Watch Obama say it, hear them laugh

This clip cuts off before the famous “bitter” remarks. But, it includes a piece of his speech that’s been glossed over — the part where Obama explains that … Well, listen for yourself:

I’m a native San Franciscan but, this video made me sick. Actually watching as Obama and a roomful of San Franciscan millionaires laugh at the racism* of small town rubes disgusted me.

Today on This Week, Donna Brazile, explained that this is Obama in his Constitutional Professor hat. She thinks he’s trying to teach us something. Well, the only thing I’m learning is that smug-self-satisfaction isn’t a reliable vote getting attitude.

[Update] * Because apparently the only reason to not LOVE Barack Obama is that he’s 47 and African American.

[Update 2] Here’s a link to the photos from the San Francisco Fundraiser – Obama Visits Billionaires Row. The text is good and the photos start about 1/3 of the way down.

Pennsylvanians for Hillary

Hillary attracts a certain kind of supporter. Hillary volunteers and staffers have a vision and a resolute determination to see that vision fulfilled. They are positive, affirming. And seldom is heard a discouraging word about Obama. Seriously. They don’t sit around talking about how Obama’s campaign has taken the low road, or if they do, they never do it around volunteers. Oh, sure, occasionally a volunteer will get angry about the ridiculous media coverage, but the staffers seem to understand that no media coverage is bad. Anytime they get a chance to speak on Hillary’s behalf is an opportunity to slip a positive message past the media filters. They are determined to take our country back. They know how important it is and they are giving it all they’ve got.

Today was no exception. I had only been phone banking for about an hour and a half when Maya gathered the phone bankers together at the front room of the Harrisburg Headquarters. It was about 5pm and the canvassers were filing in with their survey sheets. Right behind them came a couple of camera men from the local network affiliates and from the *other* side of the building came- Sean Astin. That’s him answering the phone for real. He was giving the volunteers a pep talk and the phone began to ring in the midst of it so he took it. It turned out to be an 80 year old volunteer who is phone banking from home and was concerned that she might not be sounding warm enough. Sean helped her through it. Actually, I can’t think of a better surrogate for Hillary, besides all the others, than Sean. He is intelligent, articulate and full of enthusiasm. Ours must have been the millionth stop he’d made today but his energy and optimism was impressive. Hillary should be proud to have such a hard working fan who projects such hope and intensity. It was sort of like Sam Gamgee pushing Frodo to keep on going.

But there are more. Oh yeah. We have the most beautiful volunteers in the world. Here’s Pat. She’s a bright eyed lovely who helped me figure out the phone system. She said she walked into the office three weeks ago to get a sign and they convinced her to stay and she’s been there ever since.

Pat just got a new Dell and she’s learning the ropes.  I gave her the URL to The Confluence so let’s hope she’s reading and say “Hi!” to Pat.

And then there is this beauty. I don’t know who she is but if you want to meet her guys, you have to volunteer. Yeah, she *looks* like Sophia Loren but she’s probably got a degree in quantum physics.

The H-burg team is focussed. They are committed. This is sooo winnable. We can’t take any votes for granted and there are still a lot of undecideds but there is also a lot of love for Hillary. From the calls I had today, she has a lot of fans in Pennsylvania. But if we want to win HUGE, if we want to *over win*, then we need to reach out to every voter personally and ask them to give us, trust us, trust HER with their vote. Because the quality of volunteers and staffers that she attracts is the best way to show them that she will not let them down.

Oh, and they could use some Honey Nut Cheerios, Diet Coke, lamps and light bulbs.

Where my brain explodes: Are Carter and Gore planning a joint Obama endorsement?

Teresa23 brought this story to our attention and I just have to ask, “Is this possible?”

It’s Obama, stupid: Carter and Gore to end Clinton bid
By Chris Stephen

DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president.
Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race.

Former president Carter and former vice-president Gore have already held high-level discussions about delivering the message that she must stand down for the good of the Democrats.

“They’re in discussions,” a source close to Carter told Scotland on Sunday. “Carter has been talking to Gore. They will act, possibly together, or in sequence.”

An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton’s rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

There are a couple of deeply suspicious holes in this story. In listing the things Clinton must do the emphasis is all about the importance of her sweeping all the remaining primaries with a 20% margin and other unreasonable/unlikely conditions. Also,There is not a single mention of the Florida and Michigan situation. Including the lack of legitimacy facing either nominee if Florida and Michigan voters are shut out of the nomination process.

Oh, I get it.  If we shut out the other 9/10 states & territories it’s not quite so unfair to FL & MI. Surely Carter and Gore have more important things to do than stifle the most exciting Democratic Primary Season before we’ve all had a chance to vote.

Is it possible that in this year when every vote counts, Carter and Gore are conspiring against allowing voters from 10/12 states to have their say? I’m hoping this is one of those famous pseudo-leaks by the Obama campaign like the 50 Super Delegate endorsements that never happened.  And that it will come to nothing.

Otherwise, that bit about my head exploding won’t be any exaggeration.

(and is the post script at the end of the the story a giant nevermind?)

