I know we are all fighting for the Democratic candidate we support in this primary, but let me be clear who the real political enemy is: The Republicans in Congress and in the White House who have trashed this country the last 7+ years, committed untold criminal acts, destroyed the very moral fabric of what makes this country great and made life much more difficult for the majority of the American public. When the Democratic primary is over, they are the ones we will fight together, because we must.
Yes, thank you. I support this 100%
Posted by SnarkyShark at April 14, 2008 10:24 PMi say nay..while i agree with much of what is said here..one major problem that needs to be fixed is the dnc and the democratic party in general..it is seriously dysfunctional and may once again nominate a candidate who i believe will go down to defeat..i will not stand by and blindly jump on board..i will not be voting repugican under any any circumstance..i will vote for the person i feel can best bring about positive change...i will not be voting for barack obama..and that is my right as an american
Posted by dennis at April 15, 2008 03:16 AMeRiposte,
Thanks for a fair and hopeful post with which to start the new day!
Posted by tfitznc at April 15, 2008 03:31 AMDennis, that really wasn't the point of the post...
This is the kind of post that makes me want to jump up and punch a republican in the face, rhetorically of course. Well done. I've been critical of some of your writing, but at heart, I see that you just really believe in your favored candidate and there is ultimately no harm in a little passion. We are gong to have to bring out the sharp knives after our candidate is chosen and I for one look forward to it. I used to have a begrudging respect for the Republican party because I thought there was a soul to it, a center if you will. Now it is just an ugly machine in pursuit of power at all costs, consequences be damned. It must be stopped.
Posted by Ron at April 15, 2008 04:37 AMWell said eriposte! We simply MUST keep the true foe in our sights. Given the venality of the entire Republican Brand, the fate of our very ecosystem is at stake.
Ths tiresome contest will eventually be over. When that blessed day arrives, we must all get behind last the candidate staggering. Their actual positions are within ~90% similar. This is the year of the rout! No progressive thinker can possibly vote for McRepublican. The current pain and angst will, hopefully, fade with time. Only Republicans vote Republican!
Posted by DeminNewJ at April 15, 2008 04:38 AMWho We Fight
OBAMA!!!! We fight OBAMA!!! Pile on! Get yourself a boilermaker, Shillary, and polish the cold steel of your gun. Not a gawd-damned thing sexist about that.
From this post you officially are not a racist and you'll be getting your NAACP wall plaque soon...so your "Obama is a muslim"(TM) analysis can be published with a clear conscience. No doubt it's coming since in your previous pieces you prove the Clintonistas, McCold and folks like peter have much more in common with each other than not.
Posted by phidipides at April 15, 2008 04:56 AMron..i agree wholeheartedly..it must be stopped..and that is exactly what i am fighting for..barack obama..i believe strongly..ain't the guy..i am not juming on that bandwagon
Posted by dennis at April 15, 2008 05:10 AMYou know, I don't necessarily think that it's racist for someone from Kentucky to refer to Obama as "that boy". In other words, I can see him doing it with a white candidate too. It's a southern thing. My friend from WVa refers to men as boys. Maybe it's racist, but maybe he would have used the same words it Edwards were the candidate.
Posted by CG at April 15, 2008 05:28 AMe,
I guess this is just another case of "Don't be on my side". You hear the racist "dog whistle" by republicans, but fail to see Sen. Clinton doing the same thing. She has set-up the republicans with more talking points than the late Lee Atwater ever could.
You defend her behavior in some sort of myopic single issue (health care) fantasy, knowing "historicaly" she can't win the general, except by changing the rules of civil political engagement by trying to openly appeal to the worst (RACIST/divisive) elements of the so-called Regan Democrats by employing the kitchen-sink strategy. You didn't see this coming? Really? That makes you either a fool or a liar. Either way, it certainly makes your opinions worse than biased. You, my dear scribe, are part of the problem.
