Late Night: Lux perpetua

I saved this video for some reason.  It spoke to me, or, rather *sang* to me.   I think the music is from Mozart’s unfinished Requiem.  But the images of the waves crashing on the upright lighthouses was strangely stirring.

Let your little lights shine, PUMAs.  This too shall pass.

Saturday: A House Divided

I got a call from Quinnipiac this morning.  Whoo-hoo!  I’ve been *polled*.  I’m now just another statistic.  The poll questions didn’t allow for much elaboration.  I answered neither to more than one question.  I went off on a tangent about Frank Lautenberg.  He really ticked me off when he threw his support to Barack Obama.  And I will never forgive Jon Corzine for giving my vote to Obama at the Convention.

The party is at war with itself.  It’s not even a “civil” war.  Those of us who are witholding our votes from Obama have been subject to pressure, ridicule and sometimes threats of violence.  I have never seen a presidential nominee so contemptuous of voters.  First it was contempt for his own party’s base.  Now, it is extending to independent and Republican voters.  If you embarrass The Chosen One, his free PR machine, the media, will dig up details of your personal life to display to the rest of the country.  If you are a supporter of the opponent, you can be subject to beatings.  If you are a woman, you’re nothing more than a brainless vagina.  Obama is responsible for this.  If it wasn’t working for him, he’d call off his dogs.

Back in June, right after the RBC hearing, we made a decision to separate ourselves from the Hillary campaign.  We admire and respect her but we made a choice to stick up for ourselves.  Let us be clear: we are Democrats and Democrat leaning non-affiliated voters.  If any newcomers to this blog have any doubts about that, please visit my Credo in the tabs at the top of the page.  That is what we are trying to preserve.  We believe in the social safety net.

I’ve heard a lot of speculation that Obama is a socialist.  Some of us who have followed Democratic politics for a long time are pretty convinced he is not.  The evidence seems to suggest that Obama is a political opportunist.  He doesn’t run on any particular principle.  He is a chameleon who adapts to the environment of the people who can give him a boost up to the next rung of the ladder.  And he is very comfortable with using un-Democratic means to eliminate his opponents.

As a Democrat, who is presently unaffiliated out of protest, I am very distressed that an organization like ACORN has become a touchpoint of controversy.  It should not be controversial to assiste citizens in registering to vote.  We should all be applauding this.  Even David Iglesias suggests that the reason he and other US Attorneys were dismissed is because of their principled stance against prosecuting groups like ACORN for alleged voter fraud.  Unfortunately, ACORN may have been the tool by which Obama gamed the primary caucuses so the present claims of voter fraud are all too believable.  And now, this organization and others like it, who are assisting the poor, elderly and minority groups in voting, may be compromised in their mission.  Republicans must be absolutely delighted.

They must be delighted that they are about to reap the benefits of the DNC pitting women against African-Americans as well, not to mention the Whole Foods Nation against the working class.  But one thing we can be sure of is that after this election, the Democratic party will never be the same.  Our eyes have been opened.  Those of us in the Obama demographic who are women who voted for Hillary will have a hard time believing that the party has any interest in our issues.  The misogynism that was allowed to be unleashed by Obama’s campaign will haunt us for generations to come if he and the DNC are not held accountable.  If the most powerful woman in the nation can be taken out by a bunch of thugs, what is to stop businesses around the country from discriminating against us?  What will happen to women who compete with men for jobs?  What will happen to women on maternity leave coming back to work?  What will happen to women suffering from domestic violence?  If Obama is president, no one will be held accountable for the treatment meted out by testosterone poisoned men who have been given the green light to take what they want.

I recently spoke to a moderate Republican at a wedding who said that he thought that the reason we ended up with Obama was because the Democratic party had come together at the convention in the name of party unity.  I had to dispel that notion.  No, what actually happened was that the Democratic party took a little more than half of its pie and threw it away.  It suppressed us and called it unity.  But no unity can exist when no attempt is made to acknowledge or honor our will.  Even today, 17 days before the election, the Democratic nominee has made no attempt to reach out to us and the antics of his supporters continue to push us away.

We do have other places to go.  In fact, it is our obligation for us to do something other than acquiesce.  As Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’ If we allow ourselves to be divided, with the Whole Foods Nation in their triumph cutting the poor, working class, minorities, elderly and women out of the process to become second class citizens, we give our permission to further acts of degradation.  We create a permanent underclass.  And this underclass may never again have enough wherewithal to achieve adequate representation in government to achieve its goals.

This is what Obama represents.   I am very sorry to have to disappoint Senator Clinton but when the pollster asked me if I would vote for Obama, I said “No”.  This is my choice and I take full responsibility for it.  If Democrats don’t all go forward into the future together, they shouldn’t go forward.  We should not allow the privieleged in the Democratic party secede in order to unburden itself from its obligations towards the common good.

