I was reading some of the comments from the previous thread on this blog, and I was amazed at what a difference just eight years make for black folks. The venom and the vitriol (well deserved I might add) being thrown at the Clintons was surprising in scope and its level of passion.
This is what us black folks do when we think someone in the majority is beating up on one of our own. Regardless of our politics we always seem to go into race protection mode. Because, hey, let's face it; it's really all about self protection if you live in A-merry-ca.
I have been reading quite a few African American blogs and the comments on them for the past few days, and I am pretty convinced that if a general election were held today and Lady Hillary was the dumbocratic nominee, she would lose. Why? Because she would need to have African American votes to win swing states like Michigan,Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and the way things have been going lately, that just ain't gonna happen. Black folks will be staying home (of course we can't vote for the party of David Duke and the fake ass cowboy from California either). And black folks staying home spells trouble for the dumbocrats in a general election.
After all the screaming black folks have been doing by way of blogs and word of mouth, the main stream media has finally caught on to this little story. (They are always a day late and a few dollars short when it comes to reporting on black issues) So Hillary and all the "blue blood" yuppies around her are on to it too. So you know what that means: time to trot out the house Negroes, poverty pimps, and lawn jockeys to tell black folks that everything is OK. Don't abandon the good ship Clinton just yet. There is plenty of mon.....whoops, I mean good will to go around. The couple from Wal Mart country really do love black people, and they didn't mean all the insensitive things that was said by them and their minions about black folks.
It's all a lie of course; they meant it, and I suspect that even their surrogates who have been summoned to the big house to go out and quiet those restless field slaves know they meant it. Honestly, I am finding myself despising the couple from Wal Mart country more and more my damn self. What happened to the "first black President"? Surely he can't be that out of touch with his own people?
Now don't get it twisted; if I saw blow job Bill and the frat boy in a sinking boat, and I had only one life vest to throw, I would sure as fuck hope that the frat boy knows how to swim. It's that deep with the frat boy and I. I think they call it "Bush Derangement Syndrome." Yep, I am one deranged mother fucker when it comes to the frat boy. But I digress.
Hey all I know is that Hillary is hoping that all will be forgiven after the primary season, and the dumbocrats and their black folks will be reunited again. (Where is Peaches and Herb when you need them?) I am not so sure we will be back this time though. I think it all depends on how much they beat up on the "O" man, and how he reacts to it.
Still, it should be interesting. The Clintons have a ton of money to throw around, and church building funds need stocking. The pastor has to get that new Chrysler 300 with the soft top to drive to church in style come Sunday morning. Make no mistake, the Clintons will use their money wisely.
"I think James Brown said it:I'd rather die standing than live on my knees. That is what this is about. It's about being insulted by supposed ' friends'. I said, in the beginning, if this was a Republican, it would be one thing. Because Republicans are SUPPOSED to do this sort of shit. But, to accept this from a Democrat?Unacceptable. Period. And, yeah, I know, 'innocent' comments that we ' imagine'. I know the drill, but unlike 40 years ago, we can speak up now. THAT is one thing our forefathers and mothers obtained for us. As my fellow blogger ABB says about the Clintons and their shills:The Shit Ain't Subtle, and You Ain't Slick. "
~~~rikyrah, commenting in the fields~~~
Yep, it's ugly already, and the repukelicans haven't even played their race card yet. Willie Horton or Harold Ford anyone?
**Insert picture of blond bimbo here** Cue in sound:
"Barack, call me!!"
61 comments:
Hillary is blaming the Obama campaign for the controversies. I guess the Obama campaign forced Andrew Cuomo's hand and made him say "shuck and jive". And they definitely forced Bob Kerrey to bring up the Madrassa/Manchurian candidate thing.
Hillary Clinton: "I regret the way that this matter has been used," Clinton told reporters. "The comments about it are baseless and divisive. I was personally offended at the approach taken that was not only misleading but unnecessarily hurtful."
She suggested reporters consider the sources of the criticism, much of which has come from the black community.
"I think it clearly came from Senator Obama's campaign and I don't think it's the kind of debate we should be having in our campaign," she said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22628538/
"Regardless of our politics we always seem to go into race protection mode." Oh yeah, like with Clarence Thomas. Oh my gosh, Osama is half white, Tiger is half philipino, and most everyone can't be sure what they are and it shouldn't matter so much. Obama is the man for the job and I hope he gets the nomination.
There is nothing the Clintons will ever be able to do to bring us back on board to support her campaign. Nothing, no amount of bribed, coddled lawn jockeys, no false tears, no tear-jerking bullshit from Bill Clinton and no tears from Hillary. She and Bill and her whole racist campaign staff should apologize for the purpose of human decency, but they are not getting our votes, ever. If Hillary Clinton gets nominated for the Democrats, it'll be a great day to stay home and wax the car.
The Clintons have burned far too many bridges to ever re-establish a connection with the African-American community, and if the Democrats do nominate Hillary, it's gonna be far more than bridges that burn. My auntie was in Connecticut when the riots broke out there in 1967, and she has a strong hunch that if Hillary Clinton is nominated at that convention for the Democrats, it's gonna be a redux and a whole lot uglier. And she's not someone who's intuition I'd trifle with, the fury right now is only beginning to bust out.
Watchful Eye said...
"There is nothing the Clintons will ever be able to do to bring us back on board to support her campaign."
I've said this elsewhere on this blog, but I think it's worth repeating again:
What would you do Watchful Eye, if Hillary (providing she wins the DEMO nomination) invites Obama to be her vice presidential running mate?
And what's all this comin' out about the Clintons rigging New Hampshire? It's all over the blogs and now it's apparently going mainstream, something about Clinton campaign workers blocking Obama people from getting set up the polls and monitoring the voting, blocking the get out the vote efforts, even obstructing Obama voters from going to the polls. WTF???!!
There are now loud warnings and Election Fraud Alerts about South Carolina too, something about how they don't even have paper ballots, just screens that you vote on that some college dropout could hack in under 3 minutes. What a bunch of bullshit. There are some people campaigning hard for countable paper ballots in the state, so there is some progress being made. The African-American turnout in SC is gonna have to be extremely high to overcome the fraud the Clintons are probably planning to perpetrate there, with the voting papers and the exit polls making it nakedly obvious to the world. Charleston and Columbia are gonna be in flames if the Clintons try to steal South Carolina the way they stole New Hampshire.
Now there's also news that the Clintons are working in overdrive to disenfranchise the voters in Nevada by refusing to allow them to caucus.
Again-- WTF??
The Clintons truly will stop at nothing, even destroy the country, if they think they could get another few minutes to stroke themselves in the halls of power. Blatant misrepresentations, fraud, outright racism-- nothing is too unethical or despicable for the Clintons.
It's true what they say, nothing is worse than a vile enemy who feigns friendship. And the Clintons bring this to an even more despicable level since they commit the cardinal sin: They consider us to be dumb Black apes, that's the reason they push all these bullshit innuendos and then think we won't figure out what they're doing. They would never try this with any White group, no, just African-Americans, since they figure we're their little Black servants who might get ourselves in a little huff here and there, but just like any reliable lawn jockey, would be right back docilely tending their lawn the next day.
F*** 'em. We're not dumb, we're not naive, and we're certainly not desperate the way the Clintons are to exhibit their next act of public masturbation, literal and the political kind. Again, make no mistake, the Clintons are enemies, no matter how much fragrance they may use to sweeten their white hoods.
NYT: Women's Rights vs. Blacks' Rights: An Improbable Collision Course in 2008
NYT Asks: "Will the White Male Monopoly End in 2008?"
Field, I, too, am really annoyed by the Clintons' suggestion that this row is caused by Obama. It's not. Clinton surrogates are using Obama's color and America's color-arousal against Obama, and that's very dirty pool, especially reprehensible coming from fellow Democrats rather than Republicans.
