
Setting aside the national ramifications of the gun control issue and ruling, it seems to me that some are of the opinion that D.C residents are sufficiently responsible to own and use firearms, but not responsible or deserving enough to vote for a real representative in Congress.
“The 2008 Democratic primary race illustrated how, first and foremost, America is a grand spectacle of democracy. … The primaries cost one dearly. They are reserved for highly-trained athletes capable of committing themselves to a quasi-permanent campaign. But they have served to give America some of its biggest stars, like Ronald Reagan who reinvented conservatism to Bill Clinton who introduced a “third way.” And tomorrow …”
This is a Guest Voice post by journalism professor and author Walter Brasch who is also a syndicated newspaper columnist and radio commentator, and president of the Pennsylvania Press Club. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or its writers.
Pennsylvania Politics: Resolved to Continue Bigotry
by Walter Brasch
There should have been absolutely no controversy in a resolution presented in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this past week.
Speaker Dennis O’Brien, a Republican from Philadelphia, wanted to honor the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which was holding its 60th annual national convention in Harrisburg. These resolutions are routine and almost always noncontroversial. The resolution pointed out that the organization’s purpose was to “increase faith and harmony and introduce various humanitarian, social and religious services.”
But that wasn’t what angered Rep. Daryl Metcalf, a five term Republican from north of Pittsburgh.
“The Muslims do not recognize Jesus Christ as God,” he declared indignantly, and said he would vote against the resolution.
Now, normally, Rep. Metcalf’s views would be heard—and dismissed as a bigoted attack. But this is Pennsylvania politics. So, Rep. Gordon Denlinger, a Republican from Lancaster, felt he had to talk. “Certainly this nation went through an attack some years ago that is well-burned into the subconscious of our society,” he said, and then emphasized, “What I sense on our floor today is that, for some people, this evokes very strong passion and emotion.” Apparently, Denlinger never considered that all religions, including Christianity, have violent extremists. Nevertheless, on Denlinger’s suggestion, the full House sent the resolution to committee, where it would ultimately die long after the weekend convention.
The nonsense in the House isn’t isolated.
Voluminous lies and exaggerations about Sen. Barack Obama permeate the conservative talk shows, e-mails, and Internet. From bitterness dripping in an equal amount of invective and stupidity, we are told that Obama is a radical Muslim “mole” who is waiting to take over America, that he attended Muslim schools and was indoctrinated in that faith, that he switched to Christianity solely to get elected to office, and that he took his oath of office by placing his hand on a Koran.
“The North American Democratic Party is poised to become a political miracle-maker. You’ll be tempted to think that the miracle would be elevating a Black (sorry, African-American is the politically correct term) to the presidency of the most powerful country in the world. Nope. I was referring instead to the miracle of causing another Republican to succeed the most ill-fated and unpopular administration in living memory. The ill-fated part is my own; but the unpopular part is a global opinion which is shared by the Yankee electorate . I don’t remember the exact numbers, but the popularity polls crown our dear George W. with the incredible achievement of being more detested than Richard Nixon himself during his period of even greater disgrace.”
He then points out that there are two main issues in the U.S. election, Iraq and the economy. On both he says McCain will get the better of Obama.
“While the Americans have realized that the war has been a fraud induced by powerful interests which led them to commit an injustice, I think over time they will become more inclined to giving the mandate for making for a dignified withdrawal to a man who has the credentials of a war hero, rather than to someone who simply opposed the invasion. They need someone to put an end the conflict and that, furthermore, will allow them to think that victory was achieved.”
Economist Paul Krugman pointed out back in January that Obama was less progressive than either Clinton or Edwards on certain issues affecting domestic policy. With respect to today’s article in Fortune — certain to cause alarm and despondency among progressive supporters who were carried away by his Message of Hope — color me unsurprised. Forewarned by Krugman and others, I checked the fine print.
His campaign was quick to point out that this isn’t really a reversal as such. He’s just worked back round to his original position.
His spokesman, Bill Burton said, ‘Obama-as the candidate noted in Fortune’s interview-has not changed his core position on NAFTA, and that he has always said he would talk to the leaders of Canada and Mexico in an effort to include enforceable labor and environmental standards in the pact’.(The Nation)] Of course what he said during the interview is a little different, as The Nation
points out, from what he said when he was trying to beat Hillary in the Rust Belt.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a place most Americans rarely consider unless they are going on vacation in mid-winter. But according to this article from Spain’s La Vanguardia, the recent Democratic primary in the territory exposed an uncomfortable vein of seperatism there.
