The Democratic Divide

Clift is far too kind in her description of Hillary's Lyndon Johnson remark. A sexist bias Clift can't help but surrender to? Perhaps. What Hillary said was this: "Dr King???s dream began to be realised when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Hillary was showing her racist anger more than cooly playing any race card. If she goes on to win, we can trace the turning tide to that moment when she spurred the racists to rally behind her. What surprises me is that no member of the media has yet asked her if she thinks the national holiday created for King was created for the wrong man. Should we have two national holidays, one for Johnson, too? Most amazing is no one observing that Clinton's remark was inaccurate. The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the federal legislation, as is always the case, not Lyndon Johnson. Sure, he may have lobbied for it and he certainly signed it into law, but he didn't pass it. Her remark shows the obnoxious, arrogant thinking of the would-be "benign" tyrant. It's typical of Caucasian pigmentocrats and certainly characteristic of Clinton, who showed us other examples of this pseudo-aristocratic attitude in her arrogant statement that she has so many opportunities for America and her repugnant Christmas commercial that implies she's giving us gifts of preschool, et cetera. We're paying for those so-called gifts and she can't give much of anything but her condescension without the vital work of Congress. Besides the Hill-Bill-y racism, no one should vote for Hillary who stands with our forefathers against pseudo-royal dynasties (e.g., Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton). She already has the dangerously arrogant attitude; we should not add presidential powers to it, as we mistakenly have to that malignancy in our democracy, King George.

After rebounding from a surprising New Hampshire Primary victory, Hillary???s remark that the Civil Rights legislation passed by President Lyndon Johnson was the culmination of the work started by Martin Luther King jr. certainly has caused some in the African-American community to take a second look at the relationship between themselves and the Clinton???s.

Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because the Democratic Party in particular has taken its relationship with the Black community for granted. Bill Clinton likes to talk about the fact that more African-Americans served in his administration that at any previous period in this nation???s history. That may be so, but did any Blacks have high ranking positions or Cabinet jobs while he was President? Of course there were two notable highly visible friends; like Civil Rights Attorney Vernon Jordan and Hillary???s personal Secretary, Betty Curry. Funny thing though; when the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to the forefront, these two seemingly close Black friends of the Clinton???s all but disappeared from public view.

After Bill Clinton left the White House he took up residence in upscale Harlem, NY, and his celebrity presence in the neighborhood drove up the price of not only real estate but the price of chitlins, too. The highlight of then President Bill Clinton???s term in office was to appoint an African-American female, Lani Guinier as Assistant Attorney General of Civil Rights. Since the Senate Judiciary Committee was controlled by a Republican majority, he knew this was just a ploy doomed to fail from the start; but at least he could gain political capital with the Black electorate by saying that he tried but that the [hated] Republicans derailed the nomination.

The Clinton???s do indeed have clout with a few African-Americans with deep pockets like Robert Johnson, founder of BET who in recent days has inanely criticized Sen. Barack Obama with trying to undermine the Clinton ???I???m One of You,??? adoption by African-Americans; vicariously achieved through some self-appointed leaders in the community. Well, one thing Hillary has going in her favor is learning from the Master; hubby Bill Clinton; ???I did not have sex with that woman . . . it depends on what the meaning of the word, ???is??? is sounds very much like; ???I didn???t say that MLK wasn???t a significant figure [he was only a ???symbol???; Hillary???s favorite word] toward advancing Civil Rights in this country but he didn???t pass legislation to make it a law; either.??? If this isn???t true ???CLINTONESE??? at its very best, then a clearer example doesn???t exist.

Robert Randle

After rebounding from a surprising New Hampshire Primary victory, Hillary???s remark that the Civil Rights legislation passed by President Lyndon Johnson was the culmination of the work started by Martin Luther King jr. certainly has caused some in the African-American community to take a second look at the relationship between themselves and the Clinton???s.

Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because the Democratic Party in particular has taken its relationship with the Black community for granted. Former President Bill Clinton likes to talk about the fact that more African-Americans served in his administration that at any previous period in this nation???s history. That may be so, but did any Blacks have high ranking positions or Cabinet jobs while he was President? Of course there were two notable highly visible friends; like Civil Rights Attorney Vernon Jordan and Hillary???s personal Secretary, Betty Curry. Funny thing though; when the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to the forefront, these two seemingly close Black friends of the Clinton???s all but disappeared from public view.