Meanwhile, the real Regan "republicrats", the real "upfront racists" SHARECROPPERS, trained by the true corporate (pollutors, genocidal, sexist filth) AKA: Ol' MASSA elite to respond to any form of a racist "dog-whistle", won't vote for her anyway.
Her campaign reeks of eliteism and has from the start. "It's my turn"? The former president Clinton said the same thing about small town (REDNECKS)Americans feeling bitter and left out during his campaign that Obama is being villified for by Mrs. Clinton's campaign. Guess who sold them out with NAFTA, after he was elected?
I haven't seen you underscore that FACT, while you join in the Lynch mob as one of the many "bottled water drinking neo-progressive closet racist" cowards who cheer on the mob, from the back. Now, you seek to wash the "blood off of your hands" with a piece of double-speak, moralistic tripe and expect the Clinton led Regan Democrat lynch-mob to hear you. REALLY?
.
Do you really think that the Democratic Party or America will survive this type of open race-baiting? Do you really think that the young, for whom we as boomers need to reinforce the morality of an open society, will listen in November if their candidate is smeared and lynched, by Democrats? REALLY? Is this what we fought for in the 60's? REALLY?
Steve Soto figured it out and found his true soul.
He rejected the obvious race-baiting, kitchen-sink strategy because he realized that this is not the America he wants. I'm from Chicago and have seen this strategy used in an attempt to sully the reputation and progressive accomplishments of the late Mayor Harold Washington. The same "ethnic" racist crowd tried to defeat Washington by envoking the slogan "Epton. before it's too late". Take a walk down memory lane and read about the truth of these tactics that the Clinton's are using.
The Chicago republicans open appeal to racism was rejected by Chicagoans of good will. You and Clinton will also be rejected by Democrats of good will, both progressives and centrists who realize that it may already be too late for democracy, universal health care, environmental protection, civil (racial, sexual, children)rights and a host of other rights Clinton is serving up as fodder for the republicans in the general election.
You are no demcrat. This big-tent has become a cave where only neanderthals are welcome. In this environment created by the Clintons, I wouldn't be suprised if Obama is murdered while on the campaign trail. What will you say then? Who will you blame for stirring up the most base of our human instincts? Oh yeah, Obama..!!
One World,
Domino49
Such vitriol from the "hope" and "unity" crowd.
Stirring.
With the marriage creep McConnell has I would think he would be careful about making jokes about other peoples' marriages even though this one is pretty good.
Posted by JohnT at April 15, 2008 06:23 AMOuch Domino49!
After the Democratic nominee is finally decided, I look forward to more these threads.
I wonder how many folks might have passed over it?
In this environment created by the Clintons, I wouldn't be suprised if Obama is murdered while on the campaign trail.
Just...wow. That magical unity pony musta pissed all over your cornflakes to make you wish such a thing. Curious how in the space of a couple months, the Clintons have gone from the "first black president" to being responsible for racism in the US.
Still, I can't bring myself to care about the 'pukes attacking Obama - he's the one who made this whole election about race and emotion, using misogyny to get ahead, so he shouldn't whine when it comes back to bite him in the ass after months of crying wolf. And I gotta say, if he does manage to win, I'm gonna laugh my head off when he appoints his good friend, Donnie Mclurkin, to preside over the WH prayer breakfasts.
Posted by iamcoyote at April 15, 2008 07:50 AMeriposte
Thank you for a fair and needed post. It is about time that we all start talking in one voice and stop Hillary and Obama bashing. We should not lose the sight of the real enemy. When 80% Americans saying that the country is on wrong track and we see McCain leading both Democratic candidates, it is this infighting that is cause for it. Let stop this bickering and look forward to get a Democrat in the Whitehouse.
Posted by suresh at April 15, 2008 08:09 AMThank you. This really is the point. We have to get Clinton or Obama in the White House. The Republicans have done way too much damage and McCain is scary.
Posted by allansfca at April 15, 2008 08:28 AMThere was no anti-Obama molehill too slight for you to elevate into a mountain, eriposte. And the fervor rose the more Hillary lost.
