On Misogyny, Racism, and the MSM
Sphere: Related Content“Independent Democrats” for McCain
Following on the heels of the shocking (SHOCKING!) news that Holy Joe has been advising an anti-Obama swiftboat 527, the Washington Independent brings us word of more independent Joementum for McCain:
Sphere: Related ContentAnd so it must be for us.
As I’m sure my fellow writers can attest I have been, shall we say, “absent” for these last couple of weeks. In my defense this was only partially by choice. You see, I recently moved, then had few issues with work, and then realized I was, for lack of a better phrase, in a “fightin’ mood” (as my Grandfather is so apt to say).
Somewhere during the Democratic nomination process I stopped caring about party unity, civility, and respecting the opinions of others. For all of our sakes I thought it best to step back and let things ride out, let the process come to fruition.
Well, here we are. Whether Hillary Clinton accepts that the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination fight is over or not is irrelevant, it is. We have our nominee and I’m proud to say that the General Election couldn’t have started off with more of a sea-changing bang.
I managed to catch the last half of Obama’s speech online but it was enough to drive a crystal-clear point into my mind: this man will be our next president and it’s our duty as progressives to make damn sure that happens and not a McCain presidency.
Enough with the in-fighting, enough with the name-calling, this is game-time. Regardless of what you may feel about Obama he is the man standing between the Neoconservative/Religious Right and the Supreme Court. After tonight there’s little doubt in my mind that he has the conviction to nominate the right sort of Justices to ensure America remains a secular liberal republic for another generation.
Obama may be the right man for the job but, as he reminds us, it’s up to us to live up to America’s founding ideals. It’s up to us to see this through to the end.
I’ve included the full speech transcript after the fold but, if you have 22 minutes to spare, watch it instead. It’s a display of power, conviction, and impassioned progressivism you’ve likely not seen in years (if ever). It’s well worth your time.
Sphere: Related ContentThrowing darts at a board
As the countdown to the clinch continues, the Village Idiots are growing ever more idiotic at the prospect of talking gibberish when Senator Barack Obama becomes the first black nominee for president of the USA. David Gergen, charter member of The Best Political Team on Television™, just gave a preview of what’s to come by noting that Obama’s now-all-but-inevitable nomination comes “exactly” 200 years after the end of the slave trade.
Got that, folks? We can now officially start talking about racism in the past tense.
With that–and, as this “historic” campaign goes to the next level, the promise of even more hoary, overinflated rhetoric from a punditocracy addicted to soundbite significance–in mind, this refreshingly grounded LRB essay from David Runciman couldn’t be more timely.
Sphere: Related ContentBreaking: John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama
Former Sen. John Edwards is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy Wednesday evening, in a dramatic attempt by the Obama campaign to answer concerns regarding Obama’s appeal to working-class voters, several senior Democratic sources tell ABC News.
The Obama campaign confirms Edwards will endorse Obama at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan Wednesday. The event was originally scheduled to start at 7pmET, but was moved up to 6:20pmET, presumably to have the announcement make the evening news.
[...]
A source close to the Clinton campaign said the Edwards camp gave the Clinton folks a heads up.
“Clearly it’s upsetting” the source tells ABC. “He brings the workers” to Obama.
Another senior Clinton advisor said “it’s not great news.”
“Well I don’t think it’s good news, but there’s a lot of news in this business and we move forward and move past it,” he said.
Asked what effect the Edwards endorsement might have, he said: “We don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see how much of it is transferable,” referring to Edwards’ popularity with white working class voters.
“We would’ve preferred it,” to be our endorsement the advisor said. That’s not a secret.
Update: video of the endorsement below the fold
Read more
The End is Nigh?
Dan Conley, who served as an aide to former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, posted a must-read article at Salon this past Thursday (h/t jrootham @ BnR) detailing how any future concessions by the Clinton campaign might play out. Using Wilder’s departure from the 1994 Virginia senate race as an example, Conley calmly outlines what could potentially be involved in any backroom negotiations between the two prospective Democratic presidential nominees:
Sphere: Related ContentRight Wing Watch: Phony ‘National Day of Prayer’ Pushes Right-Wing Judges
Sphere: Related ContentThe Rules: Coda
Well, we all knew this was coming the moment Rev. Wright dropped the state terrorism bomb and dared to say something positive about Farrakhan [insert sputtering, self-righteous indignation here].
Sphere: Related ContentWhat’s the Matter With America’s Progressive Intellectual Backbone?
