Letters to the Editor
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kloosterfook
the only numbers that count are the delegates, where the Yale educated corporate lawyer who makes 20 million a year and tells us Obama is the condescending one, is losing, and moreso by the day. the only med I need is a beer- an American ale, not that Heineken horse piss. Hillary has nothing left- nothing- but slurs from the sidelines. She hasn't an original bone in her head. Hillary the Hack. klooster that with your pet sheep.
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Finally HRC Gets Heat for the Bankruptcy Vote
Aside from her vote in favor of the Iraq War Resolution, the Bankruptcy bill was the most disgraceful vote that Sen Clinton and any other Democrat could have made.
The Bankruptcy bill was a "gimme" for the credit card and financial services industry. It made it more difficult for our citizens to declare bankruptcy and, thus, harder for them to protect their assets (like their homes!) from creditors.
The credit card lobbysts portrayed the bankruptcy bill as merely one designed to prevent irresponsible free spenders from enjoying a free lunch. The reality is that most common reason middle and working class Americans are force declare bankruptcy is because of unexpected job losses or medical emergencies for which they are not (or under) insured.
So, while Sen Clinton attempts to portrary herself as a friend of the "working man," her voting record record reveals that, in fact, she's been kicking him in the shins with her vote on the Bankruptcy bill.
I for one am very heartened to learn that Sen Obama is taking her task for her disgraceful vote on the Bankruptcy bill and fighting back hard when she questions his commitment to economic justice for the middle and working class.
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A collosal case of missing the point
I can't believe how many people here miss the point. It's not that working-class people might or might not be bitter. It's Obama's then attributing religious faith and belief in guns rights or concern about an out-of-control immigration policy -- all legitimate things regardless of economic conditions -- to this bitterness.
In other words, he has belittled legitimate beliefs and attributed them to irrational reaction to things beyond people's control.
THAT is the main objection to what Obama said. A guy wrote a book a few years ago called "What's the Matter With Kansas?" that made the same mistake. He couldn't understand why people in Kansas would supposedly vote against their own economic interests (never mind for the moment the question-begging involved in that premise). He was incapable of understanding that to some people, there are things more important than their economic situation.
Obama's remark is wrong and condescending because it attributes people's deeply felt beliefs to the wrong thing -- bitterness -- and not to the fact that these might be, well, deeply held beliefs.
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Tavis Smiley dares to criticize the Obama
We'll have to pull his Black Card now.
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All Walsh All the Time
I long for a day when Salon was not so much about the editor. Salon is full of blog posts, often revealing the editor's bias for Senator Clinton, and of podcasts of the editor. And haven't we heard enough about the editor's many TV appearances?
I've been subscribing to Salon since the late 90s, and I have no idea who the previous editor was, and I liked it that way. I have a vague recollection that once in a while he'd post something (I think the picture of him had a beard), but he was not so much of a presence. Salon was about something besides him--Salon was trying to do something new. I feel that Ms. Walsh has now personalized this on-line magazine to a point that is not in the best interest of its journalism or its readers. We need more investigative work, less opinion (analysis is qualitatively different when done well), less he-said/she-said, less "oh-oh, this sounds tone deaf." We need less "this is my paper, my magazine;" it's unfortunate when she responds so personally to criticism (reminds me of how the Post's Len Downie has reacted criticism over there).
I have had Salon as my homepage for many, many years. However, I doubt I'll renew when it comes up next year, because the substance of this site is declining. Now, promote Steve Benen and/or bring back the Daily Blog report, and I'll reconsider.
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@ T. Suarez
"It's Obama's then attributing religious faith and belief in guns rights or concern about an out-of-control immigration policy -- all legitimate things regardless of economic conditions -- to this bitterness."
You raise a good point, but I think you're misunderstanding Obama. As far as I can tell, he's not attributing faith to bitterness, not at all. He's attributing patterns of voting based on faith, etc., to this bitterness.
He's not saying that these issues are not legitimate, he's saying that the figure disproportionately into electoral politics due to the fact that people don't expect politicians to fight as hard for economic justice as they do for these other "social" issues. So they vote for those things they feel they are more likely to see real results in, even if these issues aren't "objectively" of the highest priority.
Something like that.
Can you see that?
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lol@sugarman, and serving your country
Wow. The kike calling the kettle a white nigger. Racial and religious divisiveness doesn't get any more rich than this. Make some popcorn and pull up a chair, our king David has just pissed off half the readership in one swift (dare I say frugal) broad stroke.
Yes, David, I agree with everything you said up to the point where you slagged the Sons and Daughters of Erin, and I even agree that there is a perception that the Southie crowd are a bunch of racist thugs, even if in your mind they are less deplorable than those knuckle-dragging lousy Palestinians you are so eager to exterminate. But perception and reality are not the same, and even non-Jews have inherent value as human beings.
Maybe you need to watch the "A more perfect Union" speech given by Senator Obama after the Wright debacle one more time. Pay closer attention this time, David. Maybe, if you listen carefully enough, the sudden shock of shame "I was wrong all along!" will prompt you to use that big brain of yours to write an adroit and eloquent retraction of some of your more scorn-worthy missives.
That said, I offer everyone something my father forwarded me in e-mail this morning:
In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,' gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.
In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)
The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery.
For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of commendation.
What is even more remarkable is that this man entered the Marines and Navy not many years after the two branches began to become integrated.
While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/ sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father.
Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections.
Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?
After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American finished his final year of college, entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of America's biggest cities.
This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.