I realize that the Clintons have to say SOMETHING in this battle against Obama, but by kicking us in the groin as their first fight technique they make it harder for us to walk beside them later on.
The best solution is for Clinton and Obama to share the ticket, with whomever wins selecting the other as the running mate.
Some people are too rapped up in the battle of the moment to see the logic of this solution, but if Clinton wins the nomination she will HAVE to choose a running mate. As the last other candidate standing, Obama will have earned that position.
But if Obama wins the nomination, then certainly the same will be true of Clinton. As the last candidate standing besides the nominee, she will have earned a right to a place on the ticket - not a white male who has received less or no votes and who has done NOTHING to earn a place on the ticket.
There is strength in unity and we have to look right now to how we are going to unify the Party for Novemeber. The way to unify the Party is simply to have both Hillary and Obama on the ticket. Swallow that pill.
I would say, btm, that Obama should politely but firmly refuse. We would lose every last iota of respect for Obama if he were to be denied the nomination through the dissembling, fraud and racist tactics of the Clinton campaign, then stupidly turn out and play the Compliant Black Lawn Jockey slash House Negro role again.
I would not vote for that ticket. And neither would anybody else I know. Nothing could be more insulting than to defraud and insult Obama like this, then try to toss him a bone with a running mate's slot. It would be merely emblematic of the Clintons' behavior for quite a while now, arrogantly depriving Blacks of real progress but tossing us a bone here and there in the misguided belief that we'll be good doggies and just go away.
F*** it. No support for any ticket with Hillary Clinton at the top of it. None.
No Francis, we won't be swallowing that pill, for the reasons I laid out above. Like I said, the tactic the Clintons are using right now is vintage for them-- insult and belittle Blacks and keep us out of any real positions of power, but then toss us a little bone in a lame attempt to mollify us.
It's not going to work. We will not be voting for a ticket that has Hillary Clinton at the top of it, at all. And we would lose all support and respect for Obama if he were to foolishly accept such an offer, since he'd then be going and demonstrating that whatever fight and courage he once had, he would merely then go and capitulate to the subservient role that the racist Clintons have laid out for him, i.e. to be a nice obedient Black lawn jockey rather than the one running the shop. IOW it would show the Clintons once again dressed up like the plantation owners they've always dreamed of being, and Obama then betraying his own people and happily taking the House Negro role on the plantation.
If the Democrats put Hillary on the ticket, I sure won't vote Republican, but I won't vote Democrat either. I'll just stay home. I could stomach-- with disgust and repulsion, but could stomach nonetheless-- 4 years of John McCain.
Because, considering the Republicans' demonstrated talent at utterly and absolutely f***ing up everything they lay hands on, the country in 2012 would be so sick and tired of the Republicans, that it would be the moment for Obama or at least someone somewhat less racist to shine. Since Hillary would be just as much of a corporate ass-kisser as any Republican, it's not like she'd do much of anything better, and McCain, while still an idiot, would be slightly less of a wingnut than the Bushes while still royally f***ing things up enough to pave the way for a true representative of the people in 2012.
I'll add to that here:
The Clintons are relying on this pathetic mode of thinking, of relinquishing our basic rights and self-respect in return for the crumbs they toss on us. It's always wait 'til next time, wait 'til next time, well f*** that, it's THIS time, and we're not accepting the crumbs tossed to us by born-again bigots like the Clintons, especially when they use the most repulsive of tactics and even frank racism against our people.
The Clintons want to piss all over our heads and then tell us it's raining lemonade, well they can keep indulging in their deluded fantasies cuz it is not happening,
It's the Clintons' fever fantasy wet dream to have their nice, dumb, obedient little Negro monkeys that they could humiliate and attack to their hearts' content, then schmooze and bullshit us back to them. Well, we're not having any of that.
I'll add one more thing before I hang it up here, just to summarize:
The Clintons have provoked this shitstorm because they've committed the 3 Cardinal Sins among insults to African-American as well as Latino people:
#1 is that they pretend to be our friends while insulting, denigrating and damaging us in ways far too numerous to name. Few assaults on the African-American community are as worthy of frank condemnation and fury as this.
Give me an open, card-carrying Southern KKK member over racist false friends like the Clintons any day. Not only are the pretend friends like the Clintons incredibly infuriating and condescending, but they make their own racist insults and strategies even worse by virtue of trying to paper over them and use deceit.
I'd be happier for the Clintons to just drop the sham of friendship altogether and make their declarations obvious for the world to see:
"Ah, to heck with the charade Bill, why go through all this trouble havin' to keep up the Negro-lover pretense, them jungle bunnies are too damn stupid anyway to associate with upright plantation aristocracy like the two of us. Let's just grab us some nooses and let it all hang out, it'll be great foreplay, don'cha think, Bubba?"
Pretending friendship to us as African-Americans or Latinos, then sneaking up to stab us multiple times when we let down our guard, and then turning around and saying that we are the ones making a fuss about it?
Which leads to the second Cardinal Sin the Clintons have committed:
Kicking up a racial shitstorm themselves and then blaming Obama and African-Americans as being the ones kicking up the shit.
I tell you, few things will provoke the rage of our people, and of Latinos as well, than this trite tactic. Most of my friends, both Black and Latino, are folks with advanced degrees, starting their own businesses, from professionals working in hospitals or law offices to folks doing an honest day's work in a manufacturing facility that keeps this country going.
What we all have in common, is that we don't emphasize or draw close attention to our Black or Latino background, we just happen to be Black or Latino but it's not something we make an issue about, we take pride in our work and do our jobs well. Most whites around us are cool about that and don't make a big deal out of it either. But then there are those whites-- and we all have met them-- who for the most part pretend to be kind and open and friendly to us, just like the Clintons, but they just can't help bringing up our Black and Latino background, and then wind up bringing it up in some form that is ultimately used against us and then-- when we object-- they accuse us of "playing the race card" or "being hypersensitive" when they are the ones who have opened the topic in the first place!
This is precisely what the Clintons are trying to do with their racist smears of Obama. Barack Obama has conspicuously avoided making an issue of race or drawing much attention to his race at all, he's just a Harvard-educated, Law Review-editing attorney who happens to be African-American. Yet the Clintons start up the string of racist attacks on Obama, who is too smart and classy to take the bait and yet the Clintons, like those asinine white shitheads in our offices who bring up our race when it has nothing to do with our work, still try to paint the entire campaign in terms of race. They even go so far as to accuse Obama of playing the race card, totally misrepresenting things yet desperately hoping to muddle the picture enough that people wouldn't notice that detail.
It's the most condemnable, disgusting form of politics and by far the most damaging to any kind of democratic country-- it's the kind of politics that leads to riots, violence and wars, yet the Clintons still unhesitatingly make use of it.
Which leads to the Clintons' third Cardinal Sin: Utterly insulting the intelligence and basic good sense of Blacks and Latinos like this. Again, they are pushing this racist campaign against Obama, then when they're called on it they say "What, me, Hillary Clinton a racist, I'm shocked, shocked you would think that" and then-- despite the fact that Obama himself has been rising above all the shit coming straight out of the Clintons' asses-- they still make the false accusations that Obama is playing the race card.
And then, they think that in the midst of all that obfuscation and misrepresentation, that we African-Americans and Latinos are just too stupid, too deficient in critical thinking and perception skills, to see and understand exactly what the Clintons are doing.
I look forward to the Clintons burning in Hell for this, but until then, we're stuck with these self-indulgent, recklessly damaging assholes using whatever sleazy, idiotic and outright dangerous tool they can to gain power. And they've made it clear that they intend to do it at our expense.
It's these 3 Cardinal Sins that the Clintons have committed that, as far as I can tell, are most directly responsible for the horribly corrosive atmosphere we currently have.
My family is spread out throughout the country, but we all agree that the lethal brew of anger, mistrust, and barely-corked rage in the African-American community right now (and even much of the Latino community-- they realize an attack on Blacks is an attack on Browns as well) is by far the worst we've ever seen, much worse than 1992, worse even than the cataclysms of the darkest periods of the urban riots in 1967-1969.