Joining in on the dead horse flogging previously initiated by my esteemed co-bloggers Kyle, tas and Dustin, Chet Scoville examines how the reaction in some quarters to, in the words of Joe Gandelman, Senator Obama’s “politically flat-footed” comments re: small town voters exposes the failure of the American liberal intelligentsia to adequately build the intellectual foundations that progressive politicians can later safely expand upon without fear of blowback like what Obama is currently facing (quote after the fold):
Sphere: Related ContentSay It Ain’t So
Seriously, over the past several weeks I could feel the Gravelmentum building up within the ranks of the Democratic grass roots. If only he’d waited till the convention. The superdelegates may have come to their senses and chosen the *ahem* most experienced candidate, the only one who had a chance of beating McCain at shuffleboard, the only white male Democrat left in the race!
Now we’ll never know what might have been.
Sigh.
Sphere: Related ContentHappy Democracy Fatigue Day
Digby asks a (simple) question that a number of us Canucks watching from the sidelines have also posited numerous times during the (over)extended run up to November:
Sphere: Related ContentIs there any reason why the parties choose a nominee through this delegate system at all? Why don’t they just count up the votes and give it to the one who won the most?
If you can’t trust your shadowy over-lords to keep it secret…
What is the purpose, really, of voting in the puppet democracy?
Read more
Psst–Toni Morrison Was Being Ironic*
Shorter NY Times: “A couple of black people standing in front of a building in Harlem are still down with Bubba!”
h/t Racialicious
*Ok, read the “first black president” line in context, then check out Sherrilyn Ifill, Elizabeth Alexander, and Melissa Harris-Lacewell. BTW, Morrison just endorsed Obama. Maybe irony really is dead.
Sphere: Related ContentJohn Edwards, Populism, and the Record
(originally uploaded by John Edwards 2008)
Update: After Edwards’ ugly third place performance at the Nevada Caucuses today, this issue is largely academic. The only question is whether he should drop out now, or wait till February 5th.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In an interview published this past Thursday, populist US Senator Russ Feingold accused John Edwards of ideological patent infringement:
Sphere: Related ContentThe one that is the most problematic is (John) Edwards, who voted for the Patriot Act, campaigns against it. Voted for No Child Left Behind, campaigns against it. Voted for the China trade deal, campaigns against it. Voted for the Iraq war … He uses my voting record exactly as his platform, even though he had the opposite voting record.
When you had the opportunity to vote a certain way in the Senate and you didn’t, and obviously there are times when you make a mistake, the notion that you sort of vote one way when you’re playing the game in Washington and another way when you’re running for president, there’s some of that going on.
Gravel Calls Out Kucinich For Debate Hypocrisy
And you thought the front runners were the only ones goin’ at it sans gants:
Oh, snap!
(I’m not shitting you–he’s still running!)
Via OPENERS.
Sphere: Related ContentHey, Whatever Happened To That Edwards Guy…?
(h/t Greg Sargent @ The Horse’s Mouth)
Sphere: Related ContentJust Call Him ‘Hyuk’
First he gave a shoutout to the Stars ‘n’ Bars; then there was the proposed buttsecks amendment.
Huckabee spoke to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough from Columbia, SC, saying enthusiastically, “South Carolina’s a great place for me. I mean, I know how to eat grits and speak the language. We even know how to talk about eating fried squirrel and stuff like that, so we’re on the same wavelength.”
“Mika, I bet you never did this,” Huckabee went on, addressing Mika Brzezinski. “When I was in college, we used to take a popcorn popper, because that was the only thing they would let us use in the dorm, and we would fry squirrels in a popcorn popper in the dorm room.
A popcorn popper. Now that’s authenticity. As dnA dryly notes, “if there’s anyone who can restore our international standing in the world, it’s this squirrel-eating motherfucker.”
Related: Via CJR Campaign Desk, Laura Meckler on how Hyuk’s unlikely “chaos strategy” has worked to his advantage.
Sphere: Related ContentDonate to CFLF
Blogroll
Pennsylvania Blogs
The Liberal Media
Blogging Liberally
Advertising
Comments From Left Field is a member of...
Memeorandum
Archives
- 2008: J F M A M J J A S O N D
- 2007: J F M A M J J A S O N D
- 2006: J F M A M J J A S O N D
- 2005: J F M A M J J A S O N D
- 2004: J F M A M J J A S O N D
- 2003: J F M A M J J A S O N D
Blog Stuff