Bill Clinton left the White House he took up residence in upscale Harlem, NY, and his celebrity presence in the neighborhood drove up the price of not only real estate but the price of chitlins, too. The highlight of then President Bill Clinton???s term in office was to appoint an African-American female, Lani Guinier as Assistant Attorney General of Civil Rights. Since the Senate Judiciary Committee was controlled by a Republican majority, then President Clinton knew this was just a ploy doomed to fail from the start; but at least he could gain political capital with the Black electorate by saying that he tried but that the [hated] Republicans derailed the nomination.

The Clinton???s do indeed have clout with a few African-Americans with deep pockets like Robert Johnson, founder of BET who in recent days has inanely criticized Sen. Barack Obama with trying to undermine the Clinton ???I???m One of You,??? adoption by African-Americans; vicariously achieved through some self-appointed leaders in the community. Well, one thing Hillary has going in her favor is learning from the Master; hubby Bill Clinton; ???I did not have sex with that woman . . . it depends on what the meaning of the word, ???is??? is sounds very much like; ???I didn???t say that MLK wasn???t a significant figure [he was only a ???symbol???; Hillary???s favorite word] toward advancing Civil Rights in this country but he didn???t pass legislation to make it a law; either.??? If this isn???t true ???CLINTONESE??? at its very best, then a clearer example doesn???t exist.

Robert Randle

One more thing;...
A small community center that helps women and children in a particular state may be a good thing but, how does this benefit these type situations all over the country? One major question society should ALSO ask themselves is, which candidate demonstrates they have the ability to bring forth substantiative change? Is that candidate also effective? There are legitimate and credible resources that people can refer to that will provide them with this information. And again, you may be suprised to know WHO out of all the candidates have been able to show that they can get substantial changes done that TRULY affects not just one corner of the United States, but have beneficial effects on EVERYONE!! Just do your homework people!

What I find most amazing is the ongoing "experience" factor. Hillary said Obama doesn't have the experience. Did anyone question Hillary or Bill, how do THEY know what experience Obama has or doesn't and, can they come up with facts that confirm their claim? If not, just because she is using it as a strategic tactic to udermind Obama doesn't mean that Obama DOESN'T have experience. I watched an interview with Obama and he was asked to respond to some of these accusations. Basically, he said that he is relying on the competence of the American public to wiser or smarter than that! I can't agree with him more! As he has explained himself in debates and provide tons of information on his website about himself and detailed information about his "changes," are you, the american public listening? Or, are you just listening to the brainwashing attempt of Hilary to get YOU systematically stuck on the word "change?" I don't see where Obama himself ONLY speaks the word change and he was the first candidate to spoke of being THE candidate for change! I do apologize but, I read the blogs and people constantly are saying, Obama has no experience or, Obama is not explaining change... YES HE HAS! And sometimes he is repeating himself over and over again! Why don't you people stop getting yourselves involved with the gossip, get the haunted words and readings from the media OUT of your heads, check your local listings or the candidates websites for interviews or debate times and dates and make it your PLAN to sit down, clean your ears and PAY ATTENTION TO THE CANDIDATE rather than the gossip. THEN and only then you may be able to account for hearing what HE as well as ALL of the candidates has to say!

Clinton can't pull the party, much more the Nation, together. No unity, no change. Her Presidency would be a failure.

What does Clinton's outrageous robocall in Nevada say about her? It is not just an isolated incident.

Would love to hear your POV and hear your vote in who will bring more change to America - Clinton or Obama, at this link: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/19/181938/426/674/439681

To the Author, Eleanor Clift:
Wonderful observation and excellent article Eleanor. There is one question I have for you; where is t he Clinton loyalty and honesty? Hillary COULD have said something but the message she is sending to many of us that DID like her is that she is ONLY concerned about the Presidency and it doesn't matter what wrong words hurt what candidate as long as the words are in favor of Hillary.

Now lets look at this in reverse; had that been Obama, Edwards or any other Democrat, would they have allowed this sort of slander to take place without saying something? So far that hasn't been the case! Then why is Hillary ONLY in favor of sitatuions that are to her advantage? That makes the entire Democratic party look bad! I supported Bill in both terms and I would almost swear that Hillary would be a fine president. After seeing the selfish demeanor, how easily she hops on media infringement of a fellow democrat candidate tells me that she cannot be trusted as President! Where is her sense of dedication, commitment, honesty and most important, loyalty? She is ONLY looking out for herself and in such selfish manner! This sort of managment have ruined some of our BEST businesses in our industry and has never proven to be effective as the chief commander.

