when the status quo frustrates.

::Hearting:: Gloria

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

I’ve always had a soft spot for Gloria Steinem. She is more of my grandmother’s generation than my mother’s, but when I was growing up surrounded by issues of Ms. Magazine, the cover pictures of Gloria reminded me so much of my mom–tall and slender with long, straight blonde hair and glasses–when I was really little, I thought that she was my mom. When I was older, I could almost hear my mother’s voice speaking her words, mercilessly shredding the idiocy that is the patriachy with a cool and incisive intellect. She has always been, to me, the face of the most admirable parts of my mother’s feminism.

With this op piece, she has refanned the flames of my nostalgic fondness into full-blown love. My favorite parts:

Here’s the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing — the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party — are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president.

Yeah! You go, ladies!

Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie.

Translation: PUMAs, suck my ass.

Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton’s candidacy stood for — and that Barack Obama’s still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, “Somebody stole my shoes, so I’ll amputate my legs.”

Truer words have never been spoken.

Now she is being praised by McCain’s campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax.

Heh.

McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.

I still think he tried and they said oh hell no!

Palin’s value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women’s wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves “abstinence-only” programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers’ millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn’t spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation

Lay it all OUT, Gloria!

So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, “women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership,” so he may be voting for Palin’s husband.

Heh #2.

Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.

::hearting:: Gloria.

04.09.2008 Feminism, Remember November, The Palinator No Comments

Rarely have I read an article where a reporter from a national mainstream magazine was so blatantly creaming in his jeans over the awesomeness that is teen parenthood.

Monday, September 1st, 2008

This was hard to believe. I had to check twice to make sure it was really Time magazine and not some clever decoy, you know, like “crisis pregnancy” centers like to pull when they set up facilities next to a Planned Parenthood clinic and call themselves something like “The Planning for Parenthood Center” to fake legitimacy and trick people who are looking for actual reproductive health care into their clutches. But no, it is Time magazine, and the guy who is writing the article is named Nathan Thornburgh. Actually, I was so underwhelmed by this article that I decided to do a quick search on this guy’s name to see what else he might’ve written out there, and apparently, this is but a second of a series of articles he has produced about visiting Alaska in the light of the Palin veep announcement. The other one, entitled “Where Palin Made Her Name,” opens with the following gem:

It’s Friday night, and there have got to be 500 people packed into the Sluice Box, a beer-soaked clapboard honky-tonk at the Alaska State Fair – the state’s biggest event all year – just down the highway from Governor Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. The legendary Hobo Jim, Alaska’s official state balladeer, the guy who has opened sessions of the legislature with a song, is onstage, working blue.

“Here’s to the girl from the great Northwest,” he sings, “with tits as hard as a hornet’s nest.” The crowd whistles its approval.

For the record, he’s not singing about Palin, though the curvature and comeliness of McCain’s surprise vice-presidential nominee pick are brought up by just about everyone here, man and woman, in a way that would make lower-48 liberals and feminists cringe.

Mmm…you know, there are certain things that people who don’t like a certain other set of people say that are red flags cluing one in on the fact that that person, indeed, does not like them. The above is a great example of that. It’s interesting that some journalists appear to believe that the spirit of the supposed ideal of journalistic neutrality is fulfilled by passive-aggression–frankly, I’d prefer that they just openly said fuck the whole ideal! and engaged in outright aggression. It’d leave less of a greasy aftertaste.

At any rate, it’s a strange article. He begins by stating that he thinks that Sarah Palin’s underaged daughter’s pregnancy is nobody’s business but her and her family’s, which makes the fact that he’s writing an article about said pregnancy in a nationally popular magazine rather odd. Would he like us better if we quit reading his article right then in solidarity? He then goes on to describe how they’re all real men in Alaska–hunting is apparently not something they do in any of those other 48 states, you know, the ones occupied by liberals and feminists, and Alaska also has people who’ve lost family members to industrial accidents and that go serve in Iraq, which again sets them quite apart from the 48 Contiguous Pussy States where that shit apparently hardly ever even comes up. The naturally flowing conclusion that he draws from all this is so that really, it is SO not a big deal to be an underaged mother. (You can almost hear him shout Isn’t this REFRESHING, readers??)

