Sunday: Into the homestretch

It’s almost May, so it’s almost over. This has been the longest race that I can remember. I think it started back when I was in high school. But we can’t stop, can’t flag, can’t slack off. Now is the time to find that little extra reserve, that spark, to keep us going. Will, determination, hard work and voile!, we will finish by a nose. We’ve bet on the right horse and she is tireless and feisty. When she’s in the winner’s circle with that wreath of flowers around her neck and a bowl of oats in front of her (Ok, maybe I’ve taken this metaphor too far), we can let out a collective sigh of relief. And then rest up for the next race.

BTW, yheitman invites everyone to a live chat for Hillary Supporters tonight at 8:00pm EST (5:00pm PST) at Savage Politics. I took a look over there yesterday and they have some quality stuff. So synchronize your watches.

In other news:

• The first lady of our hearts, Elizabeth Edwards, wrote an Op/Ed for the NYTimes this morning on the media coverage of this longest of races titled, Bowling 1, Health Care 0. After documenting the atrocities of the season, she comes to the crux of the problem:
  

  News is different from other programming on television or other content in print. It is essential to an informed electorate. And an informed electorate is essential to freedom itself. But as long as corporations to which news gathering is not the primary source of income or expertise get to decide what information about the candidates “sells,” we are not functioning as well as we could if we had the engaged, skeptical press we deserve.

  And the future of news is not bright. Indeed, we’ve heard that CBS may cut its news division, and media consolidation is leading to one-size-fits-all journalism. The state of political campaigning is no better: without a press to push them, candidates whose proposals are not workable avoid the tough questions. All of this leaves voters uncertain about what approach makes the most sense for them. Worse still, it gives us permission to ignore issues and concentrate on things that don’t matter. (Look, the press doesn’t even think there is a difference!)

  The problem is that prior to the Reagan Era, news divisions of major networks were money pits. They were the loss leaders of the enterprise. As soon as the bean counters decided that news divisions would have to work for food, the integrity of news started to suffer. That is not to say that it hadn’t happened before but it was done more in earnest this time. So, the news became a form of entertainment programming over time. And if you need to keep the ratings up and advertising dollars flowing, to a certain extent, you have to appeal to the audience. Then, when the business end started coveting consolidation and mergers, it was in their interest to manipulate the news to make sure the more sympathetic party would win the elections. Which leads to an interesting question: If Hillary is the so-called “corporate” candidate, why is the media trying so hard to take her out? I’ll let Kid Oakland ponder that for awhile.

• McCamy Taylor at Democratic Underground puts the Obama enigma on race together in a piece called, Putting All the Race Cards on the Table. I believe that our own ronkseattle had been busily compiling this info as well. Maybe later he can publish his finished product and we can compare with Taylor’s. What Taylor says is what I have suspected for a while and it kind of ties in with Elizabeth Edwards’ piece: the media has been active in pushing Obama’s race card accusations because it desperately wants to split the Dems before the General Election. Congratulations! Mission Accomplished. BUT, let’s not let Obama off the hook here. His campaign started the whole race baiting ball rolling but our visceral distaste for him as a candidate has as much to do with how his Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models with PhDs in Architecture have condescended to tell us what stupid, old women and working class losers we are. Not to mention, what bitter bigots we are. Oh, and the hand gestures didn’t help. And let’s not forget the braying Why Won’t the Stupid Bitch Quit? antics of his slavish supporters. And who could forget his terrible debate performance or him sitting on MI and FL revote plans? Yeah, it’s not all the media’s fault here. Let’s not let Obama off he hook. But Taylor does suggest something else that when *I* brought it up, I was called a crazy conspiracy theorist at the Big Orange Cheeto. He says the blogosphere has been infiltrated by Republican moles on Rove’s payroll whose job it was to antagonize the supporters of other candidates and make them hate one another and splitting the party as a result. Well, given the way DailyKos has devolved, that doesn’t seem so far fetched now, does it? So, I’m not crazy after all. That’s a relief.
• Obama has DI-ver-TIC-u-LI-tis. (Ok, anyone who got that reference has instantly aged her/himself). This is Day Two of the Obama Debate Acceptance Watch. Obama is whiiiiining about having to do anOTHER debate: “I’m not ducking, we’ve had 21”. (Chicks and Ducks and Geese better scurry) Yes, but you never had to speak for an hour at a stretch- by yourself- like Lincoln did. Thank God we’ve changed the timing on L-D debates in the modern age. I can’t imagine having to listen to Obama’s endless run-on sentences with the multiple clauses, subclauses and prepositional phrases for a solid hour. I’m pretty sure my ears would bleed. But Hillary is as chipper as ever! She wants to play. Come out, come out, Barack! Let’s have some FUN. “”We need a president, especially after the last seven years of George Bush, who doesn’t just make speeches about American values but understands them and lives them and believes them and wants to make sure that they are available for everybody.” Yes, let’s see what American values Barry, um, values. Bring. It. On.

So, what’s happening in your part of the world?