I don't think being a woman is the problem; Hillary is being so selfishly controlled by the greed and desire for power that she would be willing to alienate her own kind! It's like being a modern day Bennedict Arnold! And again, as history has perfectly shown us, NOTHING good has EVER come of this sort of leadership! As blind as the American public will be, they never get over the "little things" to see this until they make the grave mistake of putting the wrong people in power. Then when they have to pay the dues of major suffering, they want to blame others! I think America is ready for change; be it a black man for president or a woman for president; however, I think America needs to take a good look at the foundation and moral occupation of the candidate in order to make the right choice. Hillary came out of Iowa in nearly a state of Shock and Awe (Rummy's words) that Obama won Iowa. Why? Because he is a minority and Iowa is only 2% black? In todays time, Hillary should have known better; we are in a new age! That is concievably possible today! The way to bounce back is to start demeaning, belittling or patronizing your fellow candidates? And to be more direct, Edwards AND Obama came out ahead of Hillary in Iowa; why didn't she have a bone to pick with Edwards as much as she seemed to REALLY want to "linch" Obama? And people say it isn't about color!! From where I sit, I think the women (and men) need to consider a more viable, loyal, moral and honest female candidate for the presidency; I don't think Hillary is it.

As a managment Major, I must go with Barack Obama on this one. How we should be concerned about the cosmetics of things depends on the importance of the managerial position. For example, there "working managers" which have a mid-range of interactive responsibilities with their staff but also have so much administrative responsibilities that would warrant them to have "clean desks." But then, when we consider the position of the president or CEO of a company, they are NOT normally "working managers." Instead, most delegate! What American President haven't in the history of the President? Ones capability to run the presidency should NOT be termed on this factor because, an effective President cannot be justified by a clean desk either and should not be considered sufficient experience.

A worthy President knows how to make use of the resources that are to his/her disposal (people, systems or otherwise) to govern the office in the systematic or routine sense or, to use these resources to delegate "change." From my professional point of view and evaluation between the front running candidates and as a Masters in Global business management, Hillary lacks the appropriate vision and managerial skills for the head and cheif executor of the United States; the American President. Why? ALL of the necessary resources are made available to the President be it people, systems, etc that takes care of a "clean desk" which makes time appointed to a "clean desk" irrelevant. I would assume when the occupation of the Presidency was being considered, our forefathers must have thought that small issues such as physical organization is too unimportant to occupy the interest of the chief commander hence, providing that individual with appropriate resources to address the "small stuff" while the president reserves his power, energy and thoughts making "world changing" decisions..

How interesting is Eleanor Clift's use of the word "denigrating" as in Clinton denigrating Obama's candidacy. The word means to blacken. I will vote against either Clinton or Obama on the basis of their politics, without the least care about their race or sex. I will also enjoy watching the liberals tie themselves up into knots as they look for politically correct ways to destroy each other.

Hillary supporters are constantly boasting about her "experience". What exactly is her "experience" edge over Obama and Edwards, beyond being a former first lady? If that's it, you folks are in trouble!

i miss barbara jordon,,, she would have been the perfect choice; handicapped, black woman who was mindfull her whole life as to what america needs. there, my fellows, was a great person. as the father in the movie "walk hard" kept saying;"the wrong child died". how we could use you now barbara jordon. with a heart as big as all outdoors the world could feel the love we as a nation now hide and hold tight.

For the Democrats, it is a time to make history. Yes, possibly the first woman President or possibly the first black President; but that is not all. We have a lackluster President now who only knows how to spend money and cut taxes leaving the country in a mess. And there is the Iraq War - Bush spends Billions and Billions of our dollars year after year and they (the Iraqi politicians) are at war with each other. Meanwhile, we can't seem to get the government to take care of the troops in Walter Read hospital and sons and daughters and mothers and fathers are dying - for what?

The history the Dems will make will be the first Revolution of the 21st Century - taking back the government from a small group of men at the top who spent this country into bankruptcy while people who vote are losing their homes to foreclosure. Let the Revolution begin - take back this country - We The People!

poor suzann em, and others. No I am not a racist, idiot or bigot. Obviously you are very ignorant of history. Some day when you and others have matured and gotten at least a little educated you will see things much differently. For now go with your no knowledge but plenty of charisma candidate. Give the elction to the Republicans for another eight years. Hilliary could do wonders though. Do you really believe educated people are going to vote for B. Hussein O?

there is a difference between a great communicator and someone who runs off at the mouth so only their side can get any air time. nixon put the time and effort into his achivements which far out shine anything bill or hillary could ever hope for,,, bill showed up for the party and partied for the next eight years. his wife screwing the country now is the only way back for him and her to pardon all those left in his "party wake". i'll never forget him drunk and pounding the table at a fund raiser tell all there he wanted to do nothing but "tax and spend, tax and spend and tax and spend.