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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I moved from San Francisco to a small town in Tennessee. Both places are equally beautiful. I am at a crossroads on voting at all at this point. Why? I want a President that represents and has respect for all Americans, regardless.....The rift between Democrats and Republicans is horrible; and I will not blame any one person who voted for what an entire Administration has done. I watched the war unfold, like everyone else did. I saw, the media rarely go against the administration until recently. Does anyone recall how Cindy Sheehan was treated? Being called everything from a "media whore"..To who knows what? It was "unpatriotic" to be against this war until the beginning of the run for the presidency. Now, there is a louder outcry and interest, but you have to wonder, if folks had been as interested then as they are now, where would we be? We, are all responsible as voters, as to whom we select. I am tired of a divided nation, a war that is in all of our pocketbooks, (it isn't hard to reason that 80% of what has caused the problem with the American economy-billions of dollars a day to support the war in Iraq) but destroying families of about 160,000 service families. We all need to think about some future questions beyond the obvious, when is the war going to end, because it is just a matter of time before a draft will be started, to sustain just about every plan out there. Also we need to address those who have taken advantage of the economy during this war, many, many have benefited; it is the American people who are now paying for it. Republican or Democrat, all of us. Unless you are filthy, filthy rich, this problematic economy/war related/lack of ability to repair our country is going to last a lot longer than the next four years. I would be surprised if that puts a dent in it.
Remember we all suffer, in different ways; we all cope in different ways. Each and every time we lose a soldier, we do not ask their political party; because when their blood was spilt its only color was American. We are all responsible for that. We must, with all we can be, keep in mind, realistically what will be chosen as a priority, and (if you don't end the war, the economy will still be in trouble); how you end the war, and how you hold the country together in the mean time. The only way we can solve the huge mess our country in, is to reach across party lines, deny petty differences, and work for the common good of our country as a whole. This can only be done if we look at each other as Americans, with respect and deserving of dignity; not small town this, or big city that, or black or white, or rich or poor, male or female. American’s.
I do not want the world to see our President as one who thinks of its citizens as disposable; not by means of their vote or lack there-of, thanks to “party” rules, nor because of where they live, worship, etc.
I too thought that Walsh was going to write a defense of San Franciscans. But we got a rewrite of her gaffe stuff.
Too bad. It would make an interesting read if she'd actually written about San Franciscans. I worked in San Francisco from 1974 in a blue-collar job, the post office. Postal employees get paid the same in San Francisco as in Meridian, Mississippi even though the cost of living is so much higher here. I knew a guy who could only afford a house on the other side of Sacramento. His family was up there in a house, he slept on someone else's couch and worked down here for years. Eventually his wife divorced him. He's bitter, losing the wife, the kids, the house. Now he might have been an interesting guy to interview, you know, if you were Joan Walsh and wanted to find out what goes through the minds of the working class in San Francisco. You know, we all don't sip wine. Some of us drink beer.
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Soooo:
This is the best interpretation: Joan Walsh is not stupid. She knows what Obama meant, but keeps on the "gaffe" like a dog on a bone because she's desperate for her favorite (who is not going to win).
This is the worst interpretation: Joan Walsh is in lockstep with the MSM and attacks anyone who exposes the okeydoke that keeps the oligarchy farting through silk. Instead of actually writing about how politicians over the last thirty years have failed the working class she is protecting the rich and refusing to discuss the issues.
Those are the choices: A Hillary supporter willing to sacrifice any journalist credibility to push her candidate, or another propagandist for the ruling class. Your choice.
If Glenn Greenwald leaves this site, really, there will be no reason to come back here. At least he has the perspective to see this 'bittergate' for what it is: Another hypocritical construction made by the media elite. -- wishyouwell
I must confess I do enjoy reading the comments Joans OpEd solicits and her feeble retorts.
Joan, I am beginning to wonder at your level of education, or at least your EQ. So many of your articles consist of defensive whining about things personal to you, such as your complaints about how Obama said the fights of the 60's (your era) are over, or your complaints about sexism, and now your complaint about your city, San Francisco, getting a bad rap. Don't you have enough journalistic integrity to try to be objective and write about something that matters to your readers and not just yourself? You need to get some perspective. If it weren't for the excellent, rigorously journalistic articles written by Glen Greenwald, I would cancel my subscription.
Joan, get some humility. All of these complaints about your blogs may actually add up to a problem for you. Instead of having yet another knee jerk reaction, do some hard thinking.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
