Finally, our interview with Marcia. SICKOFITRDLZ is Marcia's blog and she started it last month. A Common Ills community member since 2004, why did she decide now was the time to start a blog?
"It probably does seem strange and it does to me now," she explained. "I had a million of excuses for not doing one before and now that I'm doing one I realize how silly they were."
The excuses included time, being able to produce something on demand and just nothing "forcing me to do one."
The "change" candidate, Barack Obama, changed it for Marcia.
"Has anyone ever been given such a free ride by the media -- real media and panhandle media?" Marcia asks. "I don't think so. Even John McCain, the sainted McCain, gets brought back down to earth for a moment or two by the press. Not so with Bambi. He says X and offends people and the groupies yell 'He said Y!' and that's what gets printed. He doesn't have a record to stand on so he attacks Hillary's record and no one ever says, 'Hold on a minute.'"
Hillary Clinton is the candidate Marcia's supporting and the attacks on her really were the reason to start a blog.
"I am very opposed to the illegal war and it's something I discuss with friends all the time. I'd love to say that the illegal war is what got me off my ass. But the reality is that I saw what was being done to Hillary and I was offended. From the right wing she's still being smeared as a lesbian and can we talk about that for one damn minute? I'm a lesbian. How has Hillary reacted to that smear? She hasn't felt the need to play like it's a bad thing. She's given the accusation intended to hurt all the attention it needs which is none. She's married Bill, she's been married to Bill, she's stayed married to Bill. End of story. Contrast that with any thing said about Obama and his response which is to go overboard and whine. It's disgusting. Hillary says something and it's attack attack from The Nation, The Progressive, Democracy Now! and all the rest. Obama uses homophobia in South Carolina and that's just fine and dandy with all three except The Progressive which does run an outside article but find anything Matthew Rothschild's written on the subject. If John McCain used homophobia, if he invited homophobes onstage for a rally, he would be called out by the same outlets. If Hillary did it, you know they'd be up in arms. But with Obama we're supposed to ignore it? And there are so few lesbians working in the media that when one of them, the Uncle Tom Laura Flanders, can't say a word about it, then someone needs to speak up. There's the issue of Iraq where Barack Obama has lied consistently. And you've had the media ignore it and cover it up and you've had idiots like Laura Flanders and Tom Hayden claim he was calling for this or that. I'm embarrassed for most of the outlets I used to turn to."
Until Amy Goodman disappeared Iraq in the summer of 2006, the following statement appeared constantly at The Common Ills: "'Democracy Now! always worth watching', as Marcia says."
"That was my program but Amy Goodman's certainly run me off," she says today. "Independent journalist my ass. Has anyone been more in the tank for Bambi? Last week, on two separate days, she included in headlines that Bambi got endorsed by Chris Dodd. She can't even mention Hillary's endorsements but she can mention all of Bambi's and, with Dodd, plug it as news in her headlines two days running. Look at who she has on, Hillary Haters. Her last roundtable, as C.I. pointed out, featured four guests. One wasn't committed to either Hillary or Barack. Three were committed to Barack. They didn't admit that on air. Frances Fox Piven had already signed on to so-called 'Feminist for Obama.' Not one Hillary supporter but three Barack supporters and this is supposed to pass for fair? Does Amy Goodman think we're idiots? Or look at the way Nevada and Wisconsin played out. She brought on a Hillary Hater who said Hillary was hearing voices to talk about Nevada. She didn't tell her audience he was for Barack. She interviewed him and pretended like he was a journalist and he hadn't decided to support any candidate. And with Wisconsin it was go to Hillary Hater John Nichols. I loathe that show today and I have no respect for Amy Goodman. I could list examples from here to next week of how she has slanted the coverage. And the disgust factor set in for good when she refused to report on the homophobia. Every LGBT audience member of Democracy Now! should remember that forever because she made it very clear that we don't matter."
She said there wasn't specific incident that led her to say "Enough!" so much as the snowball effect.
"It just all got out of control," she says. "One minute I'm watching Jesse Jackson Jr. lie and race bait on TV and the next I'm thinking, 'Enough!' I'd had it and I thought, 'This is appalling.' They went out of their way to tear down Bill Clinton. That was disgusting. As an African-American, I was embarrassed by the press. Obama's campaign screamed 'Racism!' over and over to score points and they ran with it. There are many people who are racists, no question, but when we're including Bill Clinton in the mix, there's a problem. When all the sudden 'fairytale' is somehow a racist word, there's a problem. When criticizing a candidate is 'racism,' there's a problem. Obama has the biggest sense of entitlement in the world and any criticism of him is dismissed by his campaign as racism. I think he's a danger and a menace in the same was that our current White House occupant is and I think you can see that in the way he looks down on people -- really, he looks down on his nose on people, check out the photos -- and in his sense of entitlement. He has built a race upon himself. He has nothing to offer America. How is that any different from who we've got in the White House right now?