Yep, it gets even more unreal than that–don’t believe me? Here ya go:

The fact is, regardless of what you will hear over the next few days, Bristol [Palin]‘s pregnancy is not a legitimate political issue. Sarah Palin is a longterm member of a group called Feminists for Life, which is not opposed to birth control. So you probably can’t tag her for consigning young people to unwanted pregnancies.

Oh, my. You most certainly can, including that of her own daughter, unless you’re trying to stretch reality even further and claim that Bristol Palin is having a planned pregnancy. Let’s see, for instance, what Feminists for Life actually does have to say about contraception:

What is Feminists for Life’s position on contraception?
Feminists for Life’s mission is to address the unmet needs of women who are pregnant or parenting. Preconception issues including abstinence and contraception are outside of our mission.

Erm, but they DO have a stated position on, for instance, assisted suicide, which seems to be a leetle further afield from the topic of pregnancy than contraception is…come on, what’s the REAL reason—?

Some FFL members and supporters support the use of non-abortifacient contraception while others oppose contraception for a variety of reasons

Translated: not all of us have multiple kids, making indelicate questions about our contraceptive status unavoidable if we were to outright oppose it.

FFL is concerned that certain forms of contraception have had adverse health effects on women.

Translated: But if we can find a health link, no matter how dubious, we’re primed and ready to jump on that bandwagon at the slightest moment’s notice!!

But how about Sarah Palin herself?

Q. Will you support the right of parents to opt out their children from curricula, books, classes, or surveys, which parents consider privacy-invading or offensive to their religion or conscience?

Sarah Palin: Yes. Parents should have the ultimate control over what their children are taught.

Q. Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

Sarah Palin: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.

You know, sometimes it is useful to actually get to see, so CLEARLY illustrated, where the fervent support of the above positions lands the daughters of those who practice said preachery. No theories or opinions here, folks! Real-life consequences of real-life philosophies.

And after all this, here is the conclusion that Nathan Thornburgh says he’s come to:

As for the idea — sure to be floated—that the avowedly anti-abortion Palin may have pressured her poor daughter to ruin her life by carrying an unwanted baby to term, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Is my favorite part of the above sentence the pooh-poohing of the idea that having a baby at age 17 might be quite life-altering in a negative way or that any girl forced to do so is a sarcastically pooor weeeetle thaaaaang, or is it that he thinks that it’s even possible that Bristol Palin was presented with all her choices in a rational and unbiased fashion?

(sigh) I’ll let you know when I figure that out…

01.09.2008 Contraception, Fetii, Media hackery, Mutterings Of The Disturbed, Remember November, Reproductive Rights 9 Comments

I Finally Figured Out What “Elitism” Really Means!

Sunday, August 24th, 2008


Just call me Emma.

Ever since John Kerry ran for President (I think before, too, but that’s when I really started noticing it) Democrats have somehow gotten the label of the party of “elitism.” It has certainly reached a fever pitch during the Obama and McCain campaigns this year. I always found it puzzling but didn’t really start to dwell on it til the recent brouhaha about McCain’s inability to recall how many houses he owns.

(‘Scuse me for a second. BWAHAHAHAHA!)

(ahem.)

ANYWAY, at that point the full ridiculousness of the whole thing just descended upon me. WHOA NOW, I thought, now they GOTTA drop that whole “elitist” thing, I mean, my God, can the party represented by the guy who doesn’t know how many houses he owns really sustain some kinda claim of elitism against the party represented by the guy who not only DOES know how many houses he owns but that number happens to be “1,” just like the vast majority of Americans who own homes..?

Apparently so.

