As mentioned in the DailyKos diary, "Show YOUR Patriotism: Fight back against the AP" Nedra Pickler repeats Repug's talking points, Pickler is the AP writer who pretends to be an objective AP reporter instead of a purveyor of rumors and innuendos. So let's find out more about Nedra Pickler: didja know she's "married to Eric Conner, who works for Fox News?" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedra_Pickler). That (also from wikipedia): "in her coverage of the 2004 presidential race, Pickler drew criticism for her treatment of Democratic candidates, including Howard Dean and John Kerry."
This is the first time I saw the full interview with this innocent, idealistic college student who was wide-eyed and interested in participating in the democratic process. But along the way, she was asked to put aside her genuine question to Hillary and instead told to use one that was given to her. I think if there's a tipping point when Hillary's campaign would fall, this is it. I mean, this poor girl started to think, "Hmm, maybe this is normal? Maybe everybody does this?" Hillary just turned this girl with hope and optimism for the democratic process into a cynic. Hopefully she recovers.
If this Kelly Tilghman episode has produced any good, it's that it has made people aware of what 'lynching' really means to the African American.
To recap, Kelly Tilghman, a blond, beautiful former player/Southerner turned Golf Channel anchor, was suspended for two weeks for saying during a discussion about Tiger Woods' dominance that young players on the PGA Tour should "lynch him in a back alley." At first the Golf Channel was going to do nothing. They said she had apologized to Woods and that they were friends and it was just a mistake. Sharpton and others though raised a stink and the Golf Channel decided to suspend her.
The usual expression is "beat him up in a back alley" and for Tilghman, bred rich in South Carolina, to use the word "lynch" instead when referring to a black person (Tiger Woods) shows she may have imbibed some of that white supremacist ice tea.
Googling 'lynching' led me to the lynching photographs and Willy Lynch.
Just after Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks for the "lynch him in a back alley" remark regarding Tiger Woods, a golf editor for GolfWeek magazine has been fired for having a noose on the cover for the issue covering the Tilghman controversy.
The usual expression is "beat him up in a back alley" and for Tilghman, bred rich in South Carolina, to use the word "lynch" instead when referring to a black person (Tiger Woods) shows she may have imbibed some of that white supremacist ice tea.
Dave Seanor, vice president and editor of GolfWeek was fired. In the magazine issue, they defended Tilghman and said the controversy was overblown and that her punishment was too harsh.
Too harsh? In my diary regarding the Tilghman issue, I provided some historical perspective just why African Americans may have a slightly different perspective to someone asking (even jokingly) that they or one of their race be lynched.
Kelly Tilghman, a blond, beautiful former player/Southerner turned Golf Channel anchor, was suspended for two weeks for saying during a discussion about Tiger Woods' dominance that young players on the PGA Tour should "lynch him in a back alley."
At first the Golf Channel was going to do nothing. They said she had apologized to Woods and that they were friends and it was just a mistake. Sharpton and others though raised a stink and the Golf Channel decided to suspend her.
From ESPN site:
" 'If I got on this show and said I wanted to put some Jewish-American in a gas chamber, I don't care what context I said it in, the entire Jewish community would have the right to say I should be put off this show or my radio show if I said it there,' Sharpton told CNN."
In the movie 'Akeelah and the Bee', Akeelah doesn't really believe she has a chance to win the spelling bee. She's black, she's poor, she comes from a rotten school. But her spelling coach (played by Laurence Fishburne) asks her to read this quotation:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?'
Actually, who are you not to be?
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
-Marianne Williamson
There's a big difference between who will win the presidency and who deserves to win. The one who deserves it does so because they've allowed the light within them to shine. Unfortunately, more often than not, the one who wins it does so by covering up the light of others and stealing the office in darkness. It's up to all of us to make sure this does not happen again. And we do so by listening with clarity, hearing the words but also seeing into the heart of the candidate.
I just saw Michelle Obama's speech at New Hampshire on C-SPAN...maaaan! She was INCREDIBLE! Smart, wise, compassionate, practical, courageous, clear, emphatic, passionate. Just like in the Newsweek article (available online) about Obama that said that Obama opens and Michelle is "the closer"--how true. If there's any undecided out there, I suggest you watch Michelle Obama's speech when it becomes available on the www.c-span.org site (or maybe the campaignnetwork.org site) and you will just be smitten. Not because of hype or con, but just a direct, concrete, human-being-to-human-being connection.
