As an Obama supporter, while i still have major problems with some aspects of Hillary Clinton's campaign, i have to give her credit for taking a turn into the positive with her recent campaign ads and some of her statements. she is NOT denigrating Obama or hurting the Democratic party's chances in the Fall.
Clinton's recent response to McBush's attacks on Obama were a wonderful and welcome sign of a candidate who MAY be ready to start healing our party and the divisions this campaign has exposed.

Likewise, Obama has stopped aiming fire at Clinton, and has even given her credit as he attacks McCain. another welcome development.

Two questions remain:
1) will Clinton's supporters do likewise, or, as we've seen WAY too much of here, will they continue to make themselves indistinguishable from ReThugs with their hateful, bitter, and patently dishonest attacks on Obama?

2) likewise, will the Obama supporters continue their ridiculous line of arguement that sexism hasn't played a significant role in this campaign?

if either group continues with their denial of reality, we are still in trouble. so let's hope supporters of BOTH candidates stop the ridiculous denial and infighting and get together to beat John McBush!

Because the ReThugs are the Party of Institutionalized Bigotry, the Democrats have become the defacto Party Against Bigotry. This certainly does not mean that all Dem voters are fully on board with this fight against bigotry, but it certainly has meant that many women and most African Americans vote Democrat by default. it's not that they necessarily like or trust the Dems, it's just that they are voting AGAINST the GOP. and of course there are likewise alot of Angry White Men who vote against Dems for the same reason.

Because of this tendency for white men to vote GOP, Democrats CAN NOT WIN without substantial margins among women, and almost universal Black votes for Dems. it would be a very quick road to sure defeat so only a suicidal Dem would play up racism or sexism in our primary. But right now the speed at which SOME of Clinton's and Obama's more suicidal supporters are rushing to lead our party to defeat in November is just staggering.

Whether it is outright denial of the existence of and damage caused by racism or sexism, or the parroting of the hideous ReThug line that anyone who mentions racism/sexism is "playing the race/gender card," these insane Democrats are TOTALLY CEDING THESE ISSUES TO THE GOP. this will KILL us in November.

Look folks, we all now that racism and sexism exist in the US, and take a heavy toll on their victims. (only a complete freaking moron believes otherwise.) and we also know very well that the ReThugs will spend from now to election day saying they DON'T exist, and that anyone who believes otherwise is "playing the gender/race card." so why the hell would we cede them that central point of this campaign? but that is EXACTLY what too many Obama and Clinton supporters are doing.

These hideous fools are hurting our party in 2 ways. First, they are poisoning our party by injecting it with racism and sexism. can't get much worse than that, huh? but they are also hurting the party by saying the GOP is right, tarring anyone who fights AGAINST racism and sexism as "playing the race/gender card."

If we concede that the GOP is right, that the real problem with racism and sexism is not the actual racism and sexism, not the damage it does to real people in their real lives, but instead the problem is the mere MENTION of racism and sexism, then we cannot possibly get back to fighting these bigotries when the primary is over. and a Democratic party that doesn't fight racism and sexism is DOOMED.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you disagree with Clinton, don't couch those disagreements as a dismissal of the impact of sexism. and if you disagree with Obama, don't couch that disagreement as a dismissal of the pain & suffering caused by racism. if we CONTINUE to do that - because that's damn sure what WAY too many of us are doing - we will lose the votes of women and others concerned with sexism, and we will lose the votes of African Americans and others concerned with racism. and we will DESERVE to lose them.

I know web sites don't define the race or the party, but the sexism that has poured forth and/or been dismissed as an important issue my far too many at DailyKos is BAD for our party & our country. likewise, the embrace of racist themes and the dismissal of racism as an important issue by far too many at MyDD is BAD for our party & our country.
You know if you've done this. but there's a couple of easy tests for those in denial: if you frequent Kos, and claim you haven't seen sexism embraced or excused there, or frequent MyDD and claim you haven't seen racism embraced or excused there, you are in denial, open your eyes and admit the truth! likewise, if you have ever written publicly "i'm sick of people turning everything into race/gender" YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. fucking stop it now! before you KILL OUR PARTY.