[Fox and] Friends defended McCain’s stumble as a desire to be accurate – he doesn’t actually own any of the homes…Cindy and her family’s various trusts hold the titles, and some of them are not for the McCain’s enjoyment but are rather investment properties and housing for family members.

Oh well, that clears THAT up!

Now, see, I always thought that someone who was “elitist” was most likely that way due to having ridiculously enormous amounts of cash and equivalent to call his own. I mean I ALWAYS just assumed that, as far back as I can remember ever considering the matter. However, I now humbly admit I was entirely mistaken and should’ve known that as far back as the Kerry campaign. After all, Dubya and Kerry were both rolling in dough. Ah! I now think to myself. What they REALLY must’ve meant by “elitist” was like, FAMILY money. Lots of money, after all, can be the result of an individual’s insanely and obsessively hard work in the professional millieu–such a person might end up with lots of money but would still be a parvenue, a pushing mushroom, a nouveau riche—

Erm, no. That theory doesn’t stand up either. Both Bush and Kerry’s FAMILIES are wealthy too and have been for quite some time. So’s John McCain’s, and for heaven’s sake, nobody could accuse Barack Obama of having hailed from an old-money family!

WAIT! A sneaking suspicion rears its ugly head…it’s isn’t about MONEY, precisely…it’s about EDUCATION! You know, them snotty types with that-thar book learnin’–

(sigh) No. Not it either. Both Kerry and Bush attended Yale, after all. McCain attended the US Naval Academy, which doesn’t really say an enormous amount about elitism or lack thereof, but he did shoot in there from a private prep school. Obama graduated from Columbia University.

But you know, I did have the feeling, the sneaking suspicion, that I was onto something…like I was close…

And then I figured it out.

“Elitism” is code for “they’re really, really smart.” Smart as in, sheer raw intelligence, you know, Nobel prize and Rhodes scholarship smart. Or like being President of the Harvard Law Review and a professor of law smart. As opposed to, say, Dubya, or even John McCain, who graduated 894 of 899 from the Naval Academy.

I think that people who aren’t very bright…that would be at least half the population, sadly…actually fear people who are very bright. They seriously seem to see being really smart as having some kind of superpower, one that will be used against them if they allow said very smart people to have any power over them. I saw this on a website that turned out to not be a joke or a parody:

Most Atheists are highly intelligent. Probably better educated than you are…You need to read and think a lot too…Don’t be surprised if they manage to persuade you to give up your beliefs.

Really smart people, you know, are dangerous. Like mutants!

Magneto[to Senator Kelly]: Are you a God-fearing man, Senator? That is such a strange phrase. I’ve always thought of God as a teacher; a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding. You see, I think what you really fear is me. Me and my kind…Oh, it’s not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn’t understand. Well, don’t fear God, Senator, and certainly don’t fear me. Not any more.

It sounds pretty pathetic to actually SAY that you fear and hate people who are clearly functioning at least one full mental level above you, though. It sounds a lot more noble to accuse them of “elitism.” Seems to be working like a charm, too.

24.08.2008 A million ways to mortgage the future, Remember November 1 Comment

I never thought I’d say this.

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

But maybe I won’t vote for Barack Obama after all.

(eeeeeeeeeeeeek!)

I did genuinely want to.

I still won’t vote for John McCain. I will never, ever of my own volition vote for John McCain. Seriously, you’d have to tie up my children and threaten them at gunpoint to get me to do it. Tying me up and threatening me at gunpoint might not be enough.

I thought I’d vote for Obama, though. I never really considered doing otherwise.

But this is enough.

I may choose to be a nonperson in our democracy. I really hate that choice, but it’s starting to look like I either voluntarily assign myself that status by withdrawal or I actively work to put into office somebody who is going from offhandedly marginalizing my gender to encouraging others to pointedly do so.

From CNN today:

Bernie Mac made a surprise appearance at a Barack Obama fundraising event Friday evening.

