Leverage

One of the ironies of this election is the argument that, no matter how much Obama may disappoint us, we still have to vote for him in order to preserve Roe v. Wade. We must have a President Obama to appoint liberal judges to the Supreme Court! cry the possums. The problem is that Obama is the wrong Democrat for that argument.

The truth is that if Obama himself were being floated as a possible Supreme Court appointment, progressives would be opposing him as too conservative.

Read What Violet Says

Educate Yourself

Vetting our two Democratic presidential candidates has definitely been a mixed bag. On one hand, Hillary Clinton’s life and political history has been in the news and reported online for many years. Barack Obama is another deal. He has essentially gotten a free ride in the national media, only being questioned seriously when the news was so shocking that the mainstream media had no choice but to report it.

So I went hunting, and was often surprised at what I found. It amounts to a pattern that I find dismaying. There are a lot of links here, documenting sources for my conclusions, and there is a lot to read.

Here is my list, in no particular order. See if you agree with me, and answer the questions for yourself… did he really not know, or is it just that he didn’t mind?

READ IT HERE

Stolen Election 2008

With the determination not to allow a revote in Michigan and Florida and no word from DNC spokesman Howard Dean on a plan to seat the delegates, it's looking more and more like another stolen election for the Democratic nominee and, if the political status quo have their way, it will be Senator Clinton who gets shafted.

I wonder if the fact that Obama voluntarily took his name off of the Michigan primary slate will figure into the determination. Was this just a bad political decision or a sneaky calculated move? Was it Obama's intent to disenfranchise voters in order to promote a win for himself? It appears so.

In Florida, Obama ran political commercials on MSNBC and CNN in violation of the DNC rules forbidding candidates to campaign in that state. Oops! He blames this on buying a multi-state block of advertising and apparently no one noticed that Florida was included. Wow, chalk another one up for the Uniter.

And what about the press conference Senator Obama held after a Florida fundraiser? Oops, again! Not to mention that in that press conference he vowed "he'll do what's right by Florida voters". Really? When? Now Obama is apparently hiding behind his lawyers:

Obama has yet to declare his support or opposition, although his campaign has raised a number of procedural and legal questions about the most recent proposal for an early June primary in Michigan.

"The proposal offers a rerun for the state but not for all the voters,'' Bob Bauer, Obama's election lawyer, wrote in a memo during the day. He warned of the possibility of numerous legal challenges and embarrassment to the party.

As a Clinton supporter, I don't believe it is fair to split these delegates 50-50. That is completely unjust. Hillary won both of those states and to equally divide these votes is not fair to the voters. By the way, is the DNC enforcing all of its rules uniformly?

Finally, if the DNC and Dean cannot come to a solution that not only the candidates, but the voters of Michigan and Florida agree on, this election may as well be handed to McCain on a huge old silver platter, tied with a great big red, white and blue bow.

Sigh.

Cross posted at MyDD

It's Not About Race

Obama's speech today had much to do with an underlying angry current in the Black community and his belief that due to his unique life experiences (including having a White mother and a Black father), he is the only person that can heal the divide and bring this country together.

Apparently, this can only be accomplished by electing Mr. Obama President. This will appease Blacks, who feel the pain of segregation and racial bias and have let these feelings fester for years and years. According to Obama, one can see that anger in the videos of Reverend Wright's divisive sermons (of which Obama now admits to have witnessed after days of claiming he was never present). This can only be remedied by Obama and only if you elect him President. However, it seems to me that if this anger has been festering for so long, electing a Black man President isn't enough to heal it.

Racism and sexism are both alive and thriving in America. Unfortunately, Obama is all too willing to use his race as a wedge and is very quick to label any remarks that don't suit him as racially motivated. It is a definite pattern in his campaign, starting with Clinton's statement about MLK before the South Carolina primary and culminating in Gerry Ferraro's remark last week. Now, he's made himself the Black candidate for President.

I find this quite disingenuous. If Obama is truly distressed about the injustice and divide in America, he would better serve this cause by making this his life's work. He claims to have started as a community organizer and he could do much more for for injustice by working towards this healing, using his amazing oratorical gift to bring people together. He seems much better suited to that, although I do have to say what has he done for his people so far?

I believe that our next President has an enormous task. President Bush has done so much damage, the next President was have multitude of difficult issues to face. Healing a racial divide is not one of them. In other words, racism has no place in this presidential election. It's only here because Obama has given it a place - front and center.

If Hillary was giving speeches about the disgraces, injustices and bias that women have had to endure for years and years and she made it a cornerstone of her campaign by vowing to heal that great divide, she would be vilified and accused of alienating an entire gender.

Obama predicates his campaign on not voting for the war. A disingenuous issue at best, as he was even not a member of the Senate when the vote was taken. But he has the luxury of saying how he would'a if he could'a.

Obama now chooses to stand by a Black spiritual leader who has falsely stated that America is responsible for Aids and 9/11. A leader that damns America, White people and screeches that Hillary has never been called nigger. It is difficult to believe that in his 20 year relationship with Rev. Wright Obama never heard him say such things, especially when it was revealed Obama knew very well he may have to distance himself from Wright in this campaign if his divisive and false statements were revealed. Selective memory is a very convenient tool, isn't it?

Obama's speech today was not about race. It was a politician's speech to save his campaign from his association with Rev. Wright. Plain and simple. The man who preaches change and unity lied about ever witnessing these sermons. Today he admits he was present when these words were spoken and he threw his White grandmother under the bus in an attempt to make his case for not disavowing Wright.

Obama is nothing more than an unvetted politician scrambling to keep his campaign from going down the tubes.