Hillary Clinton: Feminist Hero?

Count me in as one of those who is less than impressed with HIllary Clinton’s credentials as a “feminist icon.”  Call me cynical, but I don’t see how she could have gotten where she is without Bill Clinton and the Clinton money-machine in her corner. Just four years ago another woman ran for the democratic nomination and I’m sure we all remember how well she did. If anything, CLinton’s success at getting this far is a reminder of how far women need to go in the political world.

Double standards in the SCLM…

Someone please explain to me why it’s OK for republicans to routinely snuggle up the worst sort of racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-science religious leaders that the Christian right has to offer with nary a whimper from the press yet when an African-American dem candidate has ties to a rabble-rousing African-American with critical things to say about the country that’s a big issue.  I guess the lesson to learn is that bigotry is more of an American value than patriotic dissent. Pathetic…

The Republican War on Voting

The American Prospect has a great article on GOP efforts to exaggerate the dangers of voter fraud. While a lot of GOPers run around like chicken littles proocliming the end of the republic, the truth is far different:

Voter fraud is actually less likely to occur than lightning striking a person, according to data compiled by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. As Lorraine Minnite, a Columbia University professor, observed in the Project Vote report, The Politics of Voter Fraud, “The claim that voter fraud threatens the integrity of American elections is itself a fraud.” In October 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft launched an intensive “Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative” that required all U.S. attorney offices to coordinate with local officials in combating voter fraud. Yet even after the Justice Department declared the war against voter fraud a “high priority,” only 24 people were convicted of illegal voting in federal elections between 2002 and 2005 — and nobody was even charged by Justice with impersonating another voter. (The Justice Department declined to answer questions about more recent fraud prosecutions.) And despite the anti-immigrant frenzy fueling photo-ID laws, only 14 noncitizens were convicted of illegally voting in federal elections from 2002 through 2005 — mostly because of their ignorance of election law.

Why the beef? It’s part of an organized effort to squash voter turnout, which only helps the prospects of Republicans running for office. Thr fruits of this voter suppresion campaign can be seen in Florida, 2000, where a Republican-leaning company was hired by a Republican state official to wipe Florida’s voting rolls of ex-cons, which led to a large number of perfectly innocent African-Americans being disenfranchised, which allowed them to steal the election.

Bush and the Economy

You know… it’s funny to listen to Bush talk up the flailing economy in light of the fact that back in 2000 he talked down the CLinton-era economic boon as part of his stategy to win the White House. Obviously, what matters most is Bush’s take on the economy; the real situation is utterly unimportant.

Posting has been slow the past couple of weeks because of a tough school schedule… I should be able to post more during the break.

Absurd…

Geez… we need better wingnuts:

 

Who on earth votes for these people?

Stating the obvious…

One of the current Yahoo News headlines:

Obama may face grilling on patriotism

The article goes on:

Sen. Barack Obama’s refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.

Now Obama’s wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she’s really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.

Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain.

Please… as if up to now the republicans would never ever consider questioning the patriotism of  a democratic candidate. Saying it “could” be an issue is like saying the sun “could” rise tomorrow… of course on both accounts.

Just ask John “Purple Heart” Kerry and Max “triple amputee” Cleland. Ever since 9-11, anyone who dares questions this president’s decisions on the War on Terror is labeled as a unpatriotic, terrorist sympathizer. Of course the republican slime machine is gonna make it an issue…

What’s the next Yahoo headline? Obama may face grilling on tax-and-spend liberalism?

A sad commentary…

It’s an unfortunate commentary on our society today that I felt obligated to warn my wife about angry republicans on the road who might take offense at the innocuous democratic donkey sticker she put on her car. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before she gets the finger or yelled at by a friendly GOPer.

I’m caucusing tomorrow…

For the first time ever, I’m participating in tomorrow’s Washington State Democratic Caucus.

With McCain the nominee on the GOP side, Obama is clearly the best choice for the Dems if we really want to take back the White House. Nominating Hillary would be a huge risk and a massive blunder, I believe. I’ll report on the experience tomorrow.