"Or take all the women -- girls -- showing up to claim 'I'm a feminist and Gloria Steinem offended me with what she wrote.' Some even claiming it was racism. Stop tripping, girls. Gloria didn't say anything wrong. She wrote about women, all women, as Betty has pointed out, and somehow that was offensive. Now all the little girls showing up in their half-slips and teddies, and yeah, I especially mean you, Jenny Fang, you stupid idiot, weren't by standers, they were part of the Barack Obama campaign. Well, Jenny Fang and you other morons, tell my Black ass when you're going to call out your boy's use of homophobia because, last time I checked, feminism didn't support homophobia. So kiss my Black ass, Jenny Fang, you stupid, stupid moron."
Asked if she feels angrier these days than she would normally, Marcia laughs and answers "Hell yes."
"If I have one regret," she says, "it's that I didn't start it sooner, my blog. I would have loved to have posted on the Jenny Fangs. I would have loved to have written a column telling them how much they offended me as they came off as New Aged englightened wonders, with their dippy little doodles calling out Gloria Steinem while never calling out a man who used homophobia as a campaign strategy. I would have been pointing out that they've got some nerve going after Gloria for including all women -- all races, gay, straight, bi -- when they're not able to call out homophobia. To see that fat ass Katha Pollitt acting her usual bulls**t self, well, I guess we should all be glad Katha didn't feel it was time to again offer up orders to the NAACP about what they should be focusing on. Katha, you're a racist. Your fat, White, cracker ass is a racist. You can lust after what you hope Barack's got in the front of his pants, but, honey, even during slavery, White women were lusting after Black men and that didn't make them any less racist."
She also credits Ava and C.I. because "I saw them hitting hard on the crap being hurled at Hillary and I just thought, 'They're not endorsing.' They aren't and that's fine. But if they can take on this nonsense, if they can call it out, then I sure should be able to because I will state loudly that I support Hillary Clinton. She is the best candidate in the race. She would make an outstanding president. America would be lucky to have her as president.
"I also thought, reading Ava and C.I., 'This is a moment.' It really is. This moment will be addressed -- regardless of outcome -- for years and decades to come by feminists. It will not be pretty for women claiming to be feminists. When the sheen's gone from Bambi's dewy eyes, the reality will set in that this was a race between a woman with a record and a man with none. It will set in that he was inexperienced. It will set in that the press covered for him repeatedly, created false divisions between him and Hillary on the illegal war to his benefit. It will set in that non-racists were called racists to try and silence everyone and anyone who questioned the fairy tale. It will set in that his record on issues primarily effecting women was shameful. And women looking back on this era, young women being born after, are going to have a field day with these women self-presenting right now as feminists. You better believe that homophobia, which has already become less and less accepted in my lifetime, will be even less accepted in the future and all these Eve Enslers and the rest are going to go down in history not just supporting a candidate who used homophobia but also having never called him out on it. This really is the death of Eve Ensler and I don't think she gets it. The Vagina Monologues, for it's good and it's bad, has been turned into an experience, an event more than a play. It's an event primarily for women and it is about the importance of women sharing, women coming together, women supporting women. When Eve Ensler endorses Barack Obama, she makes a mockery out of her play. That play's dead. It's over. No one's going to want to hear that. No one's going to want to see that. And if Hillary loses the nomination, it's going to be even worse for Ensler. What's her next play going to be? Stroking The Penis? If Molly Shannon were still on Saturday Night Live, I'm sure she'd be writing an Eve Ensler parody right now."
Can a feminist endorse Barack Obama?
"My opinion?" Marcia asks. "No, she can't. She can't do that and call me her sister. I'm a lesbian and if she's down with homophobia, she ain't my sister. If she's down with homophobia, she's not a feminist. I'm not White, I'm not straight. Don't talk to me about barriers, because I know all about them. And any woman backing up a man who endorses those barriers -- using homophobia to scare up votes is endorsing the barriers and the hatred -- is not in it for all women. She may be in it for all straight women. But Eve Ensler, Naomi Wolf, Frances Fox Piven, Katha Pollitt and all the rest of you, you ain't in for women. You're in it for some women. For straight women. But you turned your back on your lesbian sisters and that will not be forgotten. It's a huge deal to me right now but you wait ten years and it will be a dividing line when feminists talk and write about what went down in 2008. Most people think that same-sex marriage will come to be at some point, legalized marriage. They think that because prejudices have been confronted. They still have a lot of confronting to do. But they're right and it's been a sea of change for those of us in the LGBT community. That's only going to continue and as it does, you will see these women claiming to be feminists called out. If they're lucky, they won't be alive to see their legacies in ruin, their names the subject of jokes and scorn. If they're unlucky, they'll live long lives and have to answer for their actions as long as they self-present as feminists. As the song says, 'People get ready, there's a train a' comin'.'"
[Mike interviewed Marcia last month here.]
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Fool On The Hill
Has the Cockburn family all gone nutso?
