Letters to the Editor
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Joan - it would be better if you could just admit your preference.
You are so transparent. If you really didn't think it was important, you wouldn't have spent an entire column repeating the phrase over and over and over and then made a video about it.
Just say you are for Clinton. It's okay. Put it out in the open.
I think either one of them would make a viable candidate, but only if their supporters stop with the disingenuous bullcrap.
I wish you spent as much time dissecting John McCain, or calling out the reporters who worship him, as you do making excuses for Hilary and sniping at Obama. If you did, then your personal leanings wouldn't matter as much. Then Salon would be an alternative to the mainstream instead of a disappointing faux-alt echo of it.
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crbread
I need a President who is firmly based in reality unlike our current leader.
All the candidates and the current resident believe in a being that is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent that will nevertheless condemn you to an eternity of infinite agony if you do not believe in it in the face of a total lack of evidence.
Or at least they say they do.. I have my doubts as to the truthfulness of their claims.
Firmly based in reality, eh?
You people slay me..
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And it really didnt have to stop, it just kept on going...
My most sage observation about the grandmothers is that it boils down to two camps, either you identify with the grandmother, in which case you are appalled at the breach of confidence, or you know someone like her, and you understand the point that you can love someone with attitude problems.
I think this article came too soon, while the media is still a giant echo chamber, and we are still digesting events. When Chris Wallace at FOX rebukes his coworkers and another walks off the set of show due to "Obama bashing" then we might have a case of media over saturation. Its too soon to really know what effects this speech will have, pro or con. How much more ill-informed speculation can we take? CBS has a poll out already, but that doesn't mean much long term. And a lot of your readers are concerned about bias and a suspected undertow against Obama. Sharing any legitimate fear, uncertainty or doubt is not likely to be well received at this time.
There is a lot of other stuff cooking, particularly the Republicans. How is that awesome RW noise machine of fearful symmetry holding up? Possibilty it may be showing a few cracks. McCain is acting like Mr. Magoo on his trip to foreign lands. Chuck Hagel may not endorse McCain. It looks like there is still residual rebellion simmering in the party sects. There's a big embezzelment scandal at the NRCC that I haven't seen Salon mention. NRC Fund raising is anemic. Plus 29 incumbent Republicans are retiring. How's that likely to effect the general election? I keep waiting for Salon to do some badass analysis.
Just ask yourself, What would Jimi do?
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you can't please everybody
In the end, all of the superficial criticism means we are not ready to have a conversation about race. People will criticize and find fault in how you perceive things, which based on your experiences. Attempting to make it right or wrong, instead of what is......all shades of gray. Could it be that white people's strong reaction to the words a typical white person is because they don't see Obama as a white person but as a black person, when indeed he is both. Is it more acceptable for the a white person to say about themselves a typical white person? Whereas if are a biracial person said it then it is not acceptable. Then does that fall back into the one drop rule concerning race and the rules therefore change. One can knit-pick about the surface of things but it is not until you peel back the layers do you truly start understanding the meaning, the intentions, and heart of the matter. Finally you can say I may not agree with you but I understand where you are coming from.
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@ Hutman, about context and the real smoking gun:
It's really simple and its all over the internet. Obama called into a Philadelphia radio station and when he was asked about his grandmother and racial things she might have said, he said:
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIATE: The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, you know, if she sees somebody on the street, that she doesn't know, there is a reaction that's been bread into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way.
The problem is not that his grandmother is a racist. He says his grandmother doesn't "harbor[s] any racial animosity." See how clear he is about this. She was frightened after being hassled on the street for money. As someone who has worked with crime victims, I can assure you that this reaction of fear is common not because of race but because it simply makes the victim feel vulnerable. So let's be clear; Barack Obama's grandmother is not a racist.
Curious though, how he implied in his much praised speech that she was. I know if someone falsely implied I was a racist, I would be angry. Maybe she is not only not a racist but patient and forgiving as well.
Who knows?
Maybe he just doesn't like her and it slips out in these Freudian ways.
Unless he elaborates again -- with yet another version of his grandmother -- we are left guessing.
Barack Obama has a truthiness problem.
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And so the insanity continues
You know, I had a really nice day. Great spring weather, stayed away from the keyboard all day, saw the wildflowers beginning to bloom, went out to dinner with friends (a bipartisan group, some Republicans, some Democrats), heard some wonderful live music. Great conversation, lots of laughter. Full moon was shining over Central Texas on the long, winding drive home through the hills. Life just felt, well, good.
When I sat down at the computer very late, all it took was one look at this thread to finally believe that the Democratic party is set for a major fall come November. It's just gotten too ugly, too partisan, too bitter, too nasty, too messianic, too, too...everything, in here and on message boards all over the Net. Joan Walsh writes the mildest of messages about Obama - and many of you want her head on a platter?
Remind us: is this an election or an attempt at deification? Appearances would argue for the latter, in which case a great many Obama supporters can expect bitter disappointment ahead; more sober, swing voters aren't buying in, neither are strong Clinton supporters, and loyal Republicans most certainly aren't.
Pretty sad when I can have far more temperate conversations with those who support McCain than are possible with those who support Obama. In political terms, this is going to be absolutely fatal for the Democrats. It's a sort of suicide.