Small Town

Jeralyn Merritt found this video of John Mellencamp at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was only 4 years ago that we celebrated our roots. Oh, how the times have changed…

Here’s the original video:

Let’s give a shout out to Etters and York Haven, PA where my sister and brother live. Yeah!!!!

Tell us about your small town.

Mr. Obama, don’t draw on my coffee table

Once upon a time, a long time ago in a college town not so far away (Oakland, PA, to be precise), there lived 3 roommates in search of a fourth to help pay the rent. One of the other roomies had graduated and the summer was upon us. We lived in a second floor apartment and since I was the only one with family in town, I was the one who provided the second hand furniture: a brown chenille sofa from my aunt, some nice silk drapes from my grandma and an old coffee table from my mother

We advertised and before long a woman named Mary came to check out the place. She was from Iran. It was just after the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis and she was a refugee of sorts. Her parents had sent her to America where she would be looked after by her brother who was a doctor in a residency program in Pittsburgh. I guess at 28, Mary decided she wanted to live on her own. So her brother set her up in our apartment and pretty much left her alone. She was a 28 year old Persian virgin (nothing wrong with that) in an apartment full of, er, *not* virgins. We were astonished by her ignorance on the facts of life so we gave sex ed lessons, but I digress.

She was a good cook and made a Persian version of ratatouille to die for. She did the most erotic dances imaginable, but only in front of the girls. She explained the difference between Arab and Farsi. And she told us all about her family’s farms in Iran with terraced land on the mountain sides and all of the servants. It sounded like she came from a fairly wealthy family.

So, I was surprised when I got the phone bill with a charge of $90.00 for a call to Tehran. When I asked her to write me a check, she said I couldn’t prove she made it. And she wouldn’t clean the kitchen. And she didn’t like it when we brought guys to the apartment because, well, that was something only bad women did. And she drew on my coffee table- with a blue ink Bic banana. But she said it was no big deal because it was old anyway.

One day, I had it out with her in the kitchen. I demanded the money for the phone call and I threatened to call her brother. That got her attention because her living with us was conditional on her brother’s approval. She cried and wailed and said I was being mean because I didn’t like Iranians.

???

Who said anything about being Iranian? We were sympathetic and knew she couldn’t help it that she was probably distantly related to the Shah and didn’t want to wear a chador. That wasn’t the point. She could be black, purple, or green with yellow polkadots. I *still* wouldn’t like her because she drew on the coffee table that had been in my family’s living room since I was a kid.

See, Mr. Obama, it isn’t who you are that turns us off. It’s what you say and do. We are not obligated to like you. YOU are obligated to *respect* US. But it hardly matters now. Your sublet is over and if you don’t move out, *I* will.

Update: The non-parable version of this lesson is available at Anglachel’s Journal in Class Act. Just go read it.

Nobody is pro-abortion? Oh, Really….

(waving) I am….

By way of Jeralyn at Talk Left:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Barack Obama said anti-abortion Democrats are backing him because they feel he respects their opinion on the issue despite disagreement on it.

The Democratic presidential candidate favors abortion rights, but he noted his support from former Rep. Tim Roemer of Indiana and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania who are anti-abortion.

“It may be that those who have opposed abortion get a sense that I’m listening to them and respect their position even though where we finally come down may be different,” he told reporters at a news conference.

“The mistake that pro-choice forces have sometimes made in the past, and this is a generalization so it has not always been the case, has been to not acknowledge the wrenching moral issues involved in it,” he said.

“Most Americans recognize that what we want to do is avoid, or help people avoid, having to make this difficult choice. That nobody is pro-abortion, abortion is never a good thing.”

A couple of things shriek out through this story.

First, the way he simultaneously accuses those of us who support legal abortions of not acknowledging the wrenching moral issues involved AND he protects himself from our (my) dismay of the accusation. It’s a very clever way of phrasing an insult.

Second, “That nobody is pro-abortion, abortion is never a good thing.” Oh, Really?

I’m not sure how many living women have had abortions, but I’m guessing that a good many of them are reasonably happy with their decision. That without access to a safe, legal abortion their lives would have been dramatically more complicated at best and significantly degraded at worst.

I’m well past the point of being personally at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. But that doesn’t make me insensitive to the fact that unwanted pregnancies happen every day. And some of those pregnant women would do almost anything to get out of it.

Senator Obama’s entire statement reeks of insensitivity. And considering today’s other so-called gaffes, it makes me wonder, Is it even possible for Obama to discuss an issue without insulting someone?

[UPDATE] For more on this visit Obama: “Abortion Is Never a Good Thing” by BDBlue.

Obama: Pennsylvanians are just typical bitter white people

I think I would call this a gaffe. It certainly seems like a campaign that is coming apart. It smells of desperation. Nahhh, I take that back. It’s more like stupidity. In any case, don’t look at it. It isn’t polite to stare.

From Time, Obama refers to small town PA and says:

“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Not to worry. Obama’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models with PhDs in Architecture will speak sloooowly to the village elders and lead them out of their ignorance into the fulfillment of enlightenment and Hope™.

You know what’s really distressing about this? Many of the people in central rural PA bought the Bush lies hook, line and sinker and they were just recently starting to come out of the coma. This stupid remark could trigger a relapse.