If Hillary Clinton is nominated, the country is gonna light up like a forest fire. There's going to be a sickeningly painful reckoning, and this time, it's gonna be the whole country that feels it.
Field,
I'm preparing a piece for my blog that I'm calling "Hillary is a Lying Bitch."
It will detail all the distortions and untruths she's thrown at Barack Obama and I will detail the Rovian dirty tricks her campaign is employing.
Hill and Bill, it turns out, are the very people the radical, rightwingers always said they were. They're addicted to power and will stop at nothing to remain at the center of Washington politics.
Christopher...
Got it in one! I honestly don't think the Clintons are racist. Just power hungry and of such low character that they will pull out any slimy trick in the book to win. I'm sure that they've actually rationalized it away..."blah, blah...make up for the sexism against her", yadda yadda.
Which actually makes them worse than an overt racist. At least that you can see as ignorance, willful or otherwise. This is knowingly using racist code knowing full well the harm it causes, and setting back the achievements of one of the best politicians on this generation.
Pure slime.
Please read and spread this around...a list of racial rhetoric that the Clinton's have been using against Obama.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/12/
read-obama-campaign-memo-_n_81220.html
You have to be real careful the Republican have a 11th commandment , thou should not say anything bad about any repubican.What the Repub are doing is something called a cirular firing squad. Getting Dems to attack each other, until they have enouth soundbites to attack. On Obermann's show the Clinton comment was shown as taken out of context. Think about it. If " Kowboy Klannity Kostello" goes after the Clinton's so hard , they must be doiing something good. Expecially considering how Juan "Uncle Ben"Williams kissed Klannity's buttock and agreed with massa.. I mean Klannity.
kid, I understand the 11th commandment of politics, but when you read comments like thoser from "watchful eye" amd christopher,I think you see how angry and pissed traditional democrats are with Hillary and her crew.
"I've said this elsewhere on this blog, but I think it's worth repeating again:
What would you do Watchful Eye, if Hillary (providing she wins the DEMO nomination) invites Obama to be her vice presidential running mate?"
btm, I have to be honest with you; even if she doesn't choose Obama, what amd I going to do, vote for the rethuglican candidate? I might do like "watchful eye" and stay home. But then I think about the two liberal Judges on the court who are like 200 years old combined, and the fact that the next Prez. will get to replace them, and it all gives me reason to rethink my position no matter how pissed off I am at blow job Bill and his wife.
“The Clintons have burned far too many bridges to ever re-establish a connection with the African-American community…”
Unfortunately, we know too many blacks are easily bambozzled by whites folks and their own. Show Bill and Hillary sitting down to a plate of collards, chitterlings, fried chicken, hot-water cornbread, and sliced watermelon for dessert would be vindication for far too many African Americans. Oh, and for the islanders: callaloo and saltfish, fried jerk chicken and breadfruit Field, you know I’m right! :-)
“The Clintons have burned far too many bridges to ever re-establish a connection with the African-American community…”
Unfortunately, too many blacks are easily bambozzled by whites folks and their own. Show Bill and Hillary sitting down to a plate of collards, chitterlings, fried chicken, hot-water cornbread, and sliced watermelon for dessert would be vindication for far too many African Americans. Oh, can’t forget islanders: callaloo and saltfish, fried jerk chicken and breadfruit. Wish I were wrong! ObamaO8
~
I have been reading quite a few African American blogs and the comments on them for the past few days, and I am pretty convinced that if a general election were held today and Lady Hillary was the dumbocratic nominee, she would lose. ... black folks staying home spells trouble for the dumbocrats in a general election.
field negro at 11:39 PM
Here, I believe you grossly underestimate the intellect of the dark skinned individuals known as the North American Negroe.
`
I'll hold my nose and go cast my vote for Hillary in November despite the disgusting turn her campaign has taken. IMO its not personal these attacks, its just part of the game with Bill/Hillary. This is how they believe you get elected in America, and who am I to argue with them. You say you opponent has a black illegitimate child in South Carolina, you go home in the middle of a presidential campaign to put a retarded guy in the electric chair. You try to denigrate a liberal icon from half way around the world while the who world is watching who's going to replace you to give your party a boost. American politics is dirty pool, and it's our fault because we really don't punish it, why I should I start punishing it now, when we're on verge of having a supreme court run by fascists.
Everything about Hillary has been carefully crafted since 2000. She moved to Chappaqua, suburban enough to appeal to the downstater her in NY, rural enough to appeal to upstaters. She's a hawk one minute a dove the other. She's perfected the American Political coalition politics. This is just another part of the game.
FN, this whole situation's gotten me so tight, i think i'll write a blog about it.
(and if you've been keeping up with the massive e-mails in the afrospear, then you've seen my response to this.)
Good posts nonetheless. I am keeping up.
01 13 08
FN: You also underestimate the Blacks who are so disgruntled with the Dems that they may vote for the GOP. And no they are not all Uncle Toms as you would insinuate.
For me, it all comes down to the issues. I recommend a site called ontheissues.org because it shows what each candidate has SAID and how they have voted. Given my views, I cannot in good conscience support Obama nor Clinton. I really was thinking about not voting but I compared my views against a few candidates on both sides and believe I may have found my match.
I am saddened that so many Blacks are jumping on the Obama bandwagon simply because we have been starving for a viable Black candidate for so long. But as I recall, you are against the war and military incursions into the Middle East. Mr. Obama has even discussed incursions into Pakistan. Do you agree with this?
Granted, the tricks the Clinton campaign are pulling are foul and I have no respect for Billary as I have said in previous threads. But that doesn't automatically make me OR my other California Blacks liable to vote for Obama simply for that reason.
This is a tough situation.
Hello again, Field. It's been a while, but I'm the average white, non-guilty liberal from the West SFV in LA. I concur totally. If Billary gets the nod, she ensures that a brokered convention repug wins in Nov. Too much polarization, too much hate by rights & apathy by lefts who will not get out to vote, thus ensuring a win by McCain or (Ru)Adolph. She never let Obama on the ticket, instead she'll get a "tough" acceptable white guy like Wes Clark to run with her. Contrary to Chris, she is a racist, no matter how "benighly" it is packaged...
Manhdisa is right on that.
If Obama is not the nominee I will vote GOP as a protest.
White liberals have to learn that black people are not to be taken for granted and they will never win a national election without our overwhelming support.
They won't get that by "going along to get along". Power recognizes power, power does not need to recognize kneegrows on their knees grinning getting ready to buck dance for another kickback and handout from some liberal whites folks who are using them.
If I can't sit at the table I don't want your scraps.
"If I can't sit at the table I don't want your scraps".
-----------------------------------
HELLO!
You know, Field's issue about the age of the Supreme Court Justices and John Paul Stevens in particular, is a valid one and it's actually one of the things I raised when talking to people about this yesterday, but my cousin did as good a job as any in convincing me not to give the KKKlintons any leeway because of this, for strategic as much as ethical reasons-- i.e., the KKKlintons if elected, would actually endanger our Supreme Court and federal court prospects long-term much more than if not elected:
If the Democrats nominate Hillary Clinton, there is a very strong chance that Democrats will lose Congress just like we did in 1994, likely in the 2010 midterms which almost always go against the party in the White House. The KKKlintons are so radioactive that they inspire passionate opposition turnout like nobody else, creating those "inverse coattails" which are distilled snake toxin for the electoral chances of Democrats in vulnerable districts and states. Not to mention losing statehouses as well.
