Letters to the Editor
sorenreport
Published Letters: 79 Editor's Choice: 7
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I don't know if Clinton's in trouble - but Salon sure is
[Read the article: Is Hillary Clinton's campaign in trouble?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As a long-time reader (even back when Salon was free!), I am appalled that Salon’s journalistic integrity has virtually disappeared. Article after article about the imminent demise of Hillary Clinton – and nothing is too insignificant to present in a negative light if it involves the Clintons. Let’s see – just counting the “liberal” or “left of center” pundits and “journalists” – Matthews, Olberman (I thought he was gonna cry when HC won the New Hampshire primary, he was SO disappointed), and now Shuster have had to apologize to Hillary, their antipathy was so egregious and transparent. Salon, Talking Points Memo, Huffington Post, and Daily Kos regularly slam HC. Posters use terms like “shrill,” “cackle,” “termagant,” “scorched Earth” (remember when HC mentioned LBJ in the same breathe as MLK – what an outrageous racist she is!), “Clintonista,” and my all-time favorite – “your ex-wife!” Left-wing talkers like Ed Schultz are also on the anti-HC bandwagon. Even Randi Rhodes – who up to now has been neutral in the race – yesterday insisted that when Shuster made his “pimp” remark, he was just using the term to mean fixing yourself up. Ha?
Joe Klein, Mark Halperin, and Dana Milbank have all remarked on how the media holds HC to a much higher and tougher standard than Obama. My own home-town newspaper, The Boston Globe, regularly prints cartoons that are derogatory toward HC – with nothing comparable for Obama. When she won the Massachusetts primary by a landslide, there was only a small blurb on the front page. That’s it! The headlines on Reuters are always pro-Obama, even when the news is in Hillary’s favor.
And we haven’t even gotten to the right-wing media.
So, the question is – with all the negative press – how has this woman survived so long?
But there is a much more important issue in play. Why are some people so comfortable with – even supportive of – the media picking our candidates? Building up one, and tearing down another. This has been going on for years now. Remember Whitewater and Travelgate? Remember how the media hated Al Gore – the smartest kid in the class? Remember how Kerry was a flip-flopper because he voted one way on one bill and a different way on a different bill? Remember the Dean Scream? Is it because most of Salon readers are Obama supporters and winning is everything? The obvious media preference for one candidate over another is truly frightening – and undemocratic. It reminds me of the current situation in Russia, where Putin controls all the media – the opposition just doesn’t have a chance.
In the past, this was called yellow journalism – and it’s back with a vengeance.
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Obama played the race card starting in New Hampshire
[Read the article: Barack Obama delivers make-or-break speech on race]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How does that jibe with his speech? It was Obama who started this fight, and it's a tad hypocritical to want to tone down the rhetoric now that it's begun to hurt him.
Remember those early debates when Obama and Edwards ganged up on Clinton and accused her of being untrustworthy - certainly not presidential? ("No, not our Obama! He never says anything bad. He's above that.")
Remember when Hillary's completely factual and innocent remark about Lyndon Johnson's efforts to pass voting rights legislation was deliberately miscast as racist and derogatory toward MLK? ("Only black people can fight for racial equality.")
Remember when the Obama campaign theorized that his loss in the New Hampshire primary was due to the "Bradley Effect" - thus designating NH democrats as closet racists? ("We don't need NH to win the presidency, or Florida, or Michigan . . .")
Remember when Obama's spokesman Jesse Jackson Jr. lied about Clinton's "crying" and said she never cried for the people of New Orleans? ("Hillary hates black people.")
Remember the hue and cry when a Clinton campaign worker noted that Obama's admitted illegal drug use - documented in his own autobiography - may hurt him in the general election? ("Scorched Earth!! What about Whitewater?!")
Remember when Bill Clinton, who has spent the last few years getting low-cost, life-saving AIDs medicine to Africans, was cast as an unrepentant racist because he compared Obama's support among black people to Jesse Jackson's similar support. ("It's terrible to note that blacks might be more likely to support a black candidate. Just terrible!")
So, you reap what you sow. The problem for Obama is this: White people HATE to be called racist for completely innocent remarks.
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You forgive your grandma 'cause she's your grandma . . .
[Read the article: Was Obama's speech enough?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You forgive your pastor/mentor/benefactor because it's helpful to your political and financial aspirations. Not the same thing by any means.
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Obama says his grandma is a "typical white person" . . .
[Read the article: Will Wright hurt Obama's chances?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Someone who is afraid when they see a black person on the street. The interview was played on Air America this morning. Several times. The whole thing. Yikes! What is he thinking? Do I have to say it? There's no typical "white" person - just as there's no typical "black" person. Stop digging, please! Obama played the race card starting back in New Hampshire, and it's coming back to haunt him. This is not going to sit well with middle-American Joes and Janes who need to vote Democratic in November. These folks are not racist - but they sure hate to be lectured about how we should all rise above it - except of course when it's politically expedient to accuse your opponent of being a racist.
Democrats need to focus on a candidate who can get the party together and beat McCain. And I hate to tell folks, but this might not be Obama.
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Salon isn't too much in Obama's back pocket . . .
[Read the article: Obama debuts Pennsylvania TV spots]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now it's showing his commercials for free. Nice and fair and balanced, eh, Salon? Just like you know who.