Introducing Obama at the high-dollar fundraising event in Chicago…

“My little nephew came to me and he said, ‘Uncle, what’s the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?”‘ Mac said toward the end of his routine. “I said, I don’t know, but I said, ‘Go upstairs and ask your mother if she’d make love to the mailman for $50,000.”‘

“Hypothetically speaking, we should have $100,000. But realistically speaking we live with two hos,” Mac said, delivering the joke’s punchline.

Some attendees of the $2,300 per-person event immediately registered their displeasure with Mac’s joke, and asked that he leave the stage.

“It’s not funny. Let’s get Barack on,” one man shouted.

Mac introduced the Democratic presidential candidate shortly after and Obama called the comedian a “great friend.” The Illinois senator also joked that Mac needs to “clean up [his] act.”

“We can’t afford to be divided by race. We can’t afford to be divided by region or by class and we can’t afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you’ve got to clean up your act next time,” he said. “This is a family affair. By the way, I’m just messing with you, man.”

O-kay.

12.07.2008 Feminism, Obamarama, Politics, Remember November, Shame on you for being a woman 28 Comments

Things That Make Me Go “Hmm.”

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Coming on the heels of the brouhaha over Obama’s recent remarks about late-term abortion, I found it very interesting that the Planned Parenthood Action Fund just today announced, in a very ringing and go-team-gooo! press release, that they are endorsing Obama’s candidacy. The news outlets and blogs picking it up are also excitedly pointing out, as the press release states, that this marks only the second time in Planned Parenthood’s history that the Action Fund has made an endorsement in a presidential campaign(!). The significance of that statement, I admit, escapes me to the point where I begin to suspect that they are being a little misleading here on purpose–there have only been four Democratic presidential candidates since the Action Fund came into being in 1989, which means that they have endorsed…well…half of ‘em.

At present I can only speculate as to their motives, and since I have no evidence pointing me in any particular direction, I will keep said speculation to myself til some kind of corroborating facts present themselves one way or another.

08.07.2008 Obamarama, Remember November, Reproductive Rights 1 Comment

Trust Me When I Tell You Which Guy You Want To Run Your Country.

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

If you are not familiar with craps, it is a game played with dice, and the important thing to know about it is that you cannot win at it unless you figure out some way to control how you throw the dice…ie, you cheat. You CANNOT win by playing by the rules. It is a mathematical impossibility.

You can, however, win at poker, to the point where some people actually play it as a full-time job.

Craps requires that you throw dice, can count up to twelve and add single-digit numbers in your head up to a total of twelve. You don’t need to know anything else; you can if you wish control your rate of loss by learning the odds of the various bet types and rolls, but as you’re going to lose repeatedly no matter what, it doesn’t really matter if you do or not.

Poker requires that you learn how many cards are in a standard playing deck, what suits those cards are, what the non-numerical cards mean and how they are ranked, what the different poker hands are and how they are ranked, just to play a single hand. If you want to win, you must then learn the statistical probabilities of each hand, modified by how many players are in the game; what the various positions at the table mean in terms of increasing or decreasing your odds, and how to calculate the odds of your hand winning versus how much of your bet it requires to win the entire table of bets. This is more math than most people exercise during their adult lives already.

So, think about the kind of person who would get hooked on craps–a mindless low-skill game where you are guaranteed to lose–versus the kind of person who would get hooked on poker–a psychologically and mathematically complex game where if you’re willing to work at it you’re guaranteed to win.

Or:

“Enjoying craps opens up a window on a central thread constant in John’s life,” says John Weaver, McCain’s former chief strategist, who followed him to many a casino. “Taking a chance, playing against the odds.”

Or:

[Obama] always had his head in the game. The stakes were low enough — $1 ante and $3 top raise — to afford a long shot. Not Obama. He studied the cards as closely as he would an eleventh-hour amendment to a bill. The odds were religion to him. Only rarely did he bluff. “He had a pretty good idea about what his chances were,” says Denny Jacobs, a former state senator from East Moline.