We've been wondering that for some time. You have Laura Flanders refusing to call out Barack Obama's use of homophobia in South Carolina which really doesn't strike us as what an out lesbian does: fall silent on the use of homophobia. Then Patrick Cockburn filed a report for The Independent of London about an Iraqi boy (Shi'ite) raping a female classmate (Sunni) and he did so with no reference to the attacks on women that are widespread in Iraq. It was, according to Cockburn, solely the product of it being telegraphed that it was okay to go after Sunnis. For anyone paying attention to the work of MADRE, the message throughout the illegal war has been "OPEN SEASON ON WOMEN." So writing about a rape in Iraq really requires noting that reality.
Alexander Cockburn (uncle to Laura) has engaged in some real slime and we've mainly looked the other way and thought he'd get a clue at some point. Cockburn is one of the "not a dime's worth of a difference" crowd. Or he was. He's gotten on board the Bambi bus and, having arrived later than many, feels the need to push and crowd and make a general spectacle of himself.
In "The Race Card" (March 1/2, 2008), his latest, he suspends reality and what most value most: facts. For example:
True to the Willie Horton model, on February 25 someone in the Clinton campaign sent the Drudge website a photo of Obama in Kenya a couple of years ago, wearing a turban and what looks like a bedsheet pretending to be a nurse's white uniform, though apparently it is Somali ceremonial rig. Obama's team cried Foul. Maggie Williams, now running Clinton's campaign, said Obama shouldn't be a wuss.
That's not factual. That's not reality and it's not true. Druge ran the photo, Drudge said the photo was from an unnamed person in the Clinton campaign. Matt Drudge as trusted voice? Really? That's what we've come to accept? No. And the photo appeared, prior to being posted by Drudge, on the Free Republic website. Maggie Williams denied that the campaign had leaked the photo -- something Cockburn leaves out and makes it appear that Williams is saying, "Yes, we did, stop being a wuss!" Willimas said they didn't leak it, Williams didn't call Bambi a wuss.
Alex is being 'creative.' He's creative throughout. Such as in this passage: "Late last week the Clinton campaign was leaking stories about support for Obama from the former Weather Undergound couple, Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, both of whom became respectable fixtures in mainstream liberal Chicago years ago. "
Poor outdate Alex. Outdated and isolated. Cockburn, two things first. We realize your family is from England and those of you in this country are late arriving transplants, but that's the second time you've mispelled Dohrn's name. It is Bernardine. Not "Bernadine." The Song of Bernadine was not the life story of Dohrn. Those participating in writing who know her say they imagine her experiencing an "ouch" over your use of the word "respectable" since that is the last thing she has ever sought to this day. Don't project your desires onto her.
Last week the Barack Obama and Bill Ayers connection was news? February 15th Bloomberg News was reporting on it. February 16th The Times of London was reporting on it. The Daily Mail was reporting it on February 2nd. We could go and on. How out of it is Alexander Cockburn?
We addressed it two weeks ago (Feb. 17th) in a roundtable because of Larry Johnson (No Quarter) posting on it Feburary 15th. Johnson -- not a part of the Clinton campaign -- is offended by the association. But he did detail the facts as he understood them. That's something Elaine and C.I. did in the roundtable (they have a different perspective than Johnson on that issue). Where's Alex addressing the facts?
That isn't unimportant.
Vietnam became a "dirty word" that the bulk of the left (and 'left') began shying away from in the late 70s and then ran like crazy from in the 80s. That retreat allowed the revisionary history to take hold. And we're wondering now how much that had to do with political campaigns? Do we throw out truth for candidates? We've certainly seen that with regards to Obama.
What is Cockburn's opinions of Ayers, Dohrn and Weather Underground's actions?
We can state our opinion very clearly: A criminal and violent government was destroying lives and the Weather Underground's actions were in kind. They attempted to kill no one and no one died in a planned bombing. The government was not listening, was not responsive, was using violence and committing crimes at home and abroad and the Weather Underground was one response from the left to that. We have never condemned the Weather Underground, we have never mocked their members. We think their response was a natural response in that environment and think no one is served by not addressing it. When The Nation magazine (last summer) attempted to slime the Weather Underground, we offered "Chrissy Explains It All (finally)." If our position is still unclear, the Weather Underground were revolutionaries and we don't shy from that word or associate it as something bad or wrong.
Were they doing the same actions in Israel today, we think many of the tut-tutters on the left would be applauding them and, were they doing the same actions in today's Venezuela, we assume they'd be invited to the White House and treated to glossy profiles on Fox "News" -- maybe paired up with Ollie North as co-hosts of a program entitled Freedom Fighters.
Larry Johnson has a different opinion and it's his right to have a different take on it. He explains where he's coming from on the issue in his post and explains what the Weather Underground did.
Cockburn wants to run into the room and holler "Sh! Don't talk about it."
Why the hell not?
Let's talk about it. Let's get serious about our recent history and quit playing games of "It might not be good for a campaign."
Ourselves, we'd endorse Bernardine for any cabinet post in the US government. We can talk at length about why. Johnson wouldn't and we'll assume (based on the fact that he's already talked about the issue) that he could talk at length about it.
So why the hell can't Alexander Cockburn? Isn't he our supposed "firebrand"? Isn't he the s**t-stirrer who shies away from nothing?
