I was reserving this second post to write about how it was mathematically and politically impossible for Hilary to win the nomination, barring a political miracle (i.e. Obama pulls a McGreevey). But since the stories about the clintons tax returns....I have veered in a new direction.
One of the things that I could not wrap my mind around for the past 6-8 months is why Hillary Clinton is running for President? I have been asking myself this question for a while now in the context of the thinking based around this thought: "What more could two people really ask for out of America?" And with the release of their tax returns which shows earnings of $109 million since 2000. That is right. $109 million, DOLLARS in the past 7 years. That is an average of just over $15 million a year. Talk about cashing in, hey, I don't blame them for it, not one bit. There isn't wrong with making a buck. However, as a regular working joe, I do have a problem with a couple who has lived in a governor's mansion, then THE WHITE HOUSE, for eight years (conventionally the longest time one could realistically live in the most coveted house in the country). After which they cash in on to the degree that they now are in the top one hundredth of the top one percent wealthiest people in the country, essentially at the least, the 0.09%, at the most, 0.01% richest people in the country. For perspective's sake 1% of 300,000,000 population of the U.S. is 3,000,000 people. They are in the top 3,000,000 richest people in the U.S.
O.k. Let's Digest that for a minute.
Now, let's take a look at who these people are:
1.) Bill Clinton: former four term (2 years) governor of a state and two term President (he maxed out on that!)
2.) First lady of a State, First Lady of the Greatest Country Ever (For what it is worth, I am actually wearing a flag right now, and it is sexy) then a Senator of NEW YORK! The Empire State, need we say anymore.
So the only questions about these two people I have left is: "Who the hell do they think they are, that they believe that they should go BACK to the WHITE HOUSE for 4-to-8 more years making it a total of 16 years, with a over a hundy million in between? How much is enough? Why the hell can't they ride off into the sunset and just be friggin' grateful. A large percentage (waiting on the polling results, come on Gallup!) of Americans would be enormously satisfied with a fraction of the cash or a fraction of the notoriety or a mix of both, would retire satisfied. Again, Who the Hell do they think they are??? Royalty?
Showing posts with label Presidential Nomination 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presidential Nomination 2008. Show all posts
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Racism and the Democratic Party
I have already made a post about "the Speech" however there are repercussions for the Obama campaign by making "the Speech" in lieu of doing what pretty much every other politician in this country would have done, a.k.a. the smart and politically convenient action, throwing the preacher under the bus.
I read this article in politico.com today and it made me realize, as someone who grew up in South City why this is damaging. Many of these working class whites racism is different from the Country Club Racism one encounters among more educated whites, and in the conservative media.
The South City/working class white racism seems (in my very inexpert opinion) to be based on economic competition, cultural tensions between people living in close proximity to each other. The Country Club racism is bred more through ignorance and the Ronald Reagan "welfare queens driving Cadillacs" stereotypes, people who would never utter the n-word yet think all their tax dollars are lining the pockets of people living in the ghetto the conservative Southern Strategy still at work.
No matter either of these racist persuasions, the comments of Rev. Wright give racists the excuse to say why they WON'T vote for Obama. The folks in the politico.com article never would have told that reporter that they wouldn't vote for Obama because he is black, but the anti-white and anti-American comments are the perfect copout (don't give me a lecture about Black Liberation Theology either, it is not going to change these folks minds). Some people would say that these folks aren't voting for the Democratic Party no matter what, the country club racists yes, but working class? But the first time that the problem of racism in the Democratic Party crossed my mind as a problem is after Ohio and I heard exit polling results on CNN about how 20% of voters cited race (Q:"race of candidate was important to you?") as a factor in determining their choice and that 60% of those respondents were voted for Hillary, who won by a ten point spread (54% to 44%) with 76% of the turnout being white, winning 64% of those white voters.
What we see in these numbers are white voters voting for Hillary/against Obama admittedly based on race , at least in part. This is going to be problematic in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. These states are not only geographic neighbors but share many of the same demographics. AND they now have the Rev. Wright excuse that they aren't the ones throwing the first racially charged stone.
I read this article in politico.com today and it made me realize, as someone who grew up in South City why this is damaging. Many of these working class whites racism is different from the Country Club Racism one encounters among more educated whites, and in the conservative media.
The South City/working class white racism seems (in my very inexpert opinion) to be based on economic competition, cultural tensions between people living in close proximity to each other. The Country Club racism is bred more through ignorance and the Ronald Reagan "welfare queens driving Cadillacs" stereotypes, people who would never utter the n-word yet think all their tax dollars are lining the pockets of people living in the ghetto the conservative Southern Strategy still at work.
No matter either of these racist persuasions, the comments of Rev. Wright give racists the excuse to say why they WON'T vote for Obama. The folks in the politico.com article never would have told that reporter that they wouldn't vote for Obama because he is black, but the anti-white and anti-American comments are the perfect copout (don't give me a lecture about Black Liberation Theology either, it is not going to change these folks minds). Some people would say that these folks aren't voting for the Democratic Party no matter what, the country club racists yes, but working class? But the first time that the problem of racism in the Democratic Party crossed my mind as a problem is after Ohio and I heard exit polling results on CNN about how 20% of voters cited race (Q:"race of candidate was important to you?") as a factor in determining their choice and that 60% of those respondents were voted for Hillary, who won by a ten point spread (54% to 44%) with 76% of the turnout being white, winning 64% of those white voters.
What we see in these numbers are white voters voting for Hillary/against Obama admittedly based on race , at least in part. This is going to be problematic in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. These states are not only geographic neighbors but share many of the same demographics. AND they now have the Rev. Wright excuse that they aren't the ones throwing the first racially charged stone.
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