And:

McCain’s campaign, like his life, has been marked by its embrace of living dangerously and by clear runs of fortune and disappointment. Obama, meanwhile, has succeeded, no less remarkably, by diligently executing a premeditated strategy.

Thanks, Time Magazine!

Think “delicate international situation.” Think “perilous economic balance.” Think–

Let’s go Obaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaama ’08!

03.07.2008 A million ways to mortgage the future, Advice, McCainery, Obamarama, Poker, Politics, Remember November 3 Comments

The Minority People Care a Lot Less About

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008


“Geronimo,” or “Something people say when they jump out of airplanes.”

It’s funny because I think if I wasn’t actually of Native American ancestry, I’d write more about them–as it stands, though, I suppose I feel like there is much less excuse for my lack of real in-depth knowledge about the history and culture–I’ve always had an odd reluctance to study more, as well. One reason for that sounds very strange to me (and it’s my reason! so it shouldn’t, but it does anyway): I’m afraid to get even more upset about it than I am from my basis of general historical knowledge only. After all, a full quarter of my relatives from my paternal grandfather on backwards, that is who they were–an exponential climb every generation–yet I have never met personally anyone who is a full-blooded Apache. Not once. The only person I have ever known who was even half was my father.

And mostly, people don’t care. They are either entirely ignorant or they think all Native Americans live on reservations and operate casinos. And they don’t even know what “reservations” really are, other than that’s where Native Americans can be found. Why not?

Probably in part because there are so few of them left. Of the approximately 300 million US citizen currently floating around, only about 3 million of those self-identify as Native Americans, or about 1%. According to Wikipedia, eight out of ten people of Native American ancestry today (including Yours Truly) are of mixed blood, and that number is expected to rise to nine out of ten by 2100.

The other part, of course, is that the government as a whole has been quite dedicated to wiping them out, either literally or culturally, for a very long time now, and that hasn’t really changed, either. As recently as 2000, the Washington State Republican Party adopted a resolution of termination for tribal governments–it’s even hard to believe they’d want to bother, given the statistics in the previous paragraph, but clearly for some, the desire for complete destruction is still quite strong. The Jim Crow laws with their “one-drop” policy of racial classification are thankfully gone–however, the “blood quantum” laws for Native Americans, which to my knowledge very few people are even aware of, still exist and are even in use both intertribally and on the Federal level today. (A cute anecdote–when I was about a year and a half old, a woman from the Bureau of Indian Affairs came out to visit my mother to get the paperwork started on my “blood quantum” legal status–apparently she knocked on our apartment door and my mother, me slung over her hip, answered. The woman took one look at the tall, white-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed woman with the little white-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed baby girl in her arms, muttered something about “sorry, wrong address” and just turned around and left.)

Something pretty cool happened back in May, though–

The Crow Nation welcomed Sen. Barack Obama Monday afternoon before thousands of people, marking the presidential candidate’s first campaign visit to a U.S. reservation.

Obama was invited to visit the tribe’s homeland after leaders of the Crow, or Apsaalooke, decided to endorse the Illinois senator last week.

Obama’s visit to the Crow Reservation marks an unusual presidential campaign foray into tribal lands. Bobby Kennedy is arguably the last known presidential candidate to do so, campaigning on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1968.

That’s pretty different. And not only is it different, the vast majority of American voters couldn’t really care less–so clearly it wasn’t done to impress anybody important, was it?

And apparently on his website, Obama promises to “appoint a National American Indian Policy Advisor to serve as a member of his White House staff and create the National American Indian Advisory Council.” Far as I know, that’s a complete first in terms of presidential candidates period.

Gives lie to the title of this post. I’m humbled, and heartened.

Note: I haven’t posted any stats here about Native Americans and their truly hideous, as far as I know the very worst among any group classified as a “minority” in America, numbers on, say, violence and alcoholism and failure to graduate even high school and living below the poverty line, etc. etc.–if there’s an interest, let me know and I’ll throw up some links.