Like his niece, he's a transplant to this country from across the Atlantic so maybe he doesn't know what went down. (That would explain the fact that he's repeatedly spelled Bernardine's name wrong.)
A lot can't be talked about -- according to some -- for the good of Bambi's campaign. We're not in the service of any campaign and we say, "Talk about it all."
Talk about everything.
Imagine you're a child in the US named Hussein. What message is being sent to you currently by Bambi and his groupies acting as if his middle name is something to be ashamed of? Elaine's already noted the damage being done to Muslims in efforts to promote Bambi.
He is one person. If you're truth begins and ends with one person, you are very pathetic.
Cockburn can't get his facts right and wants to name check Weather Underground -- a group from three decades ago -- without explaining to readers who they were or what they did. Apparently, doing that might make Bambi look bad.
So we're now editing history for Bambi as well? We've already seen that campaign toss women, the LGBT community, bi- and multi-racial persons, Muslims and others under the bus so maybe all that's left to rip apart is history?
That's rather pathetic. And it's rather pathetic that Cockburn can't get his facts straight. Again, we're beginning to wonder if it's some disease that runs in the family.
We've been wondering that for some time. You have Laura Flanders refusing to call out Barack Obama's use of homophobia in South Carolina which really doesn't strike us as what an out lesbian does: fall silent on the use of homophobia. Then Patrick Cockburn filed a report for The Independent of London about an Iraqi boy (Shi'ite) raping a female classmate (Sunni) and he did so with no reference to the attacks on women that are widespread in Iraq. It was, according to Cockburn, solely the product of it being telegraphed that it was okay to go after Sunnis. For anyone paying attention to the work of MADRE, the message throughout the illegal war has been "OPEN SEASON ON WOMEN." So writing about a rape in Iraq really requires noting that reality.
Alexander Cockburn (uncle to Laura) has engaged in some real slime and we've mainly looked the other way and thought he'd get a clue at some point. Cockburn is one of the "not a dime's worth of a difference" crowd. Or he was. He's gotten on board the Bambi bus and, having arrived later than many, feels the need to push and crowd and make a general spectacle of himself.
In "The Race Card" (March 1/2, 2008), his latest, he suspends reality and what most value most: facts. For example:
True to the Willie Horton model, on February 25 someone in the Clinton campaign sent the Drudge website a photo of Obama in Kenya a couple of years ago, wearing a turban and what looks like a bedsheet pretending to be a nurse's white uniform, though apparently it is Somali ceremonial rig. Obama's team cried Foul. Maggie Williams, now running Clinton's campaign, said Obama shouldn't be a wuss.
That's not factual. That's not reality and it's not true. Druge ran the photo, Drudge said the photo was from an unnamed person in the Clinton campaign. Matt Drudge as trusted voice? Really? That's what we've come to accept? No. And the photo appeared, prior to being posted by Drudge, on the Free Republic website. Maggie Williams denied that the campaign had leaked the photo -- something Cockburn leaves out and makes it appear that Williams is saying, "Yes, we did, stop being a wuss!" Willimas said they didn't leak it, Williams didn't call Bambi a wuss.
Alex is being 'creative.' He's creative throughout. Such as in this passage: "Late last week the Clinton campaign was leaking stories about support for Obama from the former Weather Undergound couple, Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, both of whom became respectable fixtures in mainstream liberal Chicago years ago. "
Poor outdate Alex. Outdated and isolated. Cockburn, two things first. We realize your family is from England and those of you in this country are late arriving transplants, but that's the second time you've mispelled Dohrn's name. It is Bernardine. Not "Bernadine." The Song of Bernadine was not the life story of Dohrn. Those participating in writing who know her say they imagine her experiencing an "ouch" over your use of the word "respectable" since that is the last thing she has ever sought to this day. Don't project your desires onto her.
Last week the Barack Obama and Bill Ayers connection was news? February 15th Bloomberg News was reporting on it. February 16th The Times of London was reporting on it. The Daily Mail was reporting it on February 2nd. We could go and on. How out of it is Alexander Cockburn?
We addressed it two weeks ago (Feb. 17th) in a roundtable because of Larry Johnson (No Quarter) posting on it Feburary 15th. Johnson -- not a part of the Clinton campaign -- is offended by the association. But he did detail the facts as he understood them. That's something Elaine and C.I. did in the roundtable (they have a different perspective than Johnson on that issue). Where's Alex addressing the facts?
That isn't unimportant.
Vietnam became a "dirty word" that the bulk of the left (and 'left') began shying away from in the late 70s and then ran like crazy from in the 80s. That retreat allowed the revisionary history to take hold. And we're wondering now how much that had to do with political campaigns? Do we throw out truth for candidates? We've certainly seen that with regards to Obama.
What is Cockburn's opinions of Ayers, Dohrn and Weather Underground's actions?
We can state our opinion very clearly: A criminal and violent government was destroying lives and the Weather Underground's actions were in kind. They attempted to kill no one and no one died in a planned bombing. The government was not listening, was not responsive, was using violence and committing crimes at home and abroad and the Weather Underground was one response from the left to that. We have never condemned the Weather Underground, we have never mocked their members. We think their response was a natural response in that environment and think no one is served by not addressing it. When The Nation magazine (last summer) attempted to slime the Weather Underground, we offered "Chrissy Explains It All (finally)." If our position is still unclear, the Weather Underground were revolutionaries and we don't shy from that word or associate it as something bad or wrong.