What Abraham Lincoln said about the Union could apply to the Democratic party today, “”‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.'(Mark 3:25) I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”

Between Barack and a hard place – My open letter to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

(Speaking for myself only)

Distinguished and Honorable Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton:

I am one of the 18 million people who voted for you, currently a resident of Florida, which is one of the many swing states you won during the Democratic primaries.  I voted for you because I believe in your “Solutions for America.”  I’ve scrutinized and scoured your plans and felt that you were the most qualified and most committed to solving the problems that our nation face at the result of the catastrophic 8 years of George W. Bush and his adminstration. 

My parents immigrated to the United States fleeing from a Caribbean dictator with that promise of freedom  for themselves and for their children in their hearts, so am I well aware as a first-generation American the value of Democracy and Liberty.  I am also one of those “invisible” people that you’ve fought for all your life, as I am a divorced single mother caring for an elderly parent.  Any change in gas prices, utility bills, milk, eggs, bread impacts my budget.  I’m also a lifelong Democrat and my first vote proudly was given to your husband in 1992, to which I am endebted for boosting the economy which allowed me to earn more income in my chosen career.  I know the great things you’ve accomplished as a Senator from NY because most of my family are your NY constituents.  They can’t be more thrilled to have you represent and fight for them in Washington, D.C.  

I, like you, believe in the tenets of our party of equality and social justice.  I believe in one person/one vote.  I believe in equality across the board of our diverse humanity, I believe in women’s reproductive rights, I believe in separation of church and state and I believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  I believe that despite its flaws, the United States is a country that has her arms open to anyone and everyone who wants to live in peace, who will work hard to achieve their potential and live in the freedom that was promised to us by our founding fathers (and mothers!) 

Your presidential platform soundly and realistically represents everything that I and the majority of Democrats want: Universal Healthcare, economic reform,  environmentally and economically sound energy independence, secure diplomatic platform while maintaining national security, comprehensive immigration reform, protecting women’s reporductive rights, pro-child and pro-teacher public education platform, etc.   You won my vote and 18 million votes, NOT because you are Bill Clinton’s wife and NOT because you are a woman, but because out of all the Democratic candidates, YOU have the best grasp to what the majority of Americans need and what will solve our nation’s problems.   You have a breadth of experience and gravitas and a PLAN that will help people like me and help heal the economic rift in our nation. 

Recently, you said in an interview to Fox and Friends that you were disappointed that people who voted for you are not supporting Barack Obama.   I’m sorry you feel that way, but would you like to know what I am beyond disappointed?  I’m disappointed that our party stole votes from you to cushion a neophyte panderer with ZERO experience.   The Democratic Party that you want me to support betrayed you, they betrayed the Democratic tenets of one person/one vote, they betrayed 18 million votes that were thrown away at the convention all for the sake of “party unity.”  Is Party Unity worth more than Democracy itself?  I don’t think so.  “Party Unity”is not why our soldiers bravely fight, nor why our civil rights heroes march, and not what made you become an honorable and exceptional civil servant for 35 years.    There are many people in this country who are not wealthy, but the one thing that they have, just as much as any rich man, is the right to vote.  If the right to cast a vote is marred in any way, then the United States can no longer consider itself a “Democracy” and no longer a source of pride and honor for its citizens.   And that is much more important than the price of gas, the lack of jobs and most definitely much more important than “party unity.”

At the Democratic Convention when you gave your brilliant speech that I call the “Keep Going Speech,” you asked your supporters “are you in this for me?”  My answer to you is NO, I’m not in it for you, I’m in it for me, my family and my country.   You want us to stand beside you in supporting Barack Obama, a man who was not elected by the majority of the Democratic Party and who stole votes and delegates from you to “win.”  Despite my respect and admiration for you, Senator Clinton, I cannot follow your lead.  You promised to work your heart out for the Democratic candidate, but I never promised to vote for that candidate especially when said candidate employed the tactics of George W. Bush of voter fraud to “win” his candidacy.

I understand that you are caught between a Barack and a hard place and you have to say what you are saying to appease the DNC overlords, but I own my vote and I will not reward a party that undermined Democracy.  I will not reward voter suppression and voter fraud.  I will not reward rampant misogyny.  I will not reward “faith-based initiative” pandering.  I will not reward a candidate that states that a woman has to consult a committee to decide on her own reproductive rights.  I will not reward the Democrats with a vote that was mutilated in the primaries, at the RBC and at the Democratic Convention in Denver. 

I hope that after this election, lifelong Democrats who are opposing the candidacy of Barack Obama can reform the party so that this disregard for Democracy and for Democratic tenets does not happen again.  

You’ll hear from me again on November 5th, 2008.

Respectfully yours (and until the Democratic Party keep acting like a rabid band of locusts eating away Democracy), I remain,

 

 

 

 

SM – Tampa, FL

¡Que Viva los PUMAs!

Friday Night Open Thread

So how are things with you?