Letters to the Editor
-
This is the last straw
The talking heads this morning are all about Obama's "elitism", thanks to right wing enablers like the Clintons and Joan Walsh. It is disgusting.
Considering the news last week about Cheney et. al. sitting in the White House plotting how to torture people - that is, clear evidence that this country is run by war criminals - the idea that the editor of Salon would waste her time being a concern troll on behalf of the right wing is appalling.
There are a number of reasons to read Salon. Joan Walsh is not one of them.
-
AKA, say it isn't so
AKA, this is the problem I had with your affirmative action line of questioning. Do you willfully miss the point or is it you truly don’t understand? I see you’re going to use this whole discussion of white privilege as a prop to say things like “Everyone who prefers Clinton must be a privileged white racist.” I guess you didn’t get where I was going with that. The fact that you prefer Clinton isn’t even important; even white Obama supporters should examine the privileges they receive soley based on their skin color. Also, privilege is privilege and encompasses more than just whiteness. For example, though I grew up poor, and am a black woman, I enjoy many privileges today. I am thankful for my “elitist” higher education. And I may not be Hillary Clinton, but I make a fairly comfortable living. Having all of these privileges is not to say I have not experienced some type of discrimination based on some of the aforementioned things. Do you get it now? It’s about examining the roots of power and how that affects our normal lives. Again, the whole point is that, if we participated in exercises like this, we might understand each other a little better.
On a side-note, AKA: Something Obama and I disagree on is his pro-gun positions.
On a side-side-note: It is hilarious to read all these white people (who happen to be Clinton supporters) expressing umbrage to Obama lumping all white people together. (We’re not the same, dammit, we have different opinions.We’re not typical white people!) While I don’t think Obama is doing this (he’s white, as well as black, for chrissakes), this is something that many non-white people have to confront on a daily basis (another privilege you get being white, AKA). Perhaps one of these people will think twice before saying or thinking blacks, Hispanics, Asians, whatever all think alike. Or maybe not: There are posters like ShawnWM who in one breath criticizes Obama for being racist against whites, and in the next says blacks are only voting for Obama because he black and are therefore racist, and that Clinton-supporting Hispanics think alike, but in a good way since they vote for Hillary!
And, finally, why is elitism is being equated with education? How sad it that? As I said in a previous post, I think education is the working class and poor woman’s greatest weapon.
-
@cytherea
It's not what he said, and you know it. What he said was that people in that situation, those who have been abandoned by the government, make voting decisions based on what are basically non-issues because they know that nothing is going to be done to actually help them. So they pick a candidate based on religion, when the government and religion are isolated by the Constitution anyway. Or the Second Amendment, when that isn't going anywhere, ever, especially in Pennsylvania. Or any of 100 other things that are easy for candidates to talk about because the answers are cookie cutter and have no adverse effects on their corporate sponsors.
Since the greatest exodus of jobs in our history took place under a Clinton, I can see why HRC is grateful for the opportunity to turn this into a name calling contest instead of having to answer for the policies she has supported for 15 years.
-
Only in America is "elitist" a pejorative
We're the only industrialized country dumb enough to cast off a potentially transformative leader because he's too smart and speaks the truth.
We're the only industrialized country dumb enough to not realize how dumb we are and insist on leaders who are just as dumb as we are so we don't feel so dumb.
What a country!
-
Still an optimist with HOPE
At first I was outraged & saddened that Hillary appears to believe that gleefully jumping on Obama's words might lend her some badly needed credibility as to her campaign's recently exposed confusion regarding trade agreements. Angry too, that her words so closely echo that of McBush. However, upon further reflection, continued harping (ooh is that a sexist word if I'm a woman, referring to a woman?) on the subject just might blow up in her face.
The "god, guns, & guvmint" blue-collar, working-class faction have been & already are solidly behind the republican party, for the most part (though the ones I know see McCain as far too liberal). This segment is a large part of the FoxNews audience...consequently, those voters can pretty much be written off as a loss, anyway. The republican party has done an extremely proficient job branding themselves as the "patriotic party", which resonates with this demographic.
Hillary's biggest vulnerability here is that the more she denies the anger bubbling beneath the surface of democratic and independent voters, the more clueless she appears, and the larger a role that sweet $109 mil seems to take in informing her opinions. (Let just stick our carefully coiffed heads further up our colons! They're all happy! & optimistic! out there...no bitterness too see here! Move along, now...).
The longer Obama has to clarify & expound on this theme, the better off his campaign will be. Tapping into that anger & frustration, acknowledging and validating it, can definitely work in his favor. The trend seems to be that the more time OB has to connect with voters before a primary, the more he is able to distance himself from the democratic sleaze machine that disgusts independents like myself.
just my $0.02, worth less than ever these days.
-
What a difference a week makes
Rasmussen Daily Tracking Polls
Primary
Date ------------ Clinton ----------- Obama
04/08/2008 ----- 40% --------------- 51% ---------- Obama + 11
04/13/2008 ----- 46% --------------- 45% ---------- Clinton + 1
General
Date ------------ McCain ----------- Obama
04/09/2008 ----- 45% --------------- 46% ---------- Obama + 1
04/13/2008 ----- 50% --------------- 42% ---------- McCain + 8
12 point primary shift, 9 point general shift
A Blip or a Trend? We'll see.