The party is now hopelessly divided---Hillarian Extremist dennis is not some strange oddity, there are now millions and millions of him, certain that Obama campaigned unfairly, used "misogyny", that Obama is utterly incompetent to hold office, and likely that he has no business even being in the senate.
Posted by euzoius at April 15, 2008 08:41 AMHang your head eriposte.
You've apparently been cast out of the hopeful united party of change.
Posted by snark at April 15, 2008 08:51 AMeuzoius..thanks for the compliment..and you aren't that far off from how i feel about his experience..his campaign has been based on arepublican play book..it is they who have used the race card..it is they who did all they could to stop mi and fl from being recognized..regardless of their deceit about it..i think is he a divider..not a uniter.we already have one of those..i do not think he is qualified to be president ..both in experience and in character..he does not have a magnamimous bone in his body..i think he will take us down the road to defeat once again..and i do not hate him ..and that does matter to me
Posted by dennis at April 15, 2008 08:53 AMi posted the following as a comment at no quarter. i'll post it here as well, though lot of good that will do me.
in general, it seems to me that this easy use of the term "racist" to criticize political opponents and to deflect political criticism is very dangerous to our political discourse.
[ not that it will be attended to in these tendentious times, but
1. when the english word “boy” is used racially in the u.s., it has usually been used as a nominative of direct address:
“boy, bring me my mint julep.”
2. the use of “boy” as davis used it,
“that boy’s hand does not need to be on the nuclear trigger”
is usually either a familiar style of speaking about someone (who is an adult), e.g.,
“that boy’s a natural teacher”
or
“that gal’s buried two rich husbands”
or
it is an intended slight emphasizing the speaker’s view that the subject is lacking some needed quality, e.g., experience.
these days, the skin color of the person who gets referred to a “boy” seems to be the factor determining that malice is intended:
- saying “that boy needs to get his head on straight” of sam israel III would not be viewed as racist.
saying “that boy needs to get his head on straight” of barrack obama would be viewed as racist.
to look differently at this classic exercise in political correctness and public censorship of language,
answer this question:
under what circumstances would any american be permitted to publicly use the word “boy” in a sentence which included barack obama as its subject?
clearly none,
unless you KNEW that the speaker’s state of mind was free of racial malice.
finally, suppose davis WAS using the term racially. so what? ugly language is a part of politics.
wm kristol, writing in monday’s nytimes, essentially called obama a marxist, or at least tried to tie obama to marxism.
did anyone get upset about that silly derogation?
this campaign season, the public discourse has been way too full of pious shouts of “racist”,
but those shouts have gone in one direction only,
repeatedly directed against anyone who presents a threat to obama’s political ascendance.
that, more than anything else, suggests there is a large quantity of both opportunism and of hypocrisy in these cries of “racism”, rather than any concern for decency and equality.
keep this in mind,
what rep davis said, minus the “boy” word, was that he had questions about obama’s ability to make decisions critical to the nation’s survival.
now that is a criticism of obama that could really sting.
but,
if all the attention is focused on the word “boy’ that davis used,
then the heart of his criticism of obama as being immature for the job is overwhelmed by cries of “racist”.
pretty neat, huh.
i’d like to know what path this story took, passing thru whose hands, in order to become a public issue? ]
Posted by orionATL at April 15, 2008 09:19 AMThanks eriposte, for that fair-minded piece.
I, too, found that comment by McConnell disgusting. Lieberman should be driven from the party, in my view. We don't need any more Zell Miller democrats. His advocacy for McCain should at the very least disqualify him from caucusing with dems.
I don't pretend to know which candidate will win the democratic nomination, but whomever it will be will have my vigorous support and my vote.
Posted by at April 15, 2008 09:23 AMOnce again, the Republican trolls prove that it's not about defeating racism, or electing Democrats; it's about destroying the Clintons.
Posted by Blue Jean at April 15, 2008 09:24 AM...finally, suppose davis WAS using the term racially. so what? ugly language is a part of politics.