Who wants to play W.O.R.M. (What Obama Really Meant)? It looks like some commenters at TalkLeft have already started a game.  Put your best Obama Thot Bubble in the comments.  Winning comments will be awarded based on originality.  Prize is fame, glory and respect of fellow Conflucians.

Update: O.M.G.! Obama ordered Orange Juice (OJ, *hint, hint*) instead of coffee at a diner. Doesn’t he know that is, like, totally a faux pas? If he weren’t such an arrogant SOB, I’d be sorely tempted to defend Obama against these disgustingly low insinuations by Tweety and Shuster (note to self: must find appropriate nickname for David “Pimp Walk” Shuster)

The Protest with Pics

NewHamster has the details of the protest this morning. (Going was always a long shot with me and got longer when I woke up too late to catch the train)

But Hoorah! for the people who showed up! The signs were colorful enough. Maybe we can do it again in another venue.

Here is another gallery of pictures from this morning.

Friday- Two Weekends to GO!

Yes, sportsfans, it’s that time of day again. This is your daily reminder that there are only 2 more weekends to go before the big PA primary. The big EN-CHEE-LA-DA. The mother of all primaries. The seismic shift that the person who kidnapped Josh Marshall refers to. And YOU can be a part of it. Pennsylvania is tres lovely in the spring. All of the trees are blooming. The food is great too. You can have halushka and pierogies in Pittsburgh, chicken-corn soup with dumplings in Harrisburg and all the cheese steaks (with Velveeta) that you can stand in Philadelphia. Come see The Point where three rivers meet, the Liberty Bell, the battlefield at Gettysburg (where my Dad dragged me to every frickin’ monument when I was 14), the Amish teenagers driving buggies with Led Zeppelin blaring out of their portable radios.

People are nice there too. They’re as nice as they are in Denver.

So, if you’ve ever been itchin’ to see the lush rolling hills of PA, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the home of the Nittany Lions (gag!), yins better get your butts over to this site to volunteer. Pennsylvania for Hillary

In other news:

• At The Caucus (NYTimes), Early Word: Keystone State Divide continues to propagate the conventional wisdom. Yes, once again, the old stupid people live in Pittsburgh where all of the Clintonistas are; the young, smart and groovy AA’s are in Philadelphia and are voting for Obama. *sigh* You’d think the media would be tired of this shtick by now. Not only is it old and untrue but I need to point out that the Steelers have won 5, yes, FIVE, Superbowl rings and how many have the Eagles won? Anyone want to take a guess? 0, zilch, nada. Or as Myron Cope used to say in Pittsburgh, ZEE-row. Well, that just goes to show you that we might be smaller and a bit less affluent but we are tough and we can whoop Philly’s ass in this primary too.
• A Clinton campaign office in Terre Haute, Indiana was destroyed by fire. The Obama campaign has not taken responsibility for the cause of the fire. (What?! I didn’t say his campaign did it. I’m just saying they haven’t denied it yet. Chill!)
• Obama continues to thumb his nose at the workers by purging some of his hard working but less well connected supporters from his delegate pool. Maybe they still shop at JCPenney’s for their clothes or they never got their teeth straightened or maybe they actually use their hands to make a living (ewww!). Or, maybe they are a little bit too insistent about ending the war. Anyway, there’s an image problem. They just don’t fit in with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models with PhDs in Architecture or the well-t0-do and their eye candy girlfriends who know how to bundle (if you know what I mean 😉 ) They are the weakest links. Good-bye!  Actually, I’m on a roll now about the “creative class” meme.  Let’s take a look at how stoopid this is: The creative class are drawn to metropolitan areas where there is a higher concentration of cultural activities, universities and industries that do creative type stuff, like biotech research, high tech and finance.  Places like, oh, I don’t know, CA, NY, NJ, MA, PA, AZ, FL.  And how many of these creative class behemoths did Obama win, exactly?  Oh, yeah, none.  He won MD, VA, CT, WA (but scored big in the caucus.  Besides we’re talking Microsoft territory.  Hardly creative).  And how is it that the vast majority of creative class people that I know in NJ are voting for Clinton?  All my asian buds, the professional class, many of the Princeton types.  Did they suddenly become senile overnight?  I suppose we have been moved into a different demographic.  I wish I knew what it is that sets OUR creativity apart from the SI Swimsuit model PhDs in Architecture for Obama.  There’s got to be *something* besides Madison Avenue advertising and marketing.  No, no, don’t tell me.  I’m sure it will come to me…
• Donna Brazile does her best “Clinton has racist Weapons of Mass Destruction” thing in this exchange with Masslib (Also cross-posted at Hillarysbloggers). She never comes right out and says what their duplicity is. She never directly accuses them of anything. She just assumes that we too will be duped into thinking there’s a THERE there even though playing the race card could never be a winning hand for Clinton. I’m sure that after the primaries, we’ll see that it was all a set up but by then it will be too late. WE, on the other hand, have ample *proof* that Ms. Brazile was prepared and all too willing to plunge the knife into the heart of the hapless voters of Florida. Have you no sense of decency, Ms. Brazile? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

.

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.