A Democratic party led by people who dismiss sexism is not worth supporting. A Democratic party led by those who dismiss racism is not worth supporting. But if you are that kind of Obama supporter that continues to rail against sexism, thank you & KEEP IT UP! or if you are a Clinton supporter who continue to speak up against racism, thank you & KEEP IT UP!

But now it's time for ALL OF US to start supporting those who've supported this party, the women battling against sexism and African Americans fighting racism. One clear way to do this is for us to call out supporters of OUR candidate for these -isms, not just the other candidates supporters. Make this a party we can be proud of again, as opposed to the shame so many of us have felt seeing these bigotries spewn from the mouths of Democrats.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE! Put racism and sexism back on the retreat!

crossposted at DailyKos

Hillary Clinton has finally gotten a clear path to winning the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. There is no other path, she has only one road to victory.
It will take three-steps:

1) LIE
Lie by claiming that the election is not about pledged delegates, but popular votes.

(OK, so you've lied and changed the measurement to popular votes. unfortunately, she's still losing, BIGTIME. so you have to go to Step Two...)

2) CHEAT

Cheat by claiming you are ahead in popular votes. do this by NOT counting all the voters in caucus states, but DO count votes in noncontested primaries in Michigan and Florida.

(OK, you've lied and cheated, but there's still the pesky insurmountable pledged delegate lead to overcome. she does this in Step Three...)

3) STEAL

Steal the Democrtatic nomination for president by getting the Superdelegates to OVERTURN THE WILL OF VOTERS IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES AND CAUSCUSES.  
Hey, the Superdelegates were put in place for EXACTLY this reason, to steal the nomination in case a non-establishment candidate was chosen by the voters.

Yep, it's that simple.
and it's her only path to victory. luckily for her, she is very good at all three tactics, so this should be a piece of cake.

All she needs now to make the plan work is a bunch of corrupt, dishonest, and shameful Democrats to follow her down her sordid path...

hmmmm...
i wonder where she'll find those...?

(written for and Crossposted at DailyKos)

what in the fuck is going on here?

I am so angry and disappointed i can't see straight. I came to my favorite web site today to be greeted by one of the great pieces of misogyny in liberal political history. I am currently in shock after reading a diary from DHinMi.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4 /19/04313/0323

It is just too vile for words. and the worst part is that some people LIKED the post. they should be as ashamed as he is.

The Diarest should, IMO, be banned from the site, or at least suspended. he certainly should be removed from the front pages, if he appears there. this human jerk off is HURTING the Obama campaign, he's hurting this website, and he's hurting the reputation of progressive men everywhere.

If this gets me banned, this site is not worth staying.

Well, i thought this song was an effective theme song for any feminists anywhere on strike against misogyny, exploitation, and sexist bullshit anywhere.

This is possibly the greatest song ever recorded, the Pretenders "Pack It Up." It is an ode to leaving scungy male environments where women are treated as objects only to be seen and not heard.

While i am an Obama who seriously distrusts Hillary Clinton, i agree that some of the attacks on her and her supporters have gone FAR past any reasonable differences or political attacks, and over the edge into straight-out woman-hate.

And that ain't good for anybody. So whenever you find yourself in a situation where you aren't being respected (male or female), it is time to Pack It Up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYWwQQhD k0&feature=related

Lyrics beneath the fold...

(for the first time on any website, i am going to beg for Recs, so as many people will hear these awesome empowering lyrics as possible.)

Since it's Tax day, i thought it was a good time to get away from the horserace and back to issues. And combatting the lies that Haters like Lou Dobbs tell is one of the most important issues to me. Of course Dobbs isn't the only one out there fighting to make the lives of some of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters even worse, he's just the poster boy.

One of the most easily seen-through lies of the Haters is the bullshit notion that "illegal immigrants don't pay taxes!" that is freaking ridiculous. obviously, they pay sales taxes on each and every taxable item they buy. but another huge problem with that lie is in the area of social security and payroll taxes. Illegal immigrants pay into these funds, but rarely recieve anything back for their contribution.

of course many of us know that one day, at present rates, the Social Security Fund will run out. But did you know that if we stopped illegal immigration, the fund will would run out sooner? it's a fact. so, yes, you got it right, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS SAVING SOCIAL SECURITY! tell that to next bastard like Lou Dobbs when they start spouting their nazi propagnada about illegal immigrants breaking our bank.