Jesus, orionATL, are you advocating for the full and free use of racial and sexist dog-whistle language in our politics? The last sentence of your post seems to indicate that you think this comment was somehow "engineered" by the Obama campaign.
This is a fairly typical example of the tin-foil hat conspiracy crowd over at No Quarter these days. Their latest trash is a video which suggests Obama is a "manchurian" candidate. You guys are watching "24" too much. Switch to decaf, ok? You might need to regain some perspective if Obama is the nominee.
Posted by at April 15, 2008 09:39 AMThank you for the very good post, eriposte. We could use a reminder that the differences between us are tiny compared to the differences between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
Posted by CA Pol Junkie at April 15, 2008 09:54 AMto "9:39 am"
what comes across in your comment is
- a great deal of passion
- a sloppy sentimentality about racism and its abolition in this country
- a willingness to employ "racism" as a pejorative for your own personal, selfish, political purposes,
- a severe deficiency of analytical ability
and
- strong willingness to clamp down on political expression of which you disapprove.
and all for no gain whatsoever on the racial front in this country.
Posted by orionATL at April 15, 2008 09:58 AMyou know what my problem is, eriposte? i'm starting have an eerie feeling that won't go away, that it's like this is 1941 and we're debating what to do about germany (republicans) on center stage while japan (obamacans) is on stage right. something very freakin bizarre is a afoot, and i'm struggling to understand it.
Posted by kangeroo at April 15, 2008 12:24 PMtrust me, kangeroo, with a tendency to analogies like that, you never will.
Posted by euzoius at April 15, 2008 01:18 PMeuzious..that made me laugh..out loud
Posted by dennis at April 15, 2008 01:31 PMThe idea that the Clintons have been engaging in race-baiting is absurd. There is something SERIOUSLY wrong when you cannot tell the difference between real racism and fabricated racism. Fabricated racism has been rampant in this Democratic contest. Obama has consistently engaged in race-baiting. It is a campaign strategy. It's used by politicians because its generally effective. The best thing you can do with a liberal base is to call your opponent racist, because then they have to spend their time proving that they're not. My cousin did it to win his election (and yes, I think he's an asshole for doing it), and Obama's tactics are virtually identical. Obama is well aware of the benefits of short-term race-baiting.
But in the end, it doesn't benefit us at all. Real racism is awful. My mother was raised in the segregated south and experienced REAL RACISM. It was that experience that led her to give me an African name, and immerse us in African culture and traditions. Its also the reason why she majored in African American studies in college, and has worked hard in the African American community. When I see 'so called' Liberals like John Kerry and Claire McCaskill getting a 'pass' for comments that are blatantly ignorant and racist by people who claim to 'care' so much about racism, I find it sad and amusing.
As to what was said about Obama today, that is REAL racism. My great grandfather was called, 'boy' until the day he died. It's a hold-over from slavery, and if people can't see that then I think they really need to examine what they THINK they know about racism.
Posted by kacey at April 15, 2008 04:34 PM"trust me, kangeroo, with a tendency to analogies like that, you never will." ...oozo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning 'large foot in mouth'). (wiki)...OK, so I added the "in mouth" part.
I propose taking up a collection to send the "Captain" back to analogical school.
Posted by TIKI AL at April 15, 2008 05:15 PMkacey,
I'm not so convinced that Geoff Davis' comment was so overtly racist. Referring to people as 'boy' and 'son', whether white or black seems to me to be part of southern vernacular. Granted, I'm a New Yorker so what do I really know but as an example Bill Clinton, speaking about the male Democratic candidates teaming up on Hillary Clinton in debates said "Those boys have been pretty harsh on her lately." Racist? Or just demonstrating a certain level of familiarity. I think it was incredibly inappropriate for Davis to say in the circumstances in which he said it. I think, in general, the leval of discourse amongst our elected officials has sunk into the sewer in recent years. We had the VP telling a Senator to go fuck himself on the floor of the Senate! And we don't even need to mention GWB's poor grasp of the language and abhorrant social skills. But I think it's part of a larger trend where civility and attention to appropriate language for the situation has suffered in the country as a whole.