Whether you're a cynic, apathetic, or downright derogatory of Obama, when you listen to Michelle, the least you will come out of seeing her talk is profound respect and admiration for this couple, at most, she'll touch your heart and even if you've never done it before, you'll work hard to get this couple voted in to impress the world and make real, lasting, and positive change.
The negative attacks on Obama have begun. Hillary's attacking his progressive stance against unfair sentencing of African-Americans. Some are attacking his health care plan. Romney is attacking his wanting to bring the troops home (well, this attack doesn't need to be addressed 'cuz it's idiotic), and some people are attacking his youthful mistakes. Well here are possible Obama answers to these attacks:
...he should've slapped Kerry several times until he did something more forceful about the Swiftboating.
...he should've shaken Kerry silly until he agreed to contest the Ohio results--and unable to get Kerry to gain guts, Edwards, as a lawyer, should've contested the Ohio results himself.
Edwards doesn't show any of that LBJ southern steel that says, "I'll charm you if I can, but I'll run you down if I can't." Which is how LBJ got a lot of the civil rights bills passed (civil rights act, voting rights, housing rights).
Edward's heart seems to be in the right place. The problem is, the meek don't inherit the US presidency, only fighters do. Edwards needs to show some chutzpah. He needs to assure people that when the Republican dirty tricks machine and swiftboaters come, he's willing to subject them to the seven plagues and blow them out of the water.
Being gentlemanly, smiling and agreeable isn't going to cut it. Edwards needs to watch some Clint Eastwood movies and learn how to squint like Clint and say (with all sincerity), "Do you feel lucky punk? Do YOU?"
Here at Daily Kos, do you notice that if someone posts a negative diary or comment about a candidate, the diarist gets attacked by the candidate's supporters? Whether this is good for the candidate or not, it'll be interesting to find out which candidate's supporters engage in it more. So which candidate, do you think, has more of these negative (overly-aggressive) supporters?
Put simply, here are the arguments of the Telecom Immunity Bill:
The Bush govt wants to catch bad guys.
The bad guys are a slippery lot.
Bush govt asked the Telecom firms to spy on these bad guys--sometimes without a warrant or possibly they would not have been granted a warrant by the FISA court.
Some Telecom firms complied.
What they did might have been illegal but they were just following Bush govt's orders.
Telecom firms shouldn't be held accountable for doing what Bush govt told them to do.
Laura (calling from her bedroom): "GW! Some guests are here!"
President George Walker Bush heads for the door wearing a tuxedo. A secret service man comes over and whispers to the President who the newly-arrived guests are.
Bush (shouting to Laura): "It's Dick!"
Laura (muffled, from inside the bedroom): "Did you say 'Duck!'?"
The secret service man shakes his head and rolls his eyes.
Bush: "I said 'Di--. Oh never mind."
He opens the door and greets Vice-President Richard Cheney.
Cheney: "Merry Christmas Mr. President."
Bush: "Hiya Dick."
Cheney: "I hope you don't mind, I invited Scooter Libby to come. He's been feeling kind of blue."
Bush: "No, that's fine. The more the merrier."
Libby appears.
Bush (greeting Libby): "So how's it going, Scooter?"
Here's the main reason for Hillary's meltdown: she's the Democrat equivalent of Dana Perino, i.e., obfuscator extraordinaire. Hillary's new health care plan? covers everyone except those that aren't. Her get-out-of-Iraq strategy? get out now or when it's convenient. Her Iran strategy? they're dangerous unless they're not.
Democrats should take a page from the Republican playbook: stop backing down, show your backbone, apply stick-to-it-ness. When criticized, attack your critics. You're in the right after all, so why should you apologize?
Given that in 2008 all candidates are not-Bush (even the Republicans), it automatically means they have a chance to win the Presidency (sort of by default). Now, can anyone thinking clearly really think Hillary Clinton can win in the general election? The fact is a majority of Americans (I'm not saying they're right, I'm just stating a fact) would rather vote for Romney, Guilliani, Fred Thompson or McCain than Hillary.
Robert Draper's book "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush" has an interesting quote that may foretell what'll happen to Dubyah after he quits the Presidency:
'Then he said, "We’ll have a nice place in Dallas," where he will be running what he called "a fantastic Freedom Institute" promoting democracy around the world. But he added, "I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch."'
The key word is 'getting bored'. Since he won't be kept busy any longer (there's only so much brush he has to clear), the reality of what he's done will creep into his consciousness and then...what'll happen to day-to-day living? Read the rest to find out...