Were they doing the same actions in Israel today, we think many of the tut-tutters on the left would be applauding them and, were they doing the same actions in today's Venezuela, we assume they'd be invited to the White House and treated to glossy profiles on Fox "News" -- maybe paired up with Ollie North as co-hosts of a program entitled Freedom Fighters.
Larry Johnson has a different opinion and it's his right to have a different take on it. He explains where he's coming from on the issue in his post and explains what the Weather Underground did.
Cockburn wants to run into the room and holler "Sh! Don't talk about it."
Why the hell not?
Let's talk about it. Let's get serious about our recent history and quit playing games of "It might not be good for a campaign."
Ourselves, we'd endorse Bernardine for any cabinet post in the US government. We can talk at length about why. Johnson wouldn't and we'll assume (based on the fact that he's already talked about the issue) that he could talk at length about it.
So why the hell can't Alexander Cockburn? Isn't he our supposed "firebrand"? Isn't he the s**t-stirrer who shies away from nothing?
Like his niece, he's a transplant to this country from across the Atlantic so maybe he doesn't know what went down. (That would explain the fact that he's repeatedly spelled Bernardine's name wrong.)
A lot can't be talked about -- according to some -- for the good of Bambi's campaign. We're not in the service of any campaign and we say, "Talk about it all."
Talk about everything.
Imagine you're a child in the US named Hussein. What message is being sent to you currently by Bambi and his groupies acting as if his middle name is something to be ashamed of? Elaine's already noted the damage being done to Muslims in efforts to promote Bambi.
He is one person. If you're truth begins and ends with one person, you are very pathetic.
Cockburn can't get his facts right and wants to name check Weather Underground -- a group from three decades ago -- without explaining to readers who they were or what they did. Apparently, doing that might make Bambi look bad.
So we're now editing history for Bambi as well? We've already seen that campaign toss women, the LGBT community, bi- and multi-racial persons, Muslims and others under the bus so maybe all that's left to rip apart is history?
That's rather pathetic. And it's rather pathetic that Cockburn can't get his facts straight. Again, we're beginning to wonder if it's some disease that runs in the family.
Dumb Ass of the Week -- It's a tie!
The envelope please . . . It's a tie. Dumb Ass of the week goes to the Airs of The Nation, Ari Mebler and Ari Berman. The no-stars of the campaign horserace set!
We really think the award goes to Ari Mebler who, according to The Nation, wrote "Why the Muslim Smear is Bigger than Islam" at one of their two or three dozens blogs dedicated to gas bagging over the election. (They don't really have that many, it just feels like it. They do, however, offer no blog on Iraq.) However, Common Dreams credits the piece to "Ari Berman." We can understand the confusion (and wouldn't be surprised if we'd confused them as well). They write exactly alike. They tend to always have the same opinion (Bambi=God, Hillary=Satan). There's never a topic one tackles that you couldn't imagine the other writing about as well -- and in exactly the same manner.
Generally we refer to one of them here as "The Airs" lumping them both together so we're glad to know that Common Dreams also sees them as Siamese twins.
One of the Airs, and does it really matter which one?, felt the need to take Naomi Klein to task for pointing out that High Drama Bama was being insulting. In "Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear," Klein writes:
Of course Obama must correct the record, but he doesn't have to stop there. What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being "Swiftboated," casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.
[. . .]
Farrakhan's infamous comments about Jews took place twenty-four years ago. The orgy of hate that is "the Muslim smear" is unfolding in real time, and it promises to greatly intensify in a general election. These attacks do not simply "smear Barack's Christian faith," as John Kerry claimed in a campaign mailing. They are an attack on all Muslims, some of whom actually do exercise their rights to cover their heads and send their kids to religious school. Thousands even have the very common name Hussein. All are watching their culture used as a crude bludgeon against Obama, while the candidate who is the symbol of racial harmony fails to defend them. This at a time when US Muslims are bearing the brunt of the Bush Administration's assaults on civil liberties, including dragnet wiretapping, and are facing a documented spike in hate crimes.
Reasonable points. But reason doesn't exist in the fetish world of Bambi Adoration. So along comes one of the Airs -- so non-destinct that no one can tell them apart -- to 'correct' one of the few authentic voices the left has left and declare that she's wrong and, furthermore, "But the larger imperative is to undermine the character, credibility and honesty of the candidate, developing a resilient narrative to poison media coverage and stoke fundamental doubts about anything the candidate says." Where do the Airs loyalties lie? Not with the people. Never with the people. It's all about one man (we'd say "person" but fear Katrina vanden Heuvel would start trying to pocket more dough she never had to work for).
One man matters more than the Muslim population. Klein rightly notes the very real attacks Muslims have been under and are under. The Airs don't give a damn. Their candidate's not Muslim so screw Muslims. It's all about Bambi to the Airs.
