Letters to the Editor
Rocky57
Published Letters: 213 Editor's Choice: 4
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Excuses and Critiques
[Read the article: Can Democrats learn to talk about race?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"...If this were someone else trying to push a view they just admitted was false, Joan would denounce the arrogant double talk. Why does she make excuses for the same behavior she critiques in others?..."
Because, I believe that Joan, like many female progressives, is bitterly disappointed that a woman candidate for the Presidency has been stymied by a neo-phyte coming out of nowhere. I don't think she can accept the fact that Hillary Clinton was just not ready enough for prime time and that the mistakes she and her campaign made have been made even more glaring by the mostly smooth efficiency of the campaign the "neo-phyte" has fashioned from the bottom up.
Furthermore, Joan should have seen this coming what with Hillary's War Authorisation vote. How on earth did Clinton and Walsh think the former was going to get that past the core of the Party?
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Joan, Say Whaaaa...??!!?
[Read the article: McCain campaign baits Obama on Clinton slurs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Joan: "I've talked about Clinton's need, in the closing days of the campaign, to improve her tone; clearly Obama too needs to work not to alienate Clinton supporters. He's done a great job being gracious all week, from his victory speech in North Carolina Tuesday night to his remarks to CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she'd be on "anybody's short list" for vice president. But Obama should be careful to make sure surrogates like Kennedy don't squander the good will he's trying to build. I'm not sure Clinton merits or wants the VP slot, but she at least deserves more respect than Kennedy showed while both campaigns figure out what comes next. It would be a shame if McCain's campaign did a better job feigning respect than Obama's did actually showing it...."
He's done a great job," in that respect, period. He certainly hasn't grovelled in the murk of "As far as I know, [he's not muslim/he's a Christian]," "[he's inexperiencd] and John McCain and I are ready" from Day One with a dollop of "hardworking americans" are "white people" who support me [and, therefore, everyone else supporting Obama are lazy fops] while letting one of her main Texas hispanic surrogates, Adelfa Callejos, publicly blurt out that "hispanics wouldn't support" a black candidate while issuing only a halting condemnation and, before that, have Bill Shaheen, Charley Rangel, Bob Johnson and Mark Penn all but call Obama a drug pushing pimp and I'd posit that the pig pen is pretty much fully occupied. With all that, I have to say that the gracefulness Obama's shown toward the firm of Clinton, Ferraro and Callejos, aside from reflecting on the man's inherent decency, is pretty much undeserved.
Kennedy spoke from the heart, after witnessing all of the above and more. As for Obama? Again, he doesn't owe her a damn wit more than how he's comported himself, so far, on the campaign trail.
Ps: As for the idea that the demographic which has been most loyal to Clinton, older, white, female Progressives, deserting the Party or Sitting This One Out? I don't buy it...the S.Ct hangs in the balance and with it abortion rights, gender equality, issues of sexuality and rolling back the War and the Power of the Presidency. Those are issues that that demographic cannot afford to take a powder on. Again, considering Obama's on-going conduct toward Clinton, if they did they'd be, in the immortal words of my Nana, "cutting off their nose to 'spike' their face" While sort of verbally maladroit, you pretty much always got the picture with gramma.
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re: Kennedy
[Read the article: McCain campaign baits Obama on Clinton slurs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"...In several conversations with both Clintons Kennedy argued that using race would damage the Clintons personally and the party generally...."
Kennedy certainly turned out to be prescient, didn't he? On all counts, unfortunately.
"...His last conversation with Bill Clinton was reported to have ended in an angry argument, and it was also reported to have been the reason Kennedy endorsed Obama as early as he did...."
Typical Clintons. Bull-headed, self-centered and obstinate to the end. And, it also puts the lie to the "it was only a mistake; it's an unfortunate choice of words" defense that defenders of the Clintons have employed, at various times, to attempt to explain away the racially tinged comments of Hillary, Bill, Gerry and others of the Clinton electoral entourage. Guess what? The Obama wing of the Kennedy clan can juat about take their gut-feelings about the respective candidates to the bank.
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@CarolRichards
[Read the article: McCain campaign baits Obama on Clinton slurs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"...I don't need Joan to get giddy about any of these candidates. I just like her, how she writes and that she is open to dialog. She isn't mean...."
I agree. The face I often see on her video blogs reinforces my belief that she's a sensitive, perceptive writer who's been torn by the cultural x-currents of this campaign. At times, I've excoriated her on some of her positions vis a vis the primary campaign but that hasn't killed my affinity for her or her magazine [I believe she's mainly responsible for keeping a balance between the neighborhood barrista shop atmosphere Salon has long been noted for and the busy (almost too busy) megablog-like air of an huffingtonpost).
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Srphred
[Read the article: McCain campaign baits Obama on Clinton slurs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Obama has been wretched to Senator Clinton in this campaign. Hell will freeze over before he'll ever get a vote from me"
C'mon, srphred...if Obama'd had kneeled, anointed Clinton's feet and then kissed them, during the course of this campaign, he still wouldn't have gotten your vote.