03.07.2008 Governmental Failures, Historical Wankery, Human Rights, Obamarama, Politics, Racism, Remember November, Shame on you for not being rich white and privileged 4 Comments

Somebody Stop Me!

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

I live right on the commuter train line to DC. Seriously. It would cost me less than ten bucks to attend this thing AND in an environmentally-friendly fashion too! (Okay, plus $95 for the ticket, but still! CHEAP!)

For $95, they do emphasize a refusal to feed you, but you get to call yourself a “Value Voter” and you purchase the package NAMED AFTER YOU that includes both briefing and exhibit passes. Also, I absolutely loved their description of their exhibitors, which I have expanded upon only slightly below as a total favor to them ’cause I thought they were just being too politically correct in their phraseology and I know that these are the folks who would never, EVER want to be politically correct:

Join with other pro-family anti-birth control conservative organizations from across the country and reach an audience of grassroots activists who believe in traditional marriage gay-bashing, the protection of our religious freedoms forcing Fundamentalist Christianity into public schools, defending the sanctity of life prior to birth and after brain death has occurred but not at any other time, protecting preventing the brown tide from sweeping across our borders and defending our homeland pumping even more tax dollars and young socioeconomically disadvantaged lives into Iraq.

This year’s speakers include:

Carol Franz, Adult Stem Cell Transplant Survivor*
Newt Gingrich, Who Has No Descriptive Tag After His Name
Star Parker, Author and Speaker
Phyllis Schlafly, Founder of Eagle Forum
Michael Steele, Chairman of GOPAC and ex-Lt Gov. of Maryland

and oh, so MANY MORE!

Last year they had Senator John McCain as a speaker. Imagine! They’ve invited him this year too but apparently he has not yet accepted. How astonishing!

(Via.)

*Not a descriptor I’ve actually ever encountered before.

19.06.2008 A million ways to mortgage the future, Mutterings Of The Disturbed, Politics, Remember November, for reals, sharing the awesome 3 Comments

“Why does Senator Obama believe it is so important to repeat that idea OVER and OVER again?”

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Same reason I do.


Vote Obama ’08!

Via Pandagon.

15.06.2008 Brilliant Ideas, Bush is a cock, McCainery, Obamarama, Remember November, Video No Comments

Honestly can’t think of any other reason folks would be saying so.

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Economy is weak but will improve – poll
Most Americans think current economic conditions are poor but the future looks brighter.

By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: June 9, 2008: 8:23 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A majority of Americans believe the current economic climate is bleak, but that the outlook for next year is much better, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Poll released Monday.

The poll shows that 78% of respondents believe the state of the nation’s economy is poor or very poor. Only 19% think the economy is somewhat good, and a mere 3% say it is very good.

However, when asked what economic conditions will be like a year from now, 46% of respondents expect conditions to be somewhat good, while 6% expect very good conditions.

So a good chunk of us are on the same page.


Hi, President Obama.

09.06.2008 Obamarama, Remember November No Comments

All Right, People, Let’s Get Moving!

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

With Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign officially over, she is focusing on making sure her supporters back Sen. Barack Obama’s bid.

Throughout the primary season, Clinton and Obama expressed confidence the Democrats would unify once a nominee emerged.

As Clinton closed her campaign Saturday, she urged the cheering crowd of thousands to support Obama in his run for the White House, saying she and supporters should “take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama … I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.”

Clinton has vowed to do whatever she could “to ensure that Democrats take the White House back and defeat John McCain.”

The main page on Obama’s Web site has been updated with a message that says, “Thank you Senator Clinton,” and links to a form where visitors can send a message to her.

Clinton’s Web site now urges visitors to “support Senator Obama today.”

Obama released a statement praising Clinton’s presidential run.

“Obviously, I am thrilled and honored to have Sen. Clinton’s support. But more than that, I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run. She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams. And she inspired millions with her strength, courage and unyielding commitment to the cause of working Americans.”

(CNN.)

