In addition to genuine sexism, Senator Clinton faced other challenges:

-being the Establishment candidate who voted for the war when a strong surge of net-based politics was ushering in a new era of grassroots support for, yes, moving in a new and better direction (yes Dean did it, but this era was pretty new then)

-this also ties into generational tensions

-her kitchen sink strategy (and all the political wedges it contained) turned many people off; obvious discrepancies in her politicking stuck around the blogsphere rather than dissappearing into the ether once the mainstream media decided it was no longer news

There are tons of us who will happily support a woman candidate in the future so long as her platform and leadership style are in accord with the values of the voters. (Truthfully, I, too, have the secret prejudice of wanting to see a woman in office, but not just any woman for the sake of electing a women.)

How can we move forward now and work to build unity for ALL PEOPLE (even we don't march in lockstep)—to work toward our truly common interests in ending the war, making the government/media more accountable to the people, getting back our civil rights and having a less blindly warlike foreign policy?

Feminism is about well-off white women

And this Broadsheet article helps to demonstrate that.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/61-bicycles/

-- welcomerain

It can be, just as the struggle for equality for black people could've just been about black people, and could've encouraged racial exclusivism (not to say it never did). MLK's genius, I think, was his genuine appeal to universal human values, human decency, human fairness, compassion, and empathy.

There are tons of feminists who feel the same way—they're not just narrowly interested in the welfare of (white) women to the exclusion of other human beings, but want to bring about a more just, equitable, and healthier society as a whole.

There will of course be disagreement among feminists about whether Senator Clinton is the right person for the job.

(As much of a pioneer as she is, I don't think her using this issue a as political appeal to try one more time to paint her progressive, inclusive opponent as a scary, divisive black candidate is doing any favors to feminism, to working class white voters, or even to those who value tolerance.)

But let's not throw out baby with bath water.

Go ask Molly Ivins, Maxine Hong Kingston, Janeane Garafolo, Rachel Maddow, Margret Cho etc., etc., if feminism is a small and exclusivist tent...

In his Countdown interview:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

[scroll to "Webb a possible V.P.?"]

Basically saying that these "hillbillies" (not that he used this term, which is offensive to many, even if people use it in jest amongst themselves)feel neglected, left out of the social justice movement.

But there's good reason, he says, for people in the demographic to work with other people with common interests...

divide and conquer

divide and conquer

divide and conquer

Hey, how did we end up in this war with this deficit & this economy and without our civil liberties?

Yeah, that's the weird part. I'm not at all sympathetic to this guy, but it's odd that they're one year apart and he likely wouldn't be charged with a crime in many state if they had consenual intercourse, and she did send him this picture and he's charged with distributing child porn (tried as an adult? I missed this if it was mentioned)...

I mean, she presumably had the expectation of privacy when she sent it to him, and it's a pretty gross violation to publicly demean her as he did using sex (not mere nudity)as a weapon—it should not only be removed but treated in a manner that respects her rights, but I get nervous about selectively imposing justice to prove a point.

must be something like reasoned debate about the issues that really matter to the country

and without disgustingly dishonest smears, McCain has no ammo to argue for his candidacy?

thanks for the heads up

it's not surprising Novak doesn't want the necCon ideas examined too closely

but i wonder if there aren't thinking people of all political stripes who might take exception to ceding this turf to the Dems?

my aunt,a college-educated white homemaker who runs her own business out of her house, began the election by supporting sen. clinton very strongly, based both on clinton's accomplishments, merit, and the fact that she thought it would be nice to see a woman as prez

she's been turned off, though, by Clinton's campaign, which she thinks is divisive and insulting common sense and voters of all stripes

she supports obama, and is cutting clinton no slack on this latest comment

her husband also supports obama, but thinks this latest comment is being blown out of proportion.

me? i dunno.

there's not much need to mention an assasination to make the point that contests run long. sure, she's tired, though. i'd be exhausted.

i guess the trouble with hurling the kitchen sink around is that you got nowhere to go to wash your hands.

and yes, whether or not we bomb iran is a hell of a lot more important than whether a black man or white woman or a transgendered inuit (i'm not mocking this hypothetical person)gets the job next

aka i don't at all find weeping to be at all closed-minded

like many of us, she's watched clinton adopt the tactics of a right-wing carnival barker and become disgusted

weeping treats other peole with dignity and respect even when she strongly disagrees. i like that in a person.