Below the fold is an excellent article detailing the social security tax situation, and how illegal immigrants are paying in, but not taking out. don't miss the comments: not a single immigration Hater that chimes in with Immigrant Hate EVER addresses what the article says, they just keep right on bashing, facts be damned!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/head line/biz/5695140.html

While as expected, some of Hillary Clinton's supporters have followed her into the arms of the ReThug Hate machine, I noticed what might be a very hopeful sign that other Clinton supporters are beginning to step back from the brink. While of course quite a few hateful attacks on Obama that sounded like they were written by Republican trolls went straight to the top of the Rec List here, while reading the comments i noticed a very surprising development.

I read the comments in one of Allegre's right-wing hit pieces that made the Rec List, and i got a potentially important and very welcome surprise! Despite making the Rec List, the vast majority of comments strongly disagreed with the Faux News tripe that was being peddled by the diarest. This is a very good sign. While making the Rec List shows that some people here are still willing to work for the Republican party in this election, their lack of willingness to put their names in support of this hate in the comments of the thread is hopefully an indication they are beginning to wake up, and be ashamed of what their candidate is doing. (yes, their names will appear if you click the "who rec'd" button, but that's less obvious that putting your name in the comments, and joining the discussion on the side of the Haters.)

So i'd like to commend all those Clinton supporters who did not follow follow their candidate over the cliff in her latest blatantly hypocritical attack on the Democratic party. (Hypocritical because Clinton herself was UNFAIRLY slimed in the exact way over her remark that her critics wanted her to "stay home and bake cookies." i don't remember any Dems joining the ReThugs calls that this proved she was an elitist)

In the last few weeks, Hillary Clinton has done some very heavy lifting and hard work in this campaign. unfortunately, in that work she has taken the side of and done the bidding of the GOP. in my opinion, it is even more unfortunate that some of her supporters, some of whom have been loyal to the Democratic party for years, have now followed Clinton into the arms of the Republicans. one day, they will very ashamed that they aided the work of the party of the hate.

There is no reason for any Democrat to continue following a candidate who has joined the other side. while Hillary Clinton may enjoy a very friendly relationship from the Senate with President McCain after she helps elect him, there will be no such reward for her followers, who will only be left with the bitter fruits of the devastation McCain's presidency will wreak on our nation and the world. this is especialy true for women voters, who, as women citizens, will be the biggest losers in a McCain administration, with McCain Supreme Court Justices.

So i salute those who, while they may still support Clinton, are not joining her in her latest attacks which are outrageous, hypocritical, and harmful to the entire Democratic party. and of course i salute even more those who have decided that finally, she has gone too far, and refuse to help her any further since she's become an arm of the McCain campaign.

And i again BEG those who are still wearing their blinders so tightly to please STEP BACK FROM THE BRINK. do not follow Clinton over the edge in the land of ReThug hate. she has disgraced herself, but YOU can now play the biggest role in stopping her from bringing the entire party, and thus with president McCain, the entire country, down with her. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, shake free from the shackles of blind allegiance and stand up for Democratic principles of speaking truth to the American people about the deep mess we are in, and many of us are bitter about. we can bring needed change to this country, but not if we follow a path set by the GOP or their appeasers in our own party.

The ReThugs have won alot of elections lately with their divide and conquer style of politics. convince the American people that the problem is not that their government has utterly failed them, but that the real enemies are our brothers and sisters in our midst. pitting one group against another has yeilded great results for the ReThugs. we will NEVER win if we can't adequately fight these bogus charges.

The 2 Democratic nominees have both lived thru a time in their political careers when, because of poorly phrased remarks the ReThugs have attacked them mercilessly as being the enemy of the everyday American.
For Clinton it was "cookie-gate" where she was slimed by the ReThugs machine as an elitist that hated stay at home moms.
For Obama it is "bitter-gate" where he is being slimed by the ReThug machine as an elistist who hates small town America.

Both charges are hateful and inaccurate, and if we as Democrats don't join together to fight ReThug crap like this, we LOSE.