Dubya is, as always, fully in touch with the reality of the moment:

“I thought it was a really good statement, powerful moment when a major political party nominates an African-American man to be their standard bearer,” he said in an interview Friday with an Italian journalist. “And it’s good for our democracy that that happened. And we also had a major contender being a woman. Obviously Hillary Clinton was a major contender. So I think it’s a good sign for American democracy.”

Yes, THANK YOU, Mr. President…the prospect of four more years of McYou but without even the comic relief of your truly astonishing non sequiturs, mispronunciations and bouts of aphasia is…well, unspeakable.

So I think we all know what we need to do here.

On a side note: For those who backed the Hill, if part of the reason you did so had to do with her truly pathbreaking platforms on universal affordable heath care and increased access to college education for yourself and/or your fellow Americans, let them both know. Campaign links are above; click and type like there is no tomorrow. Now is definitely the time to make your voices heard.

08.06.2008 A Clinton Post that implies no hatred of Obama, An Obama Post that implies no hatred of Clinton, Bush is a cock, Politics, Remember November, for reals 1 Comment

…Hillary the Veep?

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

I’m starting to upgrade my previous estimate of the likelihood of that situation actually occurring–my second upgrade in just a few weeks! (I sound like Microsoft Windows.) Honestly, while what shifted my thoughts on the subject previously from “no way” to “slight possibility” was the ardor and vehemence of many of Hillary’s fans, what has done it this time is the bitterness and outrage of some of Obama’s, at the very idea. Clearly, they would not be so extraordinarily worked up at the prospect if it wasn’t a “real possibility.” I don’t know what it is that they know that I don’t, but I’m willing to concede it must be something, to get them so excited. So that is my latest estimate of the likelihood of Clinton as Obama’s running mate.

Given my aforementioned feeling that I’m missing something(s), I decided to do some news trolling on the subject, and came across the following friendly little article. If the authors have a bias or a bone to pick with either individual, they are hiding it too well for me to detect. Here is the entire article for your reading pleasure, if you haven’t seen it already–if you’re just interested in a quick-and-dirty summation though, here it is:

Why Obama Should Consider Hillary For Veep:
1. White working-class male voter appeal
2. Highly convincing as backup Presidential material
3. Excellent attack dog skills, allowing the Presidential candidate to both benefit from that activity and distance himself from the ensuing strife
4. Strongly reminds people of Bill Clinton, the most recent living symbol of a Democratic presidential regime filled with peace and prosperity who also has great personal charisma
5. Women voter appeal
6. Hispanic voter appeal

Why Obama Should Reject Hillary For Veep:
1. Zero appeal, if not repulsion, to voters looking for a change in the Establishment
2. She doesn’t appear to be overly impressed by Obama in general, which is not exactly the impression you want the Veep candidate to give of her running mate
3. People tend to either love her or hate her, which is a lot of strong emotion aimed at the position of Veep and could have way too much sway towards the negative towards her running mate
4. Strongly reminds people of Bill Clinton, the most recent living symbol of a Democratic president who was completely unable to keep it in his pants, and was aggressively pursued for possible personal financial malfeasance throughout his terms of office, who lately seems to have fallen off the precipice of great personal charisma into making a caricature of himself
5. A black President and a woman Vice-President all at the same time might overload too many “tolerance” circuits in too many American brains

What do you think? Did they miss any major talking points on either side of the debate? The only two I noticed they didn’t really cover was the age aspect–both where it divides women between who supported Hillary and who supported Obama, and how it impacts Obama (young) running against McCain (fossilized)–and the perceived “experience” aspect.

PS: My next article on the subject (during my next work break) is going to be the much-less-gently titled: OBAMA-CLINTON! DREAM TICKET OR NIGHTMARE?! If it doesn’t make me wince overly hard, I may post on that as well.

05.06.2008 A Clinton Post that implies no hatred of Obama, Politics, Remember November 8 Comments

Previous Entries
Newer Entries