The two corollaries for the SCOTUS question:
#1 Since Supreme Court justices must be approved by the Senate, this means that the KKKlintons would effectively be long-term sabotaging any Democratic efforts to nominate sensible SCOTUS justices, since Republican Senators would be empowered with the intensity of the opposition and block any appointee with a tinge of common sense on civil rights or any other issue. Only wingnut-stamped and approved justices would get through a Senate like that, and frankly since Hillary herself is such a proto-Republican ass-kisser, I wouldn't be half-surprised if she too gravitated toward choosing conservative, corporate-whoring justices in the first place. The KKKlintons and the Bushes feed off each other like this, and it may be that getting rid of both them may have to be the first priority.
#2 Congress, once lost by a party, is extremely difficult to regain. After Bill Clinton helped to bring about the first GOP-led Congress in something like 5 decades in 1994, hatred of Clinton was so intense that, even in the midst of a catastrophic war and blunders so frequent and serious that a 2nd-grader could have run the institution better, the Republicans continued to hold Congress for another 12 years. And as ferocious as the opposition against Bill was in 1994, it would be infinitely worse against Hillary in 2010 if elected before that-- we could lose the Senate for a generation then.
In losing Congress like this, we not only lose our capacity to craft legislation that addresses our concerns (especially on appropriations), we would also lose the capacity to choose federal judges as well as SCOTUS justices who will be favorable for our issues. And since this would likely be a long-term issue, we'd get the worst of both worlds-- a hostile Congress on Black and Latino issues for decades, and stuck with conservative federal judges and justices who, in a future GOP administration, would just keep getting even more wingnut. Since Stevens and other justices have no immediate intention to retire, with someone like Hillary in office-- whom I could easily see not only losing Congress but getting ousted in 2012-- there's a good chance we'd wind up getting Republican appointees anyway and, with a fired-up GOP Senate, even more conservative ones than we'd otherwise have.
Now, I know that JPS is toughin' it out into his 80's these days, but the guy is a Republican appointee who knows how repulsive the party has become, and he's in decent enough shape and with enough determination that he could last another 4 or even more years if need be-- people like him routinely push their jobs well into their 90's with today's medical resources. Even if JPS did have to step down before that, the tradeoff would be that the Democrats would get to retain the Senate and even build strength there in the intervening years. A President John McCain would be less wingnut than the vast majority of other Rethugs, now I don't doubt he'd still come under pressure from the retreads in the base to pick somebody to the right of Roger Taney, but with the Democrats in firm control of the Senate (and gaining further as the opposition party in 2010), they provide a check against anybody too messed-up getting in, and they'd police federal judges (who are the pool for future SCOTUS appointees) just as well. And since the Democrats would be firming their hold over Congress as an opposition party in 2010, and then pushing the GOP to the margins after 2012 following 12 years of disastrous Republican misrule, that means the added bonus of long-term selection of the SCOTUS and federal judge appointees-- probably including Stevens himself, since he's still toughing it out so well with no intention to immediately retire-- and effective control of the federal judiciary, which we haven't had in close to half-a-century.
I know there's a lot of detail there, but just to distill it down, my cousin's reasoning goes like this:
If Hillary were nominated, we'd have a choice. We could
(a) hold our noses and vote for the hateful, arrogant, slandering racist KKKlintons, have 4 years of a corporate ass-kissing, civil rights belittling, Newt Gingrich fan club pseudo-Democrat like Hillary-- and in return, lose Congress for possibly a generation, thereby losing our ability long-term to appoint federal judges and justices sensitive to our issues (and probably not even getting to replace JPS until a future GOP administration anyway), and lose progressives at the state and local levels.
Or, we could
(b) do what we're all inclined to do and just find some excuse to stay home in November 2008 (or vote for our Congressional representatives but leave the President field blank), accept 4 years of a McCain presidency with the attendant disgust against the GOP building up even more than it already as, retain and gain in Congress for the long term, thereby effectively controlling the judiciary, and solidify the Democrats' hold on statewide and local offices. In fact, while a putative Hillary Clinton presidency would breathe new life into the Republicans and make them much stronger, a McCain presidency for 4 years and a defeat in the midst of a failing war and a humiliating defeat in the Middle East, a crumbling economy, Republican infighting and a stronger Democratic party at all levels may well inflict permanent wounds on the Republicans and make them barely viable over the long-term.
It's as good an argument I've heard for why refusing to vote for the KKKlintons is not only the right ethical choice to make, but also the right strategic choice to make for us long-term. I'm with Choice b, and I can sleep a whole lot easier now knowing that making the KKKlintons feel our wrath in 2008 is not only something we want to do, but something that is tactically in our interest as far as the government that we get.
I agree with some of the other posters that the Clintons probably are not racist, but I do think they are cynically using race to diminish support for Obama.
I couldn’t understand why the Clintons and some of their supporters made statements that would obviously upset and anger many African-Americans. I don’t think these statements were miscalculations or missteps. I think the statements were calculated to be obvious enough for the black community to take offense, but subtle enough that the community at large (read: white) would not notice or would allow the statements to be dismissed because the black community is “too sensitive”.
Hillary needs this campaign to be about race. The black community has done its part (unintentionally) by bringing it into the public forum. There has been so much talk about Barack Obama’s campaign embracing “post-race politics” and the results in Iowa showed that many Americans were ready to choose a candidate based on factors other than race.
However, in order to support a black candidate, there are many white Americans that need to believe that race doesn’t matter and that we now live in a “post-race” society. To accuse the black community and the Obama campaign of playing the race card is to remind some Obama supporters that race does matter.
Hillary needs to make people who may be inclined to vote for Obama uncomfortable enough to change their minds. I don’t think white America has the stomach for what could potentially be months of racial politics—especially when many whites balk at the mere mention of race. I think voters will take the path of least resistance and settle on a white candidate.
Hillary will do whatever it takes to win the nomination and right now, that is offending the black community. When the time comes to choose between another four years with a Republican in the White house or a Democrat, Hillary Clinton in counting on the reluctant support of African -Americans. After all, what other choice do we have?
I am tired of this s***. If she wins the nomination, I cannot cast my vote for her.
I keep putting out feelers among my sources in Washington, trying to determine if Hillary has any African Americans in leadership positions on her campaign staff.
The answer keeps coming back, "No."
Apparently, Hillary is uncomfortable around black people and has surrounded herself with uppity, upper-middle class, liberal arts college-educated white women.
Hillary's campaign staff is the opposite of Barack Obama. He has built a team of men, women, black, white, straight and gay, to help him get elected.
Maybe this is a cliche to some people but, for me, this is a HUGE comment on the character of each candidate.
Go, Barack, Go!
Watchful Eye said...
I would say, btm, that Obama should politely but firmly refuse. We would lose every last iota of respect for Obama if he were to be denied the nomination through the dissembling, fraud and racist tactics of the Clinton campaign, then stupidly turn out and play the Compliant Black Lawn Jockey slash House Negro role again.
I would not vote for that ticket. And neither would anybody else I know. Nothing could be more insulting than to defraud and insult Obama like this, then try to toss him a bone with a running mate's slot. It would be merely emblematic of the Clintons' behavior for quite a while now, arrogantly depriving Blacks of real progress but tossing us a bone here and there in the misguided belief that we'll be good doggies and just go away.
F*** it. No support for any ticket with Hillary Clinton at the top of it. None.
1000% percent co-sign on that Watchful Eye. I would lose all respect for Obama if he accepted a VP nod from Clinton at this point.
If (God forbid) Hillary is the nominee, I will vote for McCain or stay at home if McCain is not the republican nominee.
I am Anonymous #1 (first post)
From jp: "IMO its not personal these attacks, its just part of the game with Bill/Hillary."
But that's just the problem jp, it is part of the shit that they sling (and yes, a lot of it is personal) and like one of my friends said, we get the political bullshit that we tolerate. Even for the heaping mountains of bullshit that characterize politics in this country, the KKKlintons are in a class by themselves, not only with the racist baiting but with attempted vote suppression in Nevada for example.