The 'unity' candidate has created a lot of walls and tossed a lot of people under the bus but we're not aware of one of his professional groupies ever being so obvious about it. Obama, the Airs tell us, "is also bigger than Islam." (Some may want to point that Mebler or Berman, we're dealing with Jews and since neither's known for championing the rights of Palestinians, their views of Muslims may be suspect.)
Airs, Klein is "bigger than" both of you combined. You interchangeable, faceless scribblers. Tools of the Democratic Party and proud to be nothing more than that. (Don't trot out your 'bravery' in attacking Hillary, no one here buys that as 'independence'.)
Shameful and a Dumb Ass. Again, the article's credited to Mebler at The Nation but, like Common Dreams, we say, "What's the diff?" They write alike, they talk about, we're sure they even cream their shorts over the same photos of Bambi. They're a team, a package deal, and with the implosion of the Jessica Simpson-Nick Lachey match, America needs another underwhelming duo to focus on.
We really think the award goes to Ari Mebler who, according to The Nation, wrote "Why the Muslim Smear is Bigger than Islam" at one of their two or three dozens blogs dedicated to gas bagging over the election. (They don't really have that many, it just feels like it. They do, however, offer no blog on Iraq.) However, Common Dreams credits the piece to "Ari Berman." We can understand the confusion (and wouldn't be surprised if we'd confused them as well). They write exactly alike. They tend to always have the same opinion (Bambi=God, Hillary=Satan). There's never a topic one tackles that you couldn't imagine the other writing about as well -- and in exactly the same manner.
Generally we refer to one of them here as "The Airs" lumping them both together so we're glad to know that Common Dreams also sees them as Siamese twins.
One of the Airs, and does it really matter which one?, felt the need to take Naomi Klein to task for pointing out that High Drama Bama was being insulting. In "Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear," Klein writes:
Of course Obama must correct the record, but he doesn't have to stop there. What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being "Swiftboated," casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.
[. . .]
Farrakhan's infamous comments about Jews took place twenty-four years ago. The orgy of hate that is "the Muslim smear" is unfolding in real time, and it promises to greatly intensify in a general election. These attacks do not simply "smear Barack's Christian faith," as John Kerry claimed in a campaign mailing. They are an attack on all Muslims, some of whom actually do exercise their rights to cover their heads and send their kids to religious school. Thousands even have the very common name Hussein. All are watching their culture used as a crude bludgeon against Obama, while the candidate who is the symbol of racial harmony fails to defend them. This at a time when US Muslims are bearing the brunt of the Bush Administration's assaults on civil liberties, including dragnet wiretapping, and are facing a documented spike in hate crimes.
Reasonable points. But reason doesn't exist in the fetish world of Bambi Adoration. So along comes one of the Airs -- so non-destinct that no one can tell them apart -- to 'correct' one of the few authentic voices the left has left and declare that she's wrong and, furthermore, "But the larger imperative is to undermine the character, credibility and honesty of the candidate, developing a resilient narrative to poison media coverage and stoke fundamental doubts about anything the candidate says." Where do the Airs loyalties lie? Not with the people. Never with the people. It's all about one man (we'd say "person" but fear Katrina vanden Heuvel would start trying to pocket more dough she never had to work for).
One man matters more than the Muslim population. Klein rightly notes the very real attacks Muslims have been under and are under. The Airs don't give a damn. Their candidate's not Muslim so screw Muslims. It's all about Bambi to the Airs.
The 'unity' candidate has created a lot of walls and tossed a lot of people under the bus but we're not aware of one of his professional groupies ever being so obvious about it. Obama, the Airs tell us, "is also bigger than Islam." (Some may want to point that Mebler or Berman, we're dealing with Jews and since neither's known for championing the rights of Palestinians, their views of Muslims may be suspect.)
Airs, Klein is "bigger than" both of you combined. You interchangeable, faceless scribblers. Tools of the Democratic Party and proud to be nothing more than that. (Don't trot out your 'bravery' in attacking Hillary, no one here buys that as 'independence'.)
Shameful and a Dumb Ass. Again, the article's credited to Mebler at The Nation but, like Common Dreams, we say, "What's the diff?" They write alike, they talk about, we're sure they even cream their shorts over the same photos of Bambi. They're a team, a package deal, and with the implosion of the Jessica Simpson-Nick Lachey match, America needs another underwhelming duo to focus on.
It's still called The Progressive, right?
Until recently, the most recent columnist added by The Progressive was Luis J. Rodriguez, a Latino male, well over forty-years-old. He was added in 2006. Columnist Molly Ivins, whose column ran on the last page of the magazine, died in January 2007.
The March issue of The Progressive brings news on the columnist front: two new columnists!
Let's meet the women . . .
Oh, wait.
They aren't women.
They are Dave Zirin ("a terrific writer on the politics of sports" enthuses Matthew Rothschild) and Jim Hightower ("the Texas populist," declares Rothschild).
If you've never seen the men, they are both White.
Starting in 2006, the magazine has added three columnists. All men.
