Speak out for Hillary in New York

Join The Protest Against
Media Bias, Hate Speech &
Voter Suppression!

New York City
Friday, April 11 (8am), 2008
West 48th St & Rockefeller Plaza

I wish I could be there — it sounds like a lot of fun and maybe it could make an impact. There’s more information at Taylor Marsh including lists of media email addresses for those of us who can’t make it. I hope it makes TV, I’d love to see it.

Note from RD:  In case I miss the train or some other unforeseen problems occurs, you might find LadyBoomerNYC to be a more local source of news and information.  Let’s give a warm round of applause to one of the newest Clinton Bloggers.  Hey, Lady, If I catch the train, I’ll bring some extra signs.

Afternoon Pick-Me-Ups

Ok, go get your espresso and take a break while you catch up:

The Exile of Elizabeth Edwards has begun. As you all may have read by now, Elizabeth Edwards has been getting in Dean and Brazile’s face today. Yup. First, she said that she thought Hillary’s universal health care proposal is preferable because it would lead to greater cost savings (this does not amount to an endorsement, of course. We respect the Edwards’ right to remain officially neutral.) Then, she had the nerve to say there was no great hurry to pick the nominee before the convention. AND she thinks that Clinton and Obama sharing a ticket would be a good thing, remarking on John’s experience with Kerry that “it was difficult for a onetime adversary to switch tacks and automatically accept another person’s positions on everything”. Woooo! Considering that she thinks Hillary’s healthcare plan is better, I am assuming she wouldn’t think it too burdensome for Obama to adopt that position. That sounds like Hillary should top a unity ticket.

Of course it didn’t take long for the Big Orange Sippy Cup to pile on. I count at least 2 recommended diaries in the Rec List Hostage Crisis:

Why Elizabeth Edwards is Wrong by Eugene

(Updated) Ms Edwards: I Mandate You Read This by epic

This one didn’t get recc’d but it is indicative of a certain bitterness:

Elizabeth Edwards Joins Think Tank and Attacks Obama by Engine 08

Hmmm, sounds like she’s out. Ohh, they’re nice and polite now because after all, she has a potentially terminal disease. In fact, some of the comments are quite favorable but then there are one’s like this:

I think this shows (0+ / 0-)

a lack of integrity on Elizabeth’s part. I really liked her very much.. But to me she could have worked with Obama. It feels and smells like that Edwards have really sold their souls to the devil in working for any part of the Clinton machine….

Perhaps John and Elizabeth really dont have any true convictions and it was all hot air out on the campaign trail…It make my stomach turn, especially when I supported them both monetarily as well as time and effort. In fact I am pissed, they can both go to hell…phonies.

by tiredofcrap on Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 10:34:53 AM PDT

Expect to see more like this if Obama starts to see a hit to his numbers. Then the knives will come out and Edwards will be toast, cut free of her lifeline to the most prestigious and influential blog on the web /snark.
Welcome to the dark side, Elizabeth. Bwahahahahaahaaaaa!

Sugar ‘n Spice lays it on the line about Obama’s lack of commitment to the African-American community in her critique of Tavis Smiley’s scolding of Obama for skipping last week’s MLK commemoration in Memphis. Here’s the money quotes:

I’ve listed a number of instances here at Sugar N Spice in which Obama, when he should have been the one, if anybody, standing up for the issues of minorities, was tucking his tail and running. Back in 2005, in a statement on his U.S. Senate webpage, he states that the “ineptitude was colorblind” in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Obviously in an attempt to not seem too concerned with pointing out blatant racism–hoping to keep his white supporters happy. I’m sorry. I know that there were a lot of poor white folks left out there. Bless them, I know they were there, but the majority of the faces we saw festering in their own waste and stink were people of color, and as much as I’m glad I live in this country as opposed to someplace in the Third World, if the racial makeup of those stranded out there when the storm ended was different, they wouldn’t have been left out there for so long. That’s a tough pill to swallow for some, but it’s the reality. Hillary even offered an apology stating:

“I’ve said it publicly, and I say it privately: I apologize, and I am embarrassed that our government so mistreated our fellow citizens … It was a national disgrace,” she said.

But, Obama said the ineptitude was colorblind. He failed to show up to Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union event, but Hillary was there–despite the fact that so many of my people have turned their backs on her–and yet. And, yet…African-Americans keep on making excuses for him. I’m disappointed that Dr. Cornel West is supporting him, but I am glad that he was at least man enough to publicly scold him and not offer some hat in hand excuse for his failure to show up.

I’m with Sugar on this one. One of the things I like best about Hillary is that she never seems to feel the need to exclude a group of voters simply because they aren’t sexy, young, well-to-do, supereducated or members of an embarrassing underclass, like the cousins from the wrong side of the tracks. In this country, you never know who the next heros are going to be, or the good Samaritans or leaders or scientists who will cure disease or free us from foreign oil. Obama has behaved abysmally towards many groups of people: women, the working class and African-Americans. Perhaps this is because he doesn’t really feel like he’s part of the African-American community. Unfortunately, many African-Americans are so invested in electing a person of color, and who can blame them, that they are not examining carefully whether that person is actually committed to helping them in any substantive way. There are many ways in which this primary season has become a real set back for the advancement of social justice and African-Americans may find themselves similarly disenfranchised.

They were SNAGs* as long as we knew our place

In Weeding out the Competition, Anglachel explains it all when it comes to the overt misogynism of them we *used* to call progressive men. See, as long as we never threatened their affirmative action program, it was cool for them to patronize our little consciousness raising groups and tell us we were equal and all that. It’s a whole nuther ballgame when we start competing for offices and raises. Here’s the money quote but to get the full deliciousness, you really ought to read the whole thing:

The reaction can be guilt rather than anger because there is really no chance that this class of people will ever get ahead as a class such that there would be competition. It may not be PC to say this, but there is a very rational basis for working class white racism that has nothing to do with believing minorities are lesser beings and everything to do with keeping that structural advantage in place. That’s why the cynical claims of the Obama campaign about Archie Bunkers – when the target is actually the guilty upper middle class – doesn’t ring true. Obama himself is no threat. He codes “white”. The threat he offers is not raising up minorities but turning his back on all the working class and failing to enact policies and programs that will help those who are struggling. The real way to undermine racism is by increasing economic stability and prosperity, not by trying to shame people living on the edge as some kind of moral reprobates.

Change the makeup of that class and suddenly the privileged white boyz start getting nasty. The structural disadvantage that kept women from competing directly for previously male-only positions, structures both legal and cultural, have disappeared with enormous speed in the last forty years, especially the last twenty, and while entry of women into the workplace in professional and skilled labor ranks (they have always worked their asses off in retail, agriculture and service industries) has increased household income, it has also curbed a rise in male wages while offering increased competition for positions. Women’s economic success has directly harmed individual male economic success and the concomitant social privilege.

They probably never were all that concerned about our orgasms either.

SNAG= Sensitive New Age Guys

Thursday- To do’s

Ack! I just turned my oatmeal into soup. How do you fix that?

Anyway, I want to remind you guys that you only have a couple more weekends to make history in PA. This weekend and especially next weekend, will be important GOTV opportunities for those of you who want Hillary to kick Obama’s @$$. I know where I’ll be going this weekend. But, you ask, how can *I* get involved, Riverdaughter? I’m so glad you asked. To volunteer for Hillary in PA, check out this page: Pennsylvania for Hillary. Make History!

BTW, I have room in my car for a fellow traveller from the NJ area if anyone wants to come with me tomorrow. My mom has an extra bed. Lemme know if you’re interested in the comments.

In other news:

• Elton John says “there’s no one more qualified to lead this country” than Hillary.  He was in NYC to raise money for Hillary last night.  John also said, “I’m amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country. And I say to hell with them …. I love you Hillary, I’ll be there for you.”  Awwwww.  Let’s all Crocodile Rock!
• Pelosi nixes Unity ticket again.  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.  What could Nancy be thinking?  Surely, SURELY, she isn’t contemplating herself as Barack’s running mate?  Would she?  It’s just a thought.  Please tell me how this couldn’t happen.  (OTOH, it would explain an awful lot)  On the other side, polls indicate that McCain and Condoleeza Rice would make a winning pair.  Fess up, guys, you’ve been freeping this poll, haven’t you?  You sly dogs.  😉
• Mr. Committment needs more time to assess the situation regarding China and Tibet before weighing in on whether to suggest a boycott.  Well, that was clear.
• Oh, Wait!  It’s not McCain and Rice.  It’s McCain and BLOOMBERG.  Well, that will solve the fundraising issue.