If there are no consequences and severe prices to pay for despicable political behavior, then there are no changes to said behavior and even worse-- there is even reinforcement of said behavior and its widespread adoption by others. Politicians are discouraged from such repulsive tactics only where there is a severe price to pay for them, it is the only true power that we as an electorate have to set ground rules for the political process. And the current outpouring of rage against the KKKlintons is grossly insufficient to have any effect unless it comes with cold, hard consequences at the ballot box in a general election-- politicians have a short memory, and a heavy electoral price for such behavior is the only thing that sticks in their minds enough to discourage it.
If we relinquish this power, then we truly are nothing more than easily-pacified lawn jockeys who will absorb unspeakable damage and humiliation without standing up for ourselves.
The KKKlintons want us to do just like you're saying, get all riled up and enraged by the tremendous damage and permanent wounds they're inflicting on us, but then be like Good Little House Negroes back on the plantation and come back begging to massa later to subsist on whatever shit-smeared crumbs they throw back at us while they tell us to stay on our hands and knees and keep our mouths shut.
In fact, voting for the KKKlintons and capitulating in such an abject way would do African-Americans and Latinos as a people, far more long-term damage than any other action we could take.
The reason is that if we give the KKKlintons a pass on this and still vote for them, we'd be sending the message that
#1 not only do we fully tolerate and countenance such reprehensible behavior at the highest levels by office-seekers but that
#2 because of the pernicious subtlety of the KKKlintons' race-baiting, we're also too damn stupid as a people to realize exactly what they are doing. Notice that the KKKlintons are not only race-baiting Obama with the most repulsive kinds of doggy-whistle insinuations-- Obama has always played down his race in favor of a message of unifying and competence, and he continues to rise above the fray here, yet despite that, the KKKlintons are still obfuscating and muddling the situation enough to accuse Obama of being a race-card using whiner!
IOW, the KKKlintons' perceived ally in this most vicious type of campaigning is the perceived short attention span of the American electorate-- they are counting on stupidity, bigotry and lack of due consideration as factors in enabling their vile campaign to work, in contrast to Obama who bases his campaign not only on hope and unity, but on intelligence and critical thought. This is about the dirtiest, most underhanded, most insulting kind of political tactic ever practiced in the last 5 decades, and not even the Dixiecrats at their worst could have pulled it off and had the kind of pernicious effect that the KKKlintons are having with it.
I think you can see where this is going, because for the first time ever in this country's tormented history, Blacks and Latinos are both seeking out elected and appointed offices in significant numbers with some success. However, if we just give the KKKlintons a pass on these most disgusting of tactics and vote for them anyway, then essentially we'd be shouting from the rooftops that white Democratic politicians can easily thwart us at any level, they need only to race-bait us in the most vile manner, and even if Black and Latino politicians, like Obama, stay above the fray and don't take the bait, our candidates will still be irreparably damaged-- and we as an electorate would be too stupid and docile to see what people like the KKKlintons are doing, let alone make them suffer long-term consequences for it.
In fact, since the very nature of the KKKlintons race-baiting makes it so incredibly damaging to a Black or Latino candidate, so difficult to respond to at all and yet-- with the help of obfuscation and the public's perceived lack of critical thinking ability and short attention span-- so rewarding to whomever uses it, then the consequence would be an irresistible draw for other white Democratic politicians to wield the same kind of weapon, in the same reprehensible manner, against Blacks and Latinos at all levels of elected and appointed office.
Thus, the KKKlintons' race-baiting tactics are dog-whistles not just to white voters, but to Blacks and Latinos who are considering higher office at any level of government: "You colored people better know your place and stay the compliant Coons and Wetbacks you'll always be, you're never gonna run the plantation but if you stay down and keep your mouths shut, we'll pretend to be your friends and give you a nice low stool as honored House Negroes and Wetbacks at the table and toss you some juicy crumbs here and there." The effect of this would do more than anything else to intimidate Blacks and Latinos from even trying to seek elected or appointed office in the first place!
Nothing could be more damaging long-term for the prospects of people of color, to gain representation in the halls of power and finally be able to control our destinies here, than to give a free pass to the KKKlintons here.
OTOH, think about the loud-and-clear message that we would send by making the KKKlintons pay a price in November if Hillary were nominated. What if Hillary not only loses, but loses by a landslide-- and as the pundits go crunching the numbers, they realize that
(a) African-American (and hopefully also Latino) turnout is the lowest it's been for any Presidential election in decades and
(b) if some Republican like McCain/Huckabee even got a somewhat decent percentage of the Black vote?
It would mean that the main headline throughout the media for weeks later, would be that the KKKlintons have paid an extremely steep price for having disparaged, insulted the intelligence of and thoroughly damaged African-Americans and people of color in general like this, and that their vile political tactics, subtle as they were, nonetheless were picked up on and have backfired, having terrible consequences for them.
This would be the single strongest weapon in our arsenal to protect Black and Latino politicians seeking elected office and appointments, since a thundering defeat in broad daylight for the KKKlintons would make it indubitably evident that such subtle, insulting race-baiting tactics have extremely severe consequences to their detriment, no matter how subtle and pernicious the insinuations may be.
For this reason and for other reasons I outlined in my previous post, opposing the KKKlintons in 2008 even if Hillary Clinton were to be nominated, is the best thing that we can do for Black and Latino people long-term.
Again, while some Latinos haven't yet realized the danger that the KKKlintons race-baiting poses to them, I'm coming to find that most Latinos understand the extreme peril this also holds for them, that this kind of attack on Blacks is an attack on Browns as well, and the same sort of tactic could and would be used against Latino office-seekers if it were to be excused here.
I have to say that I would be in the "a" group above, but many other Blacks and even some Latinos with whom I have communicated, are in the "b" group, i.e. they would be voting "split-ticket" if Hillary were nominated-- still going out to vote for Democrats in Congressional races and state and local offices, but either writing in a candidate in the Presidential field or voting for a slightly-less-repugnant-and-idiotic Republican tool like McCain/Huckabee. There are times when protest votes actually do have a significant and crucial value in setting strict ground rules for political behavior, and this is one such circumstance.
As far as I'm concerned, it's only a matter of style because the only disastrous decision for 2008 would be to support the KKKlintons in any way. Whether one opts for choice "a" as I would or choice "b" the message is shouted loud and unmistakably from the rooftops for the media to pick up on and amplify, as a warning to anybody else who considers race-baiting like the KKKlintons have:
With the lowest African-American voter turnout ever on record, and also with the highest percentage of Blacks voting for a Republican Presidential candidate since the 1920's, resulting in a humiliating landslide defeat for Hillary Clinton and a sound repudation of the KKKlintons vile rhetoric, the message would be that politicians who pull the vile race-baiting tactics as the KKKlintons have, will pay a horrific and unsustainable price at the ballot box as a punishment for them. It is the only weapon we have to protect our own people and Black and Latino office-seekers, and in 2008, we have to wield it as it has never been wielded before.
Watchful eye,
In many ways your right. I think this would have a fine attitude to take in 2000 for example where the costs wouldn't be too high. To take it this year after 8 years of the shit for brains as president, a country that is going backwards as far as gains for blacks and latino, the prospect of Ginsburg and or Stevens dying/retiring and leave a court where Antonin Scalia and Uncle Clarence can take us back to circa 1950. And being a New Yorker, black people from sea to shingling sea should be petrified of President Guiliani, which could still happen. The stakes are too high this year. Slick Willie and Ice Queen day of reckoning will come, but to blow up the Democratic Party in 2008 is luxury we really can't afford right now, esp. if the Republican nominee isn't McCain or Huckabee, the only two decent human beings running for the GOP this year, and the 2 that power brokers in their party can't stand.
Re: Speculation about a possible Clinton/Obama ticket - dream on!
Number one - They hate each other.
Number two - No way is any self-respecting black man going to play second banana to a white woman, especially one as despicable as Hill - it's like "Driving Miss Daisy."