Now Andrea Lewis actually writes about sports so if Rothschild were interested in a sports perspective it would have made more sense to offer the job to someone already covering the sports beat for The Progressive's syndicated columns. Jim Hightower?
He's got a good heart but everything he had to say he said by 1991 and has largely just been repeating himself ever since. We shudder to think "the Texas populist" is Molly's replacement.
But how does The Regressive, er, The Progressive, manage to add two columnists in one month and they're both men. They're already top-heavy with male writers but apparently they didn't grasp that. (Do they not read their own monthly magazine?)
We would ask, "Is Matthew Rothschild afraid of women?"; however, we've read his writing during the current campaign season so we already know that he is.
Apparently he's in a competition with The Nation to demonstrate which allegedly left magazine can publish more men.
Sorry, Matty, try as you may, in this pissing match, our money's on Katrina vanden Heuvel.
The March issue of The Progressive brings news on the columnist front: two new columnists!
Let's meet the women . . .
Oh, wait.
They aren't women.
They are Dave Zirin ("a terrific writer on the politics of sports" enthuses Matthew Rothschild) and Jim Hightower ("the Texas populist," declares Rothschild).
If you've never seen the men, they are both White.
Starting in 2006, the magazine has added three columnists. All men.
Now Andrea Lewis actually writes about sports so if Rothschild were interested in a sports perspective it would have made more sense to offer the job to someone already covering the sports beat for The Progressive's syndicated columns. Jim Hightower?
He's got a good heart but everything he had to say he said by 1991 and has largely just been repeating himself ever since. We shudder to think "the Texas populist" is Molly's replacement.
But how does The Regressive, er, The Progressive, manage to add two columnists in one month and they're both men. They're already top-heavy with male writers but apparently they didn't grasp that. (Do they not read their own monthly magazine?)
We would ask, "Is Matthew Rothschild afraid of women?"; however, we've read his writing during the current campaign season so we already know that he is.
Apparently he's in a competition with The Nation to demonstrate which allegedly left magazine can publish more men.
Sorry, Matty, try as you may, in this pissing match, our money's on Katrina vanden Heuvel.
A mini-note to the readers
We're stopping for an extended break. Completed is "Dumb Ass of the Week -- It's a tie!" Two pieces of media commentary (including "Fool on the Hill"), the two picks for "Truest statement of the week," our interview with Marcia, and the two pieces currently up (Highlights and Roundtable). Ava and C.I.'s TV commentary needs a paragraph restored that was accidentally deleted. The editorial is 2/3s of the way done.
We're stopping because Ava and C.I. have had no sleep since they got up early Saturday morning and are both throwing up. They're prepared to tough it out until the edition is up and posted and Dona said the easiest way to get them the rest they need is to say, "We'll come back and finish the editorial after we all get some sleep." (Ava and C.I. are covering a cartoon this week with mentions of a few other programs. Just another day in the life of a boy, just another day in the life of a boy, just another day in the life of a boy. Johnnn-nnnny! Test!) See you this evening. (This evening PST.)
-- Jim
We're stopping because Ava and C.I. have had no sleep since they got up early Saturday morning and are both throwing up. They're prepared to tough it out until the edition is up and posted and Dona said the easiest way to get them the rest they need is to say, "We'll come back and finish the editorial after we all get some sleep." (Ava and C.I. are covering a cartoon this week with mentions of a few other programs. Just another day in the life of a boy, just another day in the life of a boy, just another day in the life of a boy. Johnnn-nnnny! Test!) See you this evening. (This evening PST.)
-- Jim
Highlights
This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"Tomatoes and Rice in the Kitchen" -- Trina covering Kokesh.
"John Nichols loses a nipple" -- Betinna sees a horrible sight. But readers will laugh.
"Only one will fight for America's children" & "Hillary working for veterans, children and the country" -- Ruth and Kat cover Hillary on children. (Kat also addresses veterans.)
"Lambert the dirty bird" -- Mike's very popular post.
"Community note and Hillary" -- Marcia addressing the same topic the day before.
"The very tired Katrina vanden Heuvel" -- Kat covering KvH.
"Hillary does get endorsements" -- Marcia explaining why Goodman speaks with forked tongue.
"What Sammy Wants, Bambi Gives" & "THIS JUST IN! SAMMY POWER WANTS EVEN MORE WAR!" -- Cedric and Wally sit down with Sammy Power to find out what's what.
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Merkel-ed" -- Isaiah captures touchy-feely Bambi at his worst.
"Behind the Frankenstein Obama phenomenon" -- a very requested from readers by C.I.
"Will John Nichols accept defeat gracefully?" -- Kat's very funny piece that she says of, "I was channeling Betty."
"Barack Obama lied in the debate" & "obama caught lying again" -- C.I. and Rebecca told you about it in real time. Mike: "And C.I.'s piece was so popular it was later posted elsewhere online and with someone else's name to it. It's called theft."
"How Dems lose in November" -- Elaine explaining a number of things including turning Muslim into a dirty word.
"Obama says Afghanistan can wait" -- Mike on Bambi's missed subcomittee meetings.