ABC’s Rick Klein reports: Sen. John McCain on Friday abruptly cancelled a Monday fundraiser that had been scheduled at the home of a Texas oilman, after ABC News contacted the campaign inquiring about a verbal blunder the Texan made during an unsuccessful 1990 campaign for governor.
Clayton Williams stirred controversy during his 1990 campaign for governor of Texas with a botched attempt at humor in which he compared rape to weather. Within earshot of a reporter, Williams said: “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”
McCain’s campaign is on the record for nixing the event due to those comments:
McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said the Monday event was being cancelled, given the offensive comments. He said he could not yet say what McCain would do with donations brought into the campaign by Williams. Read the rest of this entry »
Right. There are none so blind as those who will not see. According to The New York Times, a substantial number of media critics, commentators, pundits, and outlets — not to mention many well known so-called ‘progresssive’ bloggers — still aren’t prepared to acknowledge the offensively biased coverage of Senator Clinton throughout the primary. People, even my 80 year old "I am not now, nor have I ever been a feminist" Republican mom noticed it.
The blatant sexism of the media campaign against Hillary Clinton didn’t bother the people who were doing it or the people who benefited from it, but it bothered the hell out of a lot of women, including me. It was quite clear to me early on that a large number of media figures had decided that Obama should be the presumptive nominee — and never mind waiting to find out what Democratic voters wanted.
Now it seems that the scales have fallen from Howard Dean’s eyes.
DES MOINES, Iowa - The rising Cedar River burst through an earthen levee Thursday just outside Cedar Rapids, and at least 10,000 people there have been ordered to evacuate, officials told NBC News.
Power is out for most of downtown, complicating rescue efforts, city spokesman Dave Koch said.
Cedar Rapids firemen have been organizing boat rescues of stranded residents, Koch added.
The new evacuations follow a 150-foot breach early Thursday in an earthen levee.
The issue of Arab angst over Israeli influence in the United States has very clearly spilled over into the issue of Barack Obama’s candidacy for the presidency, as recent Arabic translations on WORLDMEETS.US demonstrate.
This article from Al-Arab Al-Yawm of Jordan - which is a majority Palestinian country - expresses optimism over the emergence of Barack Obama, but also a sense that no matter who becomes President of the United States, that person will remain a tool of the all-powerful ‘Zionist Machine.’
“When the car carrying Senator Barack Obama, a colored man, crosses the street that separates Blair House [the official guest house] from the gates of the White House, all will have to acknowledge that he personifies a deep and monumental change in American society … Read the rest of this entry »
In my state, Ohio, the House passed HB 477 earlier this year in an effort to make English the state’s official language, but it appears to be at a standstill in the Senate just before the summer recess. There is widespread opposition to the bill and today, the effort, Blogging in Tongues came into existence to demonstrate and explain the many reasons why HB 477 should be opposed. Ohio blogs that are participating in this effort reach more than 10,000 readers.
If you would like to read about why HB 477 is bad law, please visit these posts:
“Obama plays on his age - 46 - and his origins - from Kenya, Kansas, Hawaii, Indonesia and Harvard, from a Black father and a White mother, to portray himself as a candidate capable of unifying and embodying change. But if his colorful origins have seduced many Americans, they have also engendered suspicion on the part of some voters, and not necessarily Republicans … Read the rest of this entry »
Has the ‘undemocratic’ nature of the Democratic primaries stained Barack Obama’s candidacy from the start? According to Juan Maria Alponte, who writes for Mexico’s El Universal, the lack of legitimacy of his nomination victory echoes that of George W. Bush’s general election win in 2000, and the notoriously complicated election of John Quincy Adams in 1824.
“The complexities of an electoral system where the historic contradictions between the popular vote and the vote in the Electoral College are even greater for primary elections, with barriers and counter-barriers to direct voting and the explosive paradoxes of delegates and superdelegates. … The great dilemma lies in an ethical conflict between legality and legitimacy. Without doubt, Al Gore accepted ‘legality,’ Read the rest of this entry »
So, knowing this will anger some woman readers, here goes: Hillary Clinton didn’t lose the Democratic presidential nomination because she is a woman, and gender no longer is a big deal in American elections.