"So you know what that means: time to trot out the house Negroes, poverty pimps, and lawn jockeys to tell black folks that everything is OK. Don't abandon the good ship Clinton just yet. "
But why is that SOOO on point. Just found out I am going to get to be in the audience of the Tyra show tomorrow and guess who is the supposed guest? None other than Hillary Clinton.
Damage control anyone? I am bringing some tissues in my purse...
"And no they are not all Uncle Toms as you would insinuate...."
mahndisa I don't think all black repubs are HN's. Just as not all so called progressive black folks are FN's. And have not openly declared my support for any candidate. I am just pissed at Billary for their race baiting politricks right now.
damn "watchful eye", you are all over the Clintons and I love it:)
lynn actually made some good points about the Clinton team putting race out there front and center, and keeping the racial talk going. This is great because it reminds white people that Obama is not some race neutral candidate.
cluizel, say hi to Tyra for me :)
And if you happen to see Lark, please give me a call ;)
Neither Hillary nor Barack is pissed off enough at the current idiot president & the Repugs. The Clintons are tight with the Bush family, & both families are worried they won't have a pal in the Oval Office.
Girlfriend is such a liar. I'd like to smack her one.
She spent an hour today on Pumpkinhead's program and she lied about her vote to go to war in Iraq.
Russert asked Clinton repeatedly whether Barack Obama made a better decision six years ago to oppose the Iraq war. Clinton asserted throughout the interview that it was "unfair" to say her vote was a vote for war.
What the fuck?
"Judgement is not a single snapshot," she said. "We can have this Jesuitical argument about what exactly was meant. But when Chuck Hagel, who helped to draft the resolution said, 'It was not a vote for war,' what I was told directly by the White House in response to my question, 'If you are given this authority, will you put the inspectors in and permit them to finish their job,' I was told that's exactly what we intended to do."
So then, why won't Hillary apologize? Edwards apologized. Biden apologized. Dodd apologized. Only Hillary Clinton refuses to apologize for her vote.
I loathe this war hag.
Uh oh. She needs a defender of a darker persuasion! Bob Johnson come on down!
jp, I see what you're saying here but like I outlined above, from multiple strategic perspectives as much as ethical ones, the only result in 2008 that would allow us to stand up for ourselves and preserve an iota of dignity, is for the KKKlintons to not just lose, but lose big, and lose especially because the African-American community (hopefully with some help from Latinos-- Hillary Clinton was a big supporter of that apartheid border barrier among other things) makes them lose big.
I'm not worried about Giuliani, the guy's basically so close to bankrupt right now he's having to go peddle for quarters on sidewalks in the Bronx. He's finished. Romney might get a mild reprieve in Michigan (apparently with the help of some Democrat fools going in there to vote for him), but he lost in NH which is basically his home state, and he totally lacks broad national support. He's toast.
My take on McCain/Huckabee is that individually they're probably decent people, it's the Republican base that I utterly cannot stand, but the presence of a Democratically-held Congress gives me some comfort since it will check any kinds of excesses that the idiots in the GOP base would be pushing and at least give those two an excuse for more moderate policies. Of course, McCain is as rabid as any of the others in favor of the Iraq War (come to think of it, so is Hillary for that matter), and I have no doubt he'd still manage to foul things up so utterly-- esp with the economic shit about to hit the fan in 2009 and the Republicans' general incompetence when it actually comes to doing the work of an executive-- that it's gonna be Democrat country by 2012. And probably Obama country.
Again, as far as I'm concerned if Hillary is on the ballot in November, I'm staying home. Many African-American and Latino voters like I said, would split the ticket and vote Democrats in Congress and the states but either write in a name on the Presidential ballot or vote for McCain/Huckabee.
Either of these would produce the desired effect-- hitting the KKKlintons brutally hard for their tactics and ensuring that a vital lesson is learned: That in any future contest, anybody who takes part in the transparent race-baiting like the KKKlintons and then tries to accuse Obama of playing the race card, will suffer lethal consequences when it comes time to vote, to the point of not only losing in a landslide but destroying their political careers.
Again, this is essential for our very survival, if we do any less, then the KKKlintons' actions would open the floodgates for white candidates in any future campaign to do exactly as the KKKlintons did-- offering up these racial innuendos against Black and Latino candidates, then protesting their innocence when they're called on it as they pretend that we're idiots, and then go and still slam Black and Latino candidates for being "too sensitive" or "playing the race card," in the comfortable belief that their actions would be forgiven and forgotten on Election Day.
This is what we absolutely cannot allow. This is the line in the sand, our battle line if we are going to survive as a people here, and it has to happen for this election, in 2008-- we must make it absolutely clear to the KKKlintons that we will never forgive this and we will never forget this, and that it will cost them dearly in November if Hillary is nominated, to the point of the KKKlintons losing in a humiliating landslide.
It is the only means we have to police these elections and penalize conduct that is not only unacceptable, but in the especially pernicious form used by the KKKlintons, is already doing permanent damage to people of color here. It discourages us from even considering a move to seek power since we know that we'll always encounter this dangerous race-baiting shit from whites like the KKKlintons, who pretend to be our friends while blowing the doggy-whistle to remind us that we're supposed to sit on our hind legs and beg like the complacent little Coons and Wetbacks that they see us as.
BOB JOHNSON carrying water for HRC??? As in BET Bob Johnson? Well, whip me up a plate of Hoppin' John and call out to the Massa, Mr. Black Entertainment Television network himself has just accepted the role of official ass-wiper for the KKKlintons down on the Clinton plantation. Guess it wasn't enough to have Harold Ford volunteer for official KKKlinton boot-licking duty to get his nice little cage with diapers on the plantation. Nah, gotta get another publicity-starved sell-out to carry the toilet paper as the KKKlintons shit all over the trail.
I guess this calls for a nice nationwide BOYCOTT of BET until Bob gets some sense and disavows his affiliation with the KKKlinton plantation.
Field, I'm telling you, sometimes you gotta dig to find candidates for the Lawn Jockey alert, and sometimes they just come right up to you begging for it.
To the lawn you go, Bob!
"What would you do Watchful Eye, if Hillary (providing she wins the DEMO nomination) invites Obama to be her vice presidential running mate?"
-It's not going to happen.
Boycott of BET until Bob...
Are you kidding? I've been boycotting BET since the 90's. Fuck that minstrel network.
By the way, BET is owned by VIACOM. The sale of BET is what made Bob a billionaire until his ex took a nice chunk of it in their divorce settlement.
Where you been, Field; it's already started.
Anyone remember "Obama Girl" video? At the time, I thought that was saying girlfriend could take Obama from Michelle - just plain disrespect.
But now with the Clintons, I expect that video to make a comeback, and in a worse way than when homegirl first made it.
If the Borg Queen wins, I'm not going to be that forgiving - hell, I worked in the government during Clinton's administration, when he sent Affirmative Action and Civil Rights straight to hell in a handbasket with a note saying "DO NOT RETURN."
As for the House Negroes that will be toting the Clinton's water, let's just create a reality show for them and call it "Desperate House Niggers" cause that's what they'll be when the shyt hits the fan under a Hillary Clinton administration, and she reminds those Negroes of their place.
Well, I gotta be taking off but it looks like these sentiments are spreading far and wide outside the Blogosphere. Some of the radio stations are starting to advocate what I was talking about above: The KKKlintons are our blood enemies, and to lay down the law to protect Black and Latino office-seekers in the future, the KKKlintons have to lose and lose badly. If Hillary's nominated, she has to go down to a humiliating and landslide defeat in November, and it has to be absolutely clear from the voting data on Election Day that African-American voters abandoned the KKKlintons in droves. There's also gotta be stringent action to thwart any KKKlinton attempts at voting and electoral fraud, just like the KKKlintons perpetrated in New Hampshire, just like there is now vigorous action to prevent in South Carolina and which the KKKlintons are desperately and pathetically trying to perpetrate in Nevada.
