Looking back & looking forward

Whew what a long strange trip it’s been, this primary extravaganza. Waiting for the delayed reaction from Hillary… I just want to blaze forward, look ahead & go about the business of the strategy to have some semblance of sanity running the white house.

Although I subscribe to the “let’s unite the party & put our focus where it belongs”, the grueling element of the primary was brought about by extreme and nasty tactics that caused it to get ugly in the first place.

I am not going to apologize to the folks who supported Hillary. Their candidate played cards that don’t belong in a leadership role. You take the low road enough, you wind up in a ditch.
As much as I don’t want to perpetuate the bickering– I am also not going to pretend serious offenses did not happen.

I want to hear the consession speech – with 4 days to prepare the speech, it had better be good!

Also, I want her to step down with grace. Whatever she says, the next phase of the leadership kicks in & in her case, the train has left the station. The decision is made.

So in a sense I don’t care what she has to say. Take your white hard working, sexist, racist, assassination implying self & step down. If she wonders why things went the way they did, she need only look back at her own words & actions.

As for her disgruntled supporters who swear they will vote for McCain~ I say you have got to be freaking crazy.
Even hard core republicans are jumping ship, declaring they have had it, with what the republicans are serving up- they can’t take it anymore, the list of high crimes & misdemeanors have even gotten to them- to the point they can not be denied, ignored or tolerated.

That being said, the Clinton VS Obama phase is over. Yes it was fierce and nasty, and much of the nastiness came from one candidate. I am willing to let it go, but I don’t think we should forget how hate & division are not values to embrace. We had to overcome those prejudices and dark references, but we emerge from that stronger for having not tolerated it.

We need to heal the wounds, but I think Obama needs to break loose of those “isms” (race,sex, etc) and start his admin with a clean slate, a fresh staff that suits his vision. Not only is the chemistry w Clinton not there, but she is a part of the 20 year old dynasty of of Bush & Clinton families running this country. In a sense, Clinton is a step backwards.

I hope Obama does NOT choose Hillary to be his running mate. Not out of spite or retaliation, but more of a positive embracing of change.

So you won’t hear me writing much more about Clinton. Her time in this scenario is over. You play with fire, you get burned.
I am not saying this to stir up yet another fight, I am simply stating what I observe to be the truth.

So call it karma, fate, or a Zen thought, that things have happened as they are meant to be.
The chips fell where they may. We can move forward.

We now have a person who chose Civil Rights as his field of expertise in law, poised to be the Presumptive President. He is a Harvard law school grad, and taught Constitutional law at the college level. He is a husband & father & loves to be a civil servant. In his victory speech, he remembers, thanks & dedicates his victory to his Grandmother, who helped raise him. He is genuine & sincere. He happens to be a black man, with his head & heart in the right place for leadership. He is an eloquent speaker, with a bright, creative, open mind.
The differences between Obama & McCain are grand-canyon sized.

So I hand an olive branch to the Clinton supporters whose candidate did not win.
Time to reflect and look at the big picture. Given the general election choices, it won’t take long for clarity to set in, as to who is the better choice.

To those who would insist on choosing the facade of a leader as a puppet on a string, with a focus on warmongering- all I have to say is if you would knowingly choose more of the same, the blood is on your hands.

It is more than just an election. It is how our country functions in the world community, for now & future generations. We need to gather together to save the collective soul of this country, and humanity overall.

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Hillary isn’t happy with the MI delegate outcome..

I sat and watched all 10 friggin hours of todays DNC rules committee bitchfest. It wasn’t pretty and the actual decision-making took place behind closed doors for three friggin hours, during which MSNBC did everything but ask their talking heads to tap dance for us.

The decision was seat both states delegates but only give each delegate half a vote. I think this isn’t a bad thing…its called a compromise. But Hillary isn’t happy about the MI part of the decision. She has already sent out an email directing her supporters to the following press release:

Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy made the following statement:

Today’s results are a victory for the people of Florida who will have a voice in selecting our Party’s nominee and will see its delegates seated at our party’s convention. The decision by the Rules and Bylaws Committee honors the votes that were cast by the people of Florida and allocates the delegates accordingly.