There are two basic reasons the most formidable front-runner in contemporary presidential politics failed: Barack Obama is a sensational candidate who assembled a campaign team, which out- thought and out-strategized Clinton at every turn; and Hillary Clinton, in the most important venture of her life, picked the wrong people and adopted the wrong strategy.
Unwilling to face this painful reality, some Clintonistas persist in the whiny complaint that it was all about sexism.
Mark Penn, the chief strategist who did more than anyone to kill Hillary Clinton’s campaign, is copping a plea. In today’s New York Times, he explains that “it wasn’t the message–it was the money” (the lack of it, he means) that did her in.
After the Bay of Pigs, JFK cited the old saying, “Victory has a hundred fathers, defeat is an orphan.” But Penn’s paternity of Clinton failure’s is too well-established for denial, so the next best thing is to claim that the foundling died of malnutrition.
Aside from Penn’s own culpability in misspending the campaign funds, starting with the decision to ignore Iowa until it was too late, his fingerprints are on everything that went wrong–from the hubris of acting as if the nomination was a done deal to not seeing that the race was about change rather than experience (”ready from Day One”).
It was only when Penn was fired in early April for embarrassing the candidate by meeting with Colombia’s ambassador to the US about a bilateral free-trade agreement, a pact Clinton opposes, that she started winning primaries and closing the gap with Obama.
Early in the campaign, someone had to explain to the genius that primary delegates are awarded proportionally, not “winner take all.” This did not daunt Penn, who discovered “soccer moms” (talk about sexism) during Bill Clinton’s reelection and makes a specialty of slicing and dicing voters into demographic slivers such as “young knitters”, “extreme commuters”, “tech fatales” (women who like technology) and “powerful petites” (women who are small and proud of it).
Now he can discover a new population subset–moronic manipulators.
The largest portion of the Clinton campaign’s unpaid debt is owed to Penn. They should demand a discount, and Barack Obama should look for a way around the financing rules to send him a check as a thank-you.
Here are a few notes on my participation in the Texas Democratic Party Convention with 14,000 folks this weekend.
Thursday was a 6 hour meeting of the Platform advisory Committee which updates the 2006 version. I was gratified to see my finger prints on a variety of items: Same day voter registration, access to voting equipment by the disabled, redistricting reform, Mail in voting, Publicly financed elections, human trafficking, Energy net metering. It is amazing to realize how much impact each of us can have on important cultural institutions just by showing up and demonstrating a mature sense of understanding, communication and cooperation.
Friday was elections of delegates to various positions: national delegates, Elector college representative, party leadership, Committees on Rules, Platform Resolutions… Presentations from scores of speakers including Chelsea Clinton, Governor Kaine of Virgina and almost all the Democratic State Representatives and Candidates. Day ends at 4 am.
Saturday starts at 8am with all day meetings of the newly elected 30+ member resolution and platform committees. It was a fascinating experience of nuts and bolts democracy such as a one hour discussion about whether the Party should recommend the abolition of the Death Penalty. It did. Also was a debate about recommending criminal charges against Bush and Cheney. It didn’t. In essence it was a process of reconciling each member’s personal sense of balance between political realism and moral ideals. I also came to appreciate the awesome value of Roberts Rules of Order in managing group dynamics. At almost every moment the meetings could disintegrate and splinter if not for strong leadership and established rules of conduct. My respect for the talents and skills of Political leaders grew today.
In the end we voted around 60% of the Delegates to the national convention for Obama and 40% for Clinton.
I was disappointed in only a few ways, when after dozens of speeches about unifying the party the Clinton delegates promoted the idea that representatives to the various committees be allocated in proportion to Obama and Clinton supporters. Demonstrating to me that they were unclear on the concept of party unity. It was voted down.
Also in the heat of party enthusiasm the speakers frame many issues as that the Democrats are right and the GOP is wrong. I imagine this is reverse at GOP meetings. This may be fine for party regulars but it can undermine the courting of moderates and independents who vibrate between the values and point of of view of both parties. As with most elements of human nature we are all dualities of contrasting characteristics that ebb and flow with our changing circumstances. Sometimes we are each liberal and sometimes conservative. Crafting policy that reflects this truth requires particularly wise representatives who are relatively light on ideological purity and heavy on pragmatism.