It's the only feasible way to shout the message loud enough that it will stick in the minds of future politicians: If you try any of the kind of voter suppression acts and particularly the subtle dog-whistle race-baiting that the KKKlintons are using against Obama, while then accusing your opponent of playing the race card and insulting the intelligence of Black and Latino voters in the process, you will pay a heavy price, and you will go down to disastrous defeat because of it.
Any of you with some background in psychology know almost exactly how the KKKlintons are gonna desperately try and play this out-- they're gonna make all kinds of maudlin pleas to us while still trying to claim that it's Obama whipping up the shitstorm (when he's been rising above it from the start). They'll bring plenty of token Lawn Jockeys onto the staff in their photo-ops just like Field knows so well, make all kinds of promises, feign all kinds of empathy, and they'll probably even toss out plenty of crumbs, including cash payments here and there to show "we didn't really mean anything, it's all from that nasty Obama race-hustler, not us."
It's the classic Plausible Deniability innuendo bullshit, especially the drug-dealer insinuations against Obama (which came from two of Hillary's campaign staffers, including her own campaign manager no less), Bill Clinton's own "kid" reference right in the wake of Hillary's code attacks on MLK, and especially Bob Kerrey's abhorrent "Muslim madrassah-attending middle-name Hussein-bearing Manchurian candidate" attack. These shit-eaters feel like all they have to do is preface these insinuations with, "some people might say that," then turn around and pretend like they're defending Obama and this insulates them from rightfully being called out as the masturbatory race-baiters they actually are.
It's old-fashioned psychological manipulation techniques, putting the substance of the terms out there knowing that the context will fuzzify, that people will remember just "Drug. Dealer. Muslim. TERRORIST. Manchurian. Candidate. Kid. Madrassah. Indonesia." that these words will stir that vague, tough-to-identify feeling in the gut that gives people second thoughts despite their better instincts. Then when they're angrily attacked for race-baiting, they'll try to pull the Deniability Bullshit Excuse: "No, no, you've got it wrong, WE weren't the ones saying that, we were just saying that some people might think those things, you know, and we were trying to defend Obama against them." And then, when it turns out that the Obama campaign itself has stayed out of the shitpile the KKKlintons have crapped up, they'll still accuse him of race-baiting, again using a psychological obfuscation technique and hoping that people's attention spans are short enough that they get bamboozled and think only, "Oh, Obama, just another ticked-off Black man, he just isn't fit for office."
I'm telling you, even more than the race-baiting itself, I absolutely HAAAAATE the KKKlintons for the psychological manipulation that they know they're doing and the associated assumption that we're too stupid to know it ourselves and punish them for it. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE them for it. You just do not do that, in any kind of decent society, and certainly not in full public view and against someone as admirable and accomplished. Not even Richard Nixon would have resorted to that.
I'd be a lot more comfortable if the KKKlintons just cut out the psychological manipulation and obfuscation bullshit and came straight out in a press conference and said, "Yeah, that Barack Hussein Obama, we despise that uppity towelhead madrassah-attending, walking-stick jungle bunny for standing in the way of our Constitutionally-declared right to have another narcissistic 4-year public masturbation and exhibitionist session at taxpayer expense. And any of you other coons and wetbacks thinkin' about steppin' off the KKKlinton plantation, well say hello to your Massas Bill and Hillary KKKlinton, cuz we are the Massas of Massas, and if you step outta line like this again, we'd be happy to give you some obedience lessons just like good little doggies, and we got a whippin' post with your name on it."
And I'm telling you, we cannot fall for it. Again, the psychological impact of anything that hints of forgiving them would be deadly to us long-term due to the way that selective memory works. If the KKKlintons participate in this abhorrent display of doggy-whistle race-baiting, and then-- whatever happens in the interim-- we give them a free pass on it, and they still get the Black/Latino vote, then all people will remember is that the KKKlintons committed vote and election fraud and subtly race-baited a candidate of color, blew the doggy-whistle, then accused him of race-baiting despite his class and tact on the issue-- and then, despite all this, were still rewarded with the Black vote later on, which they could take for granted despite the most repulsively manipulative and subtle racist campaign in recent history.
Whatever the KKKlintons do in between, no matter how much Bill and Hillary try to talk up how much "we really love all you coons-- er, African-American people," no matter how many lawn jockeys they pay off, no matter how much money they try to bribe us with:
Down the road, the only thing that a future white politician would remember, is
Point A to Point B.
POINT A: Race-bait, manipulate, obfuscate, infuriate and humiliate
POINT B: Be forgiven for doing permanent damage to Black and Latino communities.
Nothing in between would be remembered, and white politicians in the future would easily pick up on the cues and use the same tactics, repeatedly and without cessation, against Black and Latino office-seekers. We've seen through the KKKlintons' manipulations so far, and if we are to survive and not be taken for fools, we have to see through any manipulation they try at this point to "patch things up." They cannot be patched up, and there must be no outcome but a massive rejection by people of color for the KKKlintons if Hillary is nominated and a humiliating defeat for Hillary on Election Day.
I hope this message is repeated without pause anywhere we can hear it, at family dinners, at the pulpits, in the stores, in the barbershops, at the diners, on radio and television and in print, we need to act with a unified voice in the African-American community and reach out to our Latino brothers and sisters as well:
The KKKlintons must pay a heavy price at the ballot box for these tactics, for these sorts of acts to be repudiated in the future, and we must stand firm and reject any manipulative tactics or blandishments the KKKlintons try to toss our way. If the Democratic Convention were to nominate Hillary Clinton, then no less than an overwhelming, humiliating, resounding landslide defeat for the KKKlintons would suffice. The very viability of our community and the potential for Black and Latino office-seekers is at stake with this.
The rather extreme reactions by both 'Clintonites' and 'Omabaites' are difficult to comprehend, given that both of them in so many ways represent politics as usual in America.
A bit of a reality-check regarding Obama, from the New Statesman (UK): http://www.newstatesman.com/200801100000.
Yes, the gloves are off.
Robert Johnson? Please.
I will never vote for that woman now. NEVER
but the presence of a Democratically-held Congress gives me some comfort since it will check any kinds of excesses that the idiots in the GOP base would be pushing and at least give those two an excuse for more moderate policies.
Not these spineless Democrats
First of all THANKS FIELD for feeling my blog! I am truly honored because I am such a fan of yours! Thanks again!
I don't know folks, but I am really worried about South Carolina. A few months back I read an interview about Obama from Newsweek.com. It was a Newsweek staffer interviewing a political pundit of some sort who said that in the South they still employ tactics TODAY to disenfranchise blacks. Okay, I never doubted that but the gravity of how important these elections are can't be brushed under the rug.
I am worried as hell. There is no denying that.
You know it's funny, "re-thug-licans" have recently talked about how liberals are really not true friends to black folks and this election has proven them right.
WHY RACE has been brought in by Hillary is beyond me, but I'm more and more disgusted by the day and I never supported her to begin with.
Y'all should've read the comments in the PerezHilton blog post about Roseanne being against Oprah and Obama. I would've thought I was dealing with Republicans.......
folks it's about to get ugly. . . stay the course the black blogosphere is crankin' the heat and the mainstream is forced to take notice. . . Hillary thinks Obama is playin' the race card, no stupid the blogs identified the race card don't try to put that on O and deflect from what you, your husband, and your surrogates have said. Folks remain vigilant and keep the momentum up we're gonna need it for the remainder of 2008!
~
Never, say never.
`
I'm not suprised by the tactics that the Clintons have decided to take against Obama, but it's hilarious and sad how desperate they have become. If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic Party nomination, I will either vote for Cynthia McKinney (the current Green Party candidate) or I will not vote at all. Any person who promotes or supports the imperialist agenda of the neoconservatives should not be allowed to have any elected office in this country. The only way I could see myself voting for Hillary is if she were to run against Giuliani in the general election.
Also, if Obama ever considers becoming Hillary's running mate, I will lose all respect for him.
Just read this article about Bob Johnson (founder of BET) running to the Clinton's defense:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_johnson
I wish I could find a way to get BET off my satellite service. I don't watch any of the garbage on that network, and the thought that part of my monthly payments help fund that mess makes me ill.
"I agree with some of the other posters that the Clintons probably are not racist, but I do think they are cynically using race to diminish support for Obama."
lynn, I'm glad that you said, "the Clintons probably are not racist."
But, let let me get this straight: whites who "race bait" to gain a political edge over a black opponent running for the same office are not "racists"?
I respect your position, but racism comes in many colors, and all with the same goal: to keep blacks subservient (in their place).
Other than this, I think your analysis is spot on:
"Hillary needs to make people who may be inclined to vote for Obama uncomfortable enough to change their minds."
Thanks for your opinions. They were well thought-out. They've given me something to think about.
In the Fields, we get them all and that is what separates this blog from the rest!
Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden
I know many black republicans and I do not think of all of you are Toms and Tomettas, hell I have been called a Tommetta before and I am a long a$$ way from being a Tometta. When I became disappointed with the Democrat Party, I looked into the Republican Party philosophy. At this point and time in my life, I don't give a damn about either Party.
Watchful Eye,
Your comments are very insightful and thought provoking, especially your 1:07pm comment.
What the Clinton camp is doing is WRONG no matter how they try to dress it up!
The code word that did it for me is when she had her emotional breakdown. MSM keeps asking her about her emotional breakdown what about when she was displaying her TRUE feelings and she said, "I just don't want to see US go backwards".
To make sure I heard her right I rolled back my DVR more than once. I asked myself, "What in the hell do she mean by she don't want to see US go backwards". Who are us?. I didn't see anyone of color in the room. I am still waiting for someone in the MSM to ask her to explain what she meant by that statement.
It really doesn't matter because she never had my vote, but that statement of disturbed the hell out of me.
I am making damn sure I keep my family and friends abreast on the Clintons tactics (we all have them who rely on our political opinion because we stay on top of politics.
My mother bubble (the black vote she is heavily banking on) of the Clintons was burst today and that is just the beginning.
@ before the mayflower
I said probably only because I don’t think it is personally about race for Hillary Clinton. Hillary is willing to do whatever she can to come out on top. If John Edwards were a threat, her tactics would be equally dirty; they just wouldn’t be based on race.
I would usually consider someone who uses race baiting to be racist, but what about the black folks in Hillary’s camp that are doing the same thing?
"...but what about the black folks in Hillary’s camp that are doing the same thing?"
I wouldn't call them racists, just sell-outs and opportunists.
But I think we can agree to disagree here. I still respect your opinion.
"I just don't want to see US go backwards".
blinders off, I'm with you on this. I believe that every thing she and Bill are doing is well orchestrated and choreographed.
I's sure this stuff is discussed in strategy sessions, and is delivered by her and Bill for full impact, and maximum effect.
I don't believe that they use any words without carefully planning how they will be perceived, used my the media, and felt by blacks.
These words are rehearsed and are use as "talking points."
But, in the case of some, they have a short shelf life--they're so emotionally charged that one use is all that is needed.
Politics in this country, as someone has aptly observed, is "win by any means necessary," because once in office, candidates can dismiss us with ease, and usually without retribution.
The people of this nation elected George Bush twice, didn't they?
Does 'backwards' mean that Obama is not supporting the same things that she's supporting?
No, I don't think so.
They're supporting pretty much the same things: universal health care, an end to the Iraq war, etc.
Does 'backwards' mean supporting a man over a woman, albeit a black one?
Could be. But I don't think so.
Does 'backwards" mean, look out white America we're turning power over to a black, and whites will forever be playing catch up, if blacks start believing they're as good as whites, and begin to vie in earnest for the power, influence, wealth, and all those things that have privileged US for so long?
For them, electing a black man will be the first salvo against white privilege and power, and will set whites back in their quest to stay on top.
01 14 08
Blinders Off: Thanks for the comment. Although I am not a Republican and claim NO party affiliation, my suburban Black Californian demographic is certainly looking at voting more and more for GOP candidates than ever before.
I don't believe that either party has ever had our best interests in mind which is why I vote my conscience on the issues.
In this case, my philosophy on governance is highly opposed to Mr. Obama's although I do wish him success. Therefore I cannot vote for him nor Ms. Clinton. When I look at how I feel about the issues, I am most closely aligned with John McCain. However I also was closely aligned with Bill Richardson from the Other side of the fence for different reasons. So that is my Independent nature for you.
It is dangerous to call people house niggas and toms though because people are generally more complex than that. It could be that this ex BET billionaire got a lot of support from the Clinton administration and they called in some favors. It needn't be that he is a tom, although he might be...
I have never been a Hillary supporter. I said back in 2000 that her run for senate from NY was carpetbagging at it's worst.
I never considered Bill Clinton to be the first black president. My disgust with the Clinton campaign is not circling the wagons any more than my support for Obama is race based. I read the man's autobiography and encountered someone whom I strongly believe could be president and a good one. Period.
I don't like what Bill Clinton did to Hazel O'Leary, Jocelyn Elders, and Lanie Guanier. He has no backbone. He didn't impose an executive order allowing gays in the military because he is spineless.
Although I'm no fan of Sister Souljah, I thought his whole interaction with her was grandstanding to prove that he didn't owe anything to anybody black.
He allowed black people to be slaughered in Rawanda. I don't remember Hillary fighting to get US troops in there to save anybody.
Bill Clinton balanced the budget and left a big fat surplus. That's a big deal and I give him props for that. That's all he did for me.
Under Clinton, jobs left this country like rats fleeing a sinking ship.
As for the contretemps about what Billary did or not did say about Obama, I don't give a rats's butt. It only confirms for me how I feel about these people.
Uncle Tom: 'A Black person who is regarded as being humiliatingly subservient or deferential to white people.'
Regardless why Bob did what he did, he sure seem to match the above definition of Tom to me.
I was embarrassed for him. But, hell, he's got millions of ways to get over it.
Sister Mahndisa.....If not Senator Obama....someone is going into Pakistan....so you can get ready for that.
Peace
This is my first time posting on a blog, but all of your great comments have inspired me to do so. I've been reading various blogs (of all different types) over the last few days, and I am sad and angry. Let me also say that I have looked at all of the candidates, and have sought the most original and complete materials available. I won't repeat what many here have already said about HRC and Mr. BET, so I'll make a few other points.
1) Even if HRC's comments on MLK were not racially baiting (uh, yeah), then why did she essentially say the same thing a few days before in New Hampshire?
2) To add, why did her comments imply that all MLK did was make great speeches? What about the Nobel Peace Prize? Leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Organizing one of the largest marches on DC? Helping to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference? His work regarding South Africa, Vietnam, and Latin America? His economic initiatives?
3) Why is everyone saying we need to drop this race bickering and get back to the "real" issues? As an African American woman, am I expected to not be offended by insults to my dignity? Isn't race (as well as all of the isms?) not a valid and relevant issue in America today? Underneath every major social and economic issue in this country today, there is some "ism" lurking not far behind.
4) Why aren't the MSM and the majority of the blogs reporting the Sidney Poitier comment and Cuomo's "shuck and jive" comment? What about the Nevada lawsuit? The MLK comment was not done in isolation. And if you really want to see spin, check out this article about the "truce" http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7894.html
that Clinton apparently initiated.
5) Why is it always assumed that just because I'm black, I'm going to vote for a black candidate? Or that if I'm a woman, I'm going to vote for one? Does my race or sex determine how I vote, erasing all independent thought? One poor middle aged white woman in Iowa complained on one blog that she kept getting messages from the Hilary camp to vote for her race--the female race. Come on!
Seems like the same sh**, different day to me.
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