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The Reality Of The American Political Establishment?

While this video from The Onion, may be mildy humorous, we believe that a strong case could be made that this is the reality of the Bushliburton administration and the Republican controlled (through the early and middle years of the Bushliburton) Congress. What concerns us more, though, is that this well may be the reality of either a Democratic or Republican controlled Congress, under a Billary administration:

Send Hillary back to the Senate, and send Bill back to Chappaqua.

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Tomorrow…the last of the big primaries..

Primaries..aren’t we tired of them yet? Tomorrow will see half of the remaining delegates decided. Obama’s lead in NC has shrunk like a set of testes in the cold. Hillary is crowing about that, plus her margin has increased in IN.

After tomorrow, the biggest set of undecideds will be the Super Delegates..you know, the ones that don’t have to vote for anyone they don’t want to. There are roughly 260 of those folks still out there undecided.

Gas-tax Hillary will come out smelling like a rose no matter how tomorrow turns out. But those Supers…they still hold all the cards. Damn it.

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Spin City..

Listening to the Talking Heads on MSNBC last night, I was struck by how they sanitize the results by breaking them down into race and gender:

Per the exit polls, 47% of the Pennsylvania Democratic electorate last night was made up of white women, higher than any other race/gender subgroup. Clinton ended up winning them by more than 30 points, 66%-34%; in Ohio, she won this group, 67%-31%. The question that everyone seems to be asking now is: Why can’t Obama put Clinton away?

So, now…instead of Hillary being DOA, its ‘why can’t Obama deliver the knock-out punch’?

I find myself getting wrapped up in this bullshit, drawn into wondering aloud about Obama too when BAM..it hits me.

Every state hasn’t weighed in yet. Fuck the pundits. It’s all spin. Just like Hillary claiming she is now ahead in the popular vote..if you count FL and MI.

But you can’t count the votes from FL and MI because the only person on both ballots was good old Hillary. The Obama camp is putting the following spin out there to counter Team Hillary’s email this morning:

– Obama leads among pledged delegates, and Clinton will have to win about 70% of the remaining ones to overtake Obama on this measure. — to get within 100 pledged delegates of Obama, Clinton will have to win 57% of the remaining ones — and when looking at the total delegate score (pledged delegates and superdelegates), Obama is about 300 away from clinching the nomination; Clinton, according to NBC’s count, is more than 430 delegates away.

Damn, I am mighty tired of everyone’s spin..its making me dizzy.

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The audacity of an African-American Male..

The bold-faced audacity of Obama to think for one minute that he is where he is because of his intellect, his education and his hard work..its(slaps forehead) because he is a black man! Why the fuck didn’t I think of that!..Geraldine did howevah..

I hate that I have to even consider taking sides in this fight. Who is more put-upon..a Woman or an African-American? I have said from the get-go, that between the two Democratic candidates, I do not have a horse in this race. Neither of these candidates are progressive.

I feel that there is very little difference between the programs offered up by HRC and Obama. What differs is the person behind the campaign and the message.

What changed for me is Geraldine Ferraro’s comments the last two days. WTF is she trying to say? Is she saying women are less discriminated against than African-Americans or the opposite because at this point..its hard to say. Is she saying that because Obama is both an African-American and a male, he has no idea what it’s like to be discriminated against just as a woman? Because if the truth be told..

Both women and people of color are discriminated against here in these United States of America. It’s a fucking fact jack. Both are held to a different standard and both are treated as second-class citizens. But back to Geraldine and her sick point of view..

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A vote for Hillary was a vote for McCain

Rachel, step-mom to PraetorOne, is giving us her pov on Hillary this morning. Please welcome her to Sirens Chronicles. She also contributes to the Coalition for a Democratic America~Dusty

I wish that the Hilary supporters in this country would realize that their candidate comes with a 48 to 52 negative approval rating. Sadly, however, the obsessive old white women who so obsessively continue to support her are so eager to run a woman–ANY WOMAN–for President that they haven’t bothered to ask the all important question: Is she the right woman at the right time? Certainly the time is right, but this is clearly the wrong candidate. For all intents and purposes, Hilary leaves the impression that the only thing that matters at any given time is Hilary; that she is obsessed with power and that the only thing she holds precious is herself. Now I admit, that could only be the way she comes off. Those who know her well say that she is one of the warmest and most caring people you could ever hope to find. I only wish that side of her nature would come through on the campaign trail. From what I’ve seen, however she presents a facade which suggests that she is cold, manipulative, and addicted to power.

