Remember that “national conversation on race” that we talked about but never had? Now we’re having it. Too bad for racists that the field is tilted the other way from when they tried to make it about OJ.
Open thread.
Archives for 2008
The Veep Stakes
Is there a VP with McCain on this trip?
Fresh from sealing the Republican White House nomination, Senator John McCain will burnish his foreign policy credentials with a trip next week to Israel and Europe, his office said Monday.
Joined by two close Senate colleagues, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, McCain will visit Jerusalem on March 18, London the next two days, and Paris on March 21, according to a statement.
Hrmm.
Just Make It Stop
Can allegedly smart people stop making racist and stupid comments? Pretty please? I am talking to you, Geraldine Ferraro:
In an interview with the Breeze, Ferraro said, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”
Yes. It appears that the legacy of slavery and years of segregation, Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, anti-miscegenation laws, have all worked to propel black men to the Presidency. That is why we have had so many black Presidents. Basically, we have made it too easy for a black man to become President, because they can just glide to the Presidency. Something needs to be done to help the whte man out, since it has been so long since we have had a white President.
Seriously, though, I don’t know what she is trying to say, what she is thinking, or even if she is thinking. However, this is not the first time she has said something like this:
Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don’t ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his “radical” views, “if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race.”
Kevin Drum begged people yesterday to stop accusing the Clinton campaign of racism. I think that is a fair request, provided they stop making racist and crypto-racist statements, and they do something about Geraldine Ferraro. If Samantha Power had to step down for calling Hillary a monster, I think there is MORE than enough reason for Hilary to dissociate herself from Ferraro.
Of course we all know she won’t. Call it the Clinton Rules.
Who Are We To Judge?
Try to read this without laughing (or crying):
China, host of the summer Olympics, is an authoritarian nation that denies its people basic human rights and freedoms, harasses journalists and foreign aid workers and tortures prisoners, the United States charged Tuesday.
China is still among the world’s human rights abusers despite rapid economic growth that has transformed large parts of Chinese society, the State Department said in an annual accounting of human rights practices around the world.
Sheesh. Why are we being so judgmental? I mean, what if they were facing a ticking time-bomb scenario? I mean, there are people out there who want to kill the Chinese, so we should cut them some latitude.
/facepalm
My Mother’s Take On Spitzer
So I was talking about Eliot Spitzer to my mother, and since he is not a Steeler, Pirate, or Penguin, she had no clue who he was and had no idea there was a scandal. Apparently it was not covered on ESPN or ESPN2.
At any rate, I told her he was the Governor of NY and he had been caught up in a prostitution ring, and she asked how he was involved. I told her he was a john and that these were high-priced hookers charging $1,000-5,000 and hour. What follows is her verbatim response:
“Good Lord!
Good Lord!
He was obviously paying too much. What can you possibly do for $5,000 an hour? Surgery. Life-saving surgery performed on me is worth $5,000 an hour.
Good Lord”
So now you all know where I got my common sense. Consider this an open thread.
Way To Go, Britain!
As long as you shut up about your homosexuality, you’ll be ok in Iran!
About Hillary
I think it’s clear from my comments on the matter that I am not a big fan of Hillary Clinton. Although I was a big Bill Clinton supporter, I prefer Obama. I think she is arrogant and power hungry. I think my problem with her is that I believe she feels entitled to the presidency. A lot has been made on this blog and elsewhere about Hillary’s implied endorsement of John McCain as a person more qualified to answer that phone at 3am than Barack Obama. Hillary was wrong to do that – and I agree that her ad to that effect pretty much said that John McCain is a better choice than Obama.
Having said that, I also think that some of the vitriol directed at Hillary serves the same purpose. I won’t call it CDS, as some have pointed out, but it’s been pretty painful to watch the venom being directed at Clinton. If I was an outside observer, I would look at these posts, both here and elsewhere, and say to myself, “If she gets the nomination, then these people clearly wouldn’t support Clinton.”
Personally, I’m not a Clinton fan, as I’ve stated. But I think it’s time to tone down the rhetoric. You may not support her, but she would be a far better choice than the Republican nomination. In a climate where we’re almost always forced to take the lesser of two evils, I have no problem saying that. No question that Clinton brings a lot of this on herself, but the fact remains, I want a Democrat to win the presidency in November. I already know Clinton is ambitious. I already believe she feels entitled to the presidency. Even so, I’ll set that aside and support her in November if she is the nominee because she is far better than John McCain. I’m not scared of a Clinton presidency. I may be a little nervous about it. But I am scared of a McCain presidency.
Sure, sometimes I wish she’d shut up. If she’s not going to do that, then I will to a certain extent. It’s less important to me to criticize Clinton than it is for her or Obama to win in November. That’s hard for me to say because I love skewering politicians. And no, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t criticize her positions. It’s one thing to say Obama’s health plan is better (or not.) It’s quite another to call her a monster. Again, I would rather her win in November than any clown the Right could put forward. She is far better.
Update: And, by the way, even if she wins because she has more super-delegates, I will swallow that and happily wear a Clinton 2008 button!