Just my take.
Posted by snark at April 15, 2008 07:22 PM
kacey:
you have said it as precisely and as eloquently as it is possible to be said:
"There is something SERIOUSLY wrong when you cannot tell the difference between real racism and fabricated racism."
thank god,
and thank martin luther king and lyndon johnson, even more,
that the vicious, state-sponsored system of mistreating one group of our citizens has been severely curtailed by law (at least until the bush admin) and is on the wane.
but it is has not ended yet.
to play with this racial fire, as obama does, without real understanding of,
and without the fire in his soul stoked by certain knowledge of,
the terrible injustice and the unforgivable diminution of talent and opportunity ordained by state-sponsored racism,
is politics at its most ignorant and exploitative in this nation.
a politician raised in multi-racial, tolerant hawaii,
who went to live in chicago to learn what "race" is about in america,
doesn't understand systemic, state-sponsored, racism any better
than does a frenchman marooned in bruton, alabama.
Posted by orionATL at April 15, 2008 07:56 PMThe real issue here is that an elected official believes there is some red button under the President's desk or something and it might be accidentally pushed if the boys in the Oval Office are horsing around. That the guy is a Mitch O'Connell supporter gives me pause before thinking that Obama probably should have a red button to at least trigger a sonic boom at any Kentucky Republican get together.
It's surreal that the Obama campaign needed to respond to it, but it's always a good thing to respond to uproarious stupidity regarding issues like nuclear warheads or the inability of someone or a group of people to defend this country based on their race. Have Alberto Gonzales and Condi Rice not already demonstrated that people of color can be Republican poison swilling and spewing aholes as much as any White person can be? Have not a huge number of Blacks and Latinos and Asians been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last five years. So, I agree that the guy was displaying his deep seated white supremacy by making it clear that a Black guy just can not be trusted to be responsible for being first in line to press that button. He probably considers it a given that everyone knows a woman wouldn't even be able to figure out how to press that button.
Yes, we certainly do need to object strenuously to media bullshit aimed at Democrats, like this incredible article by Bob Herbert in today's NYTimes:
"This toxic issue is at the core of the Clinton camp’s relentless effort to persuade superdelegates that Senator Obama “can’t win” the White House. It’s the only weapon left in the Clintons’ depleted armory. Senator Obama has spent his campaign trying to dodge the race issue, which in America is like trying to dodge the wind.
But there is something perverse in the effort to portray Senator Obama — who has tried hard to promote a message of unity and healing — as some kind of divisive figure. He has spoken with great insight and empathy, most notably in his race speech in Philadelphia, about the anxiety and frustration of middle- and working-class Americans.
In his San Francisco comments, Senator Obama fouled up when he linked frustration and bitterness over economic hard times with America’s romance with guns and embrace of religion. But, please, let’s get a grip. What we ought to be worked up about is the racism that still prevents some people from giving a candidate a fair chance because of his skin color."
Let's get a grip?
Posted by jeter at April 15, 2008 10:58 PMIt's surreal that the Obama campaign needed to respond to it, but it's always a good thing to respond to uproarious stupidity regarding issues like nuclear warheads or the inability of someone or a group of people to defend this country based on their race.
Where did Davis' say anything about Obama's race being a factor in what he perceived as Obama's inability to make decisions in a national security situation?
Have not a huge number of Blacks and Latinos and Asians been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last five years. So, I agree that the guy was displaying his deep seated white supremacy by making it clear that a Black guy just can not be trusted to be responsible for being first in line to press that button.
I'm not quite sure what the fact that we have an integrated mulitethnic military has to do with one man's perception of Obama as unprepared to assume the roll of CinC. Using your logic one could assume that because there are blacks and minorities in our armed forces that every black or minority person is by definition capable of functioning as a competent president. Well, there are lots of whites in the military too. Do you think that means George Bush is, by default, a competent president?
Posted by snark at April 16, 2008 05:53 AM