That said there are very real reasons to distrust Hilary Clinton. Harry S. Truman once suggested that if you run a real liberal against a conservative the real liberal will almost invariably win. Likewise, if you run a moderate or a moderate conservative as a liberal the real conservative will almost invariably win, and we are now dealing with the latter example. We need to remember that Bill and Hillary are products of the Democratic Leadership Convention, the DLC which is little more than a debating society for Conservative, corporatist “Democrats.” In other words they aren’t Democrats at all; they are Lite Republicans and they have done more to split and weaken the Democratic Party than any sex or financial scandal.

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SHOULD I BE DISGUSTED OR NOT?

By SweetPea

Well, well, well. It appears as if Obama and Hilary are openly courting the GLBT vote! That right my pets. Obama has decided to take out ads in four, various news outlets in Ohio and Texas, most notably The Dallas Voice, Outlook Weekly, and The Gay Peoples Chronicles. Not to be out done, Frau Clinton has given six interviews with six gay news outlets including TheAdvocate, Logo, and The Washington Blade.

As a 24-year-old gay male I am of course TOUCHED by the sudden attention, but I also have to remind the readers here at Sirens that there’s a huge diference between pre-election LIP SERVICE and the granting of equal rights after the election. In other words I am still not convinced. Right now Clinton and Obama will do or say anything if it means more votes and another delegate or two, so I am not quite convinced as to their sincerity.

As I said in a recent Post, Obama and Clinton have spent most of this campaign trying to play it safe, playing to the center when everyone knows that the proper way to run a primary is to play to your base during the run up to the convention and THEN play to the middle after you capture the nomination. (Frankly I’m kind of hoping for a brokered conention in which NEITHER of these clowns is elected and a third, more suitable candidate steps into the limelight, but that’s probably just a pipedream.)

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One of Hillary’s soldiers tied to Exelon Corporation

Interesting no? I think so..Hillary’s foot soldier Mark Penn is tied to the same nuclear corporation that sHill was blasting Obama for having ties to.From the writeup we learn that Clinton’s chief strategist Mark Penn was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars through his firm from the very same nuclear energy giant:

This past week, Burson Marsteller, Penn’s powerhouse consulting agency, was paid more than $230,000 by Exelon to help renew a nuclear energy license in New Jersey, the Huffington Post has learned. The payment was for work that took place over several months, and Burson is still employed by the company.

Oh, this is not good for sHillary..you don’t shit where you eat woman..it’s a rule.

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Clinton wouldn’t have a problem garnishing wages…

If you don’t want to sign on for her healthcare plan if she is elected President..then Hillary would just garnish your wages according to this story up at RawStory today. Here is the money quote from her Sunday visit to ABC’s “This Week”:

“I think there are a number of mechanisms” that are possible, including “going after people’s wages, automatic enrollment.”

Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy about Hillary as President?

 

I didn’t think so..

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“Mitt the Hunter” Wins One

So Mr. Goodhair racked one up in Michigan. Does that mean anything?

I say it doesn’t. As most people know, a “ratfuck” was being assembled in Michigan on behalf of Mr. Goodhair. In addition, the other numbers are far more telling; note the number of independent voters who did NOT participate, since Michigan’s delegates don’t mean anything to the dems. If Romney couldn’t have pulled this one off, he’d have been done. Thankfully, he is not done, which means that he will go down south and siphon off enough votes to get rid of Rudy once and for all. He might even be instrumental in getting rid of McCavein, if we’re lucky.

Huck is going to come out on top of this in any event. The Goppers are just going through the motions now. Let’s hope that they shred each other up real good before they get to Minneapolis.

A more encouraging note is the dems’ apparent agreement to shelve the racist bullshit. Leave racism where it belongs, over in the GOP. Let the Klanservatives play the race card. They’re going to anyhow.

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