Letters to the Editor
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Not evil. Just privileged.
And unaware of it.
Protip for everyone who might still be confused: racism and bigotry, though they often coexist, are not the same thing at all.
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@banyantree
I've listened to the tape too. It was deliberate. She was saying that Obama can't get white voters, and the unstated meaning was nothing more complicated than unbridled racism. Yesterday I saw a comment over at the Hillary-worshipping TalkLeft that the blacks were taking over the Democratic Party and as far as I could stand reading the comments no one wrote how racist and paranoid that comment was. So I guess Clinton's racist message is being received loud and clear in Hillaryland. People of color won't vote for her anymore, so screw 'em.
People should go over to Robert Parry's website (ConsortiumNews) and read about Clinton's "oppo research." All of these "eruptions," Wright, Ayer, etc., were all researched and ready for use back in December. No reporter accidentally stumbled on this stuff. Clinton's people leaked it. Times are desperate for Hillary, so expect them to break out "Obama's dead mother was a Red" pretty soon.
I keep expecting Hillary supporters to be embarrassed by this ugly behavior, but they are blind to it. Or they are comfortable with the racism.
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Can't stand it anymore
The only thing that is obvious is that many of the people on this blog are avowed Clinton haters who even though Obama has sewed up the nomination and his reached the pinnacle of his career can't focus on McCain or refrain from kicking Hillary Clinton who whatever her motives are is clearly no longer a threat to their candidate. You'd swear they were GOP trolls not Democrats based on their determined insistence on stirring up the hate between Obama and Clinton supporters.
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Demographics are facts!
Hillary spoke facts...numbers, demographics which are suggesting that whites working people have been increasingly voting for her. She is telling the truth just as polls on all the primaries have shown over and over again. Democrats can rant on and on about her...say she is a racist, whatever, but the polls are telling Democrats the facts even though Obama supporters are upset by the polls or believe that Hillary is making up the statistics even though she isn't.
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Racist? No, but looney nonetheless
Here's a woman who is rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams, better educated than most human beings, an accomplished attorney, a powerful United States Senator, but acts as if her feelings are hurt because she's not going to be made the most powerful person on earth.
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Yes, she was channeling George Wallace
Next question ...
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Hard question here
I've seen numbers saying that over 50% of the population has some colleg and 40%+ has college degrees. Exactly how many Democrats fit the "only high school" label? I think working class includes people with some college now.
To be honest, how many working class people are there in America now? Union membership has shrunk so far that I'm doubtful that it is a good marker. I'll try to look at the Census tomorrow, but I think the "uneducated class white" meme is probably not nuanced enough to really capture what is going on. I suspect education is not the issue. Social conservative and religiously conservative are the issues, and aren't being captured by the media because of the "education" meme.
Not class but culture. That would make more sense to me.
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@cynical
cynical: "The only thing that is obvious is that many of the people on this blog are avowed Clinton haters who even though Obama has sewed up the nomination and his reached the pinnacle of his career can't focus on McCain or refrain from kicking Hillary Clinton who whatever her motives are is clearly no longer a threat to their candidate. You'd swear they were GOP trolls not Democrats based on their determined insistence on stirring up the hate between Obama and Clinton supporters."
Read my past posts and tell me I'm an "avowed Clinton hater."
Also, why would anybody discuss McCain in this comments section? The article is about Hillary Clinton.
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Pragmatism
One of the reasons the racist/not-racist dichotomy is unproductive is because it invariably degenerates into an "is not...is too" type exchange, benefitting no one.
The word "racist" and its variants is one that's simply outlived its usefulness.
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@sesanders
sesanders: "Hillary spoke facts...numbers, demographics which are suggesting that whites working people have been increasingly voting for her."
Um, no. Maybe you didn't read the article? Hillary seemed to be suggesting that hard-working, working-class people are the same as white people. It's not just what she said, it's the way she said it...the seeming implication. Even giving her the benefit of the doubt, it's sloppy.
It should also be noted that the drop in Obama's votes among whites has always corresponded to the time that the Rev. Wright scandal has been the worst. Obama bounced back among whites after the scandal died down.
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@ AJ Calhoun
Very well said yourself, and thanks for the support.
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It Just Goes to Show You
That people tend to be bogged down by little things and the big things walk right by them. Clinton's remarks racist? How about ill-chosen. It's like what Obama said in SF. Sorry, but no one says or does the 100 percent perfect thing all the time, and the more time we waste on this bullshite, the more the important issues elude us.
Oh, and Shawn? STFU. If I were your father, I'd spank your whiny little tantrum-throwing ass and send you to bed without supper.
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She was trying to be precise
These comments sound like she was describing a demographic group that supports her and she was trying to get it right because she wanted to be precise in her description.
They sound and read as if she is reciting exit poll data and wants to make sure she didn't imply blacks are not "hard working" or that she didn't dishonestly include blacks in her working class demographic group.
It appears she was bending over backward not to get it wrong but by merely being specific she is being unfairly slammed as a racist. Enough is enough. I can't wait until Obama loses in November.
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Hillary's race politics
Thanks to Joe Conason for a thoughtful, heartfelt piece. I was particularly impressed with the last paragraphs, in which he recalls the Clintons' opposition to racist politics in Arkansas. As a historian, I can point to too many examples of anti-racist Southern populists who later turned to the race card in moments of, well, dire expediency (original Populist leader Tom Watson was the prototype.) This race turn is sad, but alas, not new. And it is, as ever, horribly destructive.
And as a feminist, I have admired Hillary Clinton, and grieve at watching as she obliterates (her word) her own legacy as a pioneer to be admired. It is time to give Senator Obama the chance he deserves, and merits, to lead a new way of talking about race in America. Please, Hillary, for the sake of your legacy, for the party, for the nation, stop.