Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 228 Editor's Choice: 9
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@ohmercy - how are Obama's nutball supporters his fault, but Hillary's nutball supporters not hers?
[Read the article: The other 18 million]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Meta sailor: As a matter of fact, YES!
Obama supporters accused Bill Clinton of raping women?
Accused Hillary of killing her friend Vince Foster?
Accused her of thieving, involvement in drug smuggling?
Do I have to remind you of the entire 1992-2000 era?
And far more.
Haven't you been over at Huffbama Post and so many other blogger-boyz sites?
that crap comes up all the time.
Well, that has not been my experience. I have not come across that.
What I have come across, is nuts saying Obama is a disciple of Farakkhan, is involved in mafia-related real estate deals, secretly wants to destroy Amerikkka, is some kind of inexplicably programmed Muslimbot, Michelle Obama is a covert Black Panther, etc. etc.
But I also think some distinctions should be made here, between bloggers who *comment* on media sites, and the major media, *and* the campaigns themselves.
Is there a radio personality of Rush Limbaugh's stature, going after Hillary with total lies like Rush himself was in the 90's? No. Is there a news network of Fox's prominence, going after Hillary with lies and innuendo like in the 90's? No. Is there a print and media empire like Scaife's, going after Hillary like in the 90's? No.
Is there a member of Obama's campaign of the prominence of Geraldine Ferraro, who stated Hillary can't win because she's a woman - but she's also had it too easy because she's a woman? No. Is there a member of Obama's campaign of the prominence of Bill Clinton, who said states that Hillary won don't count because women voted there? Hell NO!
Which is all really besides the point - what does that have to do with Obama?
Because it seems that you're saying Obama should apologize for his nutball supporters, but Hillary doesn't have to apologize for hers.
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@Joan Walsh - the end of this comment chain is probably near. :)
[Read the article: The other 18 million]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]At least, this will probably be the last letter I write about this article.
I understand why, for practical reasons, Obama has to win over Hillary's constituencies. Nothing is being given to him or *should be* given to him. He's going to have to prove himself as a viable alternative.
But I think a lot of the disagreement with this article comes from the implication that Obama must make up for Clinton's sexist treatment by the media. That really doesn't seem right.
And to specifically hold Obama at fault for not defending Chelsea Clinton against media sexism - but not to hold Hillary at fault for not defending Obama *or* his wife against racism, flag pin crap, and thinly-veiled (and ridiculous) anti-Muslim bias? Isn't that a double standard?
Somewhat separately, I do wish you would correct the sentence in the 4th paragraph of the article. Hillary did not "essentially tie" Obama, any more than Gore "essentially tied" Bush in Florida or Kerry "essentially tied" Bush in 2004. I deeply wish Gore or Kerry had won - but "ties" in politics do not exist.
But, regardless of all of that, and of all the issues discussed in this long and varied comment chain - I expect Obama to be completely and sincerely gracious, considerate and accepting of all the people from the other side of this historically hard-fought campaign. I am therefore not just hopeful but certain that we can all move on and more importantly move forward.
And I definitely think that the ability he shows to inspire his former opponent's supporters now, will preface the ability to unite and inspire our country, if and when he defeats McCain in November.
Cheers and best,
~j : )
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May lighworkers save us from this kind of coverage.
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Man.
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The end of her campaign also means the beginning of GOP divide-and-conquer ops.
[Read the article: Clinton news roundup]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From Wikileaks.org :
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Divide_and_conquer:_McCain%27s_plan_to_wrest_Clintonion_women_from_Obama%3F
MEMORANDUM
To: *******
From: S. Schmidt
Date: May 15, 2008
Subject: Clinton Strategy
...the Democratic Party is becoming increasingly polarized along certain segments of its base...[There is a] growing bitterness between certain supporters of Clinton and the Obama camp in general...
The specific group we are targeting is a cross-section of white, female voters over the age of 40....
...We have already worked to reinforce the Clinton campaign’s narrative about the unfair treatment that some networks, specifically MSNBC, have given her camp....
Simultaneously, our team has been testing new lines of attack through independent pro-Clinton communities on the Internet. Our hope is that our message here will spread by word-of-mouth. Our local community organizing
has also been successful. We have organized dozens of “meet-ups” across the country for Clinton supporters, and we have used that time to stress the importance of punishing the DNC for choosing the undemocratically selected
far-left Obama. At the moment, this is nothing more than a headache for the Obama campaign. With a greater commitment on your part, I hope to see it metastasize into something much more.
What else do I need to say, except: look out.
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@AKA Smith - So, be aware of it. That's all.
[Read the article: Clinton news roundup]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You had no objections when the racist meme was being thrown around left and right at every Clinton supporter, did you?
Actually I did. I spoke out against it on Dailykos and elsewhere.
Obama should have quashed the sexist comments of some of his supporters long ago.
Well, I don't really understand how he can do that, any more than Hillary can stop racism that might occur among her supporters. Or, to be fair to McCain, what he can do about racism that will probably occur among his supporters either.
If he paid his female staffers less than his male staffers for doing the same type of jobs, then that's not only sexism, it's discrimination.
If Hillary did the same thing, is that sexism too?
Before people start throwing dirt at other people, they should clean up their own house.
Always. Agreed.