"women, we already know barack" -- Rebecca explains why a woman never should trust a smooth talker.
"Obama: The student who doesn't do his work" -- Ruth goes over the debate.
"I Hate The War" -- The most requested piece of the week. And, no doubt, soon to appear at another website, 'borrowed' by a guy who puts his name to it.
Added by Jim, Dona and C.I.: "THIS JUST IN! BAMBI HOLDS A PRESS CONFERENCE!" & "Bambi's 'strategy' goes public" -- we're not going to bother anyone by calling them -- it was a long writing edition. But we'll assume this didn't get noted because Wally and Cedric have been campaigning their asses off in Texas for Hillary and, due to being very tired, they've been very down on their joint-posts last week. We're guessing that Wally and Cedric asked for only one highlight. (They asked not to be noted in Thursday's "Iraq snapshot" and weren't due to that request. They stated they felt they were just phoning it in as the week drew to a close.) We think they did strong work all week and pick these posts that went up Saturday to prove that point.
"Tomatoes and Rice in the Kitchen" -- Trina covering Kokesh.
"John Nichols loses a nipple" -- Betinna sees a horrible sight. But readers will laugh.
"Only one will fight for America's children" & "Hillary working for veterans, children and the country" -- Ruth and Kat cover Hillary on children. (Kat also addresses veterans.)
"Lambert the dirty bird" -- Mike's very popular post.
"Community note and Hillary" -- Marcia addressing the same topic the day before.
"The very tired Katrina vanden Heuvel" -- Kat covering KvH.
"Hillary does get endorsements" -- Marcia explaining why Goodman speaks with forked tongue.
"What Sammy Wants, Bambi Gives" & "THIS JUST IN! SAMMY POWER WANTS EVEN MORE WAR!" -- Cedric and Wally sit down with Sammy Power to find out what's what.
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Merkel-ed" -- Isaiah captures touchy-feely Bambi at his worst.
"Behind the Frankenstein Obama phenomenon" -- a very requested from readers by C.I.
"Will John Nichols accept defeat gracefully?" -- Kat's very funny piece that she says of, "I was channeling Betty."
"Barack Obama lied in the debate" & "obama caught lying again" -- C.I. and Rebecca told you about it in real time. Mike: "And C.I.'s piece was so popular it was later posted elsewhere online and with someone else's name to it. It's called theft."
"How Dems lose in November" -- Elaine explaining a number of things including turning Muslim into a dirty word.
"Obama says Afghanistan can wait" -- Mike on Bambi's missed subcomittee meetings.
"women, we already know barack" -- Rebecca explains why a woman never should trust a smooth talker.
"Obama: The student who doesn't do his work" -- Ruth goes over the debate.
"I Hate The War" -- The most requested piece of the week. And, no doubt, soon to appear at another website, 'borrowed' by a guy who puts his name to it.
Added by Jim, Dona and C.I.: "THIS JUST IN! BAMBI HOLDS A PRESS CONFERENCE!" & "Bambi's 'strategy' goes public" -- we're not going to bother anyone by calling them -- it was a long writing edition. But we'll assume this didn't get noted because Wally and Cedric have been campaigning their asses off in Texas for Hillary and, due to being very tired, they've been very down on their joint-posts last week. We're guessing that Wally and Cedric asked for only one highlight. (They asked not to be noted in Thursday's "Iraq snapshot" and weren't due to that request. They stated they felt they were just phoning it in as the week drew to a close.) We think they did strong work all week and pick these posts that went up Saturday to prove that point.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Truest statement of the week
"I was in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s . . . the place was full of war resisters and they were accepted by Canada and I've loved Canada ever since then. The fact that he's turned that around, and the cruelty of that and the meanness of it, it's put a little edge on my love of Canada."
-- Oscar winner (and nominated again for tonight's awards) Julie Christie. "He" is Stephen Harper. And she is still gorgeous on the outside as well as where it really counts: on the inside.
-- Oscar winner (and nominated again for tonight's awards) Julie Christie. "He" is Stephen Harper. And she is still gorgeous on the outside as well as where it really counts: on the inside.
Truest statement of the week II
He had to (TRY TO) destroy her...
… because that licenses Hillary hatred, which has the additional beneficial result of "firing up" Republicans to cross party lines in open primaries and choose our candidate for us.
-- Lambert, at Corrente, speaking of Obama. (Note Lambert posts regularly at Corrente. The above is a comment Lamber left on a very stupid post. We are linking to Lambert's comment and are in no way supporting the sexist b.s. that "Liberty" scribbled in "Why People Hate Hillary... and other democratic women politicians of a certain age."]
… because that licenses Hillary hatred, which has the additional beneficial result of "firing up" Republicans to cross party lines in open primaries and choose our candidate for us.
-- Lambert, at Corrente, speaking of Obama. (Note Lambert posts regularly at Corrente. The above is a comment Lamber left on a very stupid post. We are linking to Lambert's comment and are in no way supporting the sexist b.s. that "Liberty" scribbled in "Why People Hate Hillary... and